The California Experience

Spent a week in California and tried a number of rivers and lakes when I had a little time.  Started the fishing on the Yuba River which was next to our campsite the first nite.  We arrived late in the day so only had an hour to fish before it got dark, but managed to catch a 8" brown and then hand Dax my rod and watch him catch one.  The next spot was the Truckee River where I had a couple of hours to fish in the town of Truckee.  The fly shop said the fishing is tough and they were right.  I managed to hook two fish but both shook free in my time.  Next was some lake fishing, which I had never done before.  We tried two seperate lakes, Meadow and French lakes but only had luck in one.  French Lake gave up two 13" Rainbows to me in only an hours worth of fishing as we walked the shoreline.  To finish the trip I fished the South Fork American River for about an hour and pulled out a 9" Brown to finish off right.

Rod:  Iwana 12'
Line:  Traditional Tenkara 10 1/2'
Flies that worked:  Winged ant, BWO, Elk Hair Caddis

RMNP

Been fishing Rocky Mountain National Park recently. The creeks have come down and Glacier creek was fishing well, for my friends. I didn't do so well but the stretch of river below Sprague lake was pretty good. Worked our way from the bridge near the horse park down from the bridge past the second bridge. Paul and Mark were killing it and I had two for the day. Not so good.

Kevin and I went to Moraine Park and fished Cub creek for 4 hrs and had a ton of hits and an all around good time. I landed 7 and Kevin 3, but had several hits. Kevin said he purposely shook off several fish he thought were too small, I am not a believer of his philosophy. Used a tan grasshopper almost the whole day so pretty fun action. Fish were bigger here than Glacier typical 9-13 inch. Great place to teach someone and an easy walk as there is a path the whole way around the winding creek with no trees or overhang to get caught.

Glacier Creek

Went to Glacier Creek in Rocky Mountain National Park today. Caught my first Green Back Cutthroat in the first hole I fished. Little stonefly nymph with a purple extended body nymph on top. Got another brook trout downstream a ways and was promptly shut out for another 4 hours. Made our way down below Sprague lake and had more success catching another three including a Brown. Used a brown half back flash back for those. On the way home saw some deer, an Elk and my first Black Bear. Pretty great day as the rains stayed away and got to fish some new water.
Fished using a yellow stonefly and a half back flash back brown with a green top.

Killing it at Bear Creek

Everyone decided to go to Bear Creek for the day but I started a little early and Paul started late after a bike ride.  Derron and Mark started a couple hours after me and finished a couple hours later than me.  The day was perfect as far as the weather was concerned and although there were a lot of people around, the creek was not that crowded.

I started the day off fishing with a new Unagi Universal Tenkara Rod which is a more heavy duty rod than my other one.  I tied on a Parachute Adams and started casting to a tiny little pool in the first access spot on the creek.  After two casts I think about moving on but tell myself to cast a couple more times, when on the third cast of the day I land a 8" Brown.  Could not have asked for a better start to the day!

Moving on to the next spot up stream I can see a fish feeding next to a tree and start casting to it.  After half an hour with no luck I decide to move on to the next spot, which is where we had good luck last time.  I switch to a Pale Morning Dun and try an area where I can see fish feeding.  After fifteen minutes or so I finally land another 8" Brown just in time for the family walking up to the stream to see.  Mark and Derron show up a few minutes later and start fishing the hole while I move up stream.

Over the next couple of hours I try about eight different spots catching fish in five different spots.  I was still throwing a PMD and when I caught a fish I moved on to the next spot.  All five fish were between 7" and 10" and all were brown trout.  I walked as far as the first bridge and then then walked back to find Mark and Derron still fishing at the same hole I left them at.  In the same time I caught five they caught eleven between them with Derron catching a 13" Brown on a PMD I gave him.

We decide to try down stream where we find Paul who has caught a couple fish already and try out some new areas.  I try about four different spots with no luck before I call it a day and head home with seven for the day.  Derron and Mark walk past the second bridge and find a beaver pond where they can see fish feeding and the trees have cleared out to open up a little space for easy casting.  They finish off their day by catching a few more fish each and call it a day themselves.

One of my best days of fishing so far and one of my favorite!

The bet....

Mark and Derron thought it would be fun to see if they could catch more fish (in inches) than Paul and myself.  We had decided to go to Boulder Creek for the day and started out at Rodgers Park.  Derron and Mark went to a class at Colorado Skies on how to fish Boulder Creek and picked up some flies they recommended earlier in the morning that they gave to Paul and me.  Losers owed beers! 

Mark was the first to land a fish, and they were in the lead.  Of coarse he caught it on a Black Beauty, not one of the flies they gave us!  We fish for a couple of hours with Mark landing two total and no one else having any luck and decide to move into town.

We try a spot behind the stadium and just like before Mark lands a fish, but this time on a Red San Juan Worm.  Yep, you guessed it, not a fly they gave us (cheeky bastards)!  We fish for a few hours with everyone but me catching a fish on a Red San Juan and call it a day and go have some dinner.

Mark and Derron finished with five and two fish apiece with Paul catching one and getting skunked myself on dries.  Had a great day fishing with friends and finding new places to go!

11 Mile Canyon and Big Thompson

Took our first trip up to 11 Mile Canyon this weekend. The river was extremely crowded and we ended up fishing the lower half. Started off nymphing with a braided ginger quill on top and a black beauty on the bottom. Doing a a down stream drift and pulling back every 4 or so seconds I came out with a nice 8" rainbow. Went down to a second pool and caught a good 12" one.





Sunday went up to the Big Thompson. I was not having a good day despite nabbing a small brown right off the bat. Moved up the hill a ways and came across a spot that had several fish feeding, unfortunately it was taken so went up near a bridge and made some casts, got a great big hit on a black green half back flashback. Unfortunately my hook got bent and lost the fish. went down to the pool after and found it to be open, mark and another gentleman were fishing the hole. Apperently he had been fishing here before and was not concerned with us and held the hole for us while I was upstream. I pulled two out of here on dries and mark must have had three or four with alot of top water misses by both us and the fish. We decided despite the fun we wanted a bit more sport and went downstream aways and found a a nice stretch. I had no luck but mark got a couple of hits and even managed to land one.

Over all a good weekend fishing new water. Next time we will be more familiar with the terrain and hopefully not have the wind that has plagued us most of the month.

Clear Creek once a week

So there is this spot on Clear Creek just outside Idaho Springs that seems to guarantee a few catches every time I go there.  I went the past two Friday's by myself and had what are to date, my best two days of fishing, as far as number of fish caught goes. 

The first Friday I get out about noon and head up to the spot.  As before I could see fish in the river and feeding on the surface, which is always a good sign.  I start out with a BWO and not ten casts in I get a bite, my first fish of the day.  It's just a little 7" Brown, but a fish is a fish, and I release it and get back to it.  By now the BWO I am using has no wings and is basically just a green body with an indicator, but that didn't matter because I ended up catching six more with it.  My biggest fish of the day was number three, a 12" Rainbow that was fat, with the other five ranging from 8" to 11" Brown's.  All seven fish were caught in about two and half hours and then couldn't get another fish the rest of the day.

Friday number two I get out about 9:00am and head up to the spot.  After two days of rain the sky has broken open to a glorious day with almost no wind.  Of coarse after two days of rain the water was high and the creek flowing much faster.  As I walked up I couldn't see any fish or any activity in the water, not a good sign for dry flies.  I start the day off with the same BWO as before, but this time with no luck.  After an hour or so and trying a few different spots with no luck I decided to try a diffeerent spot down stream in the canyon.

I try a spot by tunnel 6 where the creek goes away from the road.  By this time it's 10:00am and warming up but I still don't see any activity in the water.  There are a bunch of nice pools along this stretch that should be holding fish but I don't see anything feeding on the surface.  I spend about an hour along this stretch with no luck but am enjoying being in the mountains and fishing, I mean casting, and decided to head back to the spot.

Walking up I can see fish feeding and am ready to go.  By this time I am throwing a Pale Morning Dun and can see a few fish in the water to cast to.  Second cast in and I hook a fish, but as I am bringing it to the shallows it snaps the tippet and the fish is gone with my fly.  I tie on another PMD and same thing as before.  Third fish hooked and it doesn't break my tippet but does manage to wiggle off the hook right as I try to net it.

The fish are still feeding and I finally get my system for netting them down so I stop losing fish.  Over the next two hours I catch seven fish, with the biggest being a 11" Brown.  The bugs stop flying around and the activity on the surface stops and the fish are not taking the PMD anymore, so I try a few other flies.  With no luck to be had I decide to call it a day with seven in the book. Another fun day on Clear Creek!

I just got a new point and shoot camera that lets me take underwater video.  These are my first attempts: