Winter Really!?

Yes, can you believe it is already skiing season!? I know I am having a little trouble thinking about it, but believe it or not it is true. 

People have been talking about Arapahoe Basin opening this weekend.  While that is a little hard to believe, you never know.  We have been having quite a bit of moisture this fall and it looks like it may run into the winter.

So that means it’s time to get the ski tuning shop in full swing.  Tunes on the Fly will be ready to tune skis and snowboards next week.  Make sure you get your rides ready to glide fast and carve hard.  Bring your gear in for 25% OFF tunes through the end of October.

Even though I am talking skiing, the fishing is really at it’s best right now. It always bums me out when no one is really taking advantage of the great conditions of fall. Right now the Colorado and Arkansas are fishing great with Blue Wing Olive hatches happening daily.  Don’t expect to fish dries every day, but on the cloudy and calm days; it’s on.  Every other day offers some great nymph fishing with small Blue Wing Olive nymph patterns.  The mornings tend to be a little slow but watch out as soon as the water temperatures warm up.  The fish are feeding actively and we are talking lots of hook ups.

We are offering 15% OFF trips through the end of October for one last fishing fix. Wade fishing trips and float trips; I’ll get you out for a good day.  

Whether you need a few more days on the water or you are ready to get out on the hill and need your gear ready to go.  Blue River Anglers and Tunes on the Fly have you covered.

Rising Fall

It’s hard to believe summer is winding down.  It seems like yesterday that the snow pack was just finishing it’s melt off. Fall is right around the corner and with fall comes cool evenings, blue sky days, vibrant autumn colors and best of all; some of the best fishing of the year.

I always look forward to this time of year.  I can actually get out of the shop and do some guiding and fishing for myself.  The busiest time of year has come and gone and the daily chores slacken. Now I can get out on the river, and let me tell you, this is my favorite times of year to be on the water. 

Daytime temperatures can still get in the eighties and evenings are cool and crisp.  This cool down kick starts some good fall hatches. Grasshoppers, Caddis, Pale Morning Duns, Blue Wing Olives and Red Quills spring into action before the cold of winter hits the river.  There seems to be sense of desperation in the fall air as a last wave of hatches hits the river and a feeding frenzy by the trout follows.

For the next two months this trend dominates Colorado fly fishing, with the Colorado, S. Platte and Arkansas sticking out as a few of my favorites. Some rivers can fish better than others in the fall season. Mostly due to water levels that are too low and fish have retreated to deeper water.  I recommend fishing larger rivers or concentrating on the deeper holes in smaller streams, and make sure to use a stealthy approach. 

Floating the Colorado River would be one of my first choices.  The temperatures are perfect and the fishing maybe better with the Colorado’s abundant aquatic insect life and healthy Brown Trout population.

This is also the time of year the Brown Trout start thinking about spawning and it’s not uncommon to see twenty plus inch Browns in the headwaters of the Colorado, South Platte and Arkansas Rivers. These Browns are very wary and do not come easy to a fly.  Walk the river with a stealthy approach and look for fish in the tail-outs, riffles and always fish the deep holes.  Be ready to hang on and make sure you keep them out of the under cut banks.

I would love to help you experience the great fishing of fall and maybe catch that lunker Brown. 

For the month of September Blue River Anglers will be offering 15% OFF all trips in September and October.  So get me, or one of my guides out of the office, by booking a float or wade trip this fall.

Time to Relax

As usual for this time of year, the past few weeks have been a blur.  It always amazes me at how slowly the fishing season takes to shape up and then all of a sudden the season is here and then almost gone.

In reality the great fishing lasts well into October and for us locals this is our favorite time of year to fish.  The problem is, the summer season and fly fishing’s glory days of bugs and more bugs, dry fly fishing, wet wading and fields of wild flowers slips by so fast.

The summer months can be hard to fit it all in.  There are barbeques, bike rides, camping, fishing and so much more.  With so much to do, it’s sometimes hard to feel a sense of relaxation. 

An afternoon or day on the river may be the best way for me to solve this problem and slow down.  It’s hard to explain where the hours go. Before you know it 5 hours has gone by, as you have been mesmerized watching water, a fly and the hope for a strike.   

I often just sit on the bank and listen to the water and feel the ionized water soften the air around me.  It can be a kind of meditation and if I’m lucky a cat knap can cap off the afternoon.  It’s in these moments that I get the most from fly fishing or being outside. Many a secret to the art and science of fly fishing I have learned in a relaxed state on the rivers edge.

You never know what you’ll see or learn by taking the time to smell the roses, realize where you are, how precious the summer moths are and how this enjoyment is what makes life so special.

The next couple of weeks can fly by so quickly.  Make sure you get out and enjoy them to the fullest.  That could even mean a lazy cat knap on a riverbank.  I’m going to try and make that happen for me.

Zeke Hersh

The Simple Truth

With the fishing so good right now, I’m going to keep this short.  This spring or as we like to call it, winter, went on forever this year.  It seems like only a short couple of weeks ago we were getting at least three days a week of snow.  Then summer hit!

The last three weeks or so have been dry and warm.  These warm temperatures peaked our snowmelt about a week and a half ago and we have been steadily filling our reservoirs. Dillon is very close to filling!

What was looking like a very scary dry year in February, turned around with all the late winter snow.  Throughout the state there are many places that still have drought conditions, but here in Summit County we are looking pretty darn good.  Bring on the monsoons though!

As for the fishing, let me tell you it has been quite good. With flows stabilizing we have been on the water fishing hard lately. I have been float fishing the Colorado over the last couple weeks and I got to say I have had some of the best days I can remember.  From using big flies, to fish being where they are supposed to be on seemingly every cast.  It doesn’t get much better than that!

Another hot spot is the upper Arkansas. One of my guides told me that the fishing was so good on dries, that he didn’t even bother putting on a dropper.  Yep that’s pretty good!

Rumor has it the Blue below Silverthorne is fishing pretty hot right now as well.  From what I can tell, it was stocked with lots of Brood Fish and they have not been picky.  Just today a fella came in telling me about a twenty-three inch trout he landed on a hopper at the “Factory Stores”.  Let me tell you; that doesn’t happen very often!

I could go on with more tales of great fishing on the Upper Colorado, Williams Fork reservoir for Pike and more, but you need to come out and see it for yourself.  So what’s stopping you?  Get here!

High Water and Salmon Flies

It’s that time of year again, the first hatches of the season are happening around Colorado. 

The first Blue Wing Olive hatches started a couple of months ago on various rivers and then shortly after that the famous ‘Mother’s Day’ Caddis hatch started its migration up the Arkansas and Colorado Rivers.

Now, the mother of all insect hatches the ‘Salmon Fly’ hatch has begun on the Colorado River. Some years this can be a tough one to hit, with high and off color water.  This year however the water levels have been down. Much of our snowmelt is being held back by our reservoirs as we replenish their levels for the year to come.

What this means, is better than normal opportunities to hit this hatch.  That being said, this hatch does move fast and always seems to be a bit fickle.  If you get a chance in the next week or so, I would definitely try and get out on the Colorado for this experience.

Spring and early summer is also the time of year when many rivers are swollen to their banks and the thought of crossing a river is a ‘death wish’.  Some anglers call it quits for a couple of weeks, waiting for the flows to come down. Many think fishing is out of the question with the high flows and that fish just cannot be caught.

This idea is quite to the contrary.  If the water is up and has some visibility, there can be some very good fishing along the banks with some large nymph patterns.  The key is to fish the quite areas along the banks, in back eddies and along undercut banks.  These areas offer the slowest moving water in the river and sometimes offer the only holding water for the trout. 

Being that the holding water is limited, you may find many fish in one small area.  Using the larger and heavier stonefly and attractor nymphs patterns is key to get your flies down and visible to the fish.

You will need to use various methods of attaining a ‘dead drift’, from ‘high sticking’ to ‘stack mending’.  The important thing is to makes sure you’re snagging bottom from time to time.  This is a good indicator that your fly is heavy enough and most importantly, that you are actually getting a ‘dead drift’.

Fish these ‘pockets hard and slow and I promise you there’s a good chance you’ll land a fish in almost every pocket.

Don’t let this time of year keep you off the water longer than you already have been. Get out there and go fishing!

And So It Begins

A funny thing happens this time of year.  All winter we have been waiting for spring and summer to come and the great fishing that comes with them.  During the long and cold months of winter, we often dream of the warm sun, summer activities and blissful afternoons that seem to last forever.

When April comes around, these activities, thoughts of summer and warmer temperatures start to become a reality. This is when I start to look at a calendar and schedule the many activities, fishing trips and fun for the summer months.  Then, a funny thing happens. All of a sudden I am out of weeks on the calendar. I find my self looking at the middle of October and wondering if the weather will still be warm and inviting. For us here in Colorado, this time of year usually signifies the end of summer and a long winter around the corner.  It always comes as a surprise at how short summer really is.

With some adjusting here and there, I can fit most everything in on the calendar. But a strategic use of the “shoulder seasons” of April and May is the only way to accomplish a full summer of fun. 

For the months to come, I will try and get to Fruita or Moab for some mountain biking, to the front range for some sports outings and then of course to the Arkansas River for some of the first dry fly fishing of the summer. (The above photo is of a cloudy BWO day on the Ark)

In the latter part of April the Caddis start to move up the Arkansas River from Canyon City and make there way up through Salida, Buena Vista and finally to the headwaters by Leadville. This migration takes a couple months and ebbs and flows with cold fronts and warming trends flowing through Colorado.

The next few weeks are a great time to be watching reports from all of the shops that frequent the Arkansas River.  There will be reports on the fishing activity, where the hatch is, hot flies and techniques for fishing in front of, behind and in the middle of the hatch. These are all important factors to have a successful trip to the Arkansas in the midst of the hatch.

This is an exciting time with exciting fishing! Make sure you schedule a day or two on your “shoulder season” calendar, to check the Arkansas River caddis hatch.  You don’t want to be looking back at summer, wondering where it went and why you didn’t get out for more fun in these “shoulder seasons”.

Snowy Decks

Snowy Decks

Spring is here in the Rockies, but that does not always mean warm and sunny days.  In fact most years, it means a lot of snow.  In Colorado, we have been in a dire need to build our snow pack and free us from the drought that has plagued us for the last year and a half.

The snowy days start to where on you, however, this time of year.  Most of us are dreaming of tall grass, hoppers and hatches. Waking up day after day to shovel a deck can get a little old. We all know the warmer temperatures will come in time, but the winters are long in the high country and a reprise can be appreciated. In due time, I try and remind myself. As a local, I know how important the moisture is this year, especially following such a drought year in 2012.  I will try and stay happy while I shovel my deck. 

Over the past couple of months Colorado’s snow pack has started to near ‘average’ numbers.  This is good news! The average snow pack will mean normal levels in our streams, which will be appreciated. After super high flows in 2011 to super low flows in 2012, average will be a nice change. 

The average flows should help us get back to normal hatch patters. Not a month late, like 2011 or a month early like last year.  A normal fishing year, now that is a novel idea!

Speaking of normal fishing; it is about the time of year to get to the Arkansas River for the years first Blue Wing Olive hatches.  Shortly after that, get ready for the Caddis moving up through Canyon City.  These first hatches are a blast to fish and I highly recommend getting out for both of these hatches.

Many other options are starting to open up.  I have had some good reports on the lower Colorado being floated out of Glenwood.  The upper stretch of the Colorado at Parshall has been also fishing well and the Dream Stream can be at it’s hottest this time of year. 

Many streams are just freeing of their winter ice and if you are adventurous and don’t mind scouting to find open water, the rewards can be bountiful. We have been exploring out of the county in the last couple weeks and have had some great success.  We would love to get you out with one of our guides for a spring fly-fishing adventure!

Get a jump on the season and get out with us, after we shovel our decks!

Good Things to Come

What a last couple of months it’s been!  On Christmas day, while snowboarding I hit a tree. Somehow I managed to snowboard down the mountain and walk home.  As the hours wore on I realized how injured I was. 

It was not till a week that I made myself get some X-Rays and that is when the worries started.  Through going to various doctors in the weeks to come and getting an MRI, I found out I had fractured L1 thru L5 with a burst fracture in L4.  This turns out to be quite a serious situation. 

I immediately was getting warnings to be very careful even walking and heard the dreaded ‘You may not be ever doing what you love again!’  As you can imagine this was not a good day. 

After coming to terms with this as a possibility I really decided to think positively and wait for my next appointment with a back specialist.  This appointment couldn’t come fast enough.  I really wanted and needed to know what my next steps in recovery were.  Was I going to need surgery, a back brace and was I going to be able to be active again?

Then my luck seamed to change.  The back specialist’s PA turned out to be a friend of mine and he proceeded to ask me how I pancaked my spine.  Then he explained that somehow I got very lucky and that because the burst fracture went forward toward the belly, I was not in danger of damaging the spinal cord and that I was going to be alright and without surgery.  What a relief!

My last 3 or 4 weeks have been much higher in spirit and I have been making great progress with recovery.  I am even at a point where I feel I am getting better every day.

As I am coming out of this injured period the excitement of healing and getting better is also accompanied by the excitement of the fishing emerging from the winter.

The last couple of weeks have brought some much needed, snowfall, to the mountains and next few weeks promise to as well. Even with the snowy weather you can start feeling spring starting to creep in, with longer days and warm sunshine.

Many of our rivers will start to free themselves of ice in the months to come and this brings some great fishing on many rivers.  You can always count on Colorado’s premier tailwater fisheries, like the Blue River, Frying Pan, Williams Fork, Taylor and the S. Platte below Spinney and Eleven Mile reservoirs. 

You can also look to fish many of Colorado’s freestone rivers as they free of ice. A few of my favorites are the Eagle River, Colorado River, Roaring Fork and Arkansas River.

After ice off, don’t be surprised to find many insects in the streams. Large stoneflies, caddis, mayflies and midges can be abundant in the river system and the trout will be gorging themselves after the long cold winter.

This is also the time of year to look for the first Blue Wing Olive hatches.  Many of these rivers have great BWO hatches on cloudy spring days. Midge hatches are also common on the tailwaters and freestones and don’t be surprised if you see fish rising to midges during a spring or winter snow.

The next few months look to be exciting, not only for my health but for the fishing as well.  I highly recommend getting out of the house and checking out the fishing on one these rivers. I know I will be!