Frozen Fun!

Smiles leaped forward from the crowd, and laughs hovered about the room as Casey Dunnigan diligently placed the whip finish over the head on his signature "PMD Panty Dropper".  The crowd, including Rick Takahashi, stared in awe at the beautiful creation, while Casey sat confidently offering tips on being successful with this pattern.  Enthralled with the never ending line of beautiful patterns, the crowd didn't want to leave despite the demo being over the official "time-limit".  Casey's demos are always beneficial, and if you haven't yet, track him down at his next venue and get there early because it will get crowded!  So, when the streak of excellence in demonstration came to an end, I greeted Casey with a handshake, and an invitation to fish the Poudre with me that afternoon.  "Sure," responded Casey, "but not without lunch first!" 

To the local Asian grill it was, and the four of us we enjoyed an excellent lunch that would fulfill us for the day, as well as a load of stories from Rick Takahashi himself.   Stuffed, the two of us headed north in search of the Poudre, and a few willing targets.  After speedily assembling our gear and dressing out in our waders, we began the trek through knee deep snow.  Two miniature meals were dropped below a single, elegantly tied dry fly.  As if rocks were being tossed into the water, fish were slashing at the surface continually.  Miniscule midges skated across the glassy surface, teasing trout before flight.  A single rise appeared, and the rig was presented delicately upstream of the trout.  Slowly drifting along, the small dry fly was suddenly pulled under, and a smooth raising of the rod on Casey's part produced highly energetic runs across the current.  Minutes later, the willing silvery cutbow came to hand - Casey's first fish on the Poudre - on his first cast.

Casey Dunnigan

Repeating the same motions as before, Mr. Dunnigan continued to work his magic, eventually bringing a beautifully spotted brown to hand.  Anxious to get a tug, the obnoxious streamer secured to my line was unbuttoned from the hook keeper, and a single downstream cast was sloppily made.  As the large fly swung through the current, the line began to swim away, and the strip set was applied.  Diving every which way, the gorgeous brown trout eventually surrendered for pictures, and was swiftly released back to the icy waters that it called home.

Not huge, but super pretty!

As the glowing winter sun tucked itself away behind the majestic purple mountains of Colorado, our chilled breath lingered as we reeled in the weapons and called it a day.  Frozen waders and boots came slowly but surely off of our frigid bodies, and the engine hummed as we drove off into the Colorado sunset.

Snow Flakes, Call of Duty, and Fly Fishing

Glancing out the window of my friend's basement, I couldn't help but notice the fresh layer of white powder that lay frozen on the ground.  Accompanying the powder were delicately falling snowflakes, and dark, dreary skies.  But the decision was made to make the best of it, no matter the conditions.  Besides, it was the weekend, and it would be an unbearable five school days until we would get to do this again, so why not?

The mission of the day was to teach my friend Trevor the basics of fly fishing, and hopefully get him into a few fish at one of my favorite spots.  So, we arose from the mess of left over pizza, blankets, and video game controllers from the previous night, and bundled up in our warmest clothing.  As we downed our cinnamon rolls at the kitchen table, I couldn't help but think about the day, and the events that it would bring.  Trout have a way of indirectly forcing you to pursue them, no matter what the conditions; something Trevor was having a hard time understanding.

As we geared up and jumped in the truck, the thermometer read 17 degrees Fahrenheit.  Hopeful that the sun would soon show its face after a long night of hide (and seek), I stepped away from the car, and grabbed the rods from the back.  Two minuscule thread midges were selected from the warm, homely rows of my fly box, and a few feet of 6x fluorocarbon were peeled off of the spool.  My fingers shook violently as I clumsily tightened the clinch knots on the chosen meal course of the day.  After repeating the process with the second rod, both Trevor and I were ready to go, and trudged through the light, fluffy snow to the river's edge.

We watched as fish leisurely moved about a particular riffle, slowly munching on the tiny snacks adrift in the current.  With carefully placed presentations, and a lot of luck, we managed to trick a few small rainbows.

As the temperatures continued to drop, I removed the last midge on my rig from the hook keeper that sat firmly fastened to my rod.  The wind howled, and I placed one last cast into a low, clear moving run.  Intently, I watched as a glint of white showed up in the water, and I set to the feeling of a long, slow tug at the end of my line.  As trevor sat shivering on the bank, I netted the fish, and set him free  to his home in the frigid waters.

The picture doesn't demonstrate how cld it really was...

We reeled in the rods, and returned to the truck, frozen to the bone.  As the digital temperature gauge glowed with life, the temperature read 13 degrees fahrenheit, even lower than when we started.

After removing our frozen waders and boots, we returned to the basement of his house, and munched on left over pizza as we played a few rounds of Call of Duty.  About the time my Dad arrived to pick me up, the feeling had returned to my toes.  Upon entering the car, I couldn't help but laugh to myself as I glanced over at the thermometer.

13 Degrees.

Sight Fishing, A Way to Catch Larger Fish.

Over the past year or so, I have discovered the magic of a term known in the fly fishing industry as "sight fishing".  I first gave this method a shot the day after Landon Mayer gave a presentation at our local TU Chapter.  he talked about seeing the fish open their mouths to take the fly, and seeing huge trout in water that everyone else passes by.  I thought to myself "this can't be true".  I had to give it a try.  So, I set out on a mission; become good at seeing fish in the water.  After a series of "practice runs", I finally started to see results.

My first fish caught while sight fishing was a small cuttbow trout out of the Poudre River, about 10 inches long to be exact.  I was discouraged, but we all have to start somewhere, right?  So I continued to hone my skills, waiting for the moment of my encounter with the trout of a lifetime.

About a month later, I was fishing on the Poudre River with my dad, and good friend Steve Thrapp.  Steve is a master at fly fishing for large trout, so I wanted to prove to him that I could catch big fish as well.  My dad and I fished long and hard throughout the day, with only a few smaller fish in the 14" range brought to net, while Steve was pulling in 18"+ fish just about every 15 casts.  Frustrated, I began to walk back toward the car.  On my way, I stopped to look at a section of the river where I had just seen a commotion on the surface.  When I arrived at the water's edge, I began putting my sight fishing knowledge to work. I knew that it wasn't my fly choice that would matter so much seeing as large trout eat just about anything, but more the drift that had to be perfect. As I scanned the water, I noticed a white flash along the bank; a feeding trout.  I could tell by the size of the mouth that this was a good fish, so without hesitation, I worked a few yards of line out the tip of my rod.  After a few drifts, I finally put the fly right in front of him, and watched as he took the imitation with confidence.  I lifted to rod, and the battle began.  Approximately 15 minutes later, this bad boy came to net.

He measured at about 19" long, and had to be a solid 2 pounds.  As you can see, he was a brilliantly colored male, all ready for spawn.

Ever since that day on the water, I have come a believer in sight fishing, and hope that all of you will give it a try sometime.  A good exercise to try when on the river in order to train your eyes is this:

• Start at the end of a run, and find a large rock, piece of vegetation or something else on the bottom, and pretend that it is a fish
• Stare at the item for a minute or so, allowing your eyes to "acclimate"
• Now, look at your feet, and scan your eyes across the bottom until you reach the designated object, and focus on that object again.

This exercise is training your eyes to adjust, and can be the savior on challenging days.  Doing something as simple as this can make spotting, and catching fish (trout especially) much easier than if you were to walk up to the river, and just stare into the water, hoping for a fish to show up.

Overall, sight fishing, in my opinion, is the easiest way to consistently catch more bigger fish, and I guarantee that you will have fun while doing it. So next time you are on the water, give it a try.  You never know what you might find.