Fishing The Town Section Of The PT With Yoho 31Jan22

Jim caught his January fish after noting he didn't know that was a thing till Andy mentioned his goal of 1 trout every month. He caught a nice 17" cutbow on the town section of the PT near the football stadium. It was not an epic day of catching there but we each caught fish on our first outing to this section. We parked in a ghetto spot in stadium parking with a couple of cop cars watching as we pull next to windshield glass on the ground. Oh well ~ ultimately it was no problem and a gorgeous 65° day on the Arkansas. Blood midges were the best today - always on the line on the tailwaters in the winter. We fished from the scramble point down embankment to the murals upstream to two weirs above the walking bridge. The walking bridge is a great spotting point and on our day the better fish had move downstream from the hole just above the bridge to 20 yards downstream on the left side (looking upstream) of the river. While I targeted some 22" fish I saw, I didn't hook up - the floats were especially challenging in the slower flat water below the walking bridge. We ran across Hopper Juan Ramirez on the river being guided himself by a local - they did about like us, maybe a little better. A good outing for January but far from epic. Thanks Andy & Matt for alerting us to the section features.

When It Rains, It Pours ~ Spa Repair & Nest Flood 28Jan22

The great news is that the spa is fixed! The issue is that I had to do it. The spa repair guy came and wasn't comfortable on the ladder so didn't climb and investigate the spot I indicated was where the leak was. I had even made a path and put the ladder in for him; I had to take down the railing to allow access to the side that was believed leaking. He claimed to find and fix an alternate spot but that didn't really do anything. So today was decent weather and I headed up to investigate it myself. I readily found and then repaired the pipe that had detached from the pump using 3" hose clamps. This pump was installed last summer and there were no clamps or adhesive (shouldn't have been) where the flex pipe came off the PVC junction - I sense it was an oversight of that install. After repairing I filled the spa, which took awhile, but at least it filled fine.  I wasn't gonna get in tonight as it started at just 48°. I ultimately turned it all back on, took out the space heater that was in the cabinet to keep stuff from freezing, and buttoned it all back up. It is now fully back on line heated for soaking.

Unfortunately during the filling process using the spigot on the deck failed and burst a pipe inside the house! Water flooded the laundry, great room, and lower level (through the light cans) in very short order. With the new water tank on Wildernest, our water pressure went way up and is above code ~ that might, in part, be the cause of the fail. I was alerted to the flooding via SmartThings notification from the Fibaro flood sensor in the laundry. I shut off the spigot and flooding stopped. I assessed the issue and sopped up what I could from floors and carpets and used the space heaters to continue to warm the flooring and pull out moisture. Everything was back to normal within hours and I was undeterred from filling and testing my spa repair and ran a hose from the lower level. Note all the downed icicles below the spa. I will have a plumber install a pressure limiter for the Nest when he comes to fix the pipe.

When it rains, it pours OR when the spa doesn't leak, the house might. Sheesh, at least I got to come home for a bit knowing all is fixed. Here's a good curve from my spa temp monitor...

UPDATE 08Feb22... The Nest spa popped another leak at the value controlling the waterfall. I've long turned off the waterfall feature as it has been leaking and the shop can't seem to locate a replacement part (at least for past 8 months)... now the control value popped too. I basically had the tech cut the feature and control valve out of the water system and plug that hose end. Nonetheless, there was enough leakage to offer ice climbing beneath the spa for the last week. I also had a new cover lifter installed as the prior one was bent & broken from wind. Sheesh. Everything is back online and working well.

Tying The LH Ark Purple RS2 26Jan22

We've found the spring mayflies on the Arkansas River to have a purple cast. The winterish-spring ones are small like #22 but get larger into Mar-Apr. A good imitation is a standard grey RS2, with or without a mercury glass bead. Even more perfected as to color are the tie here today, the Lavender Head Ark Purple RS2, with or without the glass bead, or my Purple May Reign. Purple is also advantaged in that it is less affected as to its apparent color by it's depth from the surface ~ longer wavelength colored light (like the color we'd see when watching a bug move up or down in the water column) gets absorbed first so red goes quickly and blues stay blue longer. Anyway... you know I like blue and purples on many of my flies. Here's the finished fly and recipe:

• Hook: #22 TMC 101
  
• Bead: Mill Hill petite lavender glass bead
• Thread: UTC 70 purple
• Tail: 8-10 black, purple or grey hen neck feather fibers
  
• Body: Hareline purple dubbin
  
• Thorax: Hareline purple dubbin
• Wing: Madeira Glamour Thread prism white small (tear into 2 or 3 if you have large); alternatives are white Antron or Z-Lon
  

Assemble the materials and tie the fly...

Place bead on hook and bind on thread.

Select 8 hen feather fibers and wrap in and back to bend for a tail.
Make last wrap under fibers to lift them up

Trim forward part of tail feathers close.
Spin on a thin noodle of dubbing.
Wrap forward building slight taper.

Tie in wing thread then add dubbing for thorax and wrap forward.

Whip finish for a finished LH Ark Purple RS2.

Skiing With Steve & Jim 19Jan22-21Jan22

I snuck up to Summit for some runs with Bro Brown and Yoho. Steve & I started on a cold and dry, but sunny, day at Keystone. We ran a 17.5K day starting in the back on Outback and working forward - that's kindof our typical play. While I chose the wrong skis, since there was no new snow I needed more stability at speed rather than 118 underfoot float, we had a great time capped with some Last Chance pizza and beers.

Jim arrived Wednesday night and we enjoyed some closeout NestT tunes before resting for an onslaught at Breck with some hopeful snow conditions. We did get some needed snow and headed to Breck all three in the Crusher Too. We started on Pk 7 to access Pk 6 and made a number of runs there before getting Steve on Freedom for the 1st time. It wasn't powder conditions, and I did choose the 105s given yesterday, but we found some stashes in the trees. We cooked up a plan to self-award a badge for skiing every peak @ Breck on this day and so crossed quickly using the T-Bar, then down Pk 8 to E, then down Pk 10 to Interconnect, then down Pk 9 to our bus pickup. We got them all and I laud our efficiency in hitting every peak in the least number of lifts - we crossed Breck's very wide trail set quickly. We stopped at Broken Compass for some ColoRADBro and lamented there are no food trucks there ~ we capped the outing with some ORB beers and Bird Cafe thai food. The night continued at the Nest with spa time (yeah, it blew up), Dave's pizza and voyeurism on good backcountry outings via Mediocre Amateurs.

We rallied to again hit Keystone on Fri. There was more snow and more people this time - but conditions are still pretty thin IMO. We ran the normal back-to-front scheme sketching out on occasions when ice patches weren't evident or when big hard moguls were the only path down. Our best softer runs were on Big Horn. Another fine day capped with a stop at Steep Brewing (not the one at the hill 'cause it was mobbed, but the one on Rt 6). We headed back to for a spa soak at Steve's where my Saturday plan's changed when Steve slid out on his spa steps and gouged his back. Jim and I had a NestT session that eve after enjoying good bowls of pho.

I installed a space heater in the drained spa and made a service appointment with Heavenly... grrr.

How's The Fishing? What Are The Trends? 17Jan22

I spent some time diving on data from electrofishing sampling done by CPW and their counterparts in Wyoming and Montana. I'm interested in whether the seeming increase in person-fishing-days from the pandemic has impacted fish populations. I also wonder if global warming, which seemingly is forcing lower flows and warmer waters, is impacting fishing in the Rockies. I couldn't get to my pandemic questions because recent data hasn't been posted or analyzed. I was able to understand some longer term trends though. First off, brown trout populations are declining across the Rockies! There may be some bigger fish but the younger populations especially are in decline. I have clearly personally seen this occur on the Arkansas (more later). The head of Montana's FPW Fisheries gave a talk to the Westslope TU chapter HERE and it's concerning.

I am most interested in Colorado conditions and trends and while there's little uniformity in data collection or reporting processes across our drainages, I could dive on information from some of the more popular spots. Before describing declines I should mention that the South Platte seems generally holding strong. It has many impoundments and therefore a lot of tailwaters. Here are snippets from home waters like Deckers, Cheeseman and the Dream Stream. They don't sample in 11 Mile Canyon but I fish it regularly and sense it is relatively similar to these results.

I should also say that the Colorado River, for much of it's length, is still very strong... gotta get there more. Strangely while all of Summit Co drains into the Colorado I don't fish it often due to its size. Also strangely, while I typically will hit the Williams Fk a half dozen times a year, I didn't even go at all in '21 ~ this due to the very low flows for much of the year.

Now for some not-so-good news. The freestone Arkansas fishery is in some decline. It is mainly a wild brown river and the biomass in the river has substantially declined over the past decade - especially below Coaldale. The Big Bend and headwaters sections seem to be holding a bit better. Overall the long term trend is a decline in brown trout.

Further downstream is another home water, the Pueblo Tailwater section. My personal feeling is that the fishing there is not nearly as good as it once was ~ and  the data somewhat bears that out. Note here that the Upper is the Valco Ponds/State Park area, Restricted is the Nature Center run, and that Lower is below the NC toward town. The data is mixed and tough here as population by size/length wasn't provided, nor was biomass, and the Upper is stocked every year. Browns aren't as prevalent in tailwaters, especially here,  so we can't observe that mega-trend.

Finally, the Blue River headwaters above Lake Dillon show a notable decline in brown trout population and biomass. It may be due to the significant building in the Breckenridge area but still... not good.

So, I'm generalizing but strictly as to fishing, our tailwaters are holding stronger as fisheries than our freestones. Unfortunately data from the Taylor River isn't available since 2016 and there's nothing new enough on the Gunny or Pan either but the old data already demonstrated some browns in decline on teh Gunnison. The exceptions might be Clear Ck and the Rio Grande, but again the data is a bit old - gotta get out to Creede and South Fork again this year. I don't know why but CPW has a lot more data on lakes than on our  rivers.

 

 

CoWW Commradarie & Competition 14Jan21

For 2022 I propose a new scheme to get us out and together (or not, if rejected), this whether we get to fish together or not. I’ve designed & made three bracelets: black, red and blue, in leather with trout medallions. I propose they be awarded at a conveyance at each quarters' end in 2022 to the best fish (aka biggest), most fish, and many different rivers/lakes fished (really many different “spots” so Deckers and 11 Mile count as 2 and five trips to Mohawk Lk count as 1). I say big is black, most is red, and spots is blue. These will be awarded “per quarter” and evidence is required; stories are good but you know… I won’t go so far as to suggest time-stamped, GPS-tagged, properly-scaled with marks and images therefrom are needed - but they’d be the best. Images for big are required.

So, in April, whoever catches a 10# tailing redfish, will likely get the coveted black bracelet that quarter ~ that is unless Andy finds a pond full of genetically altered beasts on St Andrews, to which he garnered private access. At first I thought we should award for triples (3 species from same river on the same day) too, despite how rare they are in the wild, but again Andy has been dealt a pejoratively great hand with the fertile waters of Trout Ck at his call ~ though I’ve not caught a pure cutthroat there. The place I’ve scored the most triples is Gore Ck, once or twice annually for the last several years, but 11 Mile Canyon is another haunt for such pursuits. I've never caught a home run. I might do a triples bracelet as I have one more medallion, but to start they will just make great fish stories. Triples would be different as the winner holds the bracelet until the next (rare) triple is posted, if ever.

I believe COS-based, or pre-hurricane ~ post-redfish Texas, or Summit co, or Chaffe co breweries should lead as the quarterly target venues. Location should be based on local fishing conditions at the time of course, and/or new brewery openings. Points for best fish or spots might be awarded for travel effort; democratic voting will be respected (right now there are 9 voters: DD, GL, JY, RH, SB, AH, RP, MD & me) though when guests attend and offer evidence of fish, they drink and vote too. EoQ in-person would normally be the plan in my mind, though zoom could supplant at least in part so we can dial in RH & SB (for their pond fish or other mid-western offers, and gather their vote). We could even wager, but ya’ll might be put off by my planned, expected, and consistent out-performances (that’s for you MD). The CoWW cannot go lamely into the sweet night, despite C19.

Great January Day 13Jan22

With such a gorgeous day in January in the 60°s Kala and I chose hiking over biking and clamored through the AFA highlands. It was a blast and an unexpected treat in winter... we didn't even hit too many snow or ice patches, and barely needed coats.