Junuary

Ah spring in the Rockies. While the rest of the country is well into barbeque season, things out here are a little different. When I first arrived in town spring run-off was on the downward slope. The rivers were still high and a little off color. I wanted to fish and fish I did. Not anyone else around and the fish were at least a little willing to eat flies.
Water levels were coming down. Each day I would look to the mountains and see plenty of snow. Snow that will have to come down into the river at some point. Well as luck would have it this was one of the least enjoyable Junes in quite some time. Everyone in town is eagerly awaiting the start of summer. This last month was full of rain,cooler temps and plenty of overcast days. Now I cant tell anyone this but I was secretly reveling in the poor conditions. The locals were calling the last month Junuary.I knew that the weather patterns were keeping the snow on the mountains and out of the rivers. I also knew that the time would come when the snow made the long journey that turns snow into water and that water turns into muddy fast moving un-fishable water. The last two weeks have been full of muddy fast water. Water levels are up to where they were about 15 days ago. just today the dipped below the 1000 cfs mark. So I will say that it now looks like things are going to shape up this week. I had forgotten that summer does not start in some parts of the country until 4th of July. So lets hope that we dont have an abnormal July. I think we are do for some good weather.
Have a good summer.

Watch your fly.

Since the last word party about tailwater fishing I have been to the same section of river 4 times. I fished hard for 3 days straight. Hooked a couple of giant fish. Saw them flash once or twice while they were shaking their head in an attempt to dislodge the little hook in the corner of their mouth. This technique is actually very succesful. A little something to think about if ever you are in a similar spot. The first day I was pretty much down to the last seconds of the 4th quarter deep in my own territory when I finally was able to get a fish to the net. Wasnt the fish of a lifetime but none the less a nice 18 inch bow. Made my day. Also made me want to come back the next day even earlier. On the following trip I was able to land 3 nice fish. Oh I actually picked up a fish on a dry fly.
The 3rd day was starting out on a good note. On my first cast I hooked up with a fish. I can still picture the bruiser in my head. I can also picture his head thrashing back and forth in the current behind a rock until my line snapped!!! I hooked up with a couple of other fish that morning. Then the rain came. Came and came and came in sheets. Fished for a little while but decided that I had seen enough.
So I took a couple of days off for the weekend and went back this morning. Nice thing about not working is that you can get off the water on the weekend just when the crowds of good decent working folks get on the water. I like being on the opposite schedule as the teeming masses in the real world.
Today I landed one fish and hooked a couple more. The river had been raised by the keepers of the dam. Not too much but maybe enough to change things a little. The fishing seemed a little slower. I was not on the water until 11 and the sun was high and hot. Maybe too bright. Not sure.
I still am learning more about tailwaters and the giant fish that slurp the smallest bugs I have ever seen.

Tailwater Lessons.
The river that I would most like to fish is back up to levels that make things a little difficult. Off color and fast water make for less than ideal conditions. I did manage to catch a couple of nice fish the last time I fished. I suppose that is one of the benefits of fishing a stretch each day for a few weeks. You become familar with the little seams,pockets, and bends that can and most times do hold fish.
Well I have decided to make the attempt at fishing below the Taylor dam. They call this place the hawg trough. Typical tailwater fish. Fat and picky. These big dogs will sit and eat the mysis shrimp that were introduced in the resevoir above the dam. A little side note about the shrimp. These little shrimp were introduced to help sustain the kokanee salmon population. Good idea? A little more research should have been done. The shrimp are very sensitive to light. They stay down deep during the day and then move up into the shallows at night. Just the opposite of the fish they are supposed to sustain.
Well the Taylor river hawgs dont seem to mind. The fish grow big and fat below the dam. I am going to try again to convince a few of these trout to eat a well presented fly today. I will not be alone on this section of water. I am hoping to get there a little before the crowds and pick a spot to fish. All of this fishing is going to be done with 6x or 7x tippet. 2 lb test and a 5 pound fish is going to be tricky. I have rerigged my leader system. I still am new to the tailwater experience. We will see how much I pick up. Seems like each time I go I learn something new. In all honesty fishing side by side with a bunch of others,while we all are staring at strike indicators ie. bobbers is not my favorite way to fish. Due to the flow of other rivers this seems like a good time to give it a shot. So if all goes well today, my head will be full of new ideas and at least a couple of good fish tales.

The East river is back up to around 1100 cfs. I fished yesterday and was a little put off by the color of the river. Things were really starting to come together. Clarity was getting better each day. Levels were dropping. The fish were starting to look up. On the drive home though I would always look up at all of the snow still hanging in the high country. Knowing full well that it will have to turn to river water at some point. I am not going to complain about too much water in any western state. I dont know if that is possible actually. Now it is making the big journey from the mountains down into the rivers. The weather did not turn summer like until just recently. The last two weeks we have been dealing with clouds,rain and snow. Therefore the false sense of spring runoff being over. I knew that we had not completly finished with the annual spring rite.
So now we fish in other creeks and maybe in the dam controlled Taylor. Actually fished the Taylor yesterday. Pretty fast water right now. I was able to persuade a 19" bow to take an elk hair caddis. He came up took a look,passed on it and then came back and inhaled the bug. I saw the fish and new he was of decent size but from the amount of line going out I thought he was much smaller. Not sure what the deal was. Hell he may have been caught that morning by someone else. He gave it up pretty easy though. Made for a quick release for him though without too much stress on him.
So today we will go for a hike. I will most likely fish a little creek this evening. Caddis have finally made their appearance. I know of a little spot that wont be blown out too bad.
I have fished the last 13 0f 14 days. I think those are pretty good numbers. One must get in as much as possible before the Texas floodgates open and we are shoulder to shoulder on the water.

Well Hello. First I should say that the little picture of me is obvioulsy not anywhere near the Rockies. I was fishing in Key West a couple of years ago and landed my first Tarpon. I have caught a couple more since then but figured since this is my first attempt at a blog I would share a photo of my first Tarpon.
Now what is the point of this blog? Not exactly sure. I do know that I am fishing every day and each day I write down what I caught where I caught it and what I was using. So maybe this is just an extension of that. I will try to keep it to fishing as much as possible. There is a chance that I will get fired up about something and then unload on the keyboard. Oh well this is my blog afterall.