Only a few weeks since my dad's passing, I found myself incredibly busy with the tasks that come with death of a loved one. Between moving into my new place in Denver along with taking care of some things in Santa Fe, I realized I had not been on the water since mid October. I think Kassie also noticed my change in attitude with everything going on, so as she walked out the door yesterday, she told me, "Whatever you do, get outside today. Even if you don't go fishing, get out there." I knew that was what I needed, and knew my dad would be happy to see me out there again.
I waited until Charlies Flybox opened, and stopped in to chat with Greg Garcia about the current hatches on S. Boulder Creek. As I expected, small midges, beatis and possibly some BWO's would come off if it warmed up enough. Regardless, it was nice to be back in the fly shop and talking the talk with fellow fisherman. I headed out toward Walkers Ranch Loop, and was at the trail head around 11am and on the water with the first colorful rainbow tugging not more than 25 minutes and 10 casts later. Water temps were chilly, registering at 42 degrees, but the sun was trying its hardest to stay above the canyon's rim.
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| About to drop down to the river |
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| Spotted some deer on the side of the trail |
I got on the water a little upstream from where the trail meets the river, instead of hiking downstream like I typically do. Even with the water temps low, the fish I was spotting were set up in the shallow water, both in the shade and sun, and seemed to be feeding actively even though I had not seen a bug. I tried a few different setups, but quickly found that they were interested in the flashy beadheads and small egg patterns. Olive micromays, beadhead pheasants and poison tungs size 18-22 were getting more love than the natural baetis and midge patterns I was using. I also grabbed a couple of fish on some a rainbow warrior.
I tried a few dries with no luck. Some fish rose from the depths to appear interested, but would only take the dropper. The double dropper nymph rig outperformed the dry dropper, so I chose to stick with that.
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| Enjoying a cold one celebrating the first one in the net |
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| Colorful rainbow in deep holding water |
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| Awesome patterned brownie from shallow fast water |
The largest fish I coaxed to the net came in around 13", but they were all brilliantly colored and full of fight. I was very surprised to see how active they were considering how cold the water and air temps were. As I worked my way up the canyon, I had to bust the ice out of the eyelets on my rod about every 10 minutes. I only came across two other anglers, so as long as you can brave a little bit of cold, the fish are very willing to tug on your line with little to no pressure from other fisherman.
A day on the river was exactly what I needed to reflect on all that my dad provided me through the years. Growing up fishing with him, I can't help but think of all of the good times we shared stomping around Questa and Red River, NM, chasing browns, rainbows and cutties. Dad, thank you for everything, I truly appreciate it and will miss you more than you can imagine.
I can't wait to get back out there and grab some more fish. I will be heading down to the family cabin early next week to check the progress of the building and will hopefully wet some line. I suggest you all should do the same!
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| Nice pocket water with hungry fish waiting in every likely place! |
