Saturday, January 21, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Snow, Fishing and Good Fortune
Snow looks like it is finally starting to fly here in Colorado. The early winter season months were well below average in snowfall, and plenty of us have been worried about another drought year, like 2002.
There has been reassuring talk of a change in the Jet Stream. That would be much appreciated -- not only for some powder days, but also to bring fresh cold water to our streams for the duration of summer.
After such a heavy snow pack year in 2010/11, the streams flowed swollen well into August. This is always healthy for the fish and their habitat. But, as a business owner, this has wrecked havoc on my predictions, buying, payroll -- you name it and it was affected. I can't imagine a drought year right after that. Let's hope the snow comes!
The fishing news this winter is much brighter. Over the holiday season I was quite busy guiding trips almost every morning and tuning skis and snowboards in the evening. The one-two punch was effective while the visitors were here, and the fishing was OFF THE HOOK!
The warmer weather and marginal skiing conditions made the idea of hitting a mountain stream in the middle of winter not so crazy. Some of these trips were booked well in advance, knowing the great winter fly-fishing Colorado has to offer. Many other clients stumbled on the idea after dealing with the crowded slopes and bare runs.
The winter fishing is really always good. The question is just whether or not you (or I for that matter) are prepared to deal with some of the cold days. Fortunately, most of the trips have been quite comfortable and the awesome fishing made for even a better day. I can't say all the days were warm, but I will say we had great success warm or cold.
Earlier in December, I was lucky enough to be fishing a good run of Kokanee Salmon coming up out of Dillon Reservoir. On an interesting note, the Colorado Divison of Wildlife's local biologist has told me that there has been no stocking of Kokanee Salmon in Dillon Reservoir for twenty years. So, somehow these Salmon are able to spawn successfully in this stretch of the Blue River. He suggested maybe it was the warmer water temperatures in this section or the plain abundance of other kinds of life.
At the same time, all these Kokanee Salmon were in the river, plenty of Brown trout were spawning in fall and winter months. Some very large fish are seen in this stretch, but can prove to be quite hard to hook or get to the net. On a couple of days we were lucky enough to land a few nice ones, like the one at the top of the e-mail.
The Salmon have since died off and the large Browns are becoming difficult to catch. Lately, though, we have been seeing some great midge or "Snow Fly" hatches. It seems a lot of the medium size browns are needing to fatten up from their spawn. So I have been seeing literally hundreds of rising fish in the middle of the day.
I hope this excites you for fishing days to come! We need snow and it looks like the weather change is on its way. This is good for us all -- skiers, visitors and trout. I know I am ready for powder day!
If you are coming to visit in the next couple of months, the skiing will be better and the fishing can be great. Both just may be not so fun when it is nine degrees out.
I highly recommend booking a trip with me to see what it's all about! Or if its powder skiing, come in for a tune!
In the meantime, I will be out looking for the next "Hot Spot" and tuning up skis and snowboards with some super sharp edges and fast wax!
Happy New Year and Good Fortunes to All!
Ezekiel Hersh
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)