Spring Time!

I'm clearly past due on updating this blog.  I've been out 9 different times since I last wrote, so instead of trying to remember many of the details I'll throw out an overview with some pics.   Overall I feel like this spring has been slower than expected.  The weather patterns and stream flows have forced some changes in plans.  The additional snow pack levels this year have caused some rivers to blow out or at least muddy up earlier than usual while others are still choked with ice.  What happened to the low clear/green waters of spring; the time period between low level runoff and the main spring runoff?  Maybe we will still see that on some rivers this year.  Regardless  most of the rivers in the state should get a good cleaning.  Weather we will have a prolonged runoff or higher peaks during runoff is yet to be seen.  We won't know that until late June or early July.  In the last month and a half I have had 3 days on the Colorado, 1 day of wading and 2 floats, 3 days on the Platte, 1 at Deckers, 1 in Eleven Mile, 1 in Denver, 1 day on the Ark and 2 days at local bass ponds. There have been some big trout landed along with whities, the first bucket mouth, and first carp of the year.  All fish have been safely released without harm.  Here are a few of the pics:

Now it's time for BWO's, caddis, pike, still water ice-off,  a couple days on the Juan next week, and like always STREAMERS!

Winter in the Canyon - 2/16/2011

I had an opportunity to get out last Wednesday for some much needed mental rehabilitation and many of the states rivers are frozen over, so it was back to Cheesman.  As a general rule I prefer freestones over tailwaters, but that is more of a winter treat than the norm.  Here is a pic from this last week of the Blue.

Ice augers and rivers don't sound like a good combination to me.  The canyon on the other hand is always ice free.

It was a beautiful day with the sun shinning bright and the wind blowing a consistent cold winter breeze.  The wind did make sight fishing more difficult throughout the day, but if you could find feeding fish life was good.  Most of the fish I saw during the day were either underneath rocks or bunched up in small pockets where it is difficult to get a decent cast to them.  However, I did manage to find the occasional fish in the riffles.  With the warm weather I expected to find more active fish than I did.

Here is a nice brown I picked up in the riffles.

I wonder if it moved into the riffles to feed on the few BWO's that hatched during the height of the day.  These were the first BWO's I've seen on this stretch in a couple of months and there was even a nose or two peaking through the surface to feed on adults.  Calling this a hatch is a long stretch at best as there were very few bugs in the air including midges.

Here is a nice rainbow I picked up out of a deep, slow pocket with several conflicting currents making for a tough drift without lots of drag.

Overall it was a great day on the water.  I got to fish most of my favorite spots on the river and even pricked a few lips along the way.

Flies:  #20 olive BWO nymph, #16 Pheasant body Evil Weevil
Flows:  ~ 100 cfs
Weather:  low 60's and windy.  Felt more like the high 40's until the wind stopped.

January Freestoning

You have got to love winter in Colorado.  Even in January there are breaks in the weather that allows things to warm up making for some great mid winter days.  This last weekend happened to be just one of those breaks from winter, although as I write this it is cold, icy and snowing with expected highs below zero in the next day.  Just two days ago some mountain areas enjoyed sunny mid 50's weather with little to no wind.  People were not the only ones to take advantage of the short window of greatness.  The fish seemed to be enjoying it as well.

It is not every January we get the chance to fish freestone rivers without the battle of ice if not frozen conditions.  The morning hours did provide reminders that it is mid winter with a good sludge hatch lasting for the first few hours on the river.  In between the floating slush-bergs you could see good numbers of fish piling up in the crystal clear slower water.  Even better a decent number of them were suspended in the water column meaning only one thing.  They are feeding.  Now for the next challenge, how to present a fly through the slush and not spook the fish?  I was able to sneak up within casting distance of the fish I had been stocking, so now it was a matter of getting my flies down.  With patience it was possible to get a cast between the slush and present the flies at the proper depth.  Even with carefully placed casts about 30% of them still ended up stuck in or on the slush.  Regardless it only took a short while before hooking up.  Here is the first fish of the day taking from under the sludge hatch.

After releasing this fish I stepped back into the river where I was previously standing to find the entire pod gone.  Fighting the fish spooked the pod.  No surprise there.  I worked the pool and surrounding structure hooking one other fish, which was a fat healthy 17" rainbow.  By then the morning solitude on the water diminished and I took off to another spot on the river to once again have the place to myself.

By now the sludge hatch has ended and things started to look like a warm spring day, but with the constant reminders that it is still winter.  The fish continued to hold in the classic winter style.  The trick was to find the deepest, slow moving water and work it over hard, then adjust depths and try again until fish were found.  Where there was one fish, there were always more to be found often with the same drift as the previous successful one.  This also means the hook ups were hot one after another or not at all.  Here are a few more fish caught throughout the day.

I have to say there was a distinct difference between the browns and the rainbows caught.  The browns were skinny and sluggish typical of winter where the rainbows were much fatter and more energetic.  One rainbow I caught seemed to be full of eggs or just abnormally fat compared to the other rainbows caught.  It is too early on this water shed for the rainbows to be getting ramped up to spawn.  Maybe the one hen had just eaten way more than the rest or just a fluke that she was getting ready this early.  I wish I had some better pics to get additional input.  Oh well.  I would rather not have the best pics of fish, but also not have to handle the fish or ever remove them from the water.  I only had to touch one or maybe two fish all day.  That's a trade off I'm happy with.

Flies:  #10 Golden Stone, #12 Czech Caddis
Flow:  ~380 - 400
Weather:  Mid 50's, Sunny, No wind

Out with the old, In with the new.

After a great day on the water Saturday I sat down at the vice with Sunday morning coffee to continue my deer hair education.  Everything was going great until I started to spin hair on my first fly of the day.  The #2 hook I was working with was moving in the vice every time I pulled on the thread, so naturally I tightened the jaw lever for a better grip.  Just seconds later as I started wrapping thread again the entire jaws seemingly exploded sending a broken screw, the spring and my fly sailing.  It was not that big of a deal as the jaws can always be rebuilt, but now I was stuck starring at the tube and rereading chapters from books I've read several times already.

 My Renzetti Traveler vise was starting to show serious signs of wear and needed some replacement parts or a complete overhaul from the manufacturer after several years of good service.  I attempted to get a rebuild kit for the jaws the next day, but the kits I found were missing parts and I could not find some of the pieces that went flying during its' moment of death.  So there would be no tying for me until new kits arrive from the manufacturer.  The funny thing is I was already shopping for a replacement vice even though the Traveler could be fixed, I think.  It only took two days of coming home from work and sitting in front of the tube for my lady to start pressing me to just step up and buy a new vise.  She knew I was going to do it anyways figuring everyone would be better off instead of waiting until I got bored sitting on the couch and started to drive the family nuts.  Or maybe it is just that I drive them nuts anyways so I'm better off tying flies by myself.....hmmmm. 

Here is what I got.  I'm hoping it will be more sturdy and last longer.

Cheesman 1/15/2011

I finally made it out for the first fishing trip of the year. Coincidentally, it was also the first warm weekend day in a couple of weeks.  Not that cold weather keeps me off the water, but I'm not going to argue when a warm day and a fishing day happen to fall on the same date.

I was headed towards the mountains on 6th Avenue around 6:45 when traffic slowed to a crawl a mile or so before the I-70 exit.  By the time I got to the on ramp for C-470 traffic on the interstate was at a dead stop with ski traffic.  I love skiing, but I haven't put forth the effort in 6 or 7 years now because of the obvious.  With no traffic the closest ski area is an hour away.  I would be surprised if anybody made it to the lifts before noon.  Enough about skiing and traffic, I was headed south to tailwaters and fins.

I arrived at the parking lot around 8:00 and had the place virtually to myself, so I headed into the canyon.  In previous weeks the water releases from Cheesman Dam had been fluctuating, so I had high hopes of insects being flushed into the current and less wary trout.  The canyon had also been closed for a period this winter due to road construction staging in the parking areas.  I first hiked a ways into the canyon to some of my favorite water knowing I would be the first person that day to present a fly to these fish.  This was great, but it is still winter and the sun was an hour away from getting close to the water.  I spotted some fish and worked hard to no avail for the first couple of hours on the river, but I was greeted by this local when I sat in the snow to re-rig.

Finally around 11:00 when other anglers started to make their way upstream to where I was the fish started to move, staging for the days feeding.  It is usually not that obvious to witness the change of behavior in fish preparing to feed, but there was no question about what was happening. With the change of temperature, sunlight location and the movement of fish, everything started to come together.  It was now time to figure out what they were eating and start catching some fish.  It took a couple of patterns and switching out to 7x tippet before any fish were caught.  My first fish of the day was a healthy golden orange brown 17" long.  Previous to hooking the fish and after a couple weeks off the water the initial tug of the fish made me feel like a heroin addict that finally got it's fix.  Unfortunately, my fish pics did not turn out as I still had the camera set in macro mode and I wasn't about to change camera settings with a fish in the net.  Oh well, next time.

For the next couple of hours I hooked into a few more fish, but no others to the net.  This was no surprise as I was hooking fish in faster than expected water or water directly next to fast water with a size 26 midge on 7x tippet.  Bent hooks, broken tippet and spit flies was the story of the day.  With only one good fish to hand I felt like I had a great day for the middle of January in Cheesman Canyon.  The fish I hooked up with on average were larger than the average fish caught on the past couple of trips on the South Platte.

Just another great day of winter fishing in Colorado.

Flies:   #26 red midge pupae (OK, It was tied proportionally small on a #24 2x short hook), #10 Golden Stone
Flow:  About 140 cfs
Weather:  Cloudy in the low 50's

The Wile Water Wolf

Last night I was sitting at the tying bench as I do everyday trying to avoid the shack nasties now that I haven't wet a line in over 2 weeks. This is the longest dry spell I've had in the past year. This time I was looking for something new to play with. All my nymph boxes are packed full and there are 10 dozen flies lying on the bench without a home, so warm water species was the ticket.

After seeing all the great deer hair work from tyers on the Fly Tying Forum I figured I should step away from the foam divers and poppers to continue my education in working with deer hair. Here is my first attempt at separating hair colors, forming a collar and my first deer hair diver.

The thought of fishing warm water quickly turned more focused with thoughts of chasing the wile water wolf and my flies changed direction once again.  Unfortunately, while I was gathering materials for some pike flies I found I don't have the materials I was looking for.  This seams to be typical for me whenever I set down to tie.  It doesn't seam to matter how many materials I have, there is always some thing missing.  But I couldn't let this slow me down as tying only one warm water fly and walking away would make me feel lazy, unaccomplished or just straight guilty for the half assed effort.  I'm sure we can all agree that a half assed effort in fly fishing leads to a fishless day sitting on the bank with a big knot in our hands to unravel.  So I worked with what I did have available changing proportions and materials to create another half dozen basic pike flies in anticipation of spring, which I'm trying to convince myself is just around the corner.  Here is what I came up with.

They might not impress the fly tier, but I bet the wile water wolf won't slow down a charge long enough to notice.  A trip to the shop is clearly past due...... again.

Is it spring yet?

Urban Tailwater 12/26/10

Christmas had come and gone, the celebration of the holiday weekend has come to a close, it was only Sunday with sunny weather and I had a day to play.  What else is one to do?  I took off early in search of that one last gift.  I headed south driving on freeways and through cities.  This is not my average start to a day on the river, but being the middle of winter and BWO's hatching consistently, it was well worth it.  Besides I had some new fly patterns to test.

I pulled into the parking lot not far from the Pueblo dam before anyone else.  This was surprising to me as this once secret spot is far from secret anymore.  If it was, I would not be openly giving up exact locations.  Regardless, I was glad to find the place to myself for the short while I did.  This allowed me to fish some of my favorite holes before the fish have seen a thousand flies before mine.  The flip side is I found myself breaking ice out of guides for the first hour or so. My first rig quickly broke off to a rock partially due to gauging depth and structure in the water being difficult with no sun on the water.  I quickly re-rigged with a gold cdc emerger I received from Avril at Reel Sisters Colorado and hooked up my first fish of the day on the next cast.

By 10:00 the sun was bright and good hatches of midges starting coming off followed by consistent rising.  It was also around this time when I looked around and found myself surrounded by at least 6 other anglers and a steady stream of anglers still showing up.  I took off walking to escape the crowds and hopefully get some circulation back to my feet which were numb.  There was no way to get away from people as there were always a half dozen anglers in site at all times no matter how far I walked.  I decided to jump in and fish the less desirable water that has seen fewer anglers.  The good thing is there seemed to be fish every where I cast.  During the warmer part of the day a good number of BWO's that hatched earlier returned to the water to lay their eggs.  The fish were eating on the surface consistently.  I was able to fish a size 16 BWO dry with a dropper and fool fish one after the other for the next 2 hours until the sun got low and temperatures started to drop.  I re-rigged to a nymph and caught fish on the way back to the parking lot ending with four fish in the last few minutes.

Overall it was a very good day with at least a couple dozen fish to hand.  Most of them were in the 10 to 12 inch range (hence no fish pics) making for an action packed day on the water.  I didn't hook into any of the larger fish, but I wouldn't want to eat either with people walking in and disturbing the water every couple hundred feet most of the day.  A great conclusion to the holiday weekend and that one last gift to myself.

Flies:  They ate everything I threw at them including streamers, Czech's, BWO's, midges
Water Flow:  ~90 cfs
Weather:  Mid to low 50's, mostly sunny

A few things coming off the vice

On Friday my dad convinced me (that was real tough for him) we should run to the hills and wet a line.  It was a nice day out, little breeze and mostly sunny.  With the days only getter shorter (only 6 days left until the days start getting longer) there were more shadows on the water than sun.  We got a late start on the day so we didn't start fishing until 11:00ish.  We both found some fish and had some hookups and missed strikes, but neither of us successfully brought a fish to hand.  We decided to head down river to a stretch of water neither of us has fished in some time.  Upon our arrival we found a river mostly choked out with gravel only leaving small pockets and seams of deeper water.  These small pockets were the only places where any vegetation was able to survive.  When you did find deeper water compared to the shallow gravel choked stream bed, you found fish.  There were not many and they were very spooky.  The day went quick and the sun dropped below the ridge shortly after 3.00 making things that much more difficult.  Only one fish was landed all day between the two of us and I'm glad to say it was not me.  Yes, I got skunked.  It doesn't happen often, but it does happen to all of us.

By the time we made it back home I already switched mindsets from fishing to tying.  Since I have no great fish stories or pictures to share, here are some recent ties coming off of the vice.

 

 A couple dozen midges tied with Saturday morning coffee.

Here is a Crawdad pattern I'm working on.  These are still in the testing phase.  Tie some up and let me know.

This is the Drop Nose Dace originated by Gary LaFontaine.  It hooked 50% of the largest fish I got into last year and is now a permanent staple in my box.

 

Here is a random shot of some flies recently off the vice.  Some drys, midges, caddis, RS2's, Todd Special,  Bugger variant, Golden Stones, Hairs Ears, etc, etc.

It's winter.  Short days, tough fishing and plenty of time at the vice.

Todd Special a BWO Emerger

Todd Special: 
Tying Materials

Hook:               Tiemco TMC 100 #20

Thread:             Uni Thread 8/0 Gray

Tail:                  Dun Hackle Fibers

Body:               Thread

Rib:                  Gold Wire BR

Wing:               White Foam

Thorax:            Gray Dubbing of choice*

*The original pattern was tied with Super Fine Dry Fly Dubbing

The Todd Special was named by my friends and fishing partners with the understanding that it can easily be viewed as a variation of several other patterns out there.  It originated after tedious study of real Blue Wing Olives on the San Juan River including lots of trial and error sessions tying new flies and testing them in water until I was satisfied with the results.  I finally got a fly matching the samples I was working off of, so it was time for the real R&D; what do the fish think?  The Todd Special became an instant hit with the fish and has probably landed more fish to date than any other fly I’ve ever fished.  Now that is making quite the statement. 

 

1.  Place hook in vice and crimp barb.  Wrap the hook shank with thread.  Remove a clump of hackle fibers from the stem of a large rooster neck feather and attach to the top of the hook shank.  I find that 15 - 20 hackle fibers to be about right.  Wrap to about the 60 percent point on the hook and trim off the excess material.

 

2.  Attach a piece of gold wire at this same point on the hook.  Wrap the wire to the hook bend completely covering the wire.  Palmer the wire back towards the eye of the hook and tie off.

 

3.  Cut a small piece of white closed cell foam.  Attach to the top of the hook shank as shown below.  Trim and tie down any excess foam.

4.  Apply a small amount of gray dubbing to your thread.  Wrap over the foam wing forming a thorax leaving the foam exposed towards the bend of the hook.  Whip finish.

5.  The finished fly.

Deckers 11/28/10 - Thanksgiving Weekend Escape

I arrived at Flies N Lies around 8:30 and restocked on some 6X tippet.  Due to not fishing the South Platte much outside of the winter months I try to support the local shop when possible.  The river report from South Platte Outfitters is worth supporting the store all in itself.  It’s not your typical fishing report, but if you look closely at the amount of information over time, the value becomes obvious.

It was time to fish, so I crossed the highway traveling the dirt road upstream from shop.  There was only one other car in the entire stretch of river extending up to the Wigwam Club.  I had the upper portion to myself.  This has never happened before, so I got on the water quickly.  It took about ten minutes of casting before I started seeing fish.  Missed fish and hookups started soon afterward.

 

I fished my way downstream rarely making a cast unless I could see fish.  When fishing blind I was spooking more fish by slapping the water with a weighted fly and indicator.  When I could see the fish feeding, drifting the fly into its' feeding lane was much easier and the stealthier approach increased hookups.  On the South Platte you often need a near flawless drift to fool fish.  With all the boulders and different currents getting a drag free drift more than 4 or 5 feet is difficult, especially at the proper depth.  I always recommend fishing for one fish at a time regardless of how many trout you see lying in a slot, eddy or riffle.  Here are a couple of fish caught along the way.

After working my way down to the campground I crossed the river and fished my way back up.  By this time the sun was getting low on the horizon, the wind started to pick up and clouds dominated the sky.  No weather passed through, but it felt like it could snow at any moment.  Sight fishing was tough, but still doable as soon as the wind would stop, allowing the sun to peak from behind the clouds on occasion.  By the time I made it back to the day’s starting point it was about 4:00 pm, getting colder and once again I had the river to myself.  This time I was leaving instead of just getting started.

Sure enough on my trip back home I drove through some snow.  There was just enough to cover the roads and cold enough to create some black ice.

Flies:        Golden Stone #10, RS2 #24, Pheasant Tail #20
Flows:      168 cfs
Weather:  Partially cloudy with a cold breeze and scattered snow showers in the area.

Cheesman Canyon 11-19-10

I decided to take the day off of work, so I took advantage of the nice weather and spent the day fishing the canyon.  I arrived at the trail head around 8:30 to find only two other cars in the parking lot.  After wadering up and building my rod, I headed into the canyon.

I got into the canyon about the time the sun was trying to peak out from behind the clouds coming over the ridge.  While rigging my rod on the banks of the river I found out the hard way I was out of 6X tippet as I pulled the last 6 inches from the spool.  It was going to be 5X and 7X tippet for the day.  I rarely fish 7X tippet as 6X fluorocarbon is sufficient in most situations, but today I had no choice.  With the water clarity 5X was too big for a size #22 fly.

With the limited number of anglers on the water I was able to fish all of my favorite spots on the river, which is a rarity due to the number of fisherman the canyon sees; especially on the weekends.  Luckily it was a Friday.  Made my first casts of the day in one of them.  I started the day fishing one of those spots.

After failing to move any fish besides the one I spooked out of the shallows, I walked up river around the corner to flatter water where I knew of a few slots in the gravel and some less obvious structure that usually holds feeding fish.  While working upstream looking for any movement in the water I started finding fish in the shallows, unfortunately I was spooking more of them than I was able to get a cast to partially due to flat light and a lack of stealth.  Once the sun got high enough in the sky some of the water’s glare reduced making site fishing the name of the game.  Fish started appearing in all the likely spots around rocks and in channels with ample cover.  With so many different currents, making good casts is easier when you can see the fish.  Sometimes seeing the fish is the only way to get a drag free drift in the feeding lane.

The fish below was feeding in a deep tail out along with 4 or 5 other fish.  I had to cast straight up stream taking the risk of lining the fish and spooking the whole pod.

There were some sporadic risers throughout the day that came and went with hatches of midges and BWO‘s, but nothing consistent enough to re-rig a dry. I crossed the river and continued to fish my way upstream.  I spotted more fingerlings than normal as I worked my way along the bank..  Some of them were even eating. 

I fished parts of the river generally past up, but I did so as some huge fish were spotted feeding where a descent cast could be made to them.  One of the larger fish I spotted during the day I was able to hook, but the fight was short lived before he spit me.  After what seemed like a drawn out chess match came to an end resulting in the fish winning.  I was ready for a break.

The day seemed to be flying by as the sun got closer to dropping behind the ridge already hiding behind the clouds making it seam like it was a lot later than it was.  It also seamed as if the fishing slowed down as the shadows got longer.  I notice some of the same fish spotted earlier in the day suspended in the water column feeding now laying still on the bottom of the river.  It was time to start fishing my way back downstream.  I caught a few small ones and missed a couple comparatively larger fish as I worked my way out of the canyon. 

Once the sun dropped behind the canyon walls it became difficult to see through the glare on the water’s surface.  I switched out to a small streamer to finish the day.  There were some aggressive, but inconsistent risers and sight fishing was no longer an option.  This allowed me to cover the entire river quickly and work my way down river at a faster pace.  As much as I love throwing streamers, it appeared as if my fly was spooking more fish than it was attracting , so I accepted that the day has come to an end and started the walk back to the truck.

Overall it was a great day.  The weather was nice with a mix of sun and clouds, very little wind, and a high in the mid 50’s.

River Flow:            110 cfs.

Flies Used:            #10 Golden Stone, small RS2 (20 - 24), black midge

For those of you who don’t already know me; let me introduce myself.

My name is Todd Lansing and I live on the front range of Colorado.  I've been a fairly serious angler now for 21+ years, tying flies for 12 and rowing boats for 10 years.  I'm predominately a trout fisherman, but also enjoy fishing for anything with a fin.  As with most anglers I've progressed in techniques and what type of fishing is most interesting to me.  As a kid fishing the smaller streams of southwest Colorado I spent almost all of my days fishing dry flies as the excitement of watching a trout break the surface to eat your fly is hard to beat.  As I explored more waters and starting fishing larger rivers (compared to the streams as a kid) I was forced to adapt my fishing techniques from the small stream dap to exploring sub-surface and nymphing.  I always knew nymphing was a more productive way to fish, but with the excitement of what seamed like an endless supply of Brookies willing to take an Elk Hair Caddis, Royal Wolfe, Trude, etc. slowed my progression and learning curve.  It wasn't until I was fishing the fabled San Juan consistently that nymphing became a mainstay in my fishing tactics.  Nymphing became my method of choice, so much so, my pals starting calling the nymph maniac and for good reason.  For several years I nymph fished almost exclusively and wouldn't switch up to a dry unless conditions were too good to pass up.  Of course, the learning curve continued as my diversity of fisheries, the number of days fishing from a boat, different species, and the types of water explored continued to grow. 

I'm becoming a more well rounded angler with each passing year.  For years now I've been working on streamer fishing techniques.  It all started nymphing Wooley Buggers dead drift, which not only saved some slow days, but opened my eyes to a whole new world.  The realization that trout eat more than Midges, Mayflies, Caddis, Stoneflies and terrestrials.  This was not new knowledge, but something that was oppressed due to small streams, tail waters, and those influencing me.  Not anymore!!  Streamers are always my first choice especially when fishing from a boat.  This is not to say that I don't fish drys or nymph, but come on, how fun is staring at a bobber while the boat is moving at the same speed?  Yes, it has its advantages and its place, but to commit a day to it; I don't think so.  So for now its streamers (or large dry flies) from the boat, nymphing the holes and slots while wading, and drys are generally saved for the opportune moments in a hatch that draw so many to the sport.

My goal in writing this blog is to provide quality information about my experiences as a fisherman including trip reports, photos, flies, boats and everything else that goes with the entire fishing experience.  With that said, I am a fisherman first and foremost, not a photographer or a professional fly tier.  I will be posting fly tying instructions on some of the flies I have either designed or have great success with.  I understand many of the flies I have designed will often be looked at as a variation of another fly or someone else may claim the design as their own.  That’s fine with me as I’m a fisherman first and a fly tier second.  I’ll let the pros decided what is a new fly and what a variation of existing flies is.

Welcome, hopefully you will find some useful information between the lines when reading this blog.  Any comments good, bad or the other are always welcomed.