Can't get much better than this!

The fishing has been absolutely awesome! The river is fishing great and the reservoir is starting to produce some nice fish as well.  Yesterday I floated with Sage and Holdan on the A section.  We had great weather and wonderful fishing.  When we got on the river there were lots of boats and kick boats.  Sage wanted to just float and relax so we took our time getting down.  I was able to land a few fish on a shallow nymph rig in the morning on the upper half  of the river.  I used a brown zebra midge with a peacock collar followed by a grey soft hackle. I only fished in the fast water between the spillway and rollercoaster rapid.  Around 1 pm I saw the BWO flies starting to fly across the air so I switched over to a cripple
pattern BWO. We had a few boats behind us and in front so we just drifted down just above secret riffle and found a sandy beach to play on.  Holdan brought some tractors along so we dug holes and built big mountains.  When most of the boats went by and the others stopped for lunch, we floated down and enjoyed the river.  Fish were feeding on the surface pretty good and I was able to land a nice brown and miss alot more.  Sage made a great cast with my rpl+ and hooked into a fish but wasnt able to keep it on.  Holdan had a hard time casting because the wind picked up but he still had a fish on for a few minutes.  They are great little casters and they love being on the water.

Today we went horn hunting after breakfast and were able to find lots of elk but no horns on this trip.  We ventured out to the reservoir and found lots of fish in the shallows so we gave them a few casts.  Sage and Holdan lost interest in the fishing so they played in the dirt. I was able to land a few nice fish and the kids happily held them up for pictures. Tomorrow we plan to go after some more fish on the reservoir.

With this great weather there is going to be lots of people out there so try and share the water and get along. Thank you for reading and tight lines!

BWO's make me happy happy happy!

My favorite hatch is starting to kick off the season. The fishing has been great so far this season and I think it will only get better. We have had some crazy weather this week too. From sunny and mid 60's to below freezing and snowing and rain. In the mornings I have been fishing a shallow nymph rig that has been very productive as well as streamers. My nymph rig consists of baetis nymphs trailed by a cream or gray midge and no deeper than 5 feet from indicator to weight. The fish are still eating pink egg patterns as well. My streamer of choice has been an olive sculpin with a little flash in the body. I have been using the nymph rig in the swifter water and the seams of the upper A section. I fish the streaner as close to the shorline as I can and strip it back slowly with varied stripping motions. I try to be down 3-3.5 miles from the dam by lunch time so we can get right into the BWO hatch after lunch.

I have been seeing the BWO's around 1 or 1:30 in the afternoon. The film critic and hackle stacker baetis are my go to patterns right now for the hatch. If the weather allows us (wind mostly) I fish the dry fly all the way to little hole. I have been chasing the fish feeding on BWO and trying to stay well away from other boats and anglers. If the fish are not on the surface I will fish a larger BWO dry fly trailed by a beadhead baetis nymph 12-20 inches below. This seems to work great for me.

The crowds have started to move in to little hole but there is still plenty of water to fish. If your not floating and are willing to put in a mile or mile and a half hike up or down from little hole, then you can get away from people and find some great water to fish. I am sure this BWO hatch will last a week or so into the month of May. If you love fishing dry flies to large trout now is the time to get out on the Green and give it your best. Thank you for taking time to read this I hope all your fishing adventures are enjoyable and safe. Tight lines everyone!

Warm sunny days!

This week was a busy week for me. I had a few trips and they were all pretty awesome. I fished the upper sections of the river the most. The rainbows are moving onto their beds and are showing great colors and size. The browns seemed to be settled in behind the bows and really keyed in on egg patterns or larger scuds pink or peach colored. Nymphing deep was the key for me using the egg and scud was best trailed by a gray midge or soft hackle. The lower half of the river was very good as well. There was a great BWO hatch in the afternoon wich led to some great dry fly action. I used a hopper trailed by a pheasant tail bead head. When the BWO hatch was in full force we used a hackle stacker pattern and picked up a few fish on the dry.  When the day was at its warmest we had a few fish eat the big dry fly patterns like the para hopper/cricket and my favorite the Chernobyl ant. I am looking forward to fishing with some of these great people again. They definitely made my week very enjoyable. Thank you to my new friends and to those of you who read my blog. Tight lines to all!!!

A full boat and a very windy day!

Today I had three great anglers in my boat. We were prepared for cold weather but with the sun shining it was not too cold. We launched around 9 in the morning and were the second boat on the water. As we rigged up three or four boats launched and cruised down river of us. We did some quick casting lessons and then headed down river. Everything was going perfect until we rounded the first bend and hit a brick wall of wind!!! It was terrible and blowing right in our faces. But my angling group was not about to give up. They lustened tomy advice and were doing the best they could to cast into the wind. After some frustrating wind knots we got rid of our indicators and fished a dry dropper rig. It was easier to cast and gave us immediate results! We took our tume floating the top half of the A section and had lunch below steam boat rock. After a good lunch break we started our fight against the wind again. These guys didnt give up and kept up their great attitudes despite the wind kicking our butts. I look forward to fiahing with this great family again and hopefully without the wind. Flies were pretty much the same as the last few trips and the fish were beautiful and very hungry. Here are a few pics from the day.

The wind had these poor midges stuck on the side of my boat

Great fishing on the Green right now!

Super cold weather and great fishing usually dont go together in my opinion. The last week has been both cold and really productive fishing. My first trip was on wednesday of last week. The weather called for snow and wind so I packed the heater and extra clothes in tje boat. We launched at about 9 am with a little sunshine and no breeze. I tied on a big cricket and a glo bug trailer about 4 feet below the cricket. We imediately hooked up with fish. Landed 5 or 6 in the rig up eddie. We fished the same rig all the way down to just above bridge rapid and landed quite a few more on the glo bug with a few fish interested in the cricket. The fish were feeding like crazy on midges so we switched over to a #20 griffiths gnat and picked a few off the surface. It was super fun to get my clients on some dry fly action. We tied on some streamers at diving  board rapid. There was lots of fish chasing the streamer and thats how we finished our day. We had a few breezes but for the most part our day had great weather. I dont think it got much abve freezing because we had to clean the ice out of rod guides ALL day long. I floated saturday with a grear group of guys in some nasty cold snowy weather. We fished pretty much the same rigs as on my previous trip with the exception of the midge hatch. The wind blew so hard that the midges were probably blowing to Colorado as soon as they made it out of the water. I have seen some rainbows in the spawning mode so it wont be long until they are in full spawn.  This is a great time to fish the Green. The crowds are very small so you get to fish the whole river. Dont hesitate to call or email me or Flaming Gorge Resort to schedule a trip and get in on some of this great fishing. Thanks for taking time to read my post. I hope to see and fish with many of you this season. Tight Lines!!!

Old boat gets a new look!

Four years ago I sold my drift boat to make it through a rough patch. So when I had the chance to get a new one I was all over it. The boat is a ClackaCraft 16 ft. weight forward model. It was once sunk on the Green and recovered. My great friend Pete had some work done to it so he could guide out of it. When he got a new boat I kept bugging and pestering him into parting ways with it. Finally I did and I was a happy boat owner again. Now my dad gets a chance to see it and he said we can make it look brand new. After lots of fiberglass work and body filler we have gotten to the painting stage. We have got two coats of primer on and tomorrow we will be painting the finish coat. I am super excited to have this beauty done. Here is a few pics of the boat. Since my computer crashed I havent gotten the early stage pics but I hope to have them soon. Thanks for reading and tight lines!

Project Healing Waters

Last night I was able to spend a few hours with Project Healing Waters Ft.Carson/Colorado Springs. This was my first time with the program and it was a shock ad even chocked me up when I saw all the great anglers willing to take time out of their lives to work with American Heroe's. The group leaders spoke about their roles in the program and how important the volunteer mentors are. I think I was the youngest person in the meeting so I was a little nervous about what they would think about me. I was nervous for no reason because the guys were great! When the official meeting was over everyone started visiting and talking about fish so I made my way to the front of the group to talk with the leaders. After introducing my self I was at ease and calmed down enough to talk fishing and offer my time to them. I sadly wont be here long enough to work with these guys but when I get to Utah I will be very involved possibly starting a chapter my self. I believe this program willmake a big impression on the participants and since I am far from a soldier I will do what I can for the real protectors of our country.

This week I have also started working on my drift boat.My dad and I have sanded and ground away some bad  spots. We have made some great repairs on the inside and out. I am hoping to have it ready for interior paint by thursday. I will put some pics of my progress. The exterior paint is a week away I hope. Sage and  Holdan want to put painted hand prints on the bow so that will be the finishing touch.  Thanks for reading I hope your enjoying the water.  Tight lines!!!

Days before the tournament

The fishing this weekend has been great. We have landed lots of nice rainbows and a few beautiful browns. On the 9 of February there is a tournament on the tailwater. I have seen hundreds of anglers enjoying the water. I had a bit of a run in with a kind of ignorant guy but that comes with that many people on the water. The air temps have been in the 20's in the morning and warming up to the mid 50's in the heat of the day. 

Our flies have not changed very much except for the sizes. The lead fly has been a #20 bead head zebra midge followed by #22 red jujube midge. The fish seem to be in pre spawn mode. I have caught them all over the river but most of my big fish have been in deep runs with some good structure in it. I have enjoyed sight fishing to some huge rainbows and after what seems like hours I hook up and the patience pays off. I really like streamer fishing but have only caught a few in the early morning and late evening. With the tournament this weekend we are skipping fishing and are going to work on the drift boat and get it ready for new paint and a new season. 

My new friend Brian Mowers has added my blog to his shop website so if your reading this because of him thank you and share it with your friends please. I am hoping to have some new fly patterns this week so pics will be posted! Thank you for reading I hope your fishing adventures are great and full of tight lines. 

busy, crowded and, fun

The last two days have been very busy on the Arkansas Tailwater. My dad brought one of his soldiers with us on saturday. When we got to the river the parking lot was full so we prepared for a day of waiting for water to open up. When we got on the water my favorite run was open so I started fishing and as lucky as ever I hooked up on my second drift. I landed a nice 19 inch rainbow. When I released it I noticed my dads soldier had a fish on. We worked together since he didnt have a net and landed a nice rainbow about 16 inches long and very fat. After releasing the fish I saw my dad up river from us with a fish on. He had an audience of a few anglers passing by so I hurried up and netted his fish. It was a 20 inch rainbow. After those three fish it slowed down. The fish were very picky but we were able to land some more fish through the day. 

Sunday my dad and I got to the river around 12:30. The place was packed but as we rigged up 5 anglers walked back telling us how slow and crowded it was. When we got to the water my favorite run was open again so we fished it. I landed a beautiful 19 inch brown that was still in spawning colors. My dad moved up and fished the top of the run and hooked into a nice 17 inch brown. We took turns in the run and I was able to land a few nice rainbows but my dad didnt catch any thing. We walked up river to his favorite run and on the way up saw NO ANGLERS. It was great sohe went to his run and i stayed lower and fished a dry to some rising trout. Out of the three eats I lost two flies and didnt land any fish. We fished the run for a while and hooked and landed a few. On the way back to the car we fished my favorite run hoping for one more. On my last cast I hooked a 21 inch brown ona streamer. It was a great way to end the day. 

We fished mostly #20 & #22 midges. The fishing is tough but very fun at the same time. I hope anyone else fishing had a great time as well. Thanks for reading tight lines everyone. 

Some warm winter fishing on the Arkansas River

The warm weather brought the fish out and lots of anglers. My dad and I got to the river on Sunday around 1:30 in the afternoon. The sun was shining and the wind was blowing a little but we were going to have fun. The first parking lot was FULL and when we got to the second lot it was FULL. We found a spot to park, threw on our gear and headed straight to the water. We started fishing right past the parking lot because we were sure the crowds were up higher in the more popular runs. I started with a #18 red zebra midge followed by #22 olive midge with a size 4 weight and about 6 feet from my indicator to the shot. I managed to hook a few fish but didn't land any so I moved into a swifter run. My first cast I caught a nice rainbow and landed it. My dad saw so he came up to see if he could catch one. I cast a few more times and hooked another fish and landed it. So I cast one more time and finally got a big fishy. When I landed it I hurried and got a picture and let it swim home. I moved out so my dad could fish and he got some good casting practice. Before we moved on he was able to land a fish. We moved up river to see if a favorite run of ours was open and fished a little bit as we moved up. The run was open so we divided it up and started fishing. I didn't catch a thing not even stick or rock. I pulled out my streamer tip line and tried to fool a fish that way. My dad was able to catch a fish or two. I am not sure what he was using because he changed about every 5 or 6 casts. Since I was not getting any action I decided to head back towards the car. My dad followed me and we walked all the way to the run we started out fishing. I cast a few times and missed one so I moved down river so my dad could have a shot. My flies found their way into the biggest log at the bottom of the river so I cut them off and ended my day. My dad was at the top of the run and hooked a nice fish that ran him down into some boulders and broke him off as well. He tied some more flies on and cast back in the run. Right away he hooked up and we could tell it was a big healthy fish. He worked the fish until we could land it. A beautiful 18 inch rainbow was in the net!!!!! It was a great way to end the day for sure.                                                                                       

 

 

Monday we took a friend with us and we left at 6 in the morning with hopes of beating the crowds. We beat the crowds alright but the cold beat us real bad. It was So cold that it hurt my fingers just walking.

Phil's pig of the day

We got rigged up and headed out  into the cold morning. The weather report said it would get up to 51 degrees and no wind. My dad headed up river to his favorite run while Phil and I stayed low where I caught fish the day before. We saw a giant fish come to the surface and cruise like a submarine for a few seconds. We decided to fish even if it was SUPER cold. I let Phil fish the top of the run and I stayed lower hoping he could catch one first. I surprisingly hooked a fish and fought for a while but he spit my hook. After a few choice words I cast back in hoping to get another. We fished the run with no more strikes and decided to back track into some sun light to warm us up. I let Phil have what I thought was the better part of the run. I cast and hooked into a nice fish finally landing it. I hurried and threw back in and after a few casts I hooked into a nice fish. I didn't know how nice until he took off running me into my backing. I fought him for a while and thought I could land it so I got my net out and reached in for him. Thats when I had a slight heart attack. The fly came out of his mouth right when I reached for him. With a lot of luck my second fly found it's way into him so the fight was back on. When I finally got him to the net I measured him at 21 inches long. Beautiful healthy and very fat! Phil came and took a look at him and took my picture with the hawg. After I released the fish Phil said look at all those people. There was 5 or 6 guys in each run as far as we could see. We gathered our gear and headed up to where my dad was. It was still shaded and cold where my dad was so we kept moving up river.My dad caught a sucker and had no other fish. Phil fished a few runs but couldn't hook up with a fish. After a few runs we decided to head back down. We all went down river hoping to find the run open near the car. My dad told us about finally catching some fish out of his run. The run we wanted was being fished by a guy so we went down river a little more. There was a group of people learning from a guide how to fish so we stayed away from their class. The guy fishing the top of the productive run hadn't caught any fish so he backed out and we gladly took his place. Iwas trying to help Phil get at least one fish so I gave him as much of the run as he wanted. My dad was 20 or 30 yards down river and he was hooked up with a nice fish, when I turned back to Phil he was also hooked up with a nice fish. It was great! My dad had landed a long fat sucker. He was not impressed. Phil fought his fish for a while and landed a nice rainbow. It measured 17.5 inches with a fat belly. I was sure glad he caught a nice fish. We moved down the river and fished a few runs and had a good time. We ended the day a little after 3 but there were more people headed in to start their day. I hope they had as good of a day as we did. 

My 21 incher!!!

This little fishy was  just chillin under the ice.

Bamboo Rod

Tuesday I had to take Sage and Holdan back to their mom. I hoped to make a fishing trip out of it but was not able to. After I dropped them off I went to Dutch John. I made a quick trip to the courthouse in Manila the following morning. Flaming Gorge is looking pretty low and Sheep Creek Bay was frozen over.The wildlife was everywhere on my drive over. A huge golden eagle was eating a road kill deer and fighting with the magpies. In Manila there was 3 mule deer bucks sitting on a front porch.When I got back to Dutch John I called a good friend and we went coyote hunting that afternoon. No luck with coyotes. 

I drove to Heber City to spend some time with Pete and his family the next morning. Pete and I went into Salt Lake City that night to look at a condo and also pick up my newest fly fishing toy. I got a 9ft. bamboo fly rod!!!!! 

 I put it together and put a 5 weight line on it to cast. I really can say I was casting like an amature. Pete was able to cast a little better ...well alot better. I love the rod any way. it looks very old and fragile and has a different smell to it. I can't decide whether to fish with it once before I put it up for decoration. I am leaning towards fishing it! 

On my drive back to Colorado Springs I passed lots of frozen rivers and a little bit of snow. Iam really hoping we have water to fish this summer and fall. Tomorrow I hope to do some casting with different weight lines to see what casts better with the bamboo. Then I will make the decision on actually fishing with it. My dad and I plan to fish the Pueblo tailwater on monday so I will hopefully have some pictures of  it in action as well as a fishing report. Thanks for readin. Tight lines to all!!!

New rod and reel on a VERY cold day!!!

Last weekend after our fishing trip my dad was really itching for a new rod. He did a little trading and selling of some old gear and was able to come up with enough for a rod and reel. We (me,Sage and,Holdan) met my dad at a fly shop in Colorado Springs. The service was alright and could have been better if the guy had some help from the shop owner who was just tying flies behind the counter. The employee helped us and let us take rods out to cast and get a feel for them while juggling the register and other employees at the shop. My dad decided on a rod and we were going to check out. We asked the shop owner if they had a military discount since my dad has been in the army for a long time. The guy chuckled and said no but once or twice a year we give military discounts on a few things in the shop. We then walked out with no rod or reel and I do NOT plan on going there ever again. I may be stubborn and arrogant but I would give American Soldiers a discount ANY day! So I called a great shop in Pueblo and my dad went down to pick up his rod and reel. Thanks to The Drift Fly Shop he got a Sage Approach rod and a Sage 1850 reel. It wasn't the high end set up he picked out at the other shop but he paid half the retail price and had some money left over to get some cool gadgets for himself.

Ok back to the fishing the new rod. We watched the weather for a week hoping it would change. It changed but not for the warmer. The last night I checked the forecast and it called for a high of 22 and breezy. The water flow had stayed the same for about two weeks running at 67cfs. We didn't want to leave early in the morning so we waited until I got out of bed at about 10 and left shortly after. When we got to the river the parking lot there was three vehicles so we knew we would have the river to ourselves. Making things better three guys were walking back to their truck from the river. We hurried and threw our gear on and headed out. I started fishing as soon as I got to water. I fished for a minute with no luck I cleaned the ice off my rod eyes and headed up river. I fished a favorite run for a while averaging 4 or 5 casts until the rod was iced to much to cast. I looked down river and my dad was putting his net back on his pack so I figured he caught a fish. I waited for him a while and when he walked up he had a smile from ear to ear and he said "I landed the first fish on my new rod!!!!!!!!" It was a 14 inch rainbow. He was so excited he had to take all his gear off and water the bushes. I went up river and found a run that I usually find at least a few small fish, trying to catch at least one. I hooked up right away and then he was gone. I hurried to recast and my rod was so iced up that my line came right back into my face. I started doing surgery on my leader and finally got my line in the water. Nothing. I couldn't even snag bottom. I switched to smaller midges and cleaned the ice out of the rod eyes and cast away. I hooked and landed a nice brown trout. I threw back in and caught two more fish, a 16 inch rainbow and a 12 or 13 inch rainbow. I was lucky and super glad. Catching them raised my body temperature and gave me more hope for the rest of the day.

We worked our way up river and were very unsuccessful. Every fish we caught managed to get off. I teased my dad and told him, at least you get to practice casting your new rod. He laughed but I could tell he was frustrated. He managed to catch a real nice rainbow right after my smart mouthing.  Then we sat on a log looking at the run, we noticed the trees on the opposite bank were shining in the light. There was so much fishing line hanging that it looked like a Christmas tree drenched in tinsel. If I was only 7 feet taller i could probably fill a couple fly boxes with all those flies and lures. I was done fshing so we headed back to the car. On the way back I told my dad to fish the run that I caught my 3 fish out of. On his first cast he caught a nice 17 inch rainbow. It was a great way to end the day.

 I fished a #20 red zebra midge followed by a #22 black midge and all of my fish were caught on the red zebra. My dad fished a lot of different things but he landed his first and second fish on a #22 black midge and his last fish on a #18 prince nymph.


 At the car our waders were standing by themselves because of all the ice on them. I didn't take many pictures but we did have a good day. My next fishing trip will be in Utah around the 15 or 16 and who knows where after that. Thanks for reading and tight lines!