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...and a lot fewer photos of people holding cameras in front of their bathroom mirror a.k.a. "selfies"!
There's something about an early morning on a Rocky Mountain trout stream that brings out the philosopher in me. Once you're away from cell phones, TV's, computers and all the other technological distractions that bombard us daily, your mind has the freedom to relax and ponder life's deeper questions. Like what on earth would possess someone to strip down and take a selfie while standing in front of their bathroom mirror? Sheesh!
I read an article recently that shared the results of a study showing that the average person would rather give themselves a painful electric shock than spend 15 minutes alone with their thoughts. Who are those people anyway? Gosh, I don't know about you, but I love it when I can get 15 minutes alone with my thoughts. And believe me, a trout stream is the perfect place for it!
G.W. and I are polishing up our fly fishing skills with the help of this guy, Scott Tarrant.
Scott is one of the outstanding guides working with Angler's Covey in Colorado Springs and also the owner of Watershed Fly Fishing Company.
We took a casting lesson from Scott at the practice pond beside Angler's Covey, then decided to take it out on some moving water. With Scott as our teacher and guide, we headed out to Eleven Mile Canyon to fish the South Platte River.
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This little gem of a canyon sits below the dam at Eleven Mile Reservoir. Beautiful, rugged granite walls...
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...and towering pines line the canyon.
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In case you were wondering, we weren't fishing the waterfalls you see in the photos! We were a few miles further upstream from where I snapped these.
We started our morning just below the dam at Eleven Mile Reservoir. A question I hadn't even asked yet was answered when Scott slipped a seine over his landing net, muddled the stream bed and caught a couple of bugs and worms that were stirred up. That's how you figure out what flies to use. You check to see what's in the water that day.
Scott told us that each morning there's a hatch of a mayfly species called Trico (Tricorythodes) and the trout go nuts for them. He said they hatch at 8:30 AM and sure enough, at 8:30 the air was filled with thousands of these tiny insects.
This photo is courtesy of Fly Fisherman
If you're curious about these mayflies and how to fish a trico hatch, follow this link to an excellent article by John Merwin at Field and Stream.
How to Fish the Summer Trico Hatch for Trout
But meanwhile, back at the ranch, Scott, G.W. and I watched clouds of tricos dancing in the morning sun. One thing was curiously missing though. The trout weren't rising. We fished hard and came up empty. Not even a strike. Where were the trout? Thumbing their noses at us, apparently. Other anglers around us were having similar luck (or bad luck as the case may be).
That's what makes fly fishing for trout so maddeningly attractive. Some days, it's easy; other days, you have to work for it and on still others, you're skunked no matter what. And yet we keep coming back for more.
Scott was a man with a plan and we moved downstream just a bit. It was the perfect place for me and G.W. since it had some challenging, fast water for G.W. to fish and also some "tamer" water for me. It also had lots of trout! Oh yeah, baby!
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G.W. and I each landed a couple of nice rainbows.
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We also hooked and lost many more. Very exciting fishing.
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All the while Scott was showing us how to read the currents, and most importantly, how to mend our lines.
Learning to cast is the first step in fly fishing, but you can cast like a pro and still never catch a trout. Why? Because you need to understand how to control your line in water currents. When you don't, your fly won't drift naturally. If the line is dragging the fly faster or slower than the current would naturally take it, your fly no longer looks like a real bug being carried in the current. "Mending" your line employs several techniques to combat this dragging and gives your fly a natural drift.
The methods for mending your line are far beyond the scope of this article. But it IS important if you want to catch trout! My reason for mentioning it here is that while G.W. and I were having fun catching trout, our guide/teacher was helping us learn these critical points like line mending. Scott says the river is the best teacher. I'll add that it does help when you have a knowledgeable person helping you interpret what the river is trying to tell you.
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After just four hours on the water, we walked away with the knowledge we needed to go out on our own and catch trout. Are we experts? Not yet. But we caught some fish, so we're on our way. And spent a glorious summer morning on a stream, alone with our thoughts and some trout. It doesn't get any better than this!
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If you are in Colorado or planning to visit, and would like to scare up a few trout, I highly recommend both Angler's Covey and Watershed Fly Fishing Company. Although I linked to their websites above, here are the links again.
Watershed Fly Fishing Company
Angler's Covey
And when you stop in at Angler's Covey, be sure to look for Kate, Scott's darling Golden Retriever and store mascot/greeter. She'd love a scratch behind the ears!
I read an article recently that shared the results of a study showing that the average person would rather give themselves a painful electric shock than spend 15 minutes alone with their thoughts. Who are those people anyway? Gosh, I don't know about you, but I love it when I can get 15 minutes alone with my thoughts. And believe me, a trout stream is the perfect place for it!
G.W. and I are polishing up our fly fishing skills with the help of this guy, Scott Tarrant.
Scott is one of the outstanding guides working with Angler's Covey in Colorado Springs and also the owner of Watershed Fly Fishing Company.
We took a casting lesson from Scott at the practice pond beside Angler's Covey, then decided to take it out on some moving water. With Scott as our teacher and guide, we headed out to Eleven Mile Canyon to fish the South Platte River.
This little gem of a canyon sits below the dam at Eleven Mile Reservoir. Beautiful, rugged granite walls...
...and towering pines line the canyon.
In case you were wondering, we weren't fishing the waterfalls you see in the photos! We were a few miles further upstream from where I snapped these.
We started our morning just below the dam at Eleven Mile Reservoir. A question I hadn't even asked yet was answered when Scott slipped a seine over his landing net, muddled the stream bed and caught a couple of bugs and worms that were stirred up. That's how you figure out what flies to use. You check to see what's in the water that day.
Scott told us that each morning there's a hatch of a mayfly species called Trico (Tricorythodes) and the trout go nuts for them. He said they hatch at 8:30 AM and sure enough, at 8:30 the air was filled with thousands of these tiny insects.
This photo is courtesy of Fly Fisherman
If you're curious about these mayflies and how to fish a trico hatch, follow this link to an excellent article by John Merwin at Field and Stream.
How to Fish the Summer Trico Hatch for Trout
But meanwhile, back at the ranch, Scott, G.W. and I watched clouds of tricos dancing in the morning sun. One thing was curiously missing though. The trout weren't rising. We fished hard and came up empty. Not even a strike. Where were the trout? Thumbing their noses at us, apparently. Other anglers around us were having similar luck (or bad luck as the case may be).
That's what makes fly fishing for trout so maddeningly attractive. Some days, it's easy; other days, you have to work for it and on still others, you're skunked no matter what. And yet we keep coming back for more.
Scott was a man with a plan and we moved downstream just a bit. It was the perfect place for me and G.W. since it had some challenging, fast water for G.W. to fish and also some "tamer" water for me. It also had lots of trout! Oh yeah, baby!
G.W. and I each landed a couple of nice rainbows.
We also hooked and lost many more. Very exciting fishing.
All the while Scott was showing us how to read the currents, and most importantly, how to mend our lines.
Learning to cast is the first step in fly fishing, but you can cast like a pro and still never catch a trout. Why? Because you need to understand how to control your line in water currents. When you don't, your fly won't drift naturally. If the line is dragging the fly faster or slower than the current would naturally take it, your fly no longer looks like a real bug being carried in the current. "Mending" your line employs several techniques to combat this dragging and gives your fly a natural drift.
The methods for mending your line are far beyond the scope of this article. But it IS important if you want to catch trout! My reason for mentioning it here is that while G.W. and I were having fun catching trout, our guide/teacher was helping us learn these critical points like line mending. Scott says the river is the best teacher. I'll add that it does help when you have a knowledgeable person helping you interpret what the river is trying to tell you.
After just four hours on the water, we walked away with the knowledge we needed to go out on our own and catch trout. Are we experts? Not yet. But we caught some fish, so we're on our way. And spent a glorious summer morning on a stream, alone with our thoughts and some trout. It doesn't get any better than this!
If you are in Colorado or planning to visit, and would like to scare up a few trout, I highly recommend both Angler's Covey and Watershed Fly Fishing Company. Although I linked to their websites above, here are the links again.
Watershed Fly Fishing Company
Angler's Covey
And when you stop in at Angler's Covey, be sure to look for Kate, Scott's darling Golden Retriever and store mascot/greeter. She'd love a scratch behind the ears!
:-) :-) :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat students make great teachers! Thanks you guys!!! I had an amazing time with you! I can't wait for the next!
Scott & Kate