Been Slackin

Well since I left off alot has happened. The internet is really slow and has kept me from keeping things up to date but here are some pictures from up until now. Ive been on the water alot with clients but have been able to sneak in a few opportunities for myself as well as catch 2 days of Widespread at the Mile high Music Festival among other things. My buddy mike came in town as well as my dad and Rob. We got some awesome pictures from those outings. Enjoy!

Ozark Angler hat....BOOYAH!

24 inches of brown

Mike's 22 inch bow.

Widespread throwin down!

Does that brown above look familiar?

Another night time snake.

The Last 2 Weeks

So being busy has been an understatement these last two weeks but it was very much in a good way. Rachel came up to the mountains for a 5 day stay at the ranch and we had a big time. We were able to spend alot of time outside rafting the Arkansas River, fishing the Taylor, and just enjoying our time together in such amazing surroundings. We caught the fireworks show in Crested Butte and frequented the many good places to eat in CB. Rachel caught her first 20" trout of her life and it sure was a blast for the both of us.

Between guiding clients and spending time with Rachel I was flat worn out by the time she returned home but that day my buddy Patrick arrived and we hit the river hard for a few days. Beginning with the Taylor I joined him after work and was pumped when we got a huge brown in the net. It measured 23" in the net and the picture turned out fantastic.

After getting some night fishing in I took my day off Thursday and we drove to the Frying Pan again for an amazing day on the water. We arrived Wednesday night and caught a few fish on my mysis that night before getting some shut eye for a big next day.

We fished from about 6:45 AM to the mid afternoon landing at least 25 fish and hooking probably double that. Those Pan fish sure can shake a hook.

Most of our fish were the typical football shaped rainbows your hear about on the Pan but we mixed in an amazing male rainbow and many nice browns. It was nice to get my first big Frying Pan redside that has such brilliant colors.

It was also my first chance to really test out my new Scott S4 6 weight and man was I blown away. It really puts the heat on those fish and the 9'6" makes nymphing a treat. We drove back after a fine day and finished up the day with a few hours of more night fishing. I think in about an hour or two of fishing we had 6 or so doubles to end Pat's trip on a high note. Now that I can finally breathe and have my computer back the posts will be better and more frequent.

Happenings

Well a lot has happened since my last post. Since then the caddis, stoneflies, and I even saw my first salmon fly of the season today, are coming off THICK at the ranch. My day off last week sent me to the Frying Pan to test my skills. I had never been to the river previously but I was so excited to experience another world class fishery. I took Cottonwood Pass to Buena Vista and then Independence Pass to Aspen and on to Basalt. That was the most amazing day of driving (not the quickest) I have experienced. Crossing over the Continental Divide twice and seeing some fantastic scenery was a treat. I would have liked to take more pictures but just keeping my car on the road, it breaks down to one lane at times, was enough to keep me busy. I slept at a camp ground up by Ruidi that night and was the first one on the river Friday at 6. I began at the famed toilet bowl and hooked many fish on my own deadly mysis pattern.

Just as expected landing them was another story. The jagged rocky bank wasn't like the Taylor where once you hook a pig you can run with him down stream. I stumbled and fell several times loosing fish in the 5-6 pound range even before anyone else was on the river. I even fished to an enormous 32ish inch brown that was actively feeding next to a 25ish inch rainbow but was unable to get a solid hook set to land it. Bummer but what a thrill. I also was able to land my fair share of fish topping off with a 22 1/2" brown.

The picture doesn't do it justice as my big net dwarfs the fish in it. Being alone it was the best shot I could get and I will add it and others soon. I fished the flats to let others fish the Toilet Bowl but found the educate different than I was used to, even on the Taylor. You could walk clear across the river on almost all spots and many yuppies tromped all over everyone's fish. Most of them were with guides. Go figure. It was getting way too crowded even for my taste so I was satisfied with my fish and left by lunch. On my way down I looked for the numerous public pull offs to fish but even all of them were full. MAN! The Pan lives up to its reputation of being an amazing river and extremely crowded and I am glad to have expanded my realm of rivers fished. The last few days have been filled with trips and a few interesting things. I ran into the Avery beer company owners at the ranch (my favorite IPA), broke my amazing custom made 9'6" 5 weight on a Taylor brown under the bridge, and removed a #12 fly from a gentleman's foot. I sure am glad I hooked myself back in March (check the posts to relive the funny incident) with a #4 streamer in the head and had Tony show me the proper way to remove a hook. Without that experience I would have not known. I may add a post later to explain the proper way to do that because it is bound to happen to every guide. All in all its been a great week and should get even better as my girlfriend Rachel will be arriving for a week of fun in the mountains. Look for pics and posts to come.

Caddis!

Well the last few days have been filled with maintenance duties rather than river trips for the most part. I did get out with a client yesterday for a morning trip. The fishing was tough but we managed some nice bows and cutts. As the title indicates caddis have arrived and are filling the air and tress around the river all evening. I fished a dry fly this evening and took a few fishing but most are still not rising consistently. Give it a few more days and we will see what happens.

I was able to attend the Tulluride Bluegrass Festival for a day to celebrate a friends bachelor party. What a great time! It was a blast to see some familiar faces again in such an amazing town. I had never been to Telluride and I was blown away by the scenery. I booked it home early Saturday to be back in time for a trip. Not the most fun drive back with sheep traffic jam and a not so understanding state trooper who issued me a speeding ticket.

6-18-09

I havent had any trips the last few days but on my last outing with Greg from Denver we were able to get into a nice female. We were also taking fish on dries which gets me fired up. the rest of the pictures were from the C&R the last few days. I was by myself so these were the best pictures I could manage.

I captured a bunch of underwater release videos with my new camera so stay tuned for those. I think they turned out really well in spite of their short length.

Some Trips

Well I finally have some photos to add from some trips the last few weeks. Eddie from Florida was my first trip and was I lucky to have a guy like him to start off with. He made things very easy and was able to do everything I said to a tee. We even opened up the day with a sweeeet double! A rainbow and cutty, that aint bad!

Here is Eddie with a nice bow as well.

Richard from Texas was also a ton of fun to guide. He was able to learn a bunch of new stuff about the sport and quickly applied it to put the hammer down on some bows and browns. Richard was also able to teach his grandson some new tricks he had learned with me and they both were soon catching fish unaided.

>

Here is Joe from Arizona with a nice male bow. After Joe got his casting down he was catching fish a a steady rate all afternoon.

Taylor River Pictures