Off With The Rags!

my old vest could very easily be compared to rags.
I finally found a pack that can accommodate my picky butt. well that didn't come out right now did it, I'm a creature of habit and a little anal...
I have seriously been looking for a better way to haul my gear for a couple of years Ive tried a couple of different fanny/hip packs, back packs and vests but my hardheadedness, if that's a word,has made me put on my "Rags" every time I go out. Rags being the old green fly vest I got when I turned 19, I'm 28 now. So I spent a great deal of time combing the web and snooping around various fly shops, honestly begging someone just to sell me something so I could quit looking. My goal was to find something that I could use wading as well as use on the float from a pontoon or a drift boat. I thought that these were my only factors until I was reminded about "life jackets". K so I need a pack that I can wade fish, float fish, both while sitting and standing and wear with a life jacket... Now I have a vision of needing two packs and the battle of switching things over and not having what I need cause I left it in my other pants. I mean pack. Does a pack like this even exist?
Darn right it does its called the Fishpond waterdance guide pack, it's a chest pack hip pack or sling pack holds a ton of stuff! I deserve it and I'll run it hard!
Thanks fishpond! wait thank the fish then the pond.

Sticking it out

You all have to agree that winter fishing can wear on an angler rather rapidly.

It's cold, adult bugs are sparse, fish are deep, Icy guides, low flows, and even if the fishing is slow, the day always seams worse just because you made your self miserable,

The fish are still there, Somewhere deep, just like us they have to eat,

So if your one who gets offensive when given advise then just remember that I'm encouraging you all to stop looking so hard for fish in the winter and look a little more for there mouths. Feed em micro plankton aka midge larva. Put one in front of the mouth of a trout and it almost has to go in it. When winter fishing wears on you... Stick it out!!!

Colorado's not so tried or true

The minute I seen Colorado anglers post the tried and true pheasant tail, I had to give it a try, mostly because I felt like all the times he describes how the version has changed made it a perfect fly to try, I really tried to stay as close as possible to his,

red thread

tail-pheasant tail

ribbing-copper wire

body-pheasant tail fibers

red butt, never hurts unless its from the sun.

red head but mines glass

legs but mine are barred tarantula legs

and I threw down a saddle hackle collar

and Ron......yea I used turkey for the wing case

Punnishment by the punisher

If you read my last blog " The Shadow Knows" you know that I got more than schooled by the fish, ya I blamed it on everything, disappeared, not hungry, eagles , and aliens, That was pathetic....So I thought I deserved some kind of punishment for this random act of senseless angling. How about grounding myself to ONE hole, pretty deep maybe 4 to 5 feet deep in the deepest part. There also two big snaggers down there. The rules are.. First, I can't leave this spot, second, mandatory tandem rig to better the chances of hitting the snag, third, one size to large indicator, yea shouldn't have been such a wussy last time, fourth rule, follow the rules.



The first hour was a cold one, Icy guides and cold hands. As I reached the hour and a half mark I was 0 for fish and 6 flies in the hole from the snag. It started to warm up so fast that giant floating pieces of ice were making my life hell there for a while. Then I began to notice the flows changing either from the warm weather or from the dam....Still no fish I really wanted to move to another spot but... The water has came up at least three inches since I showed up, it's on the rise but running clear. There are an abundance of gold stones here in the Unc. and something tells me that I'm going to get a little cause and effect lesson in regards to the changing flows, warming temperatures and the will to catch fish, while taking the beating of a lifetime totally inflicted my me.



Just over 2 and a half hours without a fish, three blood knots 7 flies, 8 feet of 5x and 6 split shots, the river has came up all of 10 inches and is quite a bit off-color, I've been adding weight as its came up and need more yet but cant stop thinking about that snag. Time for a new set-up.



I switched out the 16 rubberlegger for a 14 and ditched the 18 soft-hackle for a 20 larva and a big split shot. Ran this set up through the seam. and caught 8 fish in one spot, one seam, one hole one man,

The moral of this story Is...Don't let a bad day get you down, It could effect the next time out there.

So pictures, they were all small fish, funner just to catch another one rather than mess with the camera but I did snap one that took that 20 larva..

Laker Days

Any trip that last more than a day gets treated like the trip of the year. Lake Trout come to the shallows in early spring and just like the last three springs I'll be there sifting through the biggest reservoir in the state in search of a real trophy fish. I,m no expert at this species of fish but I'm smart enough to realize that when 50 lb fish are in 5 feet of water willing to eat anything that swims, I should probably attend. After three years of researching the body of water and where these lakers are at different times of the year, I have learned that spring is my best shot with the gear that I have.

here is a list of stuff I take for a three day session...

12' aluminum flat bottom boat

4hp 2 stroke Johnson

5 gallons of fuel

12 battery

minnkota motor

9' inflatable pontoon boat for windy conditions

oars

2 pair of waders one neo one breathable

5 rods

9' 8wt fly rod with sinking 8wt line and 15' 15 lb test leader "not tapered"

9' 5wt fly rod with floating 5wt line and 12 foot tapered leader "sink tip sometimes"

7' medium action spinning rig w 8lb test

7' medium/heavy action spinning rig w 12lb test

and an 8" heavy troller led core w 17 lb, 18' mono leader + steel leader

all the flys, lures, hooks, and sinkers I got

half the clothes I own

no- tent, have to sleep in the truck it will get below zero at night.

These fish are big and hungry and fight like no other! You must know more than the fundamentals of fishing to even go for them, Like any other kind of fishing it comes down to getting a plan and EXECUTING it, just like I always say.

During the three springs on Blue I have had three strikes that I know were lakers, two of those were fish on the line and the other was an empty run with dead live bait. One of those three made it to my hand and the others will see me again.

This fish weighed in at 16 lbs, 33 inches and 22 ingh girth

You ready for the KICKER he hit a giant 7 inch flat fish, I had to force myself to use tackel this big.. I mean come on two days before, I was using a 22 midge on 4lb test, OH yea the kicker............look what was hanging out of his throat.


That's A brown trout just under 16 inches long, gee ya think a 7 inch minnow is too much? or not enough?

I'm going to try a tandom rig this year putting this in front of that same flat fish... now were going down!!

The Shadow Knows

I went fishing today and you could say, it was slow, they weren't biting, or what are they eating? Puzzling for me because I'm sure I have anything that could be in the water and I didn't even see A fish. It crossed my mind that some kind of aliens could have come and ripped off all the fish but that's not realistic, honestly they disappeared or something I carefully combed almost 2 miles of water hunting for them. I guess this falls under, "I got skunked" so what happened to them?...............only The Shadow Knows...