Dream Stream with Landon

Ben and I got to go fishing with Landon Mayer again on the Dream Stream. Our first trip with him was so eye opening we decided to book a fall trip to go after big browns. Ben and I had originally planned to get a 4 day mega trip in this weekend but our little trailer project that we were working on took a tad bit longer to finish than we thought it would.

We originally planned to hit the Dream with Geno on Friday, work on the trailer Saturday morning and fish Spinney on Saturday evening for pike, hit Spinney or Antero on Sunday, and finish up with Landon on the Dream on Monday. Well our half day estimate on the trailer was about a day and a half short. When it was all said and done though it was worth it. Trailer turned out sweet. Will haul two inflated pontoon boats and has a gear rack and an 8 rod rod holder up top. It was a LOT more work than it looks but it'll save a ton of time when we take the pontoons out.

By Sunday evening we were a little zapped. I'm glad Landon wanted to start at 9:30. Even leaving the Springs at 8:00 seemed early but we were both excited to get a little redemption for losing a big brown that Friday.

Landon was geared up and ready to go when we showed up at the middle parking lot. We gabbed about losing the big brown while getting suited up and decided that we'd just have to hook another big one to make up for it. Turns out that would be easier said than done on that day.

Landon had fished on Saturday and as Ben and I suspected it was a zoo. The fish had been worked over pretty hard the two days prior and we could tell almost right away that the numbers of fish we could see were way down from two days earlier. Plus we had several large groups working through the upper part of the river.
 
It was a tough day but we did a lot of walking and Landon found us some good fish to cast to. I had a shot at a 20" plus brown but I was late on the set. Ben hooked a big cutbow that followed his fly for at least 4 feet but he came unbuttoned at the last moment. We did land some fish though! And it was a blast sighting a fish, getting into position, and having two lookouts watch for the take!

This cutty was hanging out next to the brown I missed. I had to crouch down behind a willow to make the cast and Landon and Ben saw the take. I set the hook and realized that I couldn't stand up with one hand on the rod and one reeling up slack line. Eventually I got up and realized I was already up on the bank and way above this fish which made him pretty easy to land. Really nice colors on this fish! Love the pac man mouth too.

We (Landon really) did spot two big browns but they were SUPER spooky. I got one cast to one of them but the other one disappeared as soon as we saw him. We fished hard all day and were rewarded with some nice fish but it was slim pickings as far as happy fish went.

Ben closed out the day casting to some color in a deep run. Landon and Ben couldn't really tell what species it was but knew it was a pretty good sized fish. I caught the tail end of the fight and got a close up of this river monster. Gnarly!

It was a tough day on the water but I learned a lot. Really made me realize that you can do everything right and still have a challenging day on the water. At the end of the day though the fish we caught meant a lot more than the ones that come easy.

5280 on the Dream Stream

Had a great day on the Dream Stream with Ben and Eugene (Geno) Ray of 5280 Anglers. Ben's better half had given Ben a guide trip through 5280 for his BDay and we realized a few days later that Geno guides for 5280! We have known Geno for a few years now. Really cool, laid back guy who we've been wanting to fish with ever since we met him. Ben actually did get to fish with him once and that is actually how we met Geno. We did a corporate trip through the Angler's Covey about 3 years ago in Elevemile Canyon and Geno (who guided for The Covey at that time) guided the group that Ben was in. Ben caught the biggest fish I've seen come out of Elevemile Canyon on that trip so I know Ben has been anxious to get back on the water with Geno!

Ben and I hadn't fished the Dream Stream before this trip this fall. We figured we wait to see if the crowds died down any. Plus we knew we'd be fishing with Geno. The bad news was that the crowd was pretty big... The good news is that they didn't stop us from at least having a shot at a huge brown.....

We got a fairly early start and the water that Geno wanted to start us on was wide open. It was a little chilly but when the wind died down it was pleasant. It didn't take us long to get on fish. In fact it didn't take us long at all to get on big fish. VERY big fish. 

Geno had Ben lined up on a really nice bend hole. We had taken a few casts but we couldn't get a great view of the water. The sun had started to come up a bit so Geno decided to hit the far bank to see what he could spot. Didn't take him long to spot a massive male brown holding in about 3 foot of water. It was pretty much directly in front of  Ben but just a little further out from where he had been casting to.

Geno told Ben where to cast and Ben's fly's got bit....... and spit by the big ass brown. I don't think any of us were ready for it it happened so fast. BUT he didn't spook. He went right back to were he was to keep sucking down tasty river morsels. Ben cast again and I was watching his indicator when it paused. I think all I got out was a, "oooo, ooooooooooo", Ben set the hook and Geno announced that the big ass brown was now buttoned up on the end of Ben's line!

I saw a huge swirl with lots of yellow, orange, and red. This thing was huge. Geno put it at 27" conservatively. I got up on the near bank to get a better view and got a great view of the toad as it turned it's body broad side to me. It was a trophy for sure. Big shoulders, massive kype, full spawn coloration.... exactly what you go to the Dream Stream for in the fall.

I started taking pictures when the fish neared the surface and managed to catch a glimpse of him in the picture on the  right. Not sure what part of this fish I'm looking at but the pic doesn't do the fish justice. That is other than the color you can see... I felt really good about where the fish was and how he was behaiving. It was still pretty early and the water was cool. He wasn't lethargic by any means but he wasn't freaking out either.

Then things took a turn for the worse..... Mr. Kype put his head down and took a surge downstream.... directly into a stump covered with vegetation. It only took a second or two for him to break the tippet once he was hung up. Gone.... I saw Ben drop his rod in despair. This time he wouldn't be coming back. He disappeared into the weeds and that was that. Anyone who has lost a good fish knows this feeling and it isn't a good one. But it's better to have hooked and lost than to never have hooked at all and I think Ben learned a few things about fighting big fish. And the day was young.

Ben was laying in the fetal position on the side of the bank in shock, mumbling incoherently so I decided to take a few casts through the run. What a run it was. Nice slow bend fed by a rolling riffle. There was a nice drop off at the head of the bend and half a dozen medium sized boulders placed in the hole. It was the perfect holding area.

It didn't take long to get a hit and I was hooked up. I told Geno that I didn't think it was that big and

he told me that sometimes they will surprise you. Well..... Geno knows what he's talking about. After fighting the fish for a minute or so we got a good view of him and it was a nice 20" plus male cutbow! I did feel a little bad for catching a nice fish while my buddy was sobbing uncontrollably on the bank but not bad enough to not land this beauty... Sorry Ben. I love you Man!

The day was still young though and Ben recovered nicely. We went on to catch some very nice fish. Ben had another bout with another slightly smaller brown but that was not to be either. He did wind up catching a really nice brown towards the end of the trip which helped ease the pain a little.

We had an absolute blast with Geno and I'd recommend him to anyone. He had us on fish all day. I had totally lost track of time but Geno wound up fishing with us for like 9 hours! That is a hard working guide! He taught us some really good techniques and we had a lot of laughs. Can't wait to do it again guys!

South Slope!

SOUTH SLOPE REC from Jamie Roth on Vimeo.

I think we stumbled on the answer of how to establish a silly good fishing pond full of beautiful aggressive fish..... All you have to do is close the place for 101 years!

The South Slope was deeded to Colorado Springs Utilities in 1913 and has been closed to the public ever since. Ben and I heard about the reopening this month and Ben was lucky enough to get a pass! This pass, to me, was just about on par with Pearljam tickets! We knew the fishing would be good but we had no idea just how good it would be.

From Colorado Springs Utilities: "The South Slope watershed lands consist of approximately 9,000 acres located on the south side of Pikes Peak. Elevations range from approximately 10,000 feet to more than 12,000 feet. Although the site is located within 10 miles of the western end of Colorado Springs on a direct line, the watershed lands are situated in a remote setting and requires approximately a 2 hour drive that includes narrow sections and rough, unpaved surfaces.

The South Slope watershed is a diverse and biologically rich landscape. Sub alpine and Engelmann spruce forests rise above fens and wetlands. It is home to bighorn sheep, cutthroat trout and an array of migratory birds. Recreational opportunities are designed to be as low impact as possible to protect sensitive areas. Future allowable activities will include hiking, biking, equestrian and fishing in McReynolds and Mason Reservoirs only."

The future is now!

I had seen Dave Herber posting some great pics from the first two weekends so I hit him up for some advice before we went and as always he did not disappoint. Basically the message is, fish Mason Res (about a mile hike from the parking lot) and use big dries and/or streamers. Sounds good!

It was good before we even started fishing. We had a nice layer of fresh snow to stomp through on the way to the lake. It was a nice surprise. We had a beautiful morning and started hiking just as the sun hit the snow. Really pretty hike to the lake.

We took Dave's advice and started out with streamers but we never got to the dry flies. Why!? you ask... Because we didn't stop catching fish long enough to really even consider doing anything else!

A conservative estimate we came up with is 150 fish between Mike, Ben, and me. It was probably closer to 200 and we probably averaged a fish every 2 to 3 casts. It was really unbelievable. By far the best day of streamer fishing I've ever had.

The cutthroat weren't too picky about pattern or size but size 8-10 seemed to be the best bet. Black, olive, and rust slump busters and wooly buggers all took fish but the best pattern of the day for me was a size 10 rust slump buster. I put this on about an hour and a half after we started fishing after Ben said that rust was doing well and didn't take it off till we were getting ready to leave. If I had one fly to take up there it would be that. Make sure to pinch your barbs down and stay away from big hook gaps. These fish aren't too big and a standard barbless streamer hook allowed us to get a quick release. These fish are all in really good shape and using barbless will help keep them that way.

Retrieve didn't really seem to matter too much either but quick long strips followed by a good 3 second pause seemed to work best. Some fish would follow the streamer all the way to your feet. In that case all you had to do was stop the streamer and hold it in the water and most of the time they'd eat it! Sooooo much fun!


It was interesting to see so many color and pattern variations in the cutthroat we caught. Some had more of a gray/silver base color and some had more of a tan/yellow base color. Some had lots of big spots and some had just a few small spots. Some had red blushing on their sides and bottoms and some didn't. It really kept things interesting. A few were just unbelievably beautiful.

Size ranged from 10" to 16" for the most part with a few that pushed 17-18". Takes ranged from a subtle "tic" to a pull the rod from your hands MOW. Mike even had some top water takes with an unweighted muddler which was really cool to see (check vid).

We were speechless at the end of the day. It was silly good. We even had triples several times during the day. Everyone there seemed to do well. I think I stopped fishing long enough once or twice to take a good look around and I don't think there was a time where someone wasn't landing a fish. Everyone we spoke with on the way out had the same sort of experience we did.

Unfortunately all passes for 2014 have been sold out. BUT..... the South Slope is set to open again this coming spring. Hopefully they will keep the number of passes per day to 16 and only allow fishing on the weekends. I am happy to wait my turn if it means keeping this place as pristine as it is now and getting part 1 of Dave's advice taken care of!