The slush hatch

It's always struck visitors and locals alike as unusual that you can fish in the winter, especially above 6000 feet. Coming from a Great Lakes trib fishing back ground, winter fishing has been a way of life for me, not abnormal. Most of my winter guiding experience has been on wade trips of the half day variety, but there has always been a few hardy souls willing to try a float December-February.

Winter float fishing has its challenges. Just getting there is the first. There is just no reason to rush to the river, the best fishing is going to happen in the afternoon. Arrive to early and witness the early morning slush hatch and you'll know what I'm talking about. After floating the Roaring Fork 4 times since New Years day, I've found the best fishing is basically Noon- Dusk with a "magic" hour in the middle of the afternoon. Fishing on the fly is usually not worth it as our rigs are long, deep and heavy. Once in a while on those real warm days, you can hurl your favorite streamer pattern on the fly but that is better left for March. Boat ramps can also influence how and when you get to the river. In early January I had a client who was, lets say very anxious to get to the river and get going. Sometimes it's just not worth arguing with your peep about timing, you just have to get there and let him see for himself. I stopped and looked at the take out (which i recommend highly if you haven't seen it in 3 months), and it looked like there wouldn't be an issue. I then called my shuttle driver who is a local and her husband guides on the Fork. She thought i was a bit loony but with our economic issues she didn't try and talk me out of it, besides her husband was in the background teasing me into it. When we arrived at the put in, the water was covered in slush, and a wade trip on the upper Fork crept into my plan. Long story short, after being called out by my 76 year old buddy's, "no guts no glory" speech, i backed my truck and trailer down the ramp still wondering how to slow down my departure. That ended up working it's self out as my truck and trailer was buried in the snow for the next 45 minutes. By the time i finished with that circus act the slush was gone and we went on to a great day of fishing.

Boat placement is also very different in the winter. On most float trips the oarsman finds a comfortable line for his anglers to throw to the bank. In the winter those areas can look more like a hockey rink and I am yet to see anyone throw a tuck cast under ice. Most trout will hold off of these traditional summer areas out on what we call the second seam over some deeper water. In this case you are still holding a line in or around the middle of the river, it's just further away from the bank than most rowers are used to. The other line that is used commonly in the winter is bank hugging. When there is no ledge ice on the bank you can slow your boat and give anglers more shots by staying in the rocks and shallows along the bank, throwing back towards the middle of the river to the seam that is holding the fish. This takes some practice and a proficient crab stroke so you don't make a bunch of noise with the boat.

Knowing your float and whats coming up around the corner is the number one way to keep your peep interested. I usually explain our fishing for the day as "hole to hole". When the water is low and slow it's very easy to hover a boat in prime areas without using an anchor. Knowing what holes to spend time in and how much time to linger only comes with experience. Don't bank on your favorite summer hole to look the same in the dead of winter. Winter holes can be places you pass in prime time because they are to fast or deep to play with when you are wearing your tee shirt.

Summer crowds on float rivers can be every boaters additional headache. In the winter a crowd can be one other boat. Because you both know you can only fish effectively hole to hole, it sometimes becomes a race. When you are with a guide you don't have to worry about that but believe me the guide is. The good ones know to play some cards out there and realize that you don't necessarily win by finishing first. If I'm following someone more experienced than my 2 bit program and i recognize it, i have a couple more things to think about for the day . Do i want to get ahead of him and piss him off by being parked in every good hole when he comes around the corner? Playing nice and sharing doesn't just apply to children unless your looking to make your life hard every time that other dude is on the river with you. Another thing to think about when sharing is if the other boat doesn't have the experience your team does. If I'm following a bunch of guys with less game I tend to let them get ahead of me. That can backfire all day long on ya if you let it though. Winter is when i have found every secret spot i know because someone else was parked there. In the summer the amount of boats on the river can give you data but it's often to diluted, fishing on the fly is still an option and there are many different rigs you can use. When you are going hole to hole in the winter, someone more experienced than you is bound to tip his hat to something really special. If you pass a hole with two bent rods, remember it for next time. The trick is to remember what the boat and the guide looked like also. Lot's of people forget that part. Try and be careful or sneaky enough to not park in that spot he gave you when he comes around the corner next time. Play nice and you will be trusted out there.

Often our pre trip data can be limited in the winter also. Checking a USGS site to analyze water flows is a great way to start planning, unfortunately the winter gauges often just read ice so you have no idea what to expect. That should also sound like "be careful". Winter is just one case for why i love rubber boats so much, who cares if it's low. Rubber opens up runs and holes the drifty in front of you has no right trying for. It also gives you options at the take out or put ins. That early January day with ol Warren stuck on the boat ramp spooked me at the take out, so i just took my boat apart and walked it up the hill ( thank you Pack and Agent Newell) I've since been sliding it down the snow covered put in, and dragging it up all together, cooler and all, at the take out. Point being is you never really know until you try, same should be said for this winter float stuff.

Learn your river well. Dress right, float at the right time, think out side of the summer box, have some balls and you don't have to put your boat away for the winter. Skiing sucks anyways, I can live with snow shoes. Most everybody you are going to pass on the river in the winter are the true diehards of this sport. They feel the same way and can help hold the key to great fishing in the summer if you pay attention.

Stocking Stuffers

The need for a stocking stuffer for Uncle Alan has given me a reason to screw around with the Unibobber. The good people at Hareline sent a complimentary pack of these mini thingamabobbers made for tying with my last order. The pictures are deceiving, they are small, at most 1/4". These are all tied on a #14 emerger hook but i am sure you could go as far as #16. Sweet little spring creek indicator for back home, maybe i can even test it on Spring Creek behind the hatchery,it's been a long time. Who knows maybe these babies will be all the rage on the tailwaters, help me out Theo. The only secret i will give on these holiday recipes is i used 9 year old Chocolate Lab hair for the dubbing, extremely buoyant stuff.

Not much to report on the fishing up here, i have had a hammer in my hand more than the Hellboy. There are plenty of open spots along the ice rink we call The Eagle river and the fish are stacked. The water below Basalt on the Fork and the Lower C below GWS look very good with little to no shelf ice. Heading back to my roots on the North Coast without a rod so i am sure the fish will be in.

Merry Christmas! May you get bent good in the new year.

More good bugs

So here's a few more bugs from the vise for winter. We used to get a dubbed body version of the top bug way back when Perry ran the ship, it was lethal. JC adopted it as one of his favorite winter morsels way back when. We nick named it the Baboon, JC still asks me on occasion if i have any and there usually are a few hidden away. Now the new version for winter 09-10, the JuJu Baboon. The middle snack is the #22 olive Wee Wee, it's been deadly as of late and is a winter go to in Olive, Grey, Purple, Blue and Black. The bottom fly is Sam's Tungsten Sally #16. I wrap this up in #14-#20. I'm looking forward to throwing this in a #18 this summer when i see those Micro Sallies again.

Slip and Slides

Before Sam and I drive through “Big Buck alley” on the mornings I pick him up down in town, we stop and pick up the local papers in front of the Eagle Pharmacy. We have been doing it 3 days a week for 7 months but it wasn’t until this morning that I looked down and noticed the storm sewer had a fish on it. On further inspection I noticed in proud, bold, raised India steel, the words “no dumping” and “flows to river” flanking that fish. I wonder how many other people haven’t noticed that? I’m thinking some paint would make it stand out more. Most trout fisherman understand we have some challenges that face our sport, they don’t need a storm drain to tell them that surface run off is BAD. It’s everyday Daryl I wonder about. My wonder grows from experience with road and river clean ups. If you look from someplace other than a car window traveling 65 miles an hour you will see most people are pigs. Fish counts in reliable historical area’s have been dropping steady when shocking is performed directly downstream of society and it’s storm sewers. The “old” problems like mines, golf corses and sewage treatment are not issues like they used to be, thanks to people. While we have been congratulating ourselves for a justifiable job well done, a new problem has been silently working over places like Arrowhead, thanks to people. I guess Daryl look's at all of the fancy treatment plants and assumes we are doing everything within our power so he lobs a cigarette butt or some chewing gum out of the car window. I once listened to a biologist describe exactly what was in a sample of foam from I-70 and it was sickening. More Klingon than human. The newspaper box is only about 2 miles from my house but it’s probably 500 ft below it. There are several fancy steel grates with the fish on them before the road goes dirt and mother nature takes over. I began to think about shit flowing down hill and the unfortunate and often taken for granted fact, that there is a trout stream at the bottom of it. I look at my dirt road and it's "mother nature engineering" and it makes me think; things were bumpy but better before concrete. If I was to dump a 5 gallon bucket of nuclear waste up here, it would take Sam's lifetime to register (dont worry i used what i had already). Mother natures filtering system seems infinately larger and a whole lot more efficient than these slip and slides the municipalities love so much. I think we should paint those grates chartreuse. At least someone who may not know any better will notice them when they stop to get the paper.

As for the fishing: The weather and the fishing remain hot. We guided a few trips over Thanksgiving but the crowds are light while the fishing remains stellar. Nymphing is the rule and small is king. Baetis, Midge and eggs hung under what else? A Bobber.

Early Winter Bugs

A couple of tasty treats to wet the whistle for the up coming winter season. Zim sent me the picture of "Midge Magic" up top, very cool stuff and absolutely no info as to where it came from or who's responsible. I guess Charlie Craven is responsible for the middle one even though I tied it. Super Hair bodies have become all the rage. Tying them is simple and the great range of colors make for incredibly lifelike imitations. I just add things like Tungsten beads in the Thorax, trailing shucks and softhackles. The last pic is the #20 Blue Wee Wee. Blue is this years purple which everyone knows was the new black the year before that. I think all that started with the color red

I'm looking for good pictures of your favorite PRH patterns.

Think with yer rod tip......Jimmie

Sorry, but little loud Scottish dude scrambling around whacking people makes me laugh. It's true marketing genius when my old man does not hit the mute button during a commercial.“ That’s thinking with yer dip stick….Jimmie” has me thinking about a teaching tool passed along from a more knowledgeable master once. "Tactile" I think he called it, using physical contact as a teaching aid. Touching adds to the moment’s sensation and can make it more meaningful in certain instances. I learned this in a casting demonstration where the instructor would touch the area of concern, whether it be a wrist, forearm, finger or grip. The sensation of touch made the moment more significant and people learned quicker. My elbow once touched someone and it became one hell of a moment and everyone learned something, but I’m not supposed to talk about that. When you start to break a bird dog with electricity you begin to get in that dogs head. You push a button and he starts to understand that his master can be an influence even at great distances, he begins to listen. I am NOT saying i have secretly wished to put a shock collar on everyone who has sat in my boat, but that would make me laugh like i do at little Scotts and his dip stick. By adding the sensation, or pain in a dogs case, the learning process has a definite down side if he does not progress. A wet handshake after a great fish will always be part of the moment you may remember. A firm hand on your shoulder during a fast water wade say's i'm here with you. A partial hug from another man clearly explains you have been to battle together. A 4 shot night and an open hand grab on some biker chicks back bumper will probably lead to a lesson of some sort. So wouldnt a good whack with a 4’ piece of graphite just crystallize that special moment when you forget to mend for the 200th time? I think so. One guy I know has a naughty seat in his craft, but an old rod tip trumps that. A small thoughtful handle of duck tape on an old buggy whip tip and you have got yer self a perfect attention getter. At the very least you have your buddy acting like a wet bird dog fully expecting some voltage.
Seriously, making people aware of the tip of their fly rod has helped “some” peeps go to another level. Where is your tip pointing? How high is your tip? Can you move your tip quickly in a straight line to an abrupt stop? Can you feel your tip move as the rod loads? Where does your tip stop during the plane of the stroke? Lots of tip shit there huh? It’s often hard to control something consistently that far from your hand, but you have to in order to operate a fly rod. Raising your tip off the water can happen quietly with just your wrist or like some crazy Yoga move, it’s based on the situation. To much Yoga on a move that should have been just wrist leads to less fishing and more casting. Hand anyone a rod and ask them where all the money is and they will tell you the handle, it makes sense, it's usually surrounded by bling. Nice cork, titanium, gold up locking hoopty with sweet paint, obvious and common choice. Most people are not privy to the tip flex coefficient taper regulation flow chart , nor should they be, so I’ll tell you. The brains of the operation are about 9’ away from that bling. The more you think with your rod tip…..Jimmie, the more this whole game will make sense. Marketing schemes only last so long so I better whack some one soon, otherwise I may have to explain further, I did that for a year with the elbow thing.
A quick note on Jimmies: This is all much funnier to anyone who knows Fieldsy. For at least 2 hilarious years , long before this Valvoline thing, he called everyone he didn’t know…..Jimmie. One of the greatest men I ever knew… Mr Simmons i have missed you since i last saw you. My favorite person in the world to hunt with(top 5 anyways) Jimmie T, I miss your radio jabber. Kirk was an awesome Jimmie. Morrison and Hendrix should be mentioned. Number 12 in your program #1 in your heart.....Jim Kelly. And everyone know's, Jimmies make a good frozen custard better.

I can't get any higher

I was tempted to turn my head lights off the moon was so huge tonight. Driving east from Glenwood Springs up through the Canyon the moon hung in just the right position I was bummed there were tools in my truck instead of a rod. A giant harvest moon, spawning Brown Trout and a streamer rod and I am late for work tomorrow morning.
I took a quick drive to Basalt to check out an open house for a new Water Use Commitment on the upper Colorado River tonight. I won’t bore you with details that I needed an interpreter for and there are 100’s of these issues on the table here in Colorado alone. They all look the same in the end, we are running out of liquid. The “shuffling” of water around on a couple of water sheds on my turf is going to make things look different in the near future. It’s happening everywhere and the experts say “the glass isn’t half empty, it’s almost dry”. We already cheat the laws of gravity for the sake of Kentucky blue grass on the front range. Water that naturally flows west from our side of the divide is pumped and sloshed through an elaborate maze of tunnels and ditches to faucets in Denver and surrounding areas. Western communities survive by collecting water, basically every year. It’s not like there is an insurance policy the size of lake Powell stashed away for low water years. We modern age western folk basically live pay check to pay check as far as H2O goes. I once read that each American uses 1500 gallons of virtual water daily. That’s the water in all the little details that make up your day, from the shirt you wear, the cool aid you make your ankle biters to the wrapper on your Whopper Jr. So as we continue to flock west, each person requires a certain amount of water. Each small fry born to the mountains of the west must be accounted for in the budget and almost 2 years ago I messed with it myself (i guess Sam's mom is part responsible). I think about what fishing here will be like for Sam when he is 40. It largely bums me out. The needs of man will continue to mess with these delicate watersheds and it seems inevitable that the business of recreation on these gems will be the first to loose, along with Sam.
On most water sheds that are bumming you can usually bank on finding good water and fish by going higher. There is a definite purity to everything as the elevation increases. The Colorado is a huge river and I’m already along way away from the drain, I can’t get much higher.