Another Sentiment on Sediment

Check out this pretty cool video about Glen Canyon, give yourself 30 minutes of education and emotion this morning. There are so many lost treasures along this glorious jewel of a river that are gone forever that it can choke a fella up a bit. To slam that damn dam in there a politician had to convince society that "There was nothing up in those canyons" and that simply was not true.  There is some really cool, old footage from pre lake days which manages to show one of those spots before we flooded it.

Check out all the good going on at https://www.americanrivers.org/ and donate some of your screen time to water. 

Purple Party

After months of bickering by all these red and blue folks, this green guy is glad everything is all white. The Eagle Valley has a very welcome early season blanket of cold, white, water and it has instantly raised every little creatures spirits. I hope it's not temporary.

I've been brushing up on some western water history with Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert and I'm realizing how blinding this new snow can be. When powder comes from the sky in Colorado during the winter, huge blizzard or not, we tend to view it as money and report higher earnings than we really have. Mr. Reisner does an incredible job of showing how, politicians, municipalities, big ag and a little town called Los Angeles did pretty much the same thing around the turn of the last century; They got ahead of themselves. We North Americans, all of us, have a terrible history with how we manage water and I can't help but feel we are about to go down a familiar path when it comes to politics and a very unstable environment. This new Climate change report that the government gave us for dessert over Thanksgiving covers everything we humanoids have succeeded in boogering up, but around here water is gold. Until both parties, the red one and the blue one, get together and make a purple party that is interested in Mother Earths best interests's first, well then it's going to be sooner than later when waters thicker than blood, like it was in the 1930's.
I'm afraid.
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Mean while the change in the weather has thinned out the crowd on the river and the fishing has been great. Midge and egg type flies are producing for us on The Eagle and the streamer bite from the boats is still solid. Fly tying season is here.

The winter box needed a little push of something bigger than a #22 Midge this morning so I threw some #6 Golden Bareback Pats together.

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Check out this filthy little  tying video .....tricky.

You Jig Frenchie?

You Jig? I know you Jig, everybody's doing it, but are you doing it with high quality materials and cutting edge techniques? Or are you just a basic Ice Dub Frenchie kind of dude?

This crazy little jig thing pictured below, caught at least 3 fish the other morning between 8 and 11; by noon I knew I could no longer keep it a secret. A Fella just knows when the web needs to know, you know? I am sitting on a pile of original work that can occasionally fool a real dumb trout and I am making a more conscience effort to share. Quality Hooks, Beads and Materials determine how well a fly works and this little cutting edge gem is no different.
You need to pack your fly boxes with these quick like. It's clearly the next big thing in fly tying. Trust me, I write a blog.

Not sure what to call it other than Great.

It's all about the materials.
HOOK: TMC403BLJ  #16
BEAD: 2.912mm Whitefish scented Tungsten (48% variety)
THREAD: GSP 4 (Four strands of GSP because bulky flies blow) dyed to match naturals.
TAIL: Stuffing from an old brown hockey goalie pad (circa 1980)
RIB: Magnetized wire from a garage door remote.
ACCENT FLASH: Stale poptart sprinkle chenille
THORAX: Premium underfur from a central Canadian virgin Mink
LEGS: Select Yourma'sass hair, good thick ones.


Enjoy Fall, Book a trip
Strip More Streamers

Carry On

Thursday Fly Swap

If your fly boxes look like the leprechaun’s have been pillaging them for several months, you are not alone and it’s time to put it all back together.

Fly Tying season is here and Colorado Angling Company is going FULL SWAP

FLY swap: A bunch of “genius” tyers with nothing better (because maybe it's raining for the first time in 60 days) to do than sit with each other and produce bits of magic. The perfect little pile is then criticized, scrutinized and laughed at a little before being evenly distributed among the worthy.

Fly Swap number 1 is Thursday October 4th. Yep that’s tomorrow. Crazy shit just happens at a moments notice.

Time: Evening is a good bet but if the weather is crap it might be morning but the afternoon could make sense.

Location: You find out when you RSVP. Email if you want in: bobstreb@yahoo.com

Bobber is helping with a 4 boat float for Project Healing Waters this weekend on the lower Colorado so if anyone has any secret filth they are willing to craft and donate that might be cool for a fellas conscience.

Don’t be scared.

Feeling Low

I had some lunch with a long time fishing guide buddy a few weeks back and almost choked up my carne asada when he proclaimed everything's better now that water temps are cooling off on the Eagle. That is pretty gullible considering there are about 15 other reasons telling an intelligent steward of the water to stay away. Personally, I feel like some grounds keeper on a Monday morning after a huge 4 day tournament; my perfect course has been trampled and abused. Looking at the Eagle in this condition is sickening and it has me feeling low too.

The Eagle is cooling off, but it is lower than it has ever been. I was prepared to list bunches of scientific data on the impacts of low water on wild trout.........  you can google it, there is a ton of reading material. The long and the short of it is every step we take in that river right now is screwing shit up.

Low flows mean less space. Less space for fish to spread out. Less space for bugs. Less places to spawn. Less places to hide. Less places to fish.

That could be the river telling us to fish less.

Low flows can change the water's dissolved oxygen and PH levels which affects vegetation and the overall composition of the river bed. This can greatly influence movement, feeding, habitat and reproduction of aquatic insects and in many cases, changing the biodiversity of the river. Low water combined with abnormally high levels of  vegetation can hurt the population of certain insects and help the population of others, like predators. Either way expect less in the way of epic hatches next year, even if we do have a great water year there will be less bugs.

Low flows concentrate fish and rob them of safe hiding places which makes it much easier for their natural predators and snaggers to easily thin out the crowd. They also compete for limited food differently when they are all stacked up.

Brown trout are getting ready to spawn and they have less space to do it. Less space equals less success which obviously means less trouts. Low water has definitely effected the diet of fish that are about to reproduce and science shows a well fed Brown trout contains more eggs.  Less space during the spawn also makes it very easy for the uneducated to tread on fresh Redds' which again means less trouts.

We are getting to the point here on the Eagle where it probably should be closed. I'm not sure how that actually happens, but I know there are a bunch of local fishermen ready to sit in the bushes with paint ball guns and pick off pricks who don't get it.

There are other places to go.........

Big Zim with a fish from "somewhere else"

I even got lucky "somewhere else"

Carry On............somewhere else.

Futzing

Fish put our flies in their mouth and spit it out in around one millionth of a second; maybe faster. You have to pay attention if you want to dance with trout and I see most of you Futzing instead of fishing.

Futzing is anything one does with a fly rod in hand that is not fishing.

Practice casting is a form of Futzing but a very productive one that most everyone should try before meeting your guide.

Tangles count as Futzing.

Futzed up

Time with a beer can in hand is Futzing but its often necessary to help enhance an anglers focus; or not.

The form of Futzing most notorious in the fly fishing game is the hand check. This is with out a doubt the number one reason people miss fish. They are looking down checking in on what their hands are doing instead of paying attention to the smart end of that wand they are holding. It is rarely the fly rod that complicates a good day of fishing; it is very commonly a persons own hands ruining their chances. Hands people have spent every day of their life with decide to go completely dumb and fight with each other instead of cooperate and fly fish, I see it a lot, from beginner to expert. I have a fool proof way of curing all this non sense with a quarter but you have to pay for a trip to see how that works.

Ever hear the guide 3 boats down scream set loud enough to scare you? Trust me, he doesn't want to holler. He doesn't even want to talk by this time of year, but doing two other peoples jobs while trying to do your own job and row a boat can raise a persons volume now and then. Sometimes the guide has to scare someone's rod up if their head is down. Part of the game if you aren't going to pay attention.

Lets say you are standing in front of a nice gentle glide that is giving you an easy twenty second drift. Most people Futz through at least half of that just struggling with line management. That means if you are on a four hour trip with some non listener you are really only getting two hours to get it done. If the non listener is also a non learner, you can cut that two hours down to around thirty minutes of fishing time. I'll do the numbers for you; if you pay for a four hour walk wade trip for yourself,  and fish all 240 minutes perfectly it costs just over a buck a minute. If you spend the day hand checking and Futzing and get one of those thirty minute fishing days, its going to cost you more like twelve bucks a minute.

"Be a good listener today" says my guide friend Chef Anthony Mazza

Don't Futz, Fish
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This warm, low water, drought year cut into my urge to publicize, analyze, or scrutinize anything fly fishing on social media. I normally apologize for my lack of attention to this blog and it's six loyal readers this time of year anyways as things are always busy, but this year was a real bitch. Thanks to everybody who changed trip times, went early, skipped the grip and grins and showed great respect for our resource, the trout and most important, the river.

An evening swing with big Golden Stones on a recent overnight trip

While the conditions on the Eagle continue to get scarier by the day the Colorado is holding strong, Thank you to whoever is keeping these fish alive with a good flow of cold water. It has been a productive year fishing and guiding despite the weather and water conditions. Its been early to rise and afternoons off most of the season but it has been a blast as usual.

You know there have to be a few pictures...

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Next time we discuss the leprechaun and the rattlesnake that live in my boat.

Bring on cooler temperatures, La Nina, College Football and the Fall Streamer season!!!

Carry On

Run Off Remodeling

Mother River needs Run Off.
Big water is her spring cleaning and while the water can be "ripping"angry, muddy and very dangerous; high water is very beneficial to everything in the riparian zone. As Fly Fishermen the effect of high water on the fishes and how to catch them in changeable water is the challenge. If you are not planning on sitting out "shoulder season", an understanding of the three phases or moods a freestone river goes through during run off can help you to continue to fool fish, just in new neighborhoods.

Phase one begins with a bump in flow.  A big one.
Early signs of run off will only change flows on a freestone in 5-10% bumps and that will not normally move fish from their perfect little places. As weather patterns change and get warmer we will start to see daily rise in flows that are over 50%, which must sound a lot like a tornado siren to a trout cuz they all start to run for the shelters. When fish are moved from their comfort zone and begin setting up refuge camps along the bank they make mistakes and when this happens you need to find a brother with a boat and your streamer box, quick like. Fish are shoved from the safety of fancy condos directly into the slums where eating is more like dumpster diving than free delivery. Instead of living on easy street they now share space in wheelbarrows, bathtubs and truck-bed sized holes trying to weather the coming storm while eating crap instead of cake. Place streamers here.

Phase Two is the Remodel.
"Mud Season" here in Vail is often referred to as remodel season. People leave town after a busy ski season and a contractor shows up and remodels the hut while they are on vacation. The river goes through the same thing during the highest flows of run off. While the fish are off on vacation in the ghetto, the river is busy cleaning and rearranging things for when the water subsides and her friends move back in for the summer. This is when you wade fish from the safety of the bushes, that's where the fish are too. It's during this time when you can really get a sense for how hungry trout get when the refrigerator door is welded shut. Get your favorite big, bright and heavy ass nymph patterns out for this phase and be ready to lose both flies and fish to big flows and the fresh landscaping that's freely tumbling around down there.

Phase Three is the Homesteading.
Once flows peak and begin to slowly drop, the water warms and clears up drastically. Depending on the weather, flows drop really consistently and you can often forecast rate of drop, water temps, insect hatches and with good past data; when fish head back home. Water conditions are often perfect for hatches before fish leave the slums so they may stay around. A back alley with a feeding lane will hold fish longer than some rest area with empty vending machines. At some point the fish know its time to head back to the neighborhood where they will go through their yearly homesteading process. The biggest and baddest will get the best property and the rest will fill the many new Burroughs that run off creates. While a well placed streamer will work for a time before the fish head for home; they often are keyed on the abundance of bugs. This is a great time of year to tune up your short range dry dropper game while wading the last of the high water.  The boats become more important as flows drop. This is where you find your boy again, but this time bring all your dry flies and your favorite 4 weight.

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Yeah other things got remodeled this month. Join me and the Colorado Angling Company family on a freaky little deja vu journey beginning Memorial Day weekend in a new fly shop in an old spot in Minturn.

Whats behind that blue door?

Carry On 

Wrestling Rim Chung

I have been involved in a few fish encounters over the years. I'm not bragging, I'll give credit where it is due, the majority of which goes to someone or something that gave me a gift along the way. Most of the credit goes to the water; I thank her every time I step in. But there have been people along the way who have influenced my casting, rowing, fishing, teaching and tying game whether they knew it or not and they deserve a thank you.

No matter the color, it's still an RS2 

Bow Down

My first Thursday Thank You goes out to Mr Rim Chung, the originator of the RS2. This pattern has been a steady performer for all anglers since its inception on the South Platte a thousand years ago. The bones or original template for this little gem needs no manipulation but it is also very easy to tweek with CDC, glass beads, quill bodies, tubing, tungsten, spent wings, foam.......I could go on. I am not sure how many fish the RS2 and I have met together but the original or some variation of it has been my most productive fly for almost 20 years. Thank you Mr Chung.

RS mutha Fing 2, just different

No matter how it's manipulated, Rim Chung's RS2's profile will always be it's signature. I have played with the color and more successfully matched the naturals on my home water, but it's still Rim's.

I spend part of every week at the vise wrestling with Rim's incredible fly and it is on a rig most every day. That says a lot in today's market. Perfect is impossible to improve on. Thanks for paying great attention and giving all trout fisherman a perfect pattern Mr Chung.

Tie some flies, get bent and stay tuned, I have some pretty cool people to thank.
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BWO mania in the hood right now. Low clear water and a solid afternoon hatch has the fish up feeding near the surface and it is beyond fun right now. Look me up

Carry On

The Six Million dollar Squirmy Worm

Ahhh......... spring is in the air. Birds sound different, the days are longer and warmer, fish are eating dries and I have two dozen Squirmy Worms to rebuild. The Squirmy is one of those flies, you either hate it or love it. Most anglers dislike for Le Squirm revolves around the fact that they are not the most durable of morsels. I go through this a couple of times a year, where I am left with the bones of young warriors that bravely dangled from 4X and sacrificed their bodies so others could have fun. I happily put them all back together again Steve Austin style.

Is it worth it?
Yep, in certain conditions nothing works better.

STEP ONE when tying Squirmys should be: Use razor blade to remove old material. 

Rebuilding a Squirm takes less than 1:20 on average from stripping the old material to back in the box and they cost next to nothing by reusing the hook. I can usually get 2-3 fish on each one before they are spent so an hour each year is no big deal. Another good tip for extending your Squirms life is to keep them in the cooler on hot days in the boat.  I have opened fly boxes on  hot summer days only to be startled by a confetti bomb of squirmy parts and pieces.      KEEP YOUR WORMS COLD.

One and done bugs are nothing you want to stock a lot of; I also stock some spent spinners with delicate swiss straw wings that are only good for a couple but boy they have bailed me out on occasion.
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#12 Five Dolla Sqwalla

How much do you pay for "Comp" Flies?

Would you pay extra for a specialty fly?

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Get me off this damn computer and book a trip. Lots of specials, only at Colorado Angling Company

Carry On

40 feet of wisdom

Wise words from one of the all time greats, salt water or fresh. Check out Sarah Griggs article with Flip Pallot for Flyfisherman, it is a great read.

A spirtual guide to the importance of the last 40 feet

Here's some of the incrediblness, feel free to substitute Trout for Bonefish or Permit and Drift Boat for skiff, just sayin.....

"Life in my world comes down to the last 40 feet," he concluded. "If there's anything left for me to do, it's to make people aware that life, and most particularly this lifestyle, is tied to the natural world and not to a credit card. Many anglers have amassed wealth that gives them the opportunity to take a fishing trip. They go to their local pro shop and buy all the right clothes, rods, reels, lines, and flies. They present their credit card. They arrive at the lodge, also pay by credit card. They step onto a skiff, resplendent with all the right clothing and tackle. The guide poles them within 40 feet of a tailing bonefish. Sadly, their credit card won't take them that last 40 feet."

"They've come all the way from Cleveland to Abaco, but with that last 40 to the bonefish, their credit card is worthless. They've forgotten to bring the skills they need, because they didn't invest the time to develop them. They were busy with their job, kids, the internet. They neglected to bring the skills to get them that last step to the fish. So, they either figure out how to have a good time, or not. But it all comes down to that last 40 feet. Life has just made it too complicated for them to understand the value of the last 40 feet."

"Everything's there. It's not just the distance to the bonefish or permit. The last 40 feet is the barometer of what you've been willing to invest. If you're just here for the gentle breezes and the boat ride, it's okay. But when you step onto the front of that skiff and there's a very serious, committed person on  the other end who's trying to get you that last stretch and you don't care enough about it to have prepared yourself, your being untrue to yourself and unfair to the person at the other end of the boat. That's a hard view of the last 40 feet, but I think it's a significant view of commitment. To the rest of us who live this lifestyle, it's all about the last 40 feet.

Word.

Read the whole damn thing.

From a trout guides perspective I'll say this, most of the magic I see happen is within 40 feet, and most of my anglers can cast comfortably and somewhat efficiently at this distance. The problems still arise however because they haven't practiced roll casting, a reach mend or proper mending techniques. We are still coming up short in the last steps to catching that fish because we are not prepared. I will say we because I have been that guy. I have been short. I have scared the hell out of fish. I have let a guide down or made him mutter something under his breath and I used a credit card to get myself into it all.

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Mean while back on the Ranch we are whacking them on dries. Seriously this is the best fishing of the year. Weather wise, snow pack and water-snow equivalent numbers don't look so nice. If things stay this way it could look a lot like the drought year of 2012 around here. Run off was quick and light in 2012. We had a 4 week pre run off float season when it's usually a week at best ( it was awesome and no one was here.) We picked people up at 5 am all summer so we could be off the river by noon as to not stress fish. Our usual fun on the Eagle from the boat with dry flies didn't happen in July it happened a month earlier.
I'm no meteorologist but I have worked outside since I was 20, I got the wrinkles to prove it, this year could be a tough one for my rivers. Anything can happen around here in the next few months and we all certainly hope we get the snow we desperately need. If the snow does not come the season will be best early, like now through June, don't skip it, just plan accordingly.


Colorado Angling Company

Killer deals on guide trips right now. Get on it.

Bobbertalk Pod Cast with Scott Thompson and myself?..............Stay tuned

Carry On

Fish on Crystal

"Crystal" informed me she had fly fished before, once. 

I'm not sure if it was her tone, or smirk, but I quickly sensed this little sass machine had a future in high maintenance everything and had exactly zero interest in being there with her step daddy and her three brothers; let alone some old fly fishing guide.  With everyone else happily fishing I took Miss Thang for a walk down the still snow covered bank to a perfect little pedestal for her to pose on. The rock is about six feet from the bank and only ankle deep once you are on it, but it is better than belly button deep if you slip off. It's a good rock to fish from and many a man has stood there, but today it would be a convenient place to stash the least interested part of my trip; the 17 year old diva portion of my responsibilities. She had great chances at a dance, would be dry and warm, look flawless and still be able to tweet; a perfect perch. With not enough room for two I stood waist deep in the freezing spring flow below her like a good boy thinking about how girls like this are going to be turning my young son inside out before I knew it. My goal was to get some line off her reel and get a bug in the drift as quick as possible so I could get someplace safer.

I hooked one on the demonstration cast.

As often happens during the hand off on a hooked fish, one of my little buddies took advantage of  the queen.

The way she tipped her head and glared at me over those thousand dollar aviators clearly explained that fish getting away was my fault and one day she was going to eat men alive for fun. I hand her the rod, turn to get the hell out of there for a minute and by some miracle she is hooked up before I can reach the bank. My little Liz Taylor lands this one on her own and with a simple flip of that perfect hair dismissed me to do my job other places. I got to gettin. She got on the phone.

I'm not sure if it was sorcery or my internal guide clock telling me to wander back and face the fear, but just ten minutes later some strange force was drawing me down stream. As I got closer to my thorny rose I realized things were more horrible than I could have imagined and I might have left the dark queen alone too long. There in the snow behind "Ivanka", a good distance from where he really wanted to be, lay a gorgeous Eagle River Rainbow Trout.

I don't speak Trout real well, but I do understand some and this guy was clearly begging to be put back in the water. I scooped him up and slid into the drink next to "Crystal's" rock hoping to perform some resuscitation. I cradled my little buddy in the water and gently began to wave water over his head and gills trying to bring him back from the light. I looked up at "Lil Kardashian" who was towering over me and pretending to not know what was going on and asked "what do you figure happened here?"

"What do you mean?" my nearest witness growled.

"Well...........I just found this nice little fish in the snow behind you and I was wondering what may have happened" I say.

I'll never forget her reaction.

She said "I have no idea what you are talking about" and looked up as if she saw that trout fall from the sky. I looked up too as if I believed her.

Part of a guide's job is to read people and 17 year old girls are one of the trickiest groups to handle for even the most cunning of us. There was no safe way for me to blame her or get to the bottom of things even though the smell of her guilt had replaced my scent of terror. Still, calling this future five time divorcee out spooked the hell out of me.

That fish swam away so I am sure he wasn't out of the water that long and I figured at that point she would admit to chucking that poor fish on to dry land with an over zealous hook set or something; but no.

I never said a word about the incident to anyone that day, neither did "Crystal".I have guided the same lovely family several times since and while I may believe her to be guilty of attempted murder, she has been sweet as pie. 

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Spring has sprung! Midgezilla is on site and there are some fat-happy fish waiting around here for you peeps.

1/2 off Private water while it lasts.

Full day Floats for 1/2 day price.

That's nice

Carry on you funny people

Tying Demo at Charlies Fly Box

 Come see me make a mess at Charlies Fly Box in Arvada Colorado

http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/

I'm coming down the hill Saturday February 24th, 11-1 for a tying demo at Mr Charlie Cravens Incredibly Epic Emporium of Tying Greatness.

Perspective, Patterns and possibly a rant on topics including:

The Evolution of a Guide Fly

Proven patterns for the Colorado and Eagle Rivers

Droppers for summer floats

Traditional patterns gone Jiggy

Listen, I can sit here and tell you "your gonna learn all these new tricks" and how I might have invented the San Juan Worm, but I honestly tie flies like all mortals (not including Craven). I have just been blessed to be a very busy guide which has led to being a very busy mad scientist at the vise. With fantastic rivers like the Roaring Fork, The Colorado and The Eagle as test labs, my fishing clients both float and wade have helped compile a ton of data regarding fly selection. You'll be happy to learn (if you come see me) that whipping together the "right" bugs is really not that complicated or time consuming.

Come carry on about trout bugs with me.

Exploding birds and Trotlines

Breaking even with a fly rod

Minding my own business in guide position just behind my wading angler, I was a few minutes into a standing nap when I was rudely awoken by a small explosion. There nine or ten feet above us was a good sized cloud of dark mottled feathers gently fluttering to the high water of run off. They fell very slowly and gracefully and against the dark spring sky it was hard to tell just how many feathers there were (a whole birds worth) and even harder to find the fuselage. The first thing that crossed my mind was that the kids across the river had updated their weaponry from wrist rockets and juniper berries to some real shit but I was way to far away from the porch they usually used as cover.
It was a perfect little forward stroke of a roll cast that ended that Swallows life, so good my angler didn't even feel the impact which broke the tip section."Doug" was pretty shook up once he realized he ended a little birds life. Like needed to sit and compose himself shook up. It was kind of touching.

Fighting back the urge to lighten the situation with some off hand Western New York sarcasm and scared to even grin, I just quietly rigged up the spare rod. The eddy river right at Perry's Riffle relentlessly held the corpse just within sight but just out of reach as a reminder. I patiently waited and watched, anticipating the king of Browntown coming up for a serious meal but it never happened.

Maybe if it was still twitching I thought.

We had to move on and Doug worked through it like a man and no lie was hooked up two casts after his brief morning period.

What a way to pump some life back into the trip.

By the way the rod was dancing it looked like a great fish so I was even happier for my new Buddhist friend. As we slowly gained line back on the beast in the heavy spring flow, the bobber began its climb from the water to the rod tip when I saw both of my flies right at the waters surface, but no fish. A high lift of the rod and a few more turns of the reel revealed what the situation at hand was all about. Doug had hooked a trotline.
 A trotline is a a very long, heavily weighted, heavily baited, anchored length of mono that is left overnight or for days, illegally, by horrible sports. I have cleaned up more than a few of these cruel torture tools in my time on sections of trout streams you would never expect to find one.
With the flies and mono in clear sight fifteen feet in front of Doug, the fish suddenly showed itself right in front of me. The poor bastard practically swam into my net like he knew I was there to help, not knowing how much he was about to help also. So now I have a happy angler and one very happy fish in the net with a 2/0 bare hook in his side. Poor fish wasn't even hooked in the mouth. Doug was smiling, I was smiling and I think the trout was even smiling after his quick cosmetic surgery and release back to freedom the way he might have remembered it if he actually remembered. It all helped Doug not remember.
That fish hung in the current break Doug's legs created for ten minutes as if to thank him, I figured it was Mother Natures way of making Doug feel better for breaking even. One stroke of the rod brought an end to a life and two strokes later it gave life back.

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A couple of my photos made the cut for Dman's latest book Hidden in Plain View, check it out. Duane's third book is full of the usual great information in a format that's easy to understand and apply to up your game.  Buy it here

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Fishing is awesome right now, Skiing not so much. Snow pack and the general winter conditions are the worst locals have seen since the seventies but on the bright side, for now, the fishing is amazing and there is plenty of open water, public and private and even a riser here or there. Look me up we have lots of specials on trips, schools and lodging.

Colorado Angling Company

Carry On