Rainbow Falls (Not My Fault)

Pop Quiz: What do you do when your wife says she wants to go fishing two days in a row? Other than nearly choking to death on the bite of french toast you just stuffed in your mouth, you get your arse in gear and head for the hills.

Ah yes! I am creating a monster. Uh and I mean that in the best sense of the word Dear. :-) I think it's safe to say that Alicia has caught the bug. The girls on the other hand..... still working on that.

Back up to Rainbow Falls with Laurie and Marty. We worked our way down Trout Creek almost all the way to Cougar Lake and hit nice fish in almost every hole. Alicia and I traded off each run. I hooked this chunk in very small water. Any sort of holding area is almost certain to hold a nice trout in this creek.

Even a "slow" evening at Rainbow Falls is a good one. We didn't hook up as much as we had the night before but we were catching fish pretty regularly.

We were about to call it an evening and Marty hooked into a beastie. Caddis were coming off like crazy and he stuck this pig on a graphic caddis. He got my attention and I headed up with the net but he managed to slide this gal into his net just as I got up to him. I took this pic and noticed Alicia in the background with a bent rod. Back down the creek with the net! I got there just in time to see a nice bow Alicia had been fighting tail slap the water and spit the hook. For the first time I saw that all too familiar look in Alicia's eye of the sinking feeling that comes with losing a good fish. It was like losing all the big fish I've ever lost all at once. I wanted to dive in and wrestle the finned heart breaker right into a picture with my smiling Alicia. I wanted to tell her it gets easier but we all know it doesn't. But hey, first world problem. 

Great way to wrap up Memorial Day weekend. So thankful for what so many have given to make weekends like this possible.

Rainbow Falls (Alicia's first trip this year)

Alicia has been looking forward to fishing since our last outing this past fall on the Arkansas. The weather has finally warmed up enough and Alicia mentioned that she felt like fishing. Done.

Two and a half minutes later we were in the car headed up to Rainbow Falls. We made a rolling stop so Laurie and Marty could throw their gear through the window and jump in and we were off. Eight minutes later and we were on the water.

We figured it would be pretty crowded on Memorial Day weekend but it wasn't crowded at all when we arrived. There were people fishing in our first choice of water but we kept driving down Trout Creek and our second pick was wide open. I asked Alicia if she remembered everything I showed her last fall, tossed her a rod, and wished her good luck over my shoulder as I headed for one of my favorite runs.

Ok I'm not that big of an A-hole. I wanted to start her off with a nymph rig before we attempted some chuck and duck with the big hooks. We went over the rig and she picked right up where we left off last fall. The big difference is that the fish in Pueblo wait till the fly hits the water before taking it. I think the quick action caught Alicia by surprise a little. She soon picked it up though and hooked a really nice rainbow that came completely out of the water several times. She's hooked now for sure! Yes! Unfortunately the fish took a quick turn and charged hard for the far bank and broke the line. Good learning experience! Alicia hooked a few more but was still dialing in on the fight. We decided to head to some new water.

Alicia had knocked the rust off at this point and was hooking up regularly. She got a good hook set on the bow pictured above and did everything right on the fight. Head up into the net and a great pic. Notice the arm extension? That's called good coaching.

The action kept up and Alicia hooked up to a nice bow. This one was going to push 20". Another great fight and we had her in the net. 19" bow. Very nice fish but you'll have to take my word for it because I was a touch late on snapping the pic. I know I'm going to catch hell for this but It's an instant classic. My girl looks like some sort of fly fishing quarterback getting ready to drop back and deliver a game winning hail Mary trout pass......  or something like that. It sucked not getting a pick of that fish. It was a good 24-26".

We kept at it and Alicia had it down. I decided to do a little fishing myself and Alicia went upstream on her own and hooked 3 fish to include this nice cutty. I landed a nice 21" bow on a streamer but didn't take a pic. So so sad that a 21" bow doesn't make the pic cut.... I regret it now but I was having fun seeing Alicia catch fish.

I really enjoyed spending time on the water with my best friend. I think I've mellowed out enough to be a patient teacher. Something special about teaching someone you care about how to share in something that has given you so much enjoyment. The hook is in deep now! I saw her eying my Sage One though... Hmmmm

Arkansas River (Pueblo)

Ben Lewis and I met up with Ben Wurster at Steel City Anglers for a morning of fishing on the Ark. Ben W's truck had recently been robbed and he lost a lot of his gear. He was offering up a killer deal on guided trips so we decided to sign up. We'd be able to help Ben out and we'd get a great day of fishing in return.

Believe it or not, we had never fished the Carp Hole before. I've fished all around it but have never spent any time in this run. Ben set us up along the run and we were hooked up within 5 minutes. This run is a lot of fun to fish. The flow started off around 270. The run was fast up top and slowed as it deepened. There is a nice gradual slope out from the south bank and you can fish different depths by adjusting your cast.

Ben W gave us some good tips on where the trout have been holding and he was spot on. Very counter intuitive too as far as where we were hooking up. Learned something new within the first 5 minutes of the trip. The sport that keeps on giving.

After we landed half a dozen fish or so I started noticing a lot of debris in the water. The water was clouding up and the current was picking up. The island that we had stashed our other rods was gone. Luckily our guide was paying attention and had moved them to the bank. The flow went up 230 cfs.

We worked our way back to the Nature Center and picked up a few fish here and there but the flow definitely sent the fish looking for cover. Really underestimated the current just above the Nature Center and almost went for a swim. Just a little water can hold a lot of power!

We met up with Lou and had a nice lunch at the Coyote Grill. I had the Pueblo Burger which has cream cheese and Pueblo chillies on it. Fantastic!

A great trip with good friends. Can't ask for more!

Rainbow Falls

Me again - uh decided to hit Rainbow Falls. It's nice to be able to fish on a weeknight. Especially.... ok ok. I really don't want to be known for inventing the blog rerun. You know the drill by now. Rainbow Falls, except this was the second night in a row because the fishing was so good the night before. Ben went up with me this trip. Started at the creek again and it was great, again. Here are the creek pics. The first one is really worth zooming in on (sorry Ben.. too good not to share). Good story behind this one actually.

 I started fishing the second run up and was showing Ben where I had picked them up the night before when on queue I hooked up on a subtle take. Ben laughed and took 10 steps up creek and took a cast and hooked up..... with a nice brown. My Dad and I were just talking the night before that we hadn't pulled a lot of browns out of the creek. I wanted to get a pic. So..... I just took the pic while fighting the fish I hooked which by then, I had figured out was a really nice bow. Got this first snap off and went back to my fight when Ben said that he still had the fish. Refocused and got the second snap. Ben came down and netted my fish. Talk about a first world problem. "Dude, I don't know if I can get a good pic of your big fish that you hooked on your first cast while I'm fighting my big fish that I hooked on my first cast". Really? When you step back and look at it, two week nights in a row of great fishing with great company, you really have to be thankful for the good moments in life. They happen more than we recognize I think.

We forced ourselves off the creek after an hour or so and headed to cougar lake. I've been tying some large Meat Whistles with dumbbell eyes and it turns out pink and red ones are just big fish magnets at Rainbow Falls. You won't catch a ton of fish on them but the ones that eat them are usually pigs. It does feel like you are sailing a rooster though when you cast. If you want to know the materials I've been using let me know and I'd be happy to share. Better hurry though if you want to get in on the action. This guy below has already studied up on the red rooster Meat Whistle and I don't think he'll be fooled again! Imagine looking into those beady little red eyes perched on the hook in the corner of your mouth. I'm going to stop thinking about that now.

We went up to Spring Lake and Elk Lake but things slowed down at 7:45 or so. Not sure why. It was a great sun set. We had the entire place to ourselves. Just can't beat it. Life is good.

Rainbow Falls

Weeknight trip to Rainbow Falls with my Dad. Nice to be able to fish after work. Especially when the action was as good as it was. We showed up around 5 and it was raining off and on during the afternoon. We got to the creek and it was high and off color. Normally a bad sign for fishing but the fish were going crazy.

Just about every cast was a fish. We also had the entire creek to ourselves. I had planned on hitting a few lakes but the fishing never turned off on the creek so we stayed at the creek. That pretty much sums it up! Fish every few casts, big fish every fourth cast, never left the creek. Now for more pics.

Arkansas River (Pueblo)

Back into the wild this weekend! I had to get on a river. WAY too long. I've been having a blast at Rainbow Falls but I'm a river fisherman at heart and the moment I stepped into the Ark on Saturday morning I instantly remembered why. There is just something about moving water. The flow Saturday was up (although it looks like they cranked it way back down) and the water was surprisingly clear.

Got a bit of a late start and wound up "blowing through the gate" around 8:30. At least this is how the park ranger described it.... I'm usually on the river before anyone is at the park station by the dam. I drove (slowly) past the booth and stopped to fill out a park pass. Payed our day use, parked, and started gearing up when a park ranger pulled up to give us a large ration of shit. Now I have plenty of respect for these individuals and was more than polite but getting an attitude for an honest mistake was a little unsettling. What was even more unsettling is how unfamiliar this individual was with state fishing regulations when it came to carrying two rods vs. having two lines in the water at one time. If you are going to give someone shit, at least know what you are talking about. Reminded me of Super Troopers. "Super Trooper - Where you boys headed? Me - Ah we are just going to hit the hatchery outlet and maybe get some biscuits and gravy on the way home. Super Trooper - Almost made it". Anyway.... after 20 minutes of harassment we were off.

We were planning on fishing the hatchery outlet but one of my favorite holes was open on the way so we decided to fish there a while. Action was fair. Marty and I landed 3 trout and 5 suckers in 3 hours. There was a small BWO hatch but nothing much to speak of. It was very crowded and we stayed holed up for the full 3 hours. San Juans, PTs (20), and green Forget-Me-Knots (20) took the trout. I did enjoy sight fishing to a few trout on the tail end of the run.

A little video action of the release

Quick half day trip. Sure was nice to be on the river. Heading back next Sunday morning for a half day guide trip. Can't wait to learn some new tricks!