Leaving the Fish for a Day

From the runs of the Dream Stream to the runs of Arapaho Ski Area; sometimes it is nice to give the fish a break and to experience nature in a different manner.

Remember the old Pink Floyd lyric, "Hey, teachers, leave those kids alone?" Well, sometimes, as a guide I sing that line to myself, "Hey guide, leave those fish alone."

So, I did.  For a day, I left the fish and the river to ski. Another beautiful day in the mountains and hopefully the slightest reprieve for some fish.

Dream Stream Browns

A beautiful Fall day on the Dream Stream produced some nice Browns.

Cheesman Canyon: A walk into The Quiet

Cheesman Canyon: A walk into the quiet; almost.  At least we did not hear the trucks, cars and motorcycles down river at Deckers. But we did hear some fish breaking through the surface of the canyons clear pools.

Looking for Big Fish in All the Wrong Places: Dream Stream

Last Fall I wrote a post on the large number of anglers looking "down" and throwing weighted flies down to any big Brown they can locate. A "few" spawning Browns have appeared on the Dream and so have the crowds. Every Fall I make the comment, "It seems like it is a 100 to 1;  that is 100 anglers for every one Brown."

Last Fall, I suggested maybe we should look "up" for  rising fish. Fall is a great time on the Dream Stream to fish dry flies during late trico and BWO hatches. I found it greatly rewarding to catch several 20 plus inch Rainbows and Cutt-bows throwing drys. And even a few big Browns rose to the occasion.

Why not throw some drys? The weather is too nice for most of the big Browns to come up out of the lake. And besides, I get the feeling that the few big fish that are up, are already ducking from those weighted flies being thrown over their heads.

South Platte Fly Fishing With Our Youth

It is great to watch a young kid learn to fly fish, make technical casts, get good drifts and then watch a rainbow take a dry fly off the surface. Of course, as is true for any angler regardless of age, we need to make hundreds of casts,  while we problem solve and  persevere before everything lines up just right, and we net a fish. It was wonderful to watch Evan learn these skills and to be patient. Well done Evan!

Eleven Mile Canyon: Midges/Tricos /Amy's Ant's

Water Up at Deckers Puts Fish Down. Trico Swarms Still Thick.

The recent rise in flows has stopped the fish from Rising to the tricos. Too much water to move through to rise so it is not worth the energy. But fish still taking "Drowned" forms and nymphs.