2b + 3a * F (a) = Fishing Time?

Not so much.  Over the past month or so, I have been literally up to my eyeballs in homework, and have had minuscule amounts of free time to go fishing.  I apologize for not posting in such a long time, but now that school is finally starting to somewhat settle, I should be able to post more frequently.  I have been busy solving for the value of 'X', and exploring the literary elements of culture, while trying to maintain my sanity with each passing day.

Notes, notes, and more notes...

I did manage to get out a few times back in september with excellent luck throughout wyoming, and have been out a few times since, with rather disappointing results.  I was quite satisfied though, because the hopper pattern that I recently came up with managed to out-fish some of the more popular patterns such as Charlie Boy Hoppers.  As for the conditions...The Poudre is running low and clear in town; almost so low that it looks more like a drainage ditch than a river.  I was watching the flows like a hawk, and despite the recent bump to around 200 CFS, the lower stretches of the river are still being deprived of precious water.  As much as it bothers me, it does get me excited for the 20 degree days on the water with 7X tippet and size 26 midges....

Beautiful Cutbow caught on one of my new hopper designs!

One of the highlights of the past month was getting to meet April Vokey, and learning how to tie some steelhead stuff!  I, and several of my other friends have major crushes on her, so it was quite the treat!  Not only is she super nice, but she loves fly fishing!  I can't help but to wonder if there is a better combo out there... 

Me and April...Ahhhhh

My Steelhead Fly...

Like I said, I have been extremely busy, but am planning on getting out this weekend.  The canyon is lit up yellow with the gorgeous fall colors of Aspen trees, so if you get the chance, get up there a ways and do some fishing! 

Sunflowers at sunset
Scott Ruthven Photo

Barn in the Country
Scott Ruthven Photo

 If you do manage to get out on the water, let me know how fishing was!

Greenback Kinda Day

I received a message on facebook the other day from a good friend of mine saying that we were going to pursue some Greenback Cutthroat when he got back from the IFTD in New Orleans.  We made a plan to meet in the parking lot at 10 A.M Saturday morning.

The lush vegetation was incredible!

Casey and I before heading out in search of trout

 Vincent brought along a friend of his, so he and I decided to hike ahead of the other three guys.  We hiked pretty far up, and fished about a mile and a half upstream from where we started. It was a breathtaking place full of great scenery. clear water, and tons of Greenbacks.  We started off the morning with ant dries, and switched later to attractor dries with unweighted emerger dropper patterns.  It was amazing to see some of the takes.  One of us would spot the fish, and then the other would cast to it.

Discussing tactics in order to fool that particular fish

Can you spot the fish?

Super clear water, and rising cutties. Nothing gets better.

Not huge, but beautiful as can be!

Greenback!

I was a bit upstream of Casey, and spotted a nice (for this area) greenback feeding heavily on emergers, so I decided to try for him.  I put one cast over him, and he came up to check out my dry, but refused it.  On the second drift, he kicked over to the side a few inches, opened his mouth, and I set.  The reward was a beautiful cutthroat.

Trying to Indian Hand Grab  a monster Rainbow in the stocked pond

 We ended the day with eating at a local pizza place is estes park, and had some fun messing with the huge trout that reside in a stocked pond there.  Overall I had an awesome trip, and will definitely be heading back soon!

Late evening spinners

My dad and I had a chance to get out and fish one more time before I start school, so we decided to head up the Poudre canyon a bit.  We decided not to leave the house until about 5:15 due to the high number of tubers that would be out, so we ended up getting on the water at around 6:00 that evening.

As soon as we got to the river, we noticed a few green drakes fluttering around, lots of caddis in the air, accompanied by a couple of PMDs.  We both rigged up with big attractor dries, and small caddis pupa droppers, and set out in search of pocket water.  It didn't take very long to find a colony of boulders strewn throughout the water, and every cast into pocket water seemed to produce at least one take, but the fish would often miss the fly due to their small size.

This little guy came up and slammed the dry fly in pocket water

Then, at around 8:00, the sky was suddenly loaded with PMD spinners, and we were both jumping with excitement.  We clipped off our pre existing rigs, and tied on anything that was small, and slightly yellow colored.  As we scanned the surface of the water, noses began showing up in every direction, sipping the fallen spinners by the dozens.  I ended up pulling in four trout in the course of probably 30 minutes, putting me at six for the night.  Th fish were by no means huge, but I did manage one nice brown that went about 16 inches, caught under the light of the moon.

One of the better browns of the night; he calmly came up to sip my PMD spinner pattern.

Same fish as above, just a different angle.

The story of the trip is this: I was standing midstream fishing the tail-out of a riffle, and all of a sudden, I look to my left, and this pit bull is charging into the water like he wants to eat me.  Thankfully the current was strong enough that he couldn't swim upstream, instead he just swam stationary. He proceeded to charge me three more times, but again, the current saved me. Scary, but at the same time, I did enjoy taunting him as he sat there idling in the current.

Overall it was a fun night on the water with my dad, and it really made me feel good seeing the Poudre fish that well.  All of the fish caught were browns; all of them wild. In short, it was a good outing to one of my favorite rivers.

Oh, and I apologize for the quality of the pictures, all I had was my two megapixel cell phone camera, so they are not the best.

Stones by Day, Drakes by Night~Taylor River

 Personally, I enjoy being challenged as an angler.  Challenging situations drive me to think outside of the box, and try new tactics on tough fish.  Until recently, I had only heard stories of the grotesque fish that live in the Taylor River Tailwater, also known as the "hog trough".  Big fish, and I mean BIG fish being pulled on a day-to-day basis, tons of mysis shrimp, and solid hatches of a plethora of different insects.  What else could one ask for in a trout stream?  Long story short, I had been chomping at the bit to get to this amazing fishery, and have my shot at some monster trout.


Well, my opportunity came a few weeks ago when a friend of mine invited me to tag along with him, his mom, and another one of his friends on a camping trip to the Taylor River.  I did not hesitate to say yes, and before I knew it, we were on the road, headed down to Gunnison in search of trophies.  I had never fished the Taylor C&R before, so I had no idea what to expect; how tough the fish would be, if we would catch any monsters, etc. 


Well, we arrived at our campground at around six o'clock that night, and headed to a few beaver ponds in search of dinner. We spent about 45 minutes searching for brookies, and ended up with 9 trout for the three of us. As much as I hate keeping fish, it had to be done.  We cooked our fish over the fire, gobbled them down, threw our gear on, and headed to the River at about 10:30 that night.  It was bitter cold, and the river was rushing at around 500 cfs. Being sight fishermen, we both stuffed a flashlight into each side of our buffs, and set out looking for trout. 


We found trout, and sat with our lights focused on them as we drifted our rigs past them.  When we saw the mouth open, a calm lift of the rod produced severe headshakes that made you look as if you were hammering nails, and intense runs that made the hair on your neck stand up straight. We fished all through the night and all through the day, slept for a few hours in the car, and repeated the process again.

21.5 Inch Rainbow that moved out of his spot to slam my fly

My buddy Joe with a sweet brownie that didn't hesitate to move over 3 feet to slam the nymph as it swung through his viewing lane.  My mysis/scud/midge rig was the best producer, so we alternated with that rod

We spotted this fish midstream, and he took on the second drift

A trophy is what you make of it; the colors of this bow made it the fish of the day

This brown was spotted right on the edge of a fast seam, slamming drakes.  We made a presentation, and on about the twentieth drift, he inhaled our green drake nymph.

We also fished the lower Taylor in the Town of Almont, and did quite well with an assortment or fish landed on big dries.

Matt and I spotted this fish from a cliff rising constantly to what appeared to be green drakes.  Using binoculars, we were able to determine that the fish was feeding on small yellow sallies rather than the green drakes that were everywhere.  Joe went down to cast to him, and on about the ninth cast, the fish calmly came up to slurp his dry fly.  We waited until the fish turned to yell "lift!"

 We ended the trip with a stop at duck lake, which is just below squaretop lake.  We were in search of big greenbacks, and boy did we get into them good.  Right off the bat, we all landed cutties, the smallest measuring 16 inches.  we kept having success throughout the day, with the biggest fish being caught by Matt, and measuring 21 inches.

this monster greenback appeared from the depths to try and eat my 17 inch cutty. Luckily, Matt was right there, and was able to coax the fish into eating a beetle pattern off the top.

 Overall it was a sweet trip, and I am looking forward to going back.  My next trip will most definitely be in the winter/early spring when the rainbows are spawning, so that the chances at a monster are even higher.

Gear Review - Elkhorn MA Series Reel, and Elkhorn Fly Line

Well, I finally made it down to Gunnison, and boy was it interesting.  Not only was I amazed by the sheer number of trout in the Taylor River, but their "pickiness" was intense. I do have pictures, but they will be arriving in the email tomorrow seeing as they were taken on a friends camera.  More of the details of my trip will come soon, as well as the pictures. 

The real story behind this post is a nifty little piece of gear that performed amazingly on the Taylor River. I stopped in Elkhorn fly shop on the way down to longmont on friday to pick up the new reel I ordered for my six weight.  I must admit, I was skeptical at first. I was going to be using the Elkhorn MA-3 reel, paired with the Elkhorn house brand fly line.  Everyone worries about having the name brand stuff, so I wanted to prove that Elkhorn can perform as well as brands such as bauer, sage, etc.

The MA series of reels has a sealed disk drag system, making the maintenance almost nothing. The silky smooth cork drag and huge arbor enable swift line pickup, making it the perfect reel for big fish.  The only thing that gets a slight bit annoying is having to loosen the drag completely each night in order to prevent the cork from warping, but hey, it is most definitely worth the few seconds that it takes to do this in the long run.  Other than that, The reel performs flawlessly.  It is also super aesthetically pleasing, which gives some people a special "Warm Feeling" inside.  For a maximum price of only $239, it simply cannot be beat. 

Now, the fly line. I was most worried about how this line would cast, turn over big flies, etc.  Well, after literally abusing the line on all different types of water, I can honestly say that it is the BEST fly line I have ever used. Period.  First off, the line comes in an olive, and buckskin coloration for stealthiness, which is key for some of the larger, spookier fish.  Also, the line has a slick coating, enabling it to shoot through the guides like a bullet fresh out of the barrel.  The big selling points for me on this line were floatation, and its ability to turn over heavy flies. I was able to throw sex dungeon streamers with no problem whatsoever, and was amazed at the line's ability to accomplish such a thing.  Next was the floatation factor. Most floating lines have a tendency to sink under the current, or with the heavy weight of a big streamer. Not this line.  No matter what, it was always riding high above the water, and keeping my streamers from sinking any deeper than the length of my leader.  It is truly an amazing line, and sells for under $70, the typical cost of a name brand fly line.

Overall, this is hands down the best casting rig that I have fished in quite awhile.  The reel's silky smooth, maintenance free drag, and the line's ultra slick coating, drab color, and amazing floatation make  this the best reel-line combo out there.  The fact that every one of their rods, reels, and lines are made right here in Loveland, CO. is also pretty sweet.  All of their rods and reels come with a lifetime warranty, and are handcrafted with exceptional quality.  Check out their awesome website here! I seriously encourage all of you to head down to Elkhorn sometime and check out equipment, stock up on fly tying materials, browse through their excellent collection of fly patterns, and share some of your latest fishing stories!  If there are any specific questions about the reel, line, shop, or anything else, leave a comment, and I will be happy to answer!

-Jake 

(And no, I am not a rep for Elkhorn...just a customer that is very satisfied with his purchase, and wants others to experience the magic of Elkhorn equipment).

Terrestrials, Cutthroat, and Old Memories

I was fortunate enough to make a trip up to estes park with my dad the other day in pursuit of rainbows below olympus dam. We also met up with some family friends that were in from virginia, making it a great experience!  After brief conversations, and many handshakes, we hit the river with high expectations.

I have fished below the dam at lake estes several times before, and unfortunately for us, these fish are super smart for the Thompson.  They get fished to so much that they become super picky, in turn making the catch rates start to dwindle. The upside? Well, it is now dead in the middle of summer (at least for me), and ants, beetles, and even hoppers are starting to show up on the surface of the water. This meant that we could fish big buoyant dries to rising fish.  Well, after several missed attempts, we finally got into some fish, but nothing worth writing home about. Frustrated, we decided to hit up Village Pizza for some lunch, and then we decided to head to Lily Lake in  search of Greenback cutthroats.

When we arrived at Lily lake, the parking lot was full, and people were crammed into, and around the lake.  I suppose this makes sense seeing as it is the most accessible lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, and its beautiful scenery is unparalleled.  Braving the crowds, we grabbed our gear, and walked the shoreline on the lookout for cruising fish. We didn't find any cruisers, but we did find quite a few fish that were willing to engulf our ant patterns, making for an excellent day on the water.

Greenback Cutthroat

I was blown away by the colors on some of these fish...

Now, on to the old memories part of this post. I was looking through some pictures, and found a few good shots of some nice sized bass that I caught a few years back. I thought that they were good enough to put up, so without further ado...

Nice largemouth from a few years back...

Bassin' at night...what a thrill!

Chasin' Carp

It has been awhile since I last posted, mainly because I was in D.C for a week, and have been extremely busy with commercial tying.  But, I did manage to get out and fish quite a bit recently. I chased smallies from the bellyboat, largemouth on shad patterns, and most recently, carp on the flats of my local lake.  All of the above events were exciting, but I just can't seem to get enough of carp fishing on the fly.  It really is an amazing experience, and it will truly challenge you as an angler.

About to set out in pursuit of smallies

Nice grassie...these things fight like a saltwater fish!

As I was patrolling the edges of my local lake, I noticed a cloud of mud, indicating that the fish had spooked. As I cursed at myself for blowing my opportunity, I realized that the fish hadn't spooked, but was instead mudding (sifting through mud on the bottom in order to get nutrients) in a circular motion, creating the cloud of mud that I had seen. I put my fly in front of him, and with a little kick of his tail, he engulfed that pattern. With a swift lift of the rod, he took off for the nearest cover, but was slowly brought to hand.

Common carp that finally showed his identity through the murk of the mud cloud

This guy took me in to my backing quicker than I could blink

Overall, it has been an eventful couple of weeks, and I look forward to hearing how fishing was if any of you got the chance to hit the water.  I am headed to the Taylor River, Antero Reservoir, and Delaney Buttes in a little over a week, so I will be sure to let you know how things went. 

Other than that, I am hoping to get a tying tutorial up sometime before my trip, but I want to know what you guys would like to see. There are so many tutorials already out there, but if there is something specific that you would like to see, please don't hesitate to let me know. It is greatly appreciated!