The Blue And Gore Creek

When my friend gave me a call after my second day of Drivers Ed and asked if I had some time for a spare fishing trip, I actually wasn't sure. After moving a couple things around, checking with my mom, and other assorted boringness, I gave him the OK. So with the bags packed, we got a late (7:00 am) start up to the Blue. As usual, the fishing in the upper section was tough. Once we hit my favorite area, the fishing took a turn for the better. All in all I landed some fish, lost a couple more, and broke off once.

After awhile, we head out to our final destination. Wait, not the Blue? No, we were here to fish Gore Creek and its surrounding beaver ponds. We biked for a little while and found ourselves at a nice pond with some rising brookies. I started off with a Slump Buster, but quickly changed up to a yellow Adams. Sight casting to these fish was a great time, and it reminded me of Small Stream Reflections. Speaking of which, SSR is one of my favorite blogs. I wish I could tie flies half as good as what I see on there. If you don't already read it, hit the link and check it out.

The next day, we fished Gore Creek all the way through the Golf Course property. After catching a bunch of brookies, two browns, and a rainbow, I joked to my friend that we should try for a Grand Slam. Not even 30 minutes later, a nice Colorado Cutt found his way into my net. I admired his beauty, held him up for my friend, and let him go. Then I tried to drown myself for a good ten minutes because  I forgot to take a picture. Sorry guys.

Keep checking back in, there's going to be something really cool up within the next few days.

We Drove HOW MANY Hours?!?!

With nothing to do for a couple days, it seemed like a good time for a little overnighter. So after a few hours of getting ready, we hopped in the car and started the grueling 5 hour drive that takes us to the Taylor River. And I apologize in advance for all the blurry pictures, but it's tough to hold a camera steady when you're ass deep in fast water!

Have you ever had something so well planned out, so prepared, that it just doesn't work out? Well day one went kind of like that. Don't get me wrong, we caught a couple fish. The only issue was that we were at the Taylor searching for that elusive 10 pound rainbow. And they just didn't seem to be around. I spent the day catching nice browns in the 16-20 inch range, but didn't even see a fish you could call a Taylor River Hawg. Was day one a bust? No, it just wasn't quite what I was looking for. Not that it wasn't fun, just not what I expected.

Day two brought us fishing on the lower Taylor and Gunnison Rivers. It was a big change of pace from the previous day, with much more active fish. More active meaning they would eat a size 2 Golden Stone on the skate. Now, if you've never had the chance to fish a good stonefly hatch, put it on the list. You cast  up onto the bank, twitch it and skate it into the water, and let it get hammered by that 17 inch rainbow who's been waiting all day for the next big meal.

Day three took us on another long drive (4 hours) across the Kebler Pass and into the town of Basalt. For this last full day, we were going to hit the Frying Pan from top to bottom. Starting at the infamous Toilet Bowl, we worked our way through the Flats, Bend Pool, and weaved around private water all the way to Basalt.

Day four brought a 4:30am wake up and a quick morning of fishing at the upper Pan, and finished off with brekfast burritos and yet another 4 and a half hour drive home. Awesome trip!

Ah, the Memories

If you were to take a look at my computer, you would notice there are tons of random files filled with random folders filled with random pictures. Frankly, it looks awful. So the past few days I've been working on naming and transferring my 3,000 photos to iPhoto. It's not done yet but it's definitely getting closer. The folder I have so far include the Dream Stream, the Blue, Pella Crossing, and one big file with all my panfish. There are way too many too name but those are just a few. As I go through all my photos, it's brings back some great memories. My first trout on the fly, my first experience with nice sized trout, and some of my favorite kids from camp (they were all great). So as I keep working through my pictures, I'll put a few up with some stories. For now, here's a few that I've found so far:

First Colorado Float Trip

One of my First Trout on the Fly

First Nice Sized Trout