Arkansas River "End of Season" Recon 04Sep15

Greg and I met 1st at Rincon on the way to O'Haver for the end of season camping trip. We hit the water about 10:30am with knowledge that none of the local campground fishermen were having any luck... but then, they are not CoWWs. That said, it was not epic but Greg caught 5 browns and I caught a couple rainbows and 1 brown (weird theme developing there). Nymphing was all that was working on stones, red CJ and RS2... I used a dry as my bobber for a long time but nothing ever looked up. By noon we decided to imbibe and share a Subway. The vibe was all good but we decided to head to O'Haver after lunch to set up camp - though I bailed on the plan and jumped into the river again at the CG at the Chaffee Co line. I had a much more productive afternoon on the same bugs but strangely continued to catch a high number of rainbows. The water started to color from gin clear and I saw up near camp it was raining. The opposite of normal occurred here too - I caught smaller fish the further upstream I went... when I got to the boat ramp I caught 25 or so 8" rainbows by dragging a stimulator wet beneath the falls... I eventually tired of the size (and stupidity of the recent stockers I presume) and headed back to the car where Greg had just arrived from setting camp and was gonna fish. I was done so observed a while then headed to camp to prepare my promised Breck Kick cocktails... this is my variant of the Moscow Mule using Breck vodka and adding some bitters to the mix of lime, vodka and ginger beer. The team including Dave & Lisa as well as Dave's brother Doug enjoyed them with Greg and I. Though we burned my dozen limes and all the scrounging Greg and I could muster hunting through Dave's stuff and truck at 10:30pm wouldn't turn up another so we fortunately didn't "enjoy" that stupid 5th one. I slept in the car and awoke pretty creaky, 'casue I'm and old dude that slept in the car in my clothes. Day 2 we decided to try some new water and chose Big Bend SWA and a leased parcel at that. Again not an epic AM as to catching fish though Greg was into them pretty quickly and I did catch one of the nicer browns I've had on the Arkansas - probably 17" or better. Here again we used stones (nada for me despite so much evidence of their being here), red CJs, RS2s and I used a red-headed black zebra midge emerger that scored some. The views were awesome of Collegiates. Greg and I ate lunch at Amica's as typical, the Salsica pizza was excellent, and enjoyed an ale there before I dropped Greg back at camp so I could head north to Summit. I'd been hankerin' to try the Arki upstream of Twin Lks where it get's more meadow-like and smaller and I stopped at the Kobe put in for 90 min before a storm forced me off the water. I did OK with a couple of browns from that stop. All in all I have evidence that while some think high runoff years help the fisheries, if near term fishing quality is the measure, I don't think its true. I am hoping that into fall however flows will be even less and the fishing even better.

Summit Stuff with Brantleys 28Aug15-30Aug15

Kala & I took to the lake and hills of Summit Co with Scott Brantley and Peggy. We started early on Thursday with too much enjoyment of mules and wines which delayed our biking start time on Friday but soon enough hit the rec path for a 30 mile spin to Breck and back. Back in Silverthorne we enjoyed a remarkable meal of swordfish tostadas and a visit to the spa. Saturday we hiked east out of Loveland Pass and reached a point where I could see 4 different ski resorts: A-Basin, Keystone, Breck and Loveland. Strangely none of these CO residents had been to or hiked from Loveland Pass so climbing up from 12Kft elevation was special - particularly with our great parking spot. Back down the hill we sailed Dillon and listened to that evening's concert at the bandshell from the lake... the Queen tribute band sang the right stuff just not in the right way really. Still super fun despite just moderate winds. The evening then served up a weird "supermoon" - the orange was from western state burns but the "super" occurs just sometimes during a full moon when the path is closest to earth and appears 16% bigger and 30% brighter as a results. We again enjoyed a 5 star meal that night too - of thai pork tenderloin salad. Today we hiked Mayflower Gulch and Gold Hill. Oh yeah... I had time to receive, build and use our new NextDesk Terra desks and our WaterRower... Frank Underwood's got nothin' on us.

Day of Cuts & Tricos 26Aug15

I hit 11 Mile early and fished the entire lifecycle of the trico mayfly starting at 7:45am with emergers. I then switched to dry/dropper and ultimately spinner when the fall came at 10am. The whole thing was frustrating as always - its just darn hard to see black #24 dries. I did catch fish but they are smallerish in summer it seems; or I don't know where the bigger ones are. The weirdness of note on this excursion was the preponderance of cutthroats in my bounty. Half my catch of ~1.25/hr were cuts. Further, I don't know if I can call it a quad really but I did catch cutthroat, rainbow, brown and a cutbow. I think hybrids probably don't count as a separate species. Again, the browns and rainbows were all smaller than even these so no pics. Here is the cutbow and a cut. These are Snake River strain and not Colorado cuts; FYI. I don't get very good depth of field with this hand holding method... heads are out of focus lest I bend the fish correctly.

Sailing for Barrel Thief on the Adirondacks 23Aug15

Another great day in Summit as Kala and I took advantage of early winds to sail Mon Ami around Lake Dillon. Then we researched the Adirondack chairs we liked and used in the Keystone River Run commons during yesterday's concert (see Facebook). Then we ate good food in downtown Breck at the Blue River Bistro. Then we stopped at the Broken Compass, a new and excellent micro-brewery in north Breckenridge (love the scouting poster). Then we bought the chairs from John & Allison at Breck Bears and hoisted them over the back deck railing (John was a really big dude). Then we celebrated appropriately with Odell Barrel Thief on our newly furnished deck. Colorado is so cool.

Hitin' A Triple On Gore Ck 21Aug15

While the bounty was of browns on Gore Ck today, I landed decent fish of brown, brook and rainbow varieties! A triple is pretty rare for me so it was cool. I started at the mouth of Gore where it meets with the Eagle River near Minturn. Most of my 1st pass began at 10:30am and was eventless but I landed one nice brown on an RS2 - I was fishing all nymphs as while I saw hoppers I saw little else that might get the fish to look up and hook up. A bit frustrated I broke for lunch at 12:45pm at Magusto's in Minturn for pizza & beer. Decent pizza but weak draft list had me order a $5 longneck Avery... sheesh. While I didn't consult them I did have a great view of Minturn Anglers at lunch. I decided to head upstream to West Vail and parked at the dog park along the frontage road there (west of the West Vail exit in the south side of I70). I switched to dries bound and determined to get some rises but still had mayfly nymph droppers like WD40s. I was using caddis-like stimis and caddis as some were returning to lay eggs by mid-afternoon. Mostly it was a decent bobber but I did catch my one rainbow and a brown on it. I did not even know brookies were in Gore Ck but it is pretty cold. I was surprised and pleased to land the decent sized super-dark-eyed brook trout after a stream dance of my own (check the "fish-on" with stream and bridge background) taking me downstream 10 yards to land him. The 'bow was taken with an audience on the bridge. The PM saved the day and yielded a triple - each decent ~14". Cause d' celeb suggested I prepare NuvoCanes (I named it this 'since it numbs you to pleasures... but that's OK 'cause you have it all) for Kala and me upon return to Silverthorne, and I did... my unique variation of the New Orleans Hurricane.

Short Stop for Short Fish @ 11 Mile 11Aug15

The Crusher was in the shop for front axle stuff so I took the 4Runner to 11 Mile, forgetting my pass and wallet were in the other car. I sweet talked the "guard" into a day pass on the strength of my argument and situation. She was conflicted on it but was very nice and let me go. Fishing was weak however... smaller fish rising to smaller flies. There was plenty of mayfly (especially tricos) action though I caught most underneath on RS2s. Here's the basic rainbow but my first one was a bit nicer Snake River cutthroat, which I dropped on the photo shot; no browns. I only spent 2-3 hours there because the pace was insufficient and then it started to rain. I find rain and 11 Mile don't mix well.

Macey Lakes With Nick 01Aug15

Early Saturday Nick and I hiked up to Macey Lakes from the Horn Lks trail head for some fishing and an over-nighter. Saturday we set up camp at the lower lake and hiked up to the upper lake on the west side. We found plenty of nice cuts but as seems like standard this year on high mnt lakes I could only coax one to take one of my flies. He ended up getting off before getting into a pic unfortunately. It appeared they were busy spawning, and there were plenty of smaller fish indicating they have been successful. The rains came in about 3pm and we were in for the rest of the evening. Sunday we climbed up to the eastern upper lake. This lake contained only a few older fish. Doesn't appear this one has been stocked in many years and no sign of successful spawning. After taking some pictures we headed down to the lower lake and had a lot of fun catching 10in cuts, bows and cutbows. Georgeous area with killer camping and worth a hike back again.