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!!!