Shark Encounter

Of all the shark stories I have seen, this one is one of the best because the guy was videoing when the encounter happened.  Check out this video from CNN.  The guy is fishing when a good-sized shark explodes on his catch just a few feet away from his kayak!  I'm not sure if I would feel safe in a kayak after having something like this happen...

Friday Fun

So for a bit of fun today, I am hoping to stir up a debate.  Lately, I have been thinking about the similarities and differences between fishing for redfish and carp.  Let's be honest: beyond actual coloration, they look pretty similar as far as body shape and build goes.  Carp pull as hard as any fish I've ever hooked other than striped bass.  Yet, the lowly carp gets only minimal credit and then only among a somewhat cult-type following.  The true carp fishermen are somewhat few and far between.  Out here in Colorado I have noticed a few more than back in Tennessee but they are still not anything close to a majority.

So, my question today is why fish for carp?  For that matter, why chase redfish?  I'm a pretty dedicated trout fisherman but enjoy chasing large- and smallmouth bass, panfish, striped bass, white bass, hybrids, musky, pike, yeah, I guess if it swims I'm willing to give it a shot.  I have even caught a few carp and had fun, but am still not sure whether it is worth my time becoming a proficient carp fisherman.

Clearly Stumbling Around

My fishing fortunes have improved drastically in the last week.  In fact, I have been on the water 3 out of the past 6 days which is doing well in my book.  The life of an assumedly responsible adult tends to not have time for fun activities like fishing and skiing (yeah I did that also in the past few days).  The warm water trip last Thursday is what kicked off the recent string of fishing opportunities.  Friday afternoon, after getting off work at 1:00, I was off to fish again.  My destination?  Clear Creek of course.

You see, there is something about this stream that keeps pulling me back.  After winter lockdown, I was getting a bit antsy to fish Clear Creek again.  According to the streamflow gauges online, it seemed likely that the entire stream was open through the canyon between Golden and Idaho Springs.  Of course, even without that bit of technology, the recent warm weather had me convinced that it was time to fish Clear Creek again.

I arrived and rigged up my trusty 9' 5 weight Legend Ultra with a streamer.  I was already convinced that I could catch fish on nymphs and wanted something a bit more fast paced.  Soon I was picking my way down a steep boulder covered embankment.

As I stumbled slowly down towards the creek, I grew excited.  That pool looks perfect, just one last step on that rock and I'm down...well, maybe two more rocks.  As it turns out, I'm not Superman, so when that first rock started to roll under my foot and I went airborne, I failed to maintain my flight.  The rock was large, between 200 and 300 pounds.  The whole way down I was hoping it wouldn't land on me while also thinking, this is going to hurt.

After completing a textbook perfect crash landing, I glanced at my fly rod.  Still in one piece.  Next I glanced at my camera bag and dug out the camera.  Also still in one piece.  That's about the time I realized that several previously unnoticed aches and pains were making themselves manifest.  My hand required the most immediate attention.  Blood was welling up from a nasty scrape that had removed a sizable chunk of skin on my palm.  Next I noticed that my elbow hurt, a lot.  And why do my legs hurt?  I need those to get around on the stream.

After a few minutes of sitting by the water and breathing slowly, I remembered that my goal was to fish.  I was clearly just stumbling around up until this point.  I took several additional minutes to put pressure on the bleeding area until I had it under control. No one wants too much blood all over their fishing gear.  Figuring I would just avoid putting that hand in the water and thus avoid infection, I finally rose to my feet and put the past behind me.  I'm here to fish, and fish I shall.  

Soon my streamer was plying the beautiful pool.  After the second cast, I saw a nice fish rise.  Enough BWOs were on the water to get the fish looking up.  Most fish were still sitting on the bottom I noticed.  After several more fish failed to commit to the streamer, I switched over to a nymph rig.  My Ultra Wire Soft Hackle with a RS2 trailing seemed like a good combination, and sure enough, the fish went nuts over the soft hackle fished deep.  I had to play with the amount of weight until I had the flies ticking the bottom but then it was game on!

The first fish was a healthy rainbow, and I soon caught another.  Pain was now a distant memory as I continued upstream.  After another angler jumped in right above me (helllllllllo people, there is a whole CANYON of fishable water...no need to jump in front of someone), I decided to head up to another favorite stretch I have fished before.

The nymphs continued to work very well.  In fact, I soon had caught so many fish that I started wondering again about the streamer.  Instead of tying on the same white streamer, I decided to try something darker.  A #8 Crawbugger tied in the style that Iain Emmons over at the Oak Creek Angler uses proved to be just the right choice.

I was surprised at some of the spots producing fish.  This new stretch of Clear Creek had more pocket water than pools.  In general, fish will pod up in the deep pools for winter, but it soon become apparent that the fish had spread out as spring approached.  I was either catching or spooking fish out of almost every pocket along the bank I was traversing.  My casts across the stream to the far bank produced fish as well.  The fish were hungry and willing to play.

Finishing up this next stretch of water, I decided to venture further upstream and explore a bit.  Not far above one of the tunnels I found some more good water.  Again the streamer worked its magic.  Lots of fish were following now as the light grew dimmer as the sun sank towards the horizon.  A few tiny fish managed to find the hook but mostly the streamer produced nicer fish.

As the shadows grew longer, I started bringing out the camera more and more.  A glow from the setting sun was reflecting off the water.  Trying to capture the moment was fun but also reminded me of my new aches and pains.  Laying down across the rocks to get the right angle was painful but worth the pictures...

Large snow banks were still present on the shady side of the stream.  Despite the recent warm temperatures and the fact that I had been comfortable wet wading, there is still a bit of ice to melt in the canyon.  I'm sure the recent snowstorm briefly added to that total as well.  In general though, spring fishing is here.

Clear Creek is now firmly entrenched as one of my favorite highly accessible nearby streams.  However, each stream has its own benefits, and I'm excited to explore the Big Thompson soon as well.  Maybe this weekend...

Baby Bass

Boulder County is blessed, not only with some quality trout water, but with a diverse array of warm water options as well.  Last Thursday I managed an hour or so exploring a new pond.  My original goal was to look for some big bluegill, but I soon realized that there were too many small fish to be worth messing with.  Some big carp cruising inspired me to try and figure out that species as well, but in the meantime I rigged up for bass or anything else that might hit.

Then I proceeded to fish, casting again and again with only an occasional tap to remind me that I was trying to catch something.  Those taps were mostly from bluegill with appetites much larger than their small size would normally indicate.  Eventually I decided to downsize.  Apparently the bass weren't hungry, or I wasn't stealthy enough, or maybe I'm just not a bass angler yet (definitely the most likely conclusion here).  Anyway, I was now changing tactics from let's catch some bass to let's not get skunked.  Those bluegill were looking pretty interesting at this point.

Only a couple of casts with the new fly (a Simi Seal Leech of course!!!), and I hooked up.  The monster took me for a ride all over the lake..........oh, wait, that must be from another story.  I quickly landed the bass, glad to have avoided a skunk although not entirely sure if baby fish count or if that just makes me a mean fisherman

From the Office

Not a bad view from work!!!  I must admit, however, that it does occasionally encourage daydreaming. Yesterday, a few scattered showers moved across the front range.  Late afternoon sunlight lit up the precipitation falling over the Flatirons creating an amazing display between light and shadows.  Sadly, my camera was at home but before it was too late I remembered the old point and shoot was somewhere in my car.  The pictures didn't turn out too bad...

Leeches

One of my all time favorite flies for a variety of situations is the Simi Seal Leech.  This simply fly can be modified to look more like a nymph or left buggy to serve as a great leech pattern.  And did I mention that it catches fish?

For years, this has been a late winter/early spring staple on the trout streams.  Tied sparsely and without brushing the long fibers out, it is a good generic stonefly nymph.  I fish it in double nymph rigs and have had days where it out-fishes more precise patterns like a bead head Pheasant Tail nymph.  Then there are the bluegill....

Ah, the bluegill.  I still have not found a good bluegill lake or pond here in Colorado, but trust me I'm starting to look.  Back home, early season bluegill were a great way to pass the time in between trips to trout waters.  Last year, I caught some big ones, including this one.

Yes, you guessed it, this brute and many others were all caught on the Simi Seal Leech.  It is my secret bluegill fly.  Of course, bluegill will often eat just about anything, but this pattern seems to be particularly successful.  Recently, I sent an order for a half dozen of my Ultra Wire Soft Hackles to Bill over at Fishing Through Life.  I tossed in an extra bead head Simi Seal Leech to aid him in his quest to catch 100 big bull bluegill this spring.  It worked great, so good in fact that I just sent him another dozen with some new color schemes.

The best thing about this pattern is that it is super fast to tie.  I find myself caring less and less about a fly looking good and more and more about effectiveness and ease of tying.  These flies just look buggy.  If you are interested in trying this fly for yourself, you can purchase the material straight from the originator, John Rohmer.  He has lots of other good materials that are also worth checking out.  Personally, I use Black Simi Seal dubbing the most followed closely by Crystal although there are a LOT of other colors to check out.  Try the dubbing on stonefly and other nymph patterns as well as for bodies on streamers.

I'm hoping to add some big stillwater trout to the list of fish I've caught on this pattern now that I live in Colorado.  The float tube is ready for spring and it will be time to hit the mountain lakes before we know it!!!

Tying Feathers

Do you ever want to try and steal some feathers from a duck?  I've come close to considering this one a few times.  Just imagine what all these feathers would look like on a fly.  If we could harvest these without killing the duck, it would be a great renewable source.  Instead of buying a bag of feathers, each tier would simply keep a small flock of various birds...  I'm sure someone would consider this cruelty to animals, but if I was this duck, I think this solution would be much preferred over getting shot...

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Hiking is one of my favorite activities, after fishing of course.  Hiking in the snow is always a blast, and with the fresh snowfall, I got out on Sunday to hike Mt. Sanitas in Boulder for the first time.  What a great hike!!!

More Water

We had more open water last week on Boulder Creek than I have seen since last fall.  Alas, ironically, more water over the weekend shut things back down at least a bit.  The frozen precipitation that fell this weekend locked some of the better pools down again temporarily.  I fished last Wednesday evening for an hour and a half or so.  The water was low and clear making the fish spooky.

The weekend lockdown, while frustrating in the short term, is a real blessing as we need as much moisture as possible looking towards the summer months.  Before the big snowstorm, the creek was waking up with good midge hatches.  I even noticed some BWOs in the air at one point although not many.  The fish were all sitting out in the open, obviously hungry after months of ice on the creek.  The fish were on the feed for sure!

While the stream was obviously begging me to fish a tiny dry/dropper rig, I willfully ignored that in favor of a small streamer.  These days I often find myself preferring the streamer over anything else.  Maybe on my next trip I'll bust out the 3 weight along with some small dry flies and midge droppers.

Several fish gave chase to the streamer, but overall things were slow.  Finally, one little brown rewarded my persistence.  Not a bad mid-week outing on the stream!!!

The PB&J

Several years ago, I was faced with a "shad" dilemma.  A recent post on the Little River Outfitter message board reminded me of the great fun of fishing shad patterns during shad kills.  I developed this pattern to not only imitate the size and color of the naturals but also to get down deep where the large fish often are.  For those of you interested in fishing on top during shad kills, I recommend taking a guide trip with me or with my buddy David Perry.  A favorite technique is fishing flies on the surface during this time. I can promise that there is nothing more exciting than a huge trout sipping a dying shad off the surface as delicately as it would a mayfly during a hatch.

This pattern has been one of my favorites for big shad-eating stripers.  In fact, I have caught more big stripers on this pattern than anything else.  This fly can be modified to use plastic eyes so it has neutral buoyancy if you don't want it sinking too far.  I call it the Puglisi, Bunny, and Jelly, PB&J for short.  The little bit of red near the throat gives it a wounded appearance.  I'm a firm believer in giving fish that extra trigger to induce strikes.

Hook:  Gamakatsu SL11-3H or similar hook (also use Mustad 34007)
Thread: White 3/0
Eyes: Medium Lead Eyes tied in on the BOTTOM of the hook shank (original) (or lead-free substitute)
Body (top): White Zonker strip (I personally like the magnum strips for extra bulk and movement)
Body (bottom): White Puglisi fibers
Throat: Fiery Blood Red Jorgensen SLF dubbing with a bit more Puglisi Fibers tied in in front of the red dubbing

Note that the eyes are tied in on the bottom instead of in the usual Clouser method.  I find that for this pattern, it rides better and gets better hookups when the eyes are tied on the bottom of the hook shank.  However, it is more likely to snag on the bottom this way.

This fly is one of my bread and butter streamers.  When all else fails, I toss some PB&J and the fish will usually eat!!!

Learn to tie this fly HERE.