Chilly Stillwater Stop

I took a fast trip to a southern Colorado stillwater for a little afternoon break while traveling. The water was still quite cold and my hopes of any real warmwater fish action were quickly squashed. I still gave it a shot on the off chance I might get lucky and find some bass or bluegill lethargically feeding. No warmwater fish, but I managed a few takes and a little stocker rainbow that had broken off someone else's terminal tackle. I clipped the mono he was dragging around with a split shot attached and back he went. At least I discovered a pretty little lake that has potential for bass later in the summer and it has close proximity when visiting family.

Little stocker rainbow from the suburban stillwater


Lake view

Midweek River And Stillwater

Adam and I took advantage of one of the breaks between storms to head for the river and explore in search of trout. Both of us needed a day off and the midweek timing seemed to mesh with all the natural happenings of spring. The cranes were in nesting and the bald eagles were circling always watchful for any chance at an easy meal. We managed to find a few trout and also one white sucker amid the riffles, runs, and pools of the big water. The sun warmed us enough to make what wind there was tolerable. In a moment of carelessness I broke the top two feet off my fly rod. We were too far up river so I continued to fish with what was left the rest of the day. Thank goodness for weight forward lines. The trout seemed to be taking buggers when they were on the feed but overall the action was rather slow.

Battling a side channel trout


Adam with a nice river brown


A native sucker before breaking the rod


This tree has seen a lot on the river


Working a riffle with a nice drop off


On the way back to the car we saw our fourth coyote of the day as we startled him from his curled up nap, basking in the warmth of the river bank cliffs. We had a late lunch with a nice red ale and decided to try out some area stillwater. The ice was completely off and we began taking trout almost immediately upon arrival. Some healthy browns and rainbows were found and they put a good bend in what was left of my rod. A quick storm rolled through but the fishing seemed better on the back end of it. A fine day full of relaxing walking, beautiful scenery, and some quality fishing. Now to see about sending in a rod for repair.

Stillwater brown... my first brown ever from this particular lake


The storm hitting full force


A sort of weird rainbow release shot

Morning On The River

The forecast was calling for heavy winds and rain or snow later on Sunday. I made a break for it and got in some morning canyon fly fishing. No one had been in the canyon since the last snowfall on Thursday. The trails were pristine crusted snow with nothing more than the occasional fox, coyote, or deer tracks. Crunching my way downstream I found the river to be running a little lower but the fish were still there in most of their normal holding patterns. The first little brown came on my third cast. The day was feeling great right from the start and I drank it all in. I keep thinking to myself how lucky I was to be out in the canyon with no bigger mandate than to fool a few fish and take an enjoyable hike. I managed a new species for the year as well, tricking a white sucker when I least expected it. He felt like a log or a snag at first and then started his rolling, bulldog run. Big brown is the first thought that runs through your mind, but then I got a glimpse and was just as happy to find a native fish enamored with my hot head leech.

I worked my way all the way down the canyon. The weather was much warmer than predicted, at least early in the day, and I had to shed a coat to cool down. While not paying attention to my footing, I took a hard fall on a shoreline boulder right to the left hip. I guess it was bound to happen at some point this year. A big bruise is certainly preferable to a broken bone.

The browns kept coming to hand in a timely manner and when the wind picked up I packed it up and headed for home. The snow started this evening. I guess tomorrow morning I'll find out if this was a "real" storm or not. Either way, I was fortunate to gamble on the morning and cheat the weather gods a little for a beautiful spring day in the canyon.

An early morning release


Canyon Entrance


Spring brown trout


In the shadows of the canyon wall


Native fish of the high plains


Hiking deeper in the canyon


More pretty brown trout for me to endlessly marvel at


The last fish of the day was a good one... a video release.

Whitecap Rainbows

I headed to the lake early today thinking I would beat the wind and arrived to a lake full of whitecaps. Two guys were putting on their drift boat when I started to set up the pontoon. They couldn't seem to make any headway against the wind even in a low profile Claka. I fared a little better and got to the spot I wanted and luckily had a solid anchor set that kept me stationary. I fished until early afternoon with five nice rainbows finding their way to the net. The day was quite beautiful if you could tolerate the wind. It's hard to believe we have a blizzard warning in effect for Monday!

Think I'll mix it up a little, here is a shot of the smallest fish of the day.

Toothy Rainbow

Sixty plus degree day of sun and low wind speeds... seems like a day begging for some stillwater pontooning. The action was on midges with this tooth filled rainbow trout topping the day as "best fish". I could have sworn the fish was trying to bite me while I was releasing it. Action slowed later in the day but I stayed plenty long enough and have the sunburn to prove it. Seems like I get taught the same lesson about high country sun about this time every year.