San Juan River- Sept. 2012

Went back to the San Juan River recently for my annual trip with my Dad.  As usual, the fishing was outstanding, and it was really fun to watch my Dad hook way more trout this year than last.  We decided we wanted to see more of the river this trip, so we made an effort to move around much more.  Spent the first day exploring Kiddie Hole, and the new braids improvement.  Made it all the way up to Sand Hole before working back down the river to end the day.  Caught fish on cream Yong Specials and Annelids  Caught a bunch of freshly stocked fish, but my Dad did manage a pretty Rainbow in Sand Hole.  Unfortunately, we fumbled the picture.  Second day, we fished below Cable Hole in the morning.  Had a great time sight fishing to some very active fish.  Landed some much larger fish.  In the afternoon we headed down below Texas Hole to where the river splits in two.  Hooked some more larger fish, and got into some awesome dry fly fishing right before dark.  It was quite the experience to see so many fish rising to small midge patterns. Landed a 20" Brown on a Griffith's Gnat.  Third and final day, we headed down to the Crusher Hole parking lot, and headed up river to fish the weirs around Durangler's Corner.  Had a very active morning, taking turns hooking and netting fish with my father.  Around noon, the fishing slowed down, until we tied on a pheasant tail.  It seems the baetis are starting to move around a little bit in the lower river, as we hooked up almost every drift.  After lunch, we decided to finish the trip in the Baetis Bend area.  Fishing was outstanding as well, including landing one of the larger fish in my life.  Again, we fumbled the picture.  The Rainbow was over 20", and had to weigh close to 10 pounds.  Couldn't even get my hands around it.  Caught that fish on size 26 Top Secret Midge.  It was a great trip with my Dad, and was depressing when we turned the truck north, headed back to Denver.  Saw much more of this amazing river, and looking forward to the next time.  Enjoy some pictures of the trip!!

Tying on a Yong Special in the Braids

Fumble!! Nice Rainbow in Sand Hole

Looking up at Navajo Dam from Sand Hole

First fish below Cable Hole

Nice brown on dry fly

Man-made weir near Durangler's Corner.  These weirs hold fish below them all day.

Last fish of the trip!  So sad to leave.

Dream Stream/Taylor River- 8/5/12

Planned a full day of fishing for Sunday, and when I say full day, I mean it.  Left the house at 3:30 AM for South Park.  First stop was the Dream Stream, chasing browns and cutthroats during the day.  Fished until about 4:00 PM, packed up, and headed to Buena Vista for a quick dinner.  After refueling, we headed over Cottonwood Pass to Taylor Park Reservoir for a little night fishing.  Got on the water about 7:30, enjoyed an awesome spinner fall, and then fished by headlight until 3:00 AM.  Highlight was a 25" brown that I sight fished to.  Awesome time enjoying beautiful Colorado.

Gorgeous morning on the Dream Stream!

 Looking down Buena Vista side of Cottonwood Pass

Fish of the night! 25" of powerful brown.

Releasing the brute

Last fish of the night at 3:00 AM

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!

Deckers Carp Fishing?!?!?

Nice surprise fishing Deckers today!  My buddy caught this on a size 24 Mercury Midge!! Who would have thought!

Juanna Be Hopper Juan

Wanna send a huge shout out to Juan Ramirez for hooking me up with some of his packs for the Juanna Be Hopper Juans.  I bought some of the Hopper Juan packs from him at the Fly Fishing Show, but I wanted to tie some of the little brothers.  Spent the evening tying a few of the Juanna Be's up, and I think they turned out pretty good.  Cannot wait to throw these on Bear Creek this week to see how much the fish like them.  You can check out Juan's incredible blog at hopperjuan.blogspot.com.

Upper Colorado- 5/25/12

South Padre Island Fishing

Had a chance last Saturday to do some fishing around South Padre Island for a few hours.  I really wanted to fish the flats for redfish, but I didn't want to spend 500 dollars to hire a guide, so we went out on a boat and fished for Red Snapper and Grouper.  Not the Rockies, but at least it was fishing.  Highlight was catching a Bonita while trolling out to the Red Snapper zone.  Fish fought real hard.

Bonita

Red Snapper

Mayfly Nymph Side

After spending almost 10 weeks in South Texas, I am coming back home on May 11th for good.  And I am coming ready to fish!!  I am nearing completion on the other side of the Umpqua fly box, meaning I have tied nearly 500 flies since I've been down here.  I tied mostly classic Colorado nymphs, but messed around with some of the other cool patterns out there.  Also, I have a few newbies that I played around with (not to say I didn't borrow some ideas from other tiers).  I cannot wait to get home and try them in the mountains to see if they work out.  I will be showing some tying steps for the ones that I have created in the next few weeks.  All I can say is I have never been more excited to get home, and attack the rivers, and I know I will be ready to roll as soon as I get home!!

From Bottom Right: Pheasant Tails, Biot Emergers, Turkey Tail Nymphs, Beadhead Flashback Pheasant Tails, Mercury Flashback Pheasant Tails

Dorsey's Mercury Mayflies, Gray and Olive Mercury Sparkle Wing RS2's, Ramirez Glossy Back Baetis, Pennington's Stuffed Olive Nymph

Ramirez Glossy Back Baetis, Pennington's Stuffed Olive Nymph, Craven's Flashback JuJu Baetis, Cutthroats' Nymph TBD #1, Tyvek Baetis

Tungsten Skinny Nelson, Cutthroats Nymph TBD #2, Cutthroats Nymph TBD #3, Gunkels's Shot Glass Baetis, Cutthroats Nymph TBD #4

I still have one full row to fill up, and I'm thinking that variations of Barr Emergers will fill that row.  The bottom row is a collection of throw aways.  I will probably give those to my father, and fill that up with another pattern when it feels right.  In the last 10 weeks, I have either done two things, work or tie flies.  After looking back at what the box has become, I am happy with the results.  My fly tying is continuing to improve, and I look forward to building off what I have started.  It makes me more excited to start the next box, and just keep stacking them up.  You better watch out Colorado, cause I am coming for you!!