Beads, Beads, The Magical Pain In The Ass

Cruel, cruel world! How could you? All my work was ruined in mere seconds! I just finished fixing it! How could this of happened? What stars aligned in a way to make my life hell at that moment? All my beads fell. Every single one of them. Silver, gold, black, red, white, orange, green, and all the rest. The all fell into my carpet. I managed to collect most of them, but I'm sure there are at least a dozen that will forever live in the depths of the carpet. I just finished organizing all my fly tying stuff, and the desk is en-route. Now I have to go through and sort the silver from the gold. The 2.0 mm beads from the 2.4 ones, and the glass from the brass to the tungsten. WONDERFUL. How can I tie my next batch of 200 worms next weekend when I have to spend hours picking the right bead for each hook? Oh that's right, worms don't have beads! Well, it's still going to be tough. There's only one thing that can get me out of the tense state I'm now in. Trout! But oh no, the streams are blown out! Well, I guess I'm heading back to Lily lake. Hopefully I don't get blown out of there.... literally.

FUCK!

In A Room Filled With Fish

People tell me I'm crazy, obsessed. Maybe I am. Hell, I'm sure I am. How else could I post so much on here? How else could I have just pumped so much money into gear? Why else would my room be covered in fish? Wait, covered in fish? Yes, covered. When I moved into my new house a few years back, my grandma did a paint job on it for me. Instead of the blue or yellow walls, my rooms is the Saltwater flats of Belize. I have two tarpon, three redfish, two permit, an extremely large baitfish, three puffers, one sea trout,  one jack, one snook, two bonefish, one ladyfish, and one flounder. Lots of fish. Not to mention that the background of the room is very realistic, with tall grass and crabs and so on. So here, take a look. This is just one section of my room, which includes the permit and the giant baitfish. I'll add little pieces here and there around my blog every so often, and explain what it tells a story of. Cross their eyes out there!

South Platte Success (In Memoriam)

I'm home! I managed to survive the high water conditions of the South Platte near Deckers, and find some really good fish! I was at a different section than last week, one known to have smaller (but still big) fish. It was a cool challenge to try and find fish at all, let alone find one of the bigger fish and manage to catch it. There was a special feel in the air, as I was on a mission. To catch a big fish, and give it a kiss for my grandpa. He passed away a few days ago. Knowing the fish were smaller, I put it upon myself to try and find that fish for him. We arrived a little after eight, rigged and ready to roll. It only took about 10 casts before my indicator dipped, and soon a fish was brought to the net. Like I said, smaller, but still big:

We kept fishing and caught more fish, all around the same size. My indicator dipped once again, and I set the hook into a nice fish. Sadly, it popped off after a few head throws. I was quite upset as I thought that was my big fish, and I wasn't going to finish my mission. More fish were caught, and we decided to move downstream. I got in front of a nice rock, casted, and watched my indicator dip. I set the hook on another good fish, fought it for a long time, and got it to the net. All the pressure was relieved, I had the big one. I took the picture down below, gave the fish a big kiss (no tongue, I swear), and let him go. 

The rest of the day was spent fishing and shooting the proverbial shit, tying on new flies and catching fish. I didn't care if I caught any more big fish. My day was complete. Lots more fish were caught, and the total went into the mid twenties. I went home completely satisfied, and ready for a rest. Just for kicks though, here's a cool brown and the final fish of the day. 

Grandpa Bob

In Loving Memory

When In Doubt, Tie

Is it gonna rain? Is everything too high and off color? Will the fish be deep? I wasn't sure if I was going to fish because of all these reasons. But there was one thing I could do no matter what. I could be prepared. That means I could tie flies. Hmmmm, flies. What a novel idea. So I went ahead and tied some flies. I tied flies of all different colors, sizes, and types. I tied one that looked like the fly above. After hours of that, it was do or die time. Should I go fishing, or stay home? Wow, stupid goddamn question. To fishing! Flies were cast, once again at Pella. Fish were around, but sort of spread out. I only fished for half an hour, but managed to find two decent fish. I did see two very cool and unusual things though. Catfish were everywhere, grouped up and swimming around. I probably saw more catfish then I've ever seen before. There was also one that was in the 25 pound class, and a bunch in the 20 pound range. The other very cool thing was another grouping of fish. I've only ever seen three or four Smallmouth in Pella, but they were all out today. Hanging near a rock wall, I saw tons of Smallmouth, including one that was pushing 20 inches. Cool! Fish are out there, both in lakes and streams. Boulder creek is tough, but there are still hungry fish to be caught. Rip 'em up!

A Day In The Life

I just finished up on a great day at the shop, working on all the odd jobs and chores that could use doing. We got a new pontoon boat, which looks awesome. Actually, the whole shop looks pretty awesome. It's a polar opposite of how it was last year, under some old ownership. Now Chet's the bossman, who is pictured above. He didn't want his picture taken, so I had to trick him into it, hence the confused look. We also washed the windows and trash cans, so the shop looks nice and clean. Yes, we washed the trash cans. With peak season right in front of us, it should be awesome. We've got everything in here, including a large array of hackle. Probably the only shop in the state with a good selection, so come check it out! In fishing news, Boulder Creek is still flying high. It's possible to catch fish with heavy nymphs and streamers, but it's by no means easy. I'll try and get out there tonight and see if I can't raise some fish for pictures. I'll also be out near Deckers this weekend, and hopefully bring home a story. Until then, look at the sweet progress on the mural! Its almost finished!

I'm Back In Action! (And The Fishing Was Good)

Hey everyone! I'm back! Well, the week was crazy, but not as bad as I thought it would be. The weather was beautiful the first few days, but it dumped snow on Wednesday. The food was good, and the activities were not too bad. Of course, that doesn't matter, because all of you (and I) want to talk about is... The fishing!!! I only fished a couple of days, but it was hilarious. The term on the camp sheet was "Stocked Trout Pond"   I would call it more of an overstocked trout puddle. The pond was teeny, and the fish were everywhere. I walked down with a small streamer on, saw a riser, and put my first cast in. The fly hit the water, and there was instantly a hit. I brought in the little rainbow, starting to feel the outcome of this trip would be good. I put my next cast in, another fish. And another. this happened more times than I can count. The fish were all about the same size, so it was nice when I caught a 14 inch rainbow on the third day. That was great, but not the best thing that happened. The next day, a miracle happened. See, even though this was a stocked pond, it wasn't man-made. So I figured there must be some cutthroat. Or at least there used to be, the stockers might have killed them off. So on the second day, when I tied on a small Kiwi Damsel, I didn't expect much more than usual. First cast, strike. I fought the fish and brought it in, to a huge surprise. It was a cutthroat! A pretty little Colorado Cutthroat trout, and it had completed my goal. I ended on that note, deciding there was no need to keep fishing. Now the week is over, and I'm happy. I'll post the picture as my "Picture of the Week" as soon as my teacher sends me the shots. Also, what has everyone else been doing this week?