Frustrating Start To A GR8 Day On The PT 18Apr18

I went back down to Pueblo for some more big CutBow fun. It was a frustrating start at 0 for 3 and 2 full lost rigs out of Nature Center. I settled down I guess and caught the 3rd on an RS2. The BWO hatch (#18-#20) was massive mid-morn and they were behind my glasses and in my ears and all over my hands. Unfortunately my best imitation is Dave's FOD - I handed out quite a few CoWW weekend and I used quite a few - gotta get to tying them again tonight. Also frustrating was the fact that the VestCam was out of juice and I had to return to the camera... so no movies. After I got going it went well and I caught many large CutBows above Nature Center and then in the PM above Valco Ponds parking. Best bug in the PM was #22 2wire Candy Cane midge (gun metal blue & red with black tung head) and #24 Awesome midge. Lower winds of 7-10mph and lower flows at 350cfs made perfect conditions for the outing. Tight lines. These are just the nicer ones - like 18"+.

K&D See Spring Poppin' And Visit N3 16Apr18

Kala & I got out on the trails on Blodgett and saw the first good signs of spring with flowers and bugs. We did a raft of backlogged errands in the afternoon and culminated with dinner and brews at N3 in Old Colo City. N3 is a taphouse with good food was really fun - 30+ beer on tap, most from CO, and good food. Especially tasty was the bulgogi lettuce wraps but we heard all the bulgogi, including pizza, was good. Bulgogi is a Korean beef with sauce. Other items like short rib tacos and garlic mussels were also super tasty. Check it out; it's right near Cerberus.

CoWW Spring @ PT Again (So Nice...) 15Apr18

We were joined by Rick late last night - but he brought sweet offers of whiskey, a Spotify license and promises of shredded trails and awesome fish. Haine had the stick as we flew back to the PT since the upstream freestone section of the Ark was fishing poorly. We again had a great outing with many catching good fish on BWOs or tiny midges. Battalion Commander Haine Kaizened his landing skills and improved overnight by NOT viewing another video training but summoning the force, and Scott Brantley with a leg landing of a nice cutbow. Rick scored but not as much as he'd have liked, Greg slayed 'em, and DD caught some and lost some. It is very noteworthy that our own TroutDude, an original CoWW, caught his first fish on his own tie this fine day - well done DD. I did ok on mayfly and midge nymphs and tried the 2-handed presentation to the VestCam a couple of times, which kind of worked. We lunched well at the Nature Center lot and finalized a strong CoWW outing with man-love, fishing and the rest of the Cerberus. Woohoo. The all in "hops" pic in front on Greg's was funny - the 3 old guys are already landed while the youngsters are up well timed. GR8 fun. 

My CutBow escape movie...

CutBow Escape Movie

CoWW Spring @ BHSC (Brrr...) 14Apr18

We fared poorly overall @ Rincon and Lone Pine on the Arkansas River in BHSC. The wind continued fairly strong and the river was a bit stained after flows were doubled to a respectable 400cfs. The overnight was low and the daytime, while sunny, was cold & windy - the best part of the day was Brantley & Haine's brats & beer lunch on the river. We caught a few fish and headed back to Greg's Poncha Palace for a great evening of Cuban food after a fine stop @ Elevation Brewery in Poncha Springs. Cool.

CoWW Spring @ PT (Building Steam on Day 2) 13Apr18

Wind was still a major issue on the Pueblo Tailwater section of the Arkansas this day but the CoWW were building steam as we added GL & Yoho to the mix. Many of us caught many big rainbows - I personally  hit a milestone landing 3 fish over 20" on this day. The BWO hatch is in full swing and the big 'bows are out and rambunctious - meaning accessible to crafty fishermen. RS2s & FoDs were taking big fish as mayflies and zebra & 2 Wire midges were too. Master Fisherman Haine was a bit frustrated regarding his landing efficiency but this too would be remedied. Too I think there was a rising sentiment that some of my success was aided by others tiring fish first or my otherwise snaking catches just ahead of my mates... hmmm... there's an image and a movie below to show the truth.

We built even greater momentum as we headed to Salida and were joined by DD and Wilks @ Amica's for dinner and then Soulcraft for chasers and music. Awesome.

The movie "Snaked from Haine" starring Rob Haine, the aghast one, and Dave Coffin, the snakey one. Use "GR8F1sh" as password.

Snaked From Haine Movie

CoWW Spring @ 11 Mile (Monster Winds) 12Apr18

Super windy @ 11 Mile today but that didn't stop the intrepid trio who caught some fish despite nursing hangovers. Saw BWOs and Cheeseman Emerger did the most damage today. Small battalion on the first day of a pending epic 4 day fishing weekend with the Cult of the White Wing. We added rations for the weekend from Cerberus - excellent crowlers sponsored by our Texas headmaster.

Awesome Closing Day @ KS & More @ Breck, Plus Outdoor Tech Chips 2.0 Field Trial 08Apr17-09Apr18

What a difference some snow makes in skiing conditions. After 15" of wet new snow on Fri night, then another 9" of soft new on Sat night and yet another 9" overnight on Sun, I targeted closing day @ Keystone on Sunday for my first outing in the storm set and Breck on Monday. Conditions on Sun AM were excellent despite some false starts by mtn ops - the gondola wasn't running till mid-AM and therefore the River Run base lift had a line across both bridges into River Run village - this even when I arrived ~8:15. I blew off RR and hiked ~.5mi to Mountain House base where Argentine had no line and I was on Monetzuma quickly headed over the hill. Then, the descent to Santiago, including Diamondback, was closed for some reason - I observed the reason from the gondola to the Outpost - a huge line at Santiago, and it was down, as was Ruby - all those folks were just stuck in the valley. Needless to say it was a day on Outback for me. Which was a blast. Movies have GR8F1sh as password.

The Movie

Sunday at Breck was even better. I jumped off the gondola at Pk 7 and sped straight to Pk 6 for many dedicated loops off Kensho chair. What a blast in knee deep new snow. I went hard and by ~1pm I was tired and the snow was getting heavier from sunshine and rising temps. So good in Wonderland.

The Next Movie

Like DD I wrote Smith helmets when my bluetooth audio began failing with just a 1 hour battery - they sent me a new one a year ago. I tried recently to use it but it wouldn't even take a charge so I wrote again - and they sent me their new model which is and OEM version of the Outdoor Tech Chips 2.0 shown below. I charged it and field tested it this weekend. I works great, sounds good and has a long battery life (still worked after 2 days on the slopes without a charge). My only complaint is that to recharge I have to unzip the ear flap to attach the cord. I tried pre-attaching and it powers down the system.