Spinney Mountain Ranch- 7/19/14

The 50+ hour work weeks have really taken a toll on my fishing time this summer, but I was finally able to get out with my Dad yesterday, heading up to South Park to fish the Dream Stream.  With life flying by at such a crazy speed, it's good to have days like this to slow down the pace and really enjoy the river.  The South Platte was flowing at a perfect 294, which is an awesome rate for this river and allows for the fish to spread out, meaning you can catch fish everywhere.  The river looked absolutely perfect, with bugs popping all day long, massive swarms of PMD's and Caddis flying everywhere and really getting the fishes attention all day long.

What made yesterday special was watching my Dad catch his biggest trout yet.  A beautiful Snake River Cutthroat that ate a Prince Nymph in a long slow run up by the dam right before we turned around and headed for the car.  Almost botched the photo, but we lucked out and were able to get some stunning photos of this awesome fish.  A perfect way to end the day in South Park, catching a monster fish on the Dream Stream.

Dream Stream- 3/9/14

With the temperature in the Jeep reading -17 when we drove through Hartsell, you know the weather reports that you had read the night before were wrong, but the reports of large, spawn run fish out of Elevenmile were enough to keep us determined.  Literally the coldest I have been in my entire life, even all the layers I had bundled on were not enough to keep out the absolutely brutal cold in South Park.  The wait for fish able water was excruciating, with hard time frames when both of us had to be back in Denver for commitments.  Hour after hour went by with nothing but ice floating down the river, and with the sun getting higher, all we could hope for was a little fishing before we had to head out.

Finally the ice dissipated, and we were able to start working the nice pool that we had camped out at for the last three and half hours.  Within minutes, all of us were into fish.  I landed the first first, which was an absolutely gorgeous Cutthroat, all colored up for the spawn.  It was sad to see a mess of flies stuck in its jaw, but was glad I was able to get them all pulled out, and get the fish back into the river.  We kept watching the clock as it neared closer to quitting time, but were optimistic that we would get what we came for.  My buddy hooked into the hog that we were looking for, and played it perfectly into the net.  An absolutely perfect Spinney Mountain spawn run rainbow with a fat belly and huge hook jaw.  Even though the fish was not mine, I was glad that I was able to be a part of it, and take in the moment and excitement that the Dream Stream brings to anglers every year.  It truly was a day to remember, not only for the monster fish but the bitter cold that we endured to have our chance.

I've fished the fall run on the Dream Stream for big Browns and Kokanee, but this was my first experience on the river in the Spring.  Was stunned to see the amount of anglers on the river despite the bitter cold, but I think everyone that was out could feel the camaraderie between anglers, with everyone after the same thing, a shot at a fish of a lifetime.

Beautful Spinney Buck Rainbow

Nearly 30 cars in the lot

Dream Stream- 7/13/13

It has been very seldom that I've been able to get my wife to go to the river with me, so when a group of friends planned a weekend at a cabin in South Park, I was so excited to take my wife to the Dream Stream with me to show her one of my favorite places.  The previous times I've taken her, either the fish or me (probably me) had not been cooperative.  During our honeymoon in Steamboat, I fished the Yampa through town by myself and hooked rising fish all afternoon, but the next day when I took her, I could not buy a fish.  I'm not saying I felt a lot of added pressure to actually hook some fish, but I really wanted to show her why I love this sport so much.

The Spinney Mountain section of the South Platte was looking absolutely amazing.  There were crazy amounts of insect activity around the river, with PMD's, Tricos, Midges, and Caddis flying everywhere.  I was mostly fishing a drowned Trico spinner below a Annelid, and the fish seemed to like it.  They were absolutely crushing the Trico.  You know those strikes where they take you fly with so much purpose that the strike indicator is 5 feet upstream before you even have time to set the hook.  With the higher flows, the fish seemed to be extremely healthy and powerful.  Caught two beautiful Cutthroats that were extremely feisty to get to the net.  It was nice to have a camera woman to take some action shots of me for once, and even better that I got to enjoy the day with my wife.  So in one trip, my wife went from my bad luck charm to my good luck charm, and I'm really looking forward to the next time I can get her on the river with me.

Dream Stream- 7/22/12

Been a while since my last post.  Been busy getting married and moving into a new house.  Only been fishing twice in the last month, and only tied a few dozen flies.  Oh well.  The two times I have gone fishing have been pretty epic.  I fished the Blue through Silverthorne, and hooked into some of the biggest fish I ever have.  Only managed to land a few of them.  Those fish are so smart, they know exactly what boulder to wrap my leader around, and poof, they're gone.  Still a blast though.

Fished the Dream Stream today with my dad, and had an absolutely great day.  Saw my first Trico hatch, caught my first cutthroat, and finally watched my dad get it.  He landed about 10 fish, including a gorgeous 20" Bow.  Flies were pretty simple today.  Caught almost all of the fish on some annelid patterns.  Throw a double annelid rig into a riffle, and hook into 4 fish.  Had a blast playing the feisty Dream Stream browns.  I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

First cutthroat.  Not a great pic!

Double annelid rig all day

Fish of the day! Acrobatic rainbow!