Colorado; Day 2

8-18-16

A day on the water in Colorado is never a bad day even if the fishing is a little slow. Saw a nice buck as I walked to the river. Today was all brown trout with one rainbow brought to hand while fishing the river. The browns were liking a small foam wing emerger. The rainbow took a caddis emerger pattern. I think I ended up with 8-10 fish and missed or long distance released that many as well. That evening I had a lot of fun fishing Lake Reudi with some buddies. We caught some small rainbows on buggers and had a great time on the lake.

Summer Gill'n

We'll I fished the big gill pond just for grins, knowing the big fish have gone deep to escape the summer temps. Actually the temps haven't been to bad the last few weeks. The fishing was OK, I think most the fish are still deep to escape the sun and warm temps. The first picture is a green sunfish that I know for a fact is the same fish I caught in early July. I caught a couple other decent size gills and a huge bull head catfish; or at least big for a bull head as they don't normally get more than a few pounds. The big gills should return and go on a feeding binge as the fall approaches.  

Colorado; Day 1

8-17-16

Today started off catching a flight to Colorado, getting the rent car, stopping by the fly shop for license and flies and getting on the river before noon. The fishing started off a little slow, to be expected for mid day with a high sun. By mid afternoon a small storm was brewing to the west. It blocked the intense sun and the fish started to turn on. The storm stayed to the west all afternoon. I was catching almost all my fish on a gray RS2 in size 18-20. A few fish would eat my top fly which was a pheasant tail. Out of nowhere the fish turned on and I was hooking up with fish on almost every drift. It was crazy how the fish just went into a feeding frenzy. I was looking around for a hatch but didn't see anything in the air or coming off the water. I soon realized I had some geese 50-60 yards up stream of me feeding in the shoal. Their rooting and digging in the moss and river bed must have been stirring up the insect life. Most frown on the San Juan shuffle, but hey this was an all natural occurrence creating some spectacular fishing. I saw my backing 4 times through the course of the afternoon. I don't think I landed any of those fish. Not much you can do with a big fish and small hooks. Once that much line gets out it creates to much drag causing those small hooks to pull out of a trouts soft mouth. It sure was fun hearing the drag scream as these fish made their run down river. Still plenty of nice healthy fish being brought to the net for a quick photo before being sent back on their way.       

Summer Gill'n

Hit the creek again today. Went down stream a little further looking for some new spots. Found another good hole that was loaded with fish. Not as many bass but a mixed bag of gills; green sunfish, longears, blue gill and varies hybrids of the 3 species. These creek fish have a tendency hybridize as they all live in the same small pools. Caught all my fish today on a fly called a rio getter in a size 14.

POC; Day 2

8-2-16

Day two started off with a lot smoother run. We made our first stop about 50 miles out looking for some amberjack. They weren't really wanting to play today. Not sure what was going on, I think there may have been to many sharks around. I have noticed if there are a lot of sharks or flipper is around the fish really shut off. I think they know there place on the food chain and keep their distance. We caught some red snapper and got bite off by some sharks. I hooked into a African Pompano which is a new species for me, unfortunately he was bit in half before being brought up from the depths. Scott caught a hammerhead shark. Likely one of the few people who can say they've caught one on a fly rod out of Texas. He was pretty stoked about that; we all were. Defiantly a fish he won't forget anytime soon. We also went to some rigs and Scott caught a barracuda, I got bit off my one. On the way back in we stopped at some shrimp boats and Scott caught a bonito. The catching was a little slower today but still a good day of fishing.  

Summer Gill'n

Is it just me or do most folks have the GoPro curse like me. My plan today was to go back and fish the same creek I fished last week and get some good video with the GoPro. It seems like anytime I have the GoPro filming the fishing is dead and absolutely nothing cool happens. The second  I turn it off I start catching fish. I must have filmed 30 minutes of footage today with no fish or even a bump. The fishing was pretty much over before I even got to the water today. Storms from the past few days had the water stirred up. The water was up a little, not enough to really hurt the fishing, but the water was fairly muddy. I was hoping with the water being up it would have the baitfish stirred around and the bass would be chasing them along the banks. I didn't see any activity like that today. The fishing was tough, but I don't mind that as  I normally appreciate days the fish make you work for them. I likely tried a dozen or so flies today and couldn't get the fish to key in on any fly or particular pattern. I was finally able to start picking up a few fish on a small nymph pattern. I was fishing it like you would fish a wet fly on the swing. I'd cast up stream at a 45 degree angle, let the fly dead drift, maybe twitch it on occasion, as the fly drifted down stream I slowly swung it across the current and then let it settle in the seams, give it a few more twitches and then repeat with a cast back up stream. The lesson I learned today was when your expecting the fishing to be tough, don't pull out the GoPro, your just making the day harder on yourself than it already is. 

    

POC; Day 1

8-1-16

Scott and I made our annual run to Port O'Connor to fish with our buddy Steve Barnes. Steve got a new boat this year, a 31' Twin Vee powered by a pair of 300hp Suzuki's. The boat ran great and handled the rough conditions we had Monday morning. The winds got up Sunday evening and stirred up the gulf, needless to say I wasn't feeling to good when we made our first stop at a shrimp boat. Scott hooked up immediately with a nice jack while I was chumming. Its no fun puking, but I always feel a whole lot better afterwards. The winds settled down and the rest of the afternoon wasn't near as rough.

We caught all the kings and jacks we wanted off the shrimp boats. The remora's were especially active as well which is unusual for them to hit flies as aggressively as they did. We also caught some lady fish, sharks and Scott even caught a seagull on a back cast. Lol. Scott had a spinner shark come air-born right in front of him that he wished he could have got on video as he said it was one of the coolest things he's seen. Over all a solid day offshore with many drag burning runs from strong fish.

Summer Gill'n

Went exploring in a local creek today. I use to have a real honey hole in this creek but the flooding from last year and this spring has drastically changed that hole for the worse. The habitat has changed and the fish just aren't there like they use to be. It use to have some prime spawning habitat with substrate gravel and the gills would spawn on it all summer long. The gravel has washed out and so have the fish. I went for a hike down the creek looking for some new water. This creek is relatively shallow, a lot of just 6" water or so but once you find some deeper water there would normally be a lot of fish holding in it. I caught a lot of nice long ears, some green sunfish, some nice gills and the most rewarding part of the day is catching some nice creek bass. I caught fish on a variety of flies; rio getters, a gorgon craw, and an ant pattern. And yes a 2lb bass will eat a size 14 ant pattern. Creek bass have always been challenging to me. The bass are always on high alert with the clear shallow water. I think I learned a few things today in regards to cracking the code. It seemed using long 10-12' leaders was key, using smaller flies that don't disturb the water to much when they hit, using natural flies that mimic local forage, and most importantly keep your distance from the fish and spot them before they spot you. I ended up landing several nice bass that fought great on the 3 weight.