The many moods of Midgezilla.

My clock recently sprung ahead and the pile of snow in my driveway has finally dropped below the eves. Just a few of the many indicators that winters grip is weakening. While the weather and water will be springtime moody as usual, things in general, including Trout, are looking up.
Even Midgezilla can get moody this time of year. When times get tough, when there are so many naturals in the drift they are impaled on your hook tough, you need your chip in a sea of chocolate chips to stand out. Try throwing this little headache at them next time your on the ropes in the midst of the giant midge hatch of spring.

Bloody Midgezilla

Hook: Umpqua 2487  #18  when it falls into the carpet below your vise make sure to yank on it real good so it off sets the hook. Now your ready

Flo Red Thread under Amber Glass bead from the sale bin at a local shop insuring they are probably impossible to find.

Dubbed with underfur of an old tennis ball

Rib with expired 5x mono, don't waste your money on the floro, the segmentation will be invisible to the fish. 

If it aint broke don't fix it. Just change colors

Thanks Mr Chung

The boat has been out of the garage (another sign of spring) and its been down the Roaring Fork as well as the lower Colorado. Things are good, mostly nymphing, but productive. Mayhem Midge, Midgezilla, Miracles, small soft hackles, chartruse eggs, and your favorite BWO nymph will keep things bent. Call ahead about floating the Fork between now and the end of May as the take out at Two Rivers is closed essentially limiting floats from West Bank down. This could make the upper river pretty crowded with boats during the prime months of March and April.

Red Zebra Midge, thought out, drifted, set and landed by Mr Mike Salamone 

Mean while on THE Eagle River things are on the climb to prime. Judging by the crowds out there the past week I would say you all know. Let me set the record straight. The public water is fishing horribly. All the people have scared the fish into private water. There are no bugs or potential hatches left in the public stretches. They break ground on condominiums where the parking area is now at post office, the state is parking two loaders and a dump truck at guide rock in Wolcott and Alkali creek is so toxic it will melt your waders if you are upstream of Eagle. The river below Eagle is closed to everyone but locals with over 10 years of residency. I heard that was all over social media so it must be true.

The fishing report for the exceptional stretch of exclusive private water pronounced Vail Rod and Gun club that I happen to guide on is "Good and Ready". For real, all the fish and bugs and hatches and fun are there. Midges in Red, Cream, Tan, Black and Olive. Plain old thread larva, glass beads, lil flash, have fun, try tying some Corded Midges in different colors. The egg bite just started and there have been a few tan worms assaulted. Midgezilla larva is almost always on my set up. BWO's have made a few sporadic appearances on the surface but a #18-22 nymph has produced well in the early afternoons. It's going to get better by the hour, especially where I guide. 

Book a trip.Colorado Angling Company

Teamwork makes the dream work. There is a lot more to this than the lens has captured, shit that doesn't happen in public water. High quality non phone photographic images are still free.

Carry On, Tie flies

PRO Streamer Season

Want to become a PRO streamer fisherman this spring???

Book some time in a boat on the Eagle River for one of the states best kept secrets, Pre Run Off streamer season.

The only reason it is a big secret is that there is usually no body here for it. The resorts close before the run off gets started (usually), locals split, winter help disappears and a few PROS are left with something special all to our selves; a brief taste of something sweet to make the sour taste of muddy water almost seem bearable.

If there was a Streamer University, the Eagle River would undoubtedly be a favorite spring break location.

 Timing  the exact starting date of PRO is dependent on mother nature, but on a normal year, flows should start to bump somewhere between the 3rd week of April- 2nd week of May. Currently our winter flows on the Eagle in Avon are around 75 cfs, we are looking for flows of 200cfs or better to start playing with the boats. Lighter, stripped down rafts with one angler for the early, low water runs is ideal. As flows get to 300 cfs and above, 2 anglers and bigger rafts become easier to manage in a river often compared to a pinball game. Actual length of PRO can be 3 days- 2 weeks depending on clarity and flow. If it goes from spring to summer too quick this special time doesn't last long. If you live close enough to drop what you are doing, get on a call list. If you love to throw streamers, you won't be sorry.

As flows begin to rise with warmer night time temps of spring, fish are shoved into survival lanes instead of feeding lanes.Most fish have been consistently feeding for a month or two before run off or mud season as some people call it, rudely interrupts spring break. Finding fish comfortable enough to eat bugs can become a challenge. During the beginning of PRO, the flow will be melting snow from higher elevations and that can make for cold water even on a warm day. As the water temps get wacky, the behavioral  drift of significant spring food sources like BWO's and Caddis will become more of the catastrophic type.. Fish become much more opportunistic feeders during their time on the bank, aggression and dominance can be key traits to eating enough.....all stuff a streamer junkie wants to hear.

If the streamer fishing is slow it usually is because these wonderful creatures have decided to focus on feeding on the surface. A thick, early season hatch will often switch trout's attention from meat and the anglers focus to the joy of dry fly fishing.

Carry On and leave your bobber rig home.

Dumb fish don't care

Winters grip is weakening here in the Eagle River Valley

February's Big and Heavy report. 

Gilled BWO #18 has been my go to large or attractor fly followed by a couple of midges. I've been tying and fishing Tim Flaglers Corded Midge Link using yellow antron as well as white with great success. Water temps and flows are low and the fish are still held up in their winter lies, deep, mid pool and hard to fool with too much nonsense. Simple tricks like keeping split shot and other junk to a minimum and getting your flies down to the fish with weighted flies instead, can make all the difference this time of year. A 2.8 Tungsten bead has done the trick getting every thing down in the water most fish are hanging around.

Tie some up, call it what you want

#16 2487, 2.8 Black Tung Bead

Thread: Harvested from an old Ugg boot

Tail/Legs: Tijuana Wood Duck

Rib: One Moose Pube

Gills: Tied in Improved Galloup Style Link (it's a long winded video but the gill trick is worth it.) Twist a small wisp of Tan Ice Dub between yer thumb and fore finger and give it a nice one direction booger roll. Tie it in exactly 5 segments from start of the tail so the moose pube ribbing aids in holding the gills secure.

Pull the mess of gill booger back and install your favorite wing case material. I have been using strips of a very expensive rain jacket someone left in my boat. Some air brush work to mottle the material can increase hook ups by over 28%.

Trim the gills

Separate legs on the sides of the fly while dubbing the thorax. Using lightly dubbed thread to hold the legs back helps to not sever them with tightly wrapped small thread. That being said I keep on fishing flies as the delicates fall off. Just fish for dumb fish, dumb fish don't care about tails and legs and such. They probably give zero shits about gills as well.

2 clumps, split, is standard, 1 works just as well and 3 looks wicked cool brah.

Leave your legs long for fast water, cut them shorter when you are getting to the technical junk

This little bit has been leaving marks.

Spring is coming and the Vail Rod and Gun water on the Eagle continues to open up more and more every day now. Book a trip

El Negro Caddis

The summer Black Caddis hatch can be one of those love hate relationships similar to Trico's. Tiny and plentiful can be a pain in the ass and that is especially so when the water is gin clear and low. I find trying to fool the abused trout of late summer just subsurface with Black Caddis patterns can help. The shallow riffles are full of larva and pupa, often bright yellow-pink in color and like a sunken Trico spinner, I think the fish key in on naturals that are easier to grab and ignore the adults most of the time. 

Black Caddis Larva. Not black at all

#18 2488H

Starling softhackle Iris Caddis knock off

When the fella in the riffle confesses that Black Caddis larva and emergers are working, don't make the mistake of grabbing something black. As in many cases, the color of the subsurface naturals do not match the color of the adults we see buzzing around. PMD nymphs are a very dark burgandy, almost black just before they hatch in their adult colors of yellow-orange-pinks. The neon green Mothers Day Caddis larva is a dark dun color in flight and the Black Caddis larva is yellow- yellow orange or pink before they hatch, abundantly, all black.

#18-20 2488H, helps it sink a touch

Tan sparkle emergent yarn shuck, sparse

Small Amber wire rib

Ginger Variant dubbing from an ancient Antron Dubbing Blend dispenser, circa 1989

Dark Dun Poly wing tied in Iris Caddis style

Starling softhackle or the feathers I collect after chasing off the trained neighborhood Magpie

Dark Brown Hare Tron collar

Your standard #20 Peacock Caddis Dry Fly or a low riding dark colored CDC X2 Caddis works for the adult, but I tend to reserve them for the return flight in the evenings.

Fear not the tiny black bug of summer.

Book a Fall trip, its going to be a great one.

Cotton Hoodies Rule. Carry on 

Industry Appreciation Days

It has been two years since I have seen my favorite freestone boiled up with gorgeous muddy water. She looks healthy and alive and I am so thankful for the water this year. Since Mother Nature has decided to give generously to the river and sport we all love so much I thought I would too.

25% OFF GUIDED TRIPS

For any Industry Professional

When?  This offer is good as long as I am hacking at it. Limit one per week.

Who? You can't just be a fly fishing hashtag addict with twelve thousand friends. You need to have given some of yourself to fly fishing, not necessarily for pay. Blogger, shop bitch, manager, old guides, select younger bro's, wanna be's, anybody who has ever volunteered with Project Healing Waters and reliable shuttle drivers could qualify. 

Convince me you have given more to the river than you have taken and we go get bent.

Thanks to all of you who do it right.

Fish like Iron Man

Been flirting with the dry dropper rig as the water takes her time getting muddy. The streamer fishing has been great on the right days but Baetis has been the main snack. Fishing is still rated crazy good  for the time being, give me a call and get in on this special season.

This little tidbit has been a great anchor fly.

Recipe:

Hook: 2488H #16

Bead: 7/64 Black Tungsten, throw them in the dryer with a handful of sand to tarnish

Tail: Feral Barn Cat whiskers

Abdomen: 50 denier GSP dyed in coffee and CBD Oil, rib with small black wire harvested from one of your kids remote control cars that never worked.

Thorax: Crap Brown Jackalope/ River Otter blend

Wing Case: Strip of really old electrical tape

Legs: Earl Sycamore's mustache hairs, I kink them with tweezers.

To finish the bug proper like, I use Solarez UV that I stole off of Charlie Cravens tying desk during a demo. Shit is great.

Let me know if you try it. 

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Every year I try and take some time and improve my teaching game. This year I am turning to a great American hero, Iron Man. That suit does everything, but it can be over loaded; like some of my clients. I've noticed that if Tony freakin Stark has all his power diverted to his jet boots, it is very hard to run auxiliary programs; so he needs to manage where he is concentrating his energy to be a hero. So I figure I am going to try and limit the system overloads this summer by thinking more like Iron Man. If a fella is using every available resource to just cast, asking him to watch where the flies are landing as well may just overload the system. There are between 4 and 8 programs that have to run efficiently for a guy to fish well from a boat. If one or two of those systems are drawing too much energy from the others, shit tends to blow up. I don't have some Marvel level bit of technology for you to strap to your hand so you can wave that incredibly heavy rod all day, but I can manage your level of intensity so we don't blow any circuits. Maybe make a hero out of a few of you.

Practice. I don't have a cool suit that does this for you. 

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Dangles lead to Tangles. Two and three fly rigs are the norm in my world. That includes when we are in the boat.  There are times we need to stop waving that stick and get the bugs back to hand, but I have noticed some of you are reluctant to touch my flies. One version of the dangle is when a peep pulls all but 6 feet of fly line and the leader into the boat, leaving 2 or three heavy nymphs dangling in the water unattended. Bye bye bugs. Another popular dangle is when Mr Scaredycat grabs the leader but lets the goods wander around the boat getting into trouble until he is ready to cast again.

Don't be scared of your guides flies.

Dangles lead to tangles.

Making boats great again.

Boat shop is open!

Buff up "ol Betsy" while the water is up!

If you row a drifty in the rocky rivers of Colorado, you have Chine damage and maybe a leak. Get that tight before the water cleans up this spring.

G4 bottom removal and repair

Wax and Buff

Fiberglass repairs

While we can't paint your boat we can do a wrap job right here in Eagle county. We have some standard designs similar to the one pictured (substitute digi camo, steel, wood and more) for a very special price during run off. Custom design work is also available, its just more jingle. 

Thats a wrap.

Call or email me soon, limited availability.......