CoWWBoyz Spring Fly Fishing ~ Upper Ark, 11 Mile Canyon, Trout Ck & More 14Apr24-17Apr24

Rockin' The Upper Ark On Day 1... We first hit the upper Arkansas River near Salida at Rincon & the Chaffe Co line. We crushed it around Rincon with many fish caught on many different bugs in the morning. Rob was into fish and farmed the lower corner. For me the black ice Perdigon, MHFBPT, and Wired Up Ice caddis were the main producers. For most, the mayflies, whatever color, were the main producers. It was a completely gorgeous 65° day in the banana belt, with flows bumped a smidge over 250cfs and the water murky just a bit. Here are some CoWWBoyz (GL, Poop, Rob, & me) in their element on the river and the Murk Brothers (Rick, Matt, Rob & me) on the tailgate of MdB's new tricked Taco.

I caught some 15"-16" browns, one a decent Scottish looking guy, and even scored a rarer rainbow out here. Nice. A good time was had by all.

I was pleased to vacate "Matt's spot" when he rambled down to the upstream section at Salida East with Rob to catch him some more. The freestone Ark is a very cool river, especially when fished with friends.

Slaying It In The Wind On S Platte In 11 Mile Canyon On Day 2... fishing was good despite the cold wind; we slayed many fish today in 11 Mile. There were not even many fishermen ~ the weather forecast likely held many back. We arrived at the last bridge in the canyon at 9am and quickly hit the water to assure decent spots, including "the hot corner." No bug sign but the fish were feeding on our imitations. We even had a couple of doubles for Matt & me and Rick & me. Best bugs were eggs and midges still: money, maroon pop top, purple Manhattan, top secret, etc.

Matt & I hit a double as shown below. Strangely Matt twice hooked into a pike in the depths with a streamer. I wasn't there but hear-tell it was a monster torpedo >27". Thankfully Matt's streamer dislodged before he had to deal with it in earnest. Matt & Rick also did a little comedy act one fish caught.

I roamed the river more than most of the CoWWBoyz, but that's the norm. I caught a number of good fish using the Rodfather Bombadeer and the bugs mentioned above. The browns really liked the egg.

90 Fish Day With Andy @ Rainbow Falls On Day 3... Just wow; we availed ourselves of Mr Holley's generosity and skills (fishing & cooking) today by heading out to Trout Ck & Big Springs. The awful weather forecast and 2" of new snow in Woodland Pk scared most folks away. We were the smart ones ultimately as we threw caution to the wind and were served with an actually gorgeous day of weather and fun. We went early to secure the waterfall spot but the lack of fishermen allowed us to roam all around the bests spots on the property ~ it was amazing.

We all landed fish from our 1st casts, and mostly thereafter to boot! We changed bug strategy as the day and bug activity moved along. Midges in the morning, mayflies mid-day, and a mix in the afternoon. Andy regularly scored nicer fish from holes recently abandoned... impressive. He used the Rodfather Bombadeer all morning (till rigging a dry fly rod). Rob too landed big fish, including the largest trout of his life; on top of the most fish in a day in his life, he scored some nice PRs this day.

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I on the other had kept my catch small & tasteful using the Rodfather Diamond Blaze, while I spent considerable time re-rigging. I capped my incompetence with plenty of failed camera work too this day.

Andy grabbed some keen drone footage. I don't have one so was impressed with it's stability in filming us and the grounds. I caught a pair of eagles circling overhead of the pond where we dined on Andy's fine veggie-free lunch. What a great spot to inhabit given the plethora of their prey... the palominos seem especially easy targets.

At the end of the day Andy took us on a quick tour of facilities including the fish hatchery runs full of trout of all sizes... released on one Saturday per month throughout summer, beginning next weekend! We also stopped at the source of a lot of the water for this private water; "Big Spring" is just that at the base of a ridge on the edge of the property.

It was a remarkable day for many reasons ~ thanks so much Andy. Thanks everyone for coming out for HaineoRADo.