AC on the Dream!

Great morning on the Dream Stream today with Alicia and Marty. We decided to fish a few hours and see if we couldn't find a few risers. It wasn't on fire but we got into some nice fish. I ran into Angler's Covey Guide Earl Hecker who was Guiding Greg Fuller who I met teaching the Orvis 201 class last weekend. Greg has jumped in head first learning to fly fish since moving to Colorado a week and a half ago and is doing awesome. Earl put him on some nice fish today to include this sweet brown. Very cool meeting new friends through fly fishing and then running into them on the water. Was awesome to see Greg learn from Earl. Greg will be teaching us stuff soon!

I decided to walk up towards the dam and ran into another Angler's Covey Guide Zach Tokach who was putting his guys on big fish. His clients were doing well on dries. Zach took the time to point a nice fish out for me in the run above where he had his clients set up. Not only was it a nice fish but it was MOWING on Trico spinners! Friggin awesome! Can't say enough about the Guides at the Covey. Really lucky to get to work with such a great group. Fun day!

Back To Landon School on the Dream

Ben and I have been so impressed on our previous trips with Landon on the Dream Stream that we now have a standing spring and fall trip. Our spring trip this year happened at the end of March and it was an absolute blast.

I'm not sure what else to say about these trips that I haven't already said. I've learned so much on the three trips we've done with Landon. It is an absolutely amazing feeling when you start picking out the "99 percenters" (fish that 99% of people don't see) by catching a hint of white or just something barely unnatural in the water and then relaxing your focus to get an idea of the outline of a fish.

I think the other thing that I've noticed is that Landon seems to remember exactly where we left off on our last trip and picks up right where we left off. He has a really good ability to remember where his clients are in different areas and jump right in where needed on each trip.

Maybe the last thing to mention is that I think it would be very hard to find someone that knows this stretch of river better. On every trip Landon has had a game plan before leaving the parking lot. These game plans take into account a lot of things such as what the weather was like the evening before, what the current and foretasted weather conditions are, how many cars are in the parking lot, where larger groups of anglers are headed, what fish (by name I think) have been seen and where, etc, etc.....

I recently picked up "101 Trout Tips", Landon's latest book, and it's interesting to read about some of the things I've learned from these trips on formulating a game plan. It really helps to learn a lesson on stream and then to reinforce that lesson with text or vice versa.  I think the more times you see, hear, or read something the more you understand about what the teacher is trying to get across. This really helps you to not just think you've learned something but to actually be able to apply what you learned in new situations. That, in my mind, is when you truly understand something.

On this particular trip we had a heavy does of fog in the morning. Landon had us walk downstream in order to get in position to intercept any lake fish that were using the fog as cover to move upstream. He knew that if the fog burned off into a bluebird day (which is exactly what happened) that the fish would settle in to the deeper runs. It was amazing to see this develop as the morning went on. As soon as the sun started to burn off the fog (as seen in the pictures) our flies started getting hammered! We were positioned in a deep bend run and it seemed like the fish knew they were going to settle in and were in a hurry to eat before the sun burned off all of their cover. This plan netted us the biggest fish of the day. Very cool.

Back For More on the Dream

We decided to hit the Dream Stream again this weekend looking for some big lake fish. We didn't find any monsters but we did pick up a few nice ones. Hard finding open water. Everyone was very polite and didn't run into any issues but we had to walk a ways between runs. 

Dad hit the nicest fish of the trip on a streamer just above the gauge. Really nice brown with really nice spots and some serious shoulders. My nicest fish came late in the afternoon. This poor guy stood out like a sore thumb and didn't fight too much. I'm thinking I may have been his second abduction that day....

Not the hottest day of fishing we've had but we caught some nice ones and enjoyed a good dose of sunshine.

Warmer Day on the Dream Stream

This trip we had the Old Man, Mike, and Ben along for the ride. Much warmer start to the day. Of course we didn't leave at the ass crack of dawn as some people would have had it.... By the time we got to the river I think it was in the twenties. Not bad at all!

Weather was better but fishing was fairly slow. We fished all the way down to Eleven Mile Res and the fishing got a little better the last mile or so of river before the inlet. I only saw one larger fish (doesn't mean I didn't walk past many many more) and spent about a half hour trying to get him to eat. I finally grabbed my streamer rod and took a cast. He followed it all the way in to my feet and hit at the last second! Cool thing to see. I thought he was going to turn and run but he couldn't resist. Nice twenty inch cutbow in the net! This guy still had plenty of energy though and took off before I could get a good picture of him. Turns out the pic I got was better than the one I was trying to frame! It's a great feeling seeing a fish swim off to fight another day.

I finally ran into Justin Brenner and  Doug Fisherman (by the way if that's your real last name that's friggin awesome) on the water. If it is your real last name, where you ever a Major in the Army? That would have been sweet! Captain would also have had a nice ring to it! I've been Facebook friends with those guys for a while now and we finally wound up on the same stretch of river on the same day. I actually turned a corner on a bend and saw some guys fishing and when I got closer one of them hooked a fish. Hook pulled out right before I got up to them but I saw the tail and it looked like a really nice fish. The guy who lost it didn't look phased at all. Then I realized who it was.... Justin has caught some freaks of nature in this river so I don't think he was too beat up over losing one! Later that evening I saw a picture of a nice fish Doug had landed so I know they had a good day on the river. Hopefully I'll be fishing with these guys soon. Cool Dudes that are really good Fly Fisherman.

On the way out we had to stop and hit the weir run. This time we had four guys squeezed in. My Dad had landed a few nice ones before the rest of us made it back to include this fatty of a bow. No encounters with any monsters though this trip.

Another fun day on the Dream Stream for sure. Only going to get better and better as we get closer to Spring. We should be seeing some great fish porn from this awesome stretch of water over the next few months. I know Justin and Doug are good for some. The plan is to be posting some of it ourselves but we'll see! Going to take a lot of fishing but someone has to do it.

Cold Start Hot Finish on the Dream Stream

Not quite the coldest we've ever fished the Dream Stream but at two degrees above zero, it was cold enough. Not as cold as last March though when we showed up and it was eighteen below! Either way fishing was pretty much impossible until it warmed up a bit.

Mike, Mary, and I started off below the bridge but we were only able to land one before we decided there was just too much ice on the water. We headed up to the top parking lot and took our time crawling out of the truck.

It took a while to warm up but the water was clear up by the dam and Mike was able to hook up pretty quickly. We worked our way up to the dam and picked up a few but it we decided to head back down below the bridge to see if the water had cleared.

Water looked great and we started hooking up pretty regularly as the temperature rose. I wouldn't say
we were on fire but we didn't have to go too long between fish. We found a few really fat cuttys.... NOT very subtle takes. They hit hard and fought hard and kept us fully entertained. By the time Mike and I had worked our way back up to Marty at the bridge we had each landed seven or eight.

We had to make the traditional stop at the weir run and Mike and I got in a little numbers
competition. We were each hooking up pretty much every other cast. Lots of dinks but you know your having fun when your buddy is willing your fish to spit the hook! We went fish for fish for about an hour and wound up with twenty fish! Well Mike did anyway. I came in a close second at seventeen. We landed some nice ones too in between the dinks and even got to see a monster brown laugh at us for a few seconds.....

Super fun day that started off kinda crappy but turned out great. Of course you know what they say about a bad day of fishing and this day was far from that.

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!

Dream Stream with Landon Mayer

It's taken a minute (month +) to wrap my mind  around the fishing trip Ben and I went on with Landon Mayer. As far as I can tell Ben is in the same boat. We've spoke about it more than a few times and neither one of us can really pin the right words on it. It's been hard to write this post because every time I've sat down to do so I've had trouble figuring out where to start.

I think it's best to start with guides in general. I fly fished for over 15 years before going on a guide trip. My Old Man and I never really considered it when I was growing up and after not really thinking about it for so long it was just a thing that other people did. It wasn't that we thought we were good enough to not need a guide but I think it was just our time and didn't really want to share it. Plus I needed time to cement my bad fishing habits in my brain.

So after years of not thinking about it much Ben Lewis shook things up and we planned a guide trip to the North Platte a year and a half ago. This was my first guide trip and float trip and once that genie is out of the bottle there's no turning back. Since that trip we've been on several guide trips and I've been totally blown away at the caliber of guides we have in and around Colorado. It's staggering the amount of knowledge that's available from these guys. Ben and I have been on 4 or 5 more guide trips since that first trip and we have learned a ton and have had a blast doing it with guides like Jon Kleis, Greg Muller and Jason Booth.

Ben with a sweet bow

Ben and I have talked about trying to get a Dream Stream trip booked with Landon for pretty much as long as we've been fishing together. It all came together at the 2013 Fly Fishing Film Tour. Landon donated a full day Dream Stream trip for two to benefit Project Healing Waters. Perfect! We could donate to an amazing organization and finally get on the water with Landon. What we didn't know at the time was that we'd have to reschedule a few times due to the terrible flows coming out of Spinney last fall and a Colorado springtime snow dump the night before our first rescheduled date. Just like everyone else we wanted to hit some big spawners but the timing just didn't work out this trip.

We did have the flow on our side though. There had been plenty of water coming out of Spinney and the word on the street was that the Dream Stream was living up to it's name. I started getting that Christmas Eve type feeling about a week before the trip. Our expectations were sky high which got me thinking about how you handle client expectations when you have a reputation like Landon does. That question would be answered before our first cast.

A beaut of a brown

I have to say I was a little intimidated to meet Landon. A guy as accomplished as Landon would actually have justification for an ego the size of some I've encountered in the fly fishing world. So I admit it, I was a little nervous. It took about a minute to get over that though. We all hit it off right away. Landon is just a cool Dude. Very approachable and easy to talk to. We chatted it up in the parking lot while we were getting ready and on the walk over to the river and I knew it was going to be a fun day before we started fishing.

When we got to the river Landon gave us a quick block of instruction which totally blew me away. My expectation going in was that I was going to learn a lot but I think I identified at least 3 things I knew I could improve in my fishing before my flies even hit the water. Expectations exceeded before casting...

Cutty!

Then there was the fishing. It took one maybe two casts to get our first take. It totally caught me off guard. Usually it takes me a while to dial in on this river. I was not expecting to hook up that quickly. Landon came over and gave a play by play on what happened and what I could have done better to keep the fish on. Learning!

Ben was hooked up and moving downstream just after that. Landon coached while we made our way down river keeping ahead of the fish which was a good trout. Wow... 5 minutes and we've been hit and are now hooked up on a good fish. It just kept going from there.

One of the things I've learned since going on guided trips is that you really don't need any super secret flies to be successful on the river. There are time tested patterns that just work year in and year out. This was something that was reenforced on this trip. We didn't use any crazy patterns. Landon knew what bugs were hatching and what bugs to expect during the day and we stuck to a few tried and true patterns like Pheasant Tails and Buckskins. We saw first hand how it's all about finding a target, planning an approach, and executing on the plan. This idea is in Landon's books but it's another thing altogether to experience it on the river. Especially on a river that has schooled me time and time again. 

Finding a target.... I have spent a lot of years reading water and have relied on that for a long time. It's only during the last several years that I've really concentrated on spotting fish. Landon's books have had a lot to do with that. It's not something that has come naturally to me and I've made pretty good progress over the past few years but I think I may have improved this skill more during a single day of fishing with Landon than I had working at it on my own for several years.

Target

I know it's been said a million times but Landon really does have superhuman trout spotting abilities. It's just unbelievable. It's worth going fishing with Landon just to get an idea of what is possible when it comes to spotting fish. It was great to just stare at the trout Landon was finding in order to burn those images in to our brains. I've learned not to look for a fish so to speak but I had no idea what clues I was missing. It really built my confidence up and by the end of the day I was spotting fish I wouldn't have before.

Getting schooled by a big brown

The day just blew by in what seemed to be a few hours. We were completely dialed in by lunch.
Landon would jump between Ben and me. He stayed busy for sure! We were having a blast and it just felt like 3 old friends having an incredible day of fishing. It turned out that it didn't really matter what time of year it was. I had my chance with a big brown. Landon spotted him across the river and once my eyes adjusted I was able to pick out the form of a very large brown. He ate after a few casts but took me directly down into a gauntlet of rocks and eventually ran me under a log. Landon and I were pretty much running after him in some pretty tough current! It hurt to lose him but Landon pointed out that you learn the most on fish you lose not the ones you catch.

One thing that Ben and I have said a few times since the trip is that Landon is just on another level completely. It really opened my eyes and connected a lot of dots for me. I've used several things I learned on this trip on some recent outings and it just blows me away that I spent so many years not doing a few simple things that really can be the difference in hooking or not hooking fish and landing or not landing fish. I would recommend a trip with Landon to anyone. No matter what level you are at you will learn something new that you can apply immediately and you will have fun doing it. Ben and I are already booked for October!

Dream Stream Ice Bowl (Record Low)

Damn Cold!

If I didn't know any better I'd think that someone was trying to tell me to go to church (of course anyone that has the bug knows that I was at church). I think Marty and I found the coldest air in the state during one of the nicest days of the winter in Colorado Springs....

Marty has been riding the pine for a while due to a persistent shoulder injury. Life has handed Marty and his lovely wife Laurie some real challenges in the past few years. On top of Marty's injuries Laurie was diagnosed with cancer and has been handling her fight with strength, determination, grace, patience, and love. I can only imagine how hard that has to be. Please, please, please, if you can, help Marty and Laurie out with their growing medical bills by donating here. If you are interested in a guided trip to Rainbow Falls where 100% of the proceeds go to help Laurie and Marty please hit me up.

Marty HAD to get on some water injury or not. Even if just to get some fresh air and get some good pictures. It had been months since he has been on the water and I know that time on the water is good medicine. Good for the soul and Marty needed some recharging. We decided to hit the Dream Stream since the fishing had been so good and the weather in town on Saturday was absolutely gorgeous. Sunday's forecast looked even better.

Everyone knows what happens when you assume. And we should have checked the weather before assuming that just because it was going to be 70 in town it would be nice at the river. I was keeping my eye on the outside temp on the overhead display in Marty's Durango on the way up and when we started off I think it was twenty something. We watched it drop fifteen degrees in five minutes as we drove down the back side of Wilkerson Pass. WTF!

By the time we reached the parking lot it was ridiculous. I think our previous record for fishing in the cold was -16 which happened a few years back in Pueblo. It was miserable and you just can't really fish at that temp. Bad things happen. Ice ropes, frozen up rod eyes, snapped tippet, frostbitten fingers. Even if you do hook a fish, you probably wont land it and if you do its going to suck releasing it. It really becomes pointless to be out there until it warms up (see video on blog site if you are reading this in an email)

Long story short we basically stood around freezing our asses off for two hours before we could really fish. It's the only time I can remember looking up and down stream and seeing guys on every bend just standing around looking at each other. Crazy! 

Lil Fatty!

Once we did start fishing it was pretty slow. We wound up hooking a few but it was the slowest day out of four trips to the Dream Stream this spring. The good side was that Marty was able to fish. His shoulder was bothering him but not enough to prevent him from casting. Really good to see Marty fishing again. I just wish the weather had cooperated a little more.

When we finally made it back to the parking lot we were frozen solid. Those who fish with me will tell you that I don't get cold very easily but I was COLD when we jumped back in the Durango. I didn't even think about changing out of my waders for the trip home. We jumped in and cranked up the heater. Somewhere just outside of Woodland Park I noticed that we were no longer cold. In fact it felt like a friggin Sauna. We turned down the heater and rolled down the windows and it was like Summer outside! We took the scenic route through Manitou on the way home and people were walking around in shorts buying ice cream!

Basically we spent the nicest day of the winter in the one spot around us that was cold! But it was worth it to get Marty out on the water and catch a few nice cuts. Looking forward to a little warmer weather for our next trip Bud!

The Road to a 10lb Brown (Part 3)

Here it is folks. The final installment in the journey of slabbage. I am so thankful to have had a day like this on the river and can’t express how cool it is for it to come after my Dad had such a good day the day before. Fishing is great when you have good days you can share with Family and Friends. And this day is one that I will never forget.

The Night Before..

A little nagging voice was telling me to go back for more. Something was just right about the fishing on Saturday. My Old Man had pulled in slab after slab and I knew most of the puzzle pieces. The trick would be getting the same puzzle two days in a row. The more I thought about it the more I wanted to go back. I pinged Ben and showed him the fish porn from earlier in the day. Needless to say it didn’t take much convincing. The plan was in place. We were going to try and be on the water around 7:30 the next day. 

Flies… Well eggs…. Needed more. My Dad had figured out the color. I didn’t have the correct size but I had the color down close enough. Time to crank out a few dozen. I like to fish Otter Eggs. Some peeps will complain that these aren’t flies but in my mind a synthetic is a synthetic is a synthetic. If you are against Otter Eggs but tie up Rubber Legs I’d have to ask you what the difference is. In any case I cranked out a few dozen Tango in 8mm and 10mm. If you haven’t tried these yet you are missing out. VERY strong takes on this color. 

When we pulled up to the gauging station parking lot we had company. It wasn’t terrible but it was going to be a crowded day. The day before had been crowded too though and that didn’t stop us from catching some nice fish. It was just a matter of getting a little exercise while finding open water. I do remember thinking that the puzzle had changed though before even taking my first cast. The weather the day before was nasty. Not cold but very cloudy with lots of wind sprinkled with snow off and on. The sun was out Sunday morning. The wind was minimal. The air was colder. So much for my puzzle pieces. But hey that’s fishing. 

We started out on a stretch of water that Jon Kleis and Clients had done very well on the day before. I couldn’t believe that run was open when we walked by it so we decided to stop and give it a go. My confidence was way up and I was thinking of a hookup on the first cast. That came and went and I figured I’d settle for second cast. That came and went and I knew I’d have to get the gears turning. I knew it was early and cold so my expectations were probably a little unrealistic. I started going smaller and after twenty minutes of tweaking I picked up a bow on a midge. Ten minutes later I picked up a cut. Ten minutes after that and things were at a standstill. Kleis did not leave many players in this run!

Downstream we went. Runs had filled up pretty quickly but we lucked out and one of my favorite bends was open just downstream from the fence. Nice bend with a head end riffle that turns into a medium paced four foot run that tails out into a back eddy / deep pool at the end of the bend. Really easy to spot fish on this bend. They hold on the sides of the medium paced four foot water and if a cut turns you get a big flash of yellow, orange, and red. The big bows just look like dark shadows. The fish also move up into the head end riffle and you can pick out cutty fins pretty easily. 

There were at least three fish and one monster of the deep that I could see. There was a HUGE dark shadow on my side of the medium paced water. Big ol bow! I grabbed my egg rig and let er rip. He took one look at my monster tango egg and decided he had enough of that nonsense. Feeling totally dejected I decided to concentrate on the nice cuts in the riffle. Nothing…. At this time there was a good midge hatch going on so I decided to stop dicking around with plastic eggs. 

Picked up the midge rig and started making tweaks. It took about ten minutes but I eventually hooked one. They were lined up just on the far side of the medium paced water between the four foot run section and the beginning of the back eddy. VERY hard to get right. I needed my arm to be three feet longer. Took some serious high sticking with plenty of weight to get down fast. Takes were barely noticeable. There was a very defined sweet spot in the seam and you almost had to zen set to hook up.  I picked up a few but things started to die down. Then……

I hear Ben, “Jamie”! I look upstream and Ben’s rod is doubled over and he’s heading downstream fast. This means only one thing. Big fish hooked. I dropped my way-too-expensive rod like a college elective and grabbed my way-too-big net and headed upstream. I saw cutty tail first. It was a good fish! These fish are so colorful in the water when they are moving. When they are holding still in the water though it is another story completely. They can disappear before your eyes. 

We were in a perfect area to land this fish. I was in a knee deep riffle and Ben walked the fish down right into the net. Sweet fish. Took a large chamois leech. This fly has been killing it everywhere I’ve been lately. Hadn’t worked the day before but it looked like the leech game was back on. Midges and leeches were the ticket this day. 

After a quick pic we fished for a while longer before deciding to head back toward the truck. Most of the runs on the way back were taken so we made it back to the gauging station pretty quickly. Two dudes were fishing the head end of the run but the tail end was open. I had missed a slab there the day before on the way back to the parking lot so I figured what the hell. Worth a few casts. I asked the guys at the head of the pool if they minded me fishing the tail end and they said go for it. I took a few casts and hooked and landed about an 8” bow on an egg. Then……..

I get goose bumps just thinking about this. I had no idea what madness was about to hit me. I took a cast directly upstream up above where my dink had hit and started slowly stripping slack line in. Indicator paused a little and I lifted the rod……. HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!! There was a MONSTER brown trout tailwalking on the water! This thing was on my line!!!! All the dude upstream from me could manage was a loud, “Woahhhh”! 

“BEN!!! BEN!!! NET!!!” Ben was just above the gauging station and I was hoping to God that he was still there. After a few tense moments of my monster trout hanging deep I felt a HUGE head shake and run. Ben turned the corner just in time to see this think take off vertically into the air and come down like a boulder hitting the water. There was no way I was going to land this fish. Ben got out something. I don’t remember what he said but I could tell that he knew exactly what he needed to do in order to help me land this fish. 

Remember my way-too-big net? It isn’t way-too-big. I’ve only come close to filling this net up once before and that was an 11.5lb bow. This thing was going to give that fish a run for its money. You can do two things when you have a big fish on. You can let it go where it wants and hope that it stays buttoned up long enough to net or you can take advantage of any split second advantage you get and go all in for a net. 

This big boy made a mistake and decided to come up again but this time without a shamoo impression. He came up and started head shaking on the surface. I got right on top of him and got my rod as high as I could directly above him to try and keep my line away from his body and his head up. I told Ben, “Net him now! Net it! Do it now!” I knew this was putting Ben on the spot but I didn’t think I would be able to keep him on if he got his head down for another run with the way this thing was freaking out. Then….

Ben took a stab with the net and came up with nothing but PIG! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! I absolutely lost my mind! This was a true beast. A totally clean specimen. An absolute masterpiece of nature. It was HEAVY and LONG. BIG head and HUGE shoulders. Big spots and that nice blue green iridescence on the gill plates. The only blemish was a big ol’ chamois leach sticking out of its mouth. Time stood still. This beautiful fish, Ben and I were the only things on planet earth at that point. Fishing nirvana. It was surreal holding this river gem up for a quick photo. It was bliss holding this trout in the water in the recovery room. It was one of the best feelings in the world when it almost knocked me back when it took off after only a few seconds of recovery. I just sat back in the river getting soaked after it swam off. I couldn’t get up. I just sat there for a second with an ear to ear goofy grin on my face. The tug is a drug folks and it doesn’t get any better than that. 

I was stunned. A high five from Ben brought me back to reality and I had to let out a scream. “AAAAhhhh”!   I was on top of the world….

 I don’t know how many October trips I’ve had up to the Dream Stream looking for a monster brown like this but it would happen for me on an early spring afternoon. An afternoon that is burned in my brain forever. An afternoon where I was truly living life and feeling what it has to offer to the fullest. Even if only for a brief moment. Fly Fishing will give you this without having to jump out of planes, or race around tracks, or climb the highest peaks. Fly Fishing will give you a true connection to nature. At that moment nothing else matters, no problems exist. This is why I love Fly Fishing and why I will be walking through rivers for the rest of my life.

The Road to a 10lb Brown (Part 2)

Mike Greene with a fatty

The saga continues! Don't worry it's only three parts. Part 2 of this exciting series is really going to focus on my Dad who just killed it on this day. I mean I'm always happy when my fishing buddies and especially my Dad catch fish but this got a little one sided folks. My Old Man is living right because he would wind up with four board fish before the day was out.

We started things off right below the gauging station.  There was only one other car in the lot when we started so we figured what the hell. It's always worth a cast or two in this deep dark layer of who knows what..... At that point in time it meant a nice fat cutty. Always good to get one in the net. Everything else is icing on the cake. We hooked a few more fish but we decided to get downstream ahead of the dude hatch.

The Lesson Begins...

We leapfrogged each other on the way down hooking fish along the way and I wound up fishing with my Dad who was at the head end of a nice looking run. I got there just in time to. He hooked up and we knew it was a nice fish. I saw the tail first and new it was big. After a few minutes we finally put a net under this beautiful 22" rainbow. Sweet! We were on the board.

I started working my way downstream and caught up with Mike. There was an open bend and we were getting into position to start the whipping when I heard my Dad, "got another nice one on"! Back up stream I go with the net. Got there in time to net another 20"+ fish. At this point I had to know.

Me: What are you using?
Dad: This egg pattern.
Me: Nice, got any more?
Dad: No.
Me: Where did you get that?
Dad: I don't know.....

Back downstream again! Mike and I leapfrogged again down river towards the inlet. I didn't have any eggs like the one my Dad was using. It was about a 6mm fire orange plastic bead that was either glued or melted to a scud hook. I did have some HUGE 12mm eggs that were close in color though. I figured what the hell and tied one on. BAM!! The river had gotten pretty crowded and it was hard to find open water. So I was sharing a run with a guy named Shane that I was lucky enough to stop and talk to.

I have had very good experiences on the rivers lately with folks and I think people are more considerate, in general, these days on the water. It's amazing what a, "you break the state record yet?" question to your fellow angler will lead to. Shane was a cool Dude and offered up the head of the run he was fishing. He was none too pleased when I hooked one right off the bat since he had whipped that water hard before I got there. I told him what my Dad had done upstream and showed him the color I was using. He didn't have any so I shared one of my big arse fireball "flies" (more like something out of Bass Master. Don't judge). 

I caught a few more nice spawning cutthroat and decided to work my way back up river to see what Mike and Dad were up to. Turns out I had just missed this 23" rainbow! Mike just happened to walk back up to where Dad was fishing was able to get this pic. What a fish! Mike and I were getting schooled!

Schooled but not skunked. Mike and I each caught some nice cutthroat. Every fish we caught was over 16" I think. You can't complain about that. I always have to remind myself how spoiled we are in Colorado.

We decided to call it a day and we worked our way back upstream to the parking lot. When we got to the gauging station it was empty. We thought why not finish it off the way we started it off so I worked my way to the tail end of the run and took a cast. BAM!! Big hit followed by a flying slab.... And then it was gone. I didn't get a good hook. Both Mike and my Dad got a good look and it was a big fish but nothing like what we would soon learn inhabits that dark deep abyss. 

The pieces were coming together. We discovered some good runs and had an idea of what they were keying in on. At this point I hadn't really thought of making a double header out of it..... But later that evening I had a nagging little voice telling me to go back the next day. Ben took one look at the fish my Dad had landed and was down. This day belonged to my Dad and it was awesome! The only thing missing was that elusive 10lb + toad..... but the stage was set.