Gear Ideas...?

While at the Colorado Trout Unlimited youth camp, I was fortunate enough to win the windwalker chest-pack from fishpond in the raffle that we had.  I love the pack because of how roomy it is, but now that I am  moving into this new pack, I am also looking for any good gear items that should not be left out of my set-up.  Remember, I am fifteen, so mowing yards, tying flies, and doing chores provide income, so I am looking for things that sell for a decent price as well.

It can be things that make life easier, things that are durable, things that are aesthetically pleasing, etc.  Also, I am looking for a good scale to weigh fish.  Does anyone have suggestions for that?

Anything helps, and I appreciate all of your time.  Again, I am just looking for some items that I may be missing that are essential to any fishing vest.

One more thing. I did some Stillwater fishing awhile back, and forgot to post pictures. For what it's worth, here are a couple of pics for entertainment.

Fat Female 'Bow

The Release

Bent up hook

Thanks!
-Jake

CTU Camp/Frying Pan with Charlie and Courtney

I am finally back from the colorado trout unlimited youth camp that I attended this past week, and though it was great fun, it sure does feel good to be home.  Giving a detailed explanation of a week long camp would take forever, so this is just a brief insight to the basics of the camp.  The camp was amazing, and provided many laughs, stories, and, of course, big fish.  I learned a lot about conservation, and thanks to a couple of casting instructors, I sharpened up my cast a bit.  We also got to go fishing in a lot of really cool places, including a private ranch up near grand mesa.  I wish that I had pictures to post, but all of them were taken on friends' cameras, so I will post them as soon as I get them.  Overall, the camp was a great experience, and if you have any questions about the camp, I would be happy to answer them.

When camp ended on friday at noon, my dad, grandpa, and brother picked me up, and we headed straight for the frying pan river to enjoy some camping, and fishing.  Earlier in the week I contacted Charlie and Courtney from the Trout Pursuit Blog, and asked if they might be able to meet my family and I at the 'pan for some fishing.  They accepted the invitation, and they pulled in to the lot by the toilet bowl early saturday morning.

Water gushing out of Ruedi at around 800 CFS

 There were people crammed into every nook and cranny on the flats, seeing as every section of water after the bend pool looked like chocolate milk.  As they were rigging up, a good friend of theirs, JP, pulled in with his dad, and right from the start I could tell that this was going to be a good day.  After brief conversations, getting the rods rigged up, and a funny encounter with "the cowboy", we set out in search of fish. It was amazing to see how Charlie and Courtney work the water, only stopping for decent looking fish.  As soon as a fish was spotted, presentations were made until the fish was either caught, or spooked off. We got into some good fish, and here are some of the pictures from my camera.  All of the other pics can be seen on their blog.

Fat Rainbow from the bowl

Not long, but heavy as can be

Healthy Release

We fished all day, and I learned a ton from both Court and Charlie.  They helped me figure out some of the tips and tricks that I was missing, and taught me a lot more in a few hours than most can teach in an entire book.  Both of them are really cool guys, and I owe a big thanks to both of them for letting me tag along!

Overall, it was a great week at camp, and fishing with Charlie, Court, JP, and of course, my family, was a great ending to a long week.

Hello Again! Warmwater/Stillwater 2011

It has been awhile since I last posted, mostly because I have been trying to cram in all of the fishing that I can while summer lasts!  I have had an eventful couple of weeks, and decided that it was time to share some of the pictures, and stories that were shared throughout the adventures.

Last sunday, I was fortunate enough to score a trip up to the red-feather with my good friend Al Ritt. I brought along a friend of mine, and we met up early that morning with Al's friend Dave.  Both Dave and Al are both really awesome guys, so it was fun to spend the day fishing with them.  After brief conversations, handshakes, and rigging up, we hopped in the belly boats, and set off.  Right off the bat, the fish were rising, but all of the fish caught for the day took a wooly bugger!  we boated around the lake trolling our streamers, and several 15-16" rainbows came to net. It was a great day so far, to say the least!

After moving to a new lake, I had just started trolling when I received a monstrous take. I was not ready for  what was attached to my line.  After a long battle, a 24" (22" would be more exact seeing as the measure net is a bit generous) female rainbow came to hand.  My day had been made; or had it?

Now, until today, I had never caught a  carp. Ever. Not even on bait.  I made it my mission to get one today, and after several failed attempts, and many of the strongest words you can think of, I decided to give it one more go.  I put my line out in front of a cruising grassie, and before I knew it, he was under the fly.  He nibbled at it, and finally decided to eat it, making for an exhilarating fight.  This was my first carp, and I can now understand why they are known as the rocky mountain bonefish!

I was pretty excited

We fished lake shagwa in the evening, and let me say, that is some of the best dry fly fishing that I have ever experienced in my life.  We pulled in some good fish, and had a hell of a time doing it! Overall, this was a great day on the water, and the next three days to come would be filled with fishing as well!

My buddy Al with a nice rainbow on a dry fly

 For the next three days, I taught a camp with my friend Connor that was focused on getting younger kids into fishing.  Of course, we taught them how to fly fish, and seeing the joy on some of their faces when they hooked a fish on the fly was absolutely incredible.  I had a group of 6-8th graders, and all of them got into fish (on the fly rod, of course).  This really was a cool experience, and here are some pics to follow.

He was pretty scared of the fish, but he was excited! 

31" carp on the fly..I casted, he fought. Nice Fish!

This little girl had never caught a fish. This was her first one! On the fly too!

In between groups, Connor and I got to mess around, so we spent that time chasing carp.  After awhile, I got the hang of it, and ended up catching some decent sized commons!  It was great to see the fish casually swim over to inhale your fly.  Nothing tests your nerves more than that!

My first common carp. He took the fly with confidence!

Overall, I had a great few days fishing.  Great memories were created, and I look forward to making more down the road.  I leave tomorrow morning for the Colorado Trout Unlimited youth camp in
De Beque, and am excited beyond belief.  After that, I am going straight to the Frying Pan with my dad, and some friends from the Trout Pursuit blog ( http://troutpursuit.blogspot.com/ ) to see if we can fool any big boys.  It should be a fun week!

For now, have a great week, and let me know how fishing was if you do get out!

-Jake