CoWWBoyz Crush The Colorado River Basin ~ It's Haine-aRADo Time 17May26-22May26

The Front Range CoWWBoyz blew off the So Platte as the drain of Antero troubled our vibe and my  campsite in 11 Mile Canyon. I canceled my rez for modest return. We went up-mountain and never rested at the Nest. These 5 days of Haine-a-RADo had many moments and bad decisions.

Day 1 [17May26)] Arriving In Summit & Blue In Town ~ Not Much Now 17May26... I grabbed RH in The Crusher  from DIA and we ripped out I70 to Clear Ck where we donned gear in significant hail. Uh - Tommynocker instead. Then we ripped the tunnel to Summit (ahhh) later and ventured the Blue in town... most fish are gone! I landed a couple of 6" browns instead of greater truths. Uh, let's go local @ Angry James then grab the next CoWWBoy at ORB - Yoho! We sucked fishing but rested well @ alpine, after some tunes and brews.

Day 2 [18May26] Arkansas Headwaters ~ Decent Fish & Big Snow... Greg caught up with us at Kobe. We outfitted for rain and took on 30 min of heavy snow instead. Fine. We all caught a bunch of German browns and a few 'bows on the headwaters of the mighty Arkansas. We headed back to Summit for pizza & pasta dinner at Sauce, capped by an evening of competitive tunes on the Nest Music Theater. 

Day 3 [19May26] Colorado @ Pumphouse ~ There's Something In The Water... We dined well at Mtn Lion before being rerouted through Heeney due to a tractor trailer crash on 9. We finally headed out Trough Rd to the Pumphouse section of the Colorado River on a variable weather day. We headed upstream from Pumphouse to the tail end of the Gore Canyon to begin. Unfortunately I'd forgotten my net and had to hike back down to the car ~ I did not hike back up but went downstream to fish along the campgrounds and boat ramps. Mostly I hiked alone this day as a result of my eff-up. We all caught and lost some nice browns around structures; the best was actually right around the boat ramps. Stones, caddis larva, and BWO nymphs all worked but best were the mayflies. Mr Haine was a particularly adept fisherman on the Colorado and Greg scored with streamers as well. 

Day 4 [20May26] Gore Ck @ Mouth & Dog Pk ~  Some Doubles... After a good Sunshine Cafe breakfast we jumped Vail Pass into Eagle Co to fish the Gore. We also said goodby to Yoho, who left in the AM for a golf match. We started at the mouth with the Eagle River and fished upstream for 3/4 mile. 160cfs flows were high on the Gore for fishing and the willows & wind were a further issue, but we got it done. I did catch a number of fish, including a double on this pass, most on the BHDCEZWD40 ~ everybody caught some. Since we were in the area, we stopped at VBC for a beer a bit of pizza. 

After VBC we headed upstream a bit to the dog park. There were lots of dogs and fishing slowed a bit but still yielded fish. Another good day on the water. But also another day without bigger fish. We hit ORB and ordered take-out from Summit Thai on the way back to the Nest. We said 'see ya' to Greg as he was heading home in the AM. 

Day 5 [21May26] Blue River @ Jurassic Pk & N Of Town ~ The Blue Sucked... We knew it was weak in town at low flows but the same stable 70cfs below Green Mtn Rez dam should be decent. I didn't verify the flows before we left however. Unfortunately water authorities took this day to really ramp flows out of Green Mtn rez, which is already down 40 ft from full. Grrr... the Blue tailwater sucked this day and was gusty and cool. I caught one medium brown on the Perdigon and the descent to the river was tough.

We hiked back to the car to try another section of the Blue north of town... it was not any better there. We had decent nosh back in Silverthorne at the Eclectic. 

Day 6 [22May26] Arkansas River @ Pueblo Tailwater ~ Bigs In The Bag... With the balance of decent fishing spots in Summit Co flowing very low or very high, we packed up early and headed to Pueblo to fish the PT. We simply grabbed Subway breakfast on the way to Nature Center. We were looking too for some bigger fish to fight ~ I found them and caught a 17.5"er, an 19"er, and a 20"er among my bounty. The Perdigon and squirmy worm were most effective. It was much nicer weather than we withstood recently.

This whole week was a great outing with great friends.

Fishin' 11 Mile Canyon With Yoho ~ Decent Catch In The Wind 30Mar26

Jim & I headed to 11 Mile Canyon section of the S Platte to fish the 'Disneyland of the Rockies' despite the forecast for high winds and gusts. We arrived a smidge late at the last bridge at about 11am. It was not as crowded as expected with ~25 cars counted on the way up the canyon. We quickly rigged up the Rodfather Diamond Blaze for Jim, and the True Five for me, with some weight and brownish midges. It was sunny and warm initially but soon became more overcast and cooler, and windy. I began just below the bridge and hooked up but lost the fish while Jim nabbed a 'bow on his second cast below the 3rd weir above the bridge. Nice start but there ultimately was little bug sign today on the low flows and wind in 11 Mile Canyon. I saw one mayfly all day. We both caught fish on midges; I even caught my first brown, a small chunker, this season out here but the 'bite' was not 'on.' We left about 2:45pm but were almost the last to depart. Decent day with a good friend ~ no team pic damnit.

A Couple Of Fishing Days ~ 11 Mile Canyon & Red Leg And PT With Jim & Greg 18Mar26-19Mar26

11Mile... Whacky weather brought melt to 11 Mile Canyon snows and cooled the 70cfs water there on this day. Good cutbow spawn activity but little bug sign. I arrived late at 1:30pm but caught some nice cutbows on a beautiful day. Tossed the RF Diamond Blaze... perfect.

Red Leg... I caught up with Jim & Mary for a beer and lobster at Red Leg on the way home. Nice evening while Kala was out meeting the French club. We met a cool local couple Sean & Sara. They were fun; Sean's a Mustang guy and will get an invite for some rips and Sara is a vascular tech; they somewhat recently moved to COS.

Ark Tailwater... we'd prior hatched a plan to meet Greg for a pass on the PT after he did Yoti maintenance on the Tundra. Yoho signed up too and we all arrived late @ 11:45am to respect appointments. We all picked up some nice fat and strong cutbows despite the mid-day arrival. Decent mayfly and good midge bug sign. It was a hot day only Jim was wise enough to bring hot Perrier (fancy for a fishing day). Flows were up to 150cfs, so nicer for the fish. Clarity was good and targeting bigger fish was possible. Here are Jim's (Coors) and my fish (just some 18"s-20"s both males & females) and a selfie with Greg. All the bugs worked for me including Perdigon, money midge, MH RS2, & especially cobalt bead Destiny's Child. Pics are a bit weird as I forgot my Hero cam. I threw the RF Diamond Blaze 4wt again ~ solid.

We think the mild winter and pending small runoff will make for some epic fishing this season. And, it's starting well. What a blast.