Jake O
08-28-2012, 03:50 PM
My good friend and fishing buddy Jeff moved to Denver a couple years ago. I have been itching to get out there ever since. Last weekend we made it happen. It was going to be a short trip, only three days of fishing, but we were going to make it count.
Day One. Headed up to Vail Colorado at 4am to catch the morning sunrise and bite on Gore Creek. True to what I had read, it was a total sight fishery. Pretty cool to see a brown or bow picking off emergers and then moving over to grab your fly. Pretty tough fishery. We only had 6x, and I think the water conditions probably called for 7x. According to the locals we did pretty good though, landing aroun 7 or 8 by noon. Beautiful little creek.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/580d2669.jpg[/IMG]
Most of the fish were around this size, and were found in the bigger runs/pools.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/f29a1c58.jpg[/IMG]
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/2ac1056f.jpg[/IMG]
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/ca260bc4.jpg[/IMG]
The second half of the day we were going to fish the Eagle River but due to a recent mud-slide it was blown out for the most part. Because the Eagle was a bust we decided to head over to the Frying Pan in Basalt. We didn't really get any pictures of any fish from the Pan, as my buddy and I were fishing apart, and he had the camera, while I was the one with the luck to catch all of the fish that afternoon. Fish were keyed in on a pink PMD emerger pattern that I use on the Yuba, of which I had a number of them, and my buddy Jeff had zero. I ended up catching 6 or so in a couple hours, mostly browns with one bow thrown in the mix. All around 16 inches, and absolutely beatiful. While it wasn't epic, I can see why the Pan is considered one of the top fisheries in the US.
After fishing died down we drove back to Basalt to load up on supplies before heading to our campground at Rudei Reservoir, which feeds the Pan. On the way up to the campground we got a good look at the infamous "toilet bowl." For those of you who think California rivers are crowded, think again. The Frying Pan is a complete zoo. Given that most who fish the Pan hale from Aspen, each pullout looks like an exotic luxury car store with sage booths throughout. On the way back to the camp we "had" to stop at one of the manyu pull outs and check out how the evening hatches were going. While we didnt see much bug activity the fish were hammering what appeared to be emergers. We didnt have time to gear up as we needed to head to camp to reserve a spot but we couldnt pass the opportunity to take a few casts. It was kind of funy fishing in flip flops right of the road waiting for cars to go by in between my back casts. We ended up picking off a few fish, and after breaking off a number of flies on the fence in between the river and the road we decided to call it a day (unfortunately the slope where we wer fishing was such that it was nearly impossible to get a back cast in without getting close to breaking off on the fence or road).
Me breaking off one of the many flies on the stupid fence/road behind me. I can only imagine what pig I would have caught had I not spent all my time re-tying.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/af96e3cf.jpg[/IMG]
Finally made it up to Rudei reservoir and set up camp for the night.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/b856f8e3.jpg[/IMG]
Day 2:
After a good night sleep, we had the breakfast of champions.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/53679582.jpg[/IMG]
We headed back into town to meet up with our one guide we decided to book for the trip, Chris from Frying Pan Anglers. Awesome guy, and guide. He saw that we were not his typical clientell from Aspen, looking for a wonderful day of "fly fishing" to go back and brag about with all of their philanthropical counterparts. He said to us, "wow, you guys look like you havent showered and smell like booze....i have an idea. " His idea turned out to be a great one. Instead of fishing the roaring fork we decided to hit up the Colorado, which was just coming back into shape after being unfishable for the past few weeks due to clarity. The gamble paid off. We raked the fish. Caught a bunch, with the average running pretty big around 17, and a few chunks right at twenty.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/83bb1e56.jpg[/IMG]
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/b2435e28.jpg[/IMG]
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/88a58c97.jpg[/IMG]
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/bd2bbace.jpg[/IMG]
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/a74375f6.jpg[/IMG]
Wish I had some pics of the scenery. Beautifull fishing in the red sandstone canyons of the Coli.
After getting off the river we headed towards our final location, Aspen, where we were going to be hitting up another river the next morning, before we had to get back for my buddies "fantasy football draft." Crazy right? We set up camp just outside of Aspen. Had a great dinner over the campfire.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/3451eca4.jpg[/IMG]
Day 3:
Had way too much to drink and so the next morning we decided we should fuel up by grabbing a cup of coffee in Aspen. Wouldnt you know it, we ran into Lance Armstrong (his legs are huge by the way). After my buddy and I drank our coffee and debated the finer points of performancing enhancing drugs we arrived at our final destination.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/f7a44d8b.jpg[/IMG]
Let's just call this place "jurrassic park." While the fishing was tough due to how clear the water was, we saw monster fish in all ideal holding water, including one brown that had to be in the uper twenties. Jeff managed to catch a few, and break off a few monsters, while I on the other hand got the striped kitty in the few hours we fished. Jeff clearly had the ju-ju going that day. Apparently I also faield at being the camera man that day, as I only managed one pic of a smaller brown that was a little camera shy.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/c9d6e408.jpg[/IMG]
After getting our butts handed to us on this river, we vowed to return next year right after the first run-off when water conditions are better. So, until next time, it was fun checking out the rockies.
We have my ladies cousin's wedding to attend to in stanley Idaho on the banks of the Salmon River next weekend, so hopefully that will give me enough out of state fishing fuel to survive the winter 8)
If anyone wants more detail on locations and flies if you are heading towards any of these rivers soon, feel free to PM me.
Thanks for reading.
Day One. Headed up to Vail Colorado at 4am to catch the morning sunrise and bite on Gore Creek. True to what I had read, it was a total sight fishery. Pretty cool to see a brown or bow picking off emergers and then moving over to grab your fly. Pretty tough fishery. We only had 6x, and I think the water conditions probably called for 7x. According to the locals we did pretty good though, landing aroun 7 or 8 by noon. Beautiful little creek.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/580d2669.jpg[/IMG]
Most of the fish were around this size, and were found in the bigger runs/pools.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/f29a1c58.jpg[/IMG]
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/2ac1056f.jpg[/IMG]
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/ca260bc4.jpg[/IMG]
The second half of the day we were going to fish the Eagle River but due to a recent mud-slide it was blown out for the most part. Because the Eagle was a bust we decided to head over to the Frying Pan in Basalt. We didn't really get any pictures of any fish from the Pan, as my buddy and I were fishing apart, and he had the camera, while I was the one with the luck to catch all of the fish that afternoon. Fish were keyed in on a pink PMD emerger pattern that I use on the Yuba, of which I had a number of them, and my buddy Jeff had zero. I ended up catching 6 or so in a couple hours, mostly browns with one bow thrown in the mix. All around 16 inches, and absolutely beatiful. While it wasn't epic, I can see why the Pan is considered one of the top fisheries in the US.
After fishing died down we drove back to Basalt to load up on supplies before heading to our campground at Rudei Reservoir, which feeds the Pan. On the way up to the campground we got a good look at the infamous "toilet bowl." For those of you who think California rivers are crowded, think again. The Frying Pan is a complete zoo. Given that most who fish the Pan hale from Aspen, each pullout looks like an exotic luxury car store with sage booths throughout. On the way back to the camp we "had" to stop at one of the manyu pull outs and check out how the evening hatches were going. While we didnt see much bug activity the fish were hammering what appeared to be emergers. We didnt have time to gear up as we needed to head to camp to reserve a spot but we couldnt pass the opportunity to take a few casts. It was kind of funy fishing in flip flops right of the road waiting for cars to go by in between my back casts. We ended up picking off a few fish, and after breaking off a number of flies on the fence in between the river and the road we decided to call it a day (unfortunately the slope where we wer fishing was such that it was nearly impossible to get a back cast in without getting close to breaking off on the fence or road).
Me breaking off one of the many flies on the stupid fence/road behind me. I can only imagine what pig I would have caught had I not spent all my time re-tying.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/af96e3cf.jpg[/IMG]
Finally made it up to Rudei reservoir and set up camp for the night.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/b856f8e3.jpg[/IMG]
Day 2:
After a good night sleep, we had the breakfast of champions.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/53679582.jpg[/IMG]
We headed back into town to meet up with our one guide we decided to book for the trip, Chris from Frying Pan Anglers. Awesome guy, and guide. He saw that we were not his typical clientell from Aspen, looking for a wonderful day of "fly fishing" to go back and brag about with all of their philanthropical counterparts. He said to us, "wow, you guys look like you havent showered and smell like booze....i have an idea. " His idea turned out to be a great one. Instead of fishing the roaring fork we decided to hit up the Colorado, which was just coming back into shape after being unfishable for the past few weeks due to clarity. The gamble paid off. We raked the fish. Caught a bunch, with the average running pretty big around 17, and a few chunks right at twenty.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/83bb1e56.jpg[/IMG]
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/b2435e28.jpg[/IMG]
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/88a58c97.jpg[/IMG]
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/bd2bbace.jpg[/IMG]
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/a74375f6.jpg[/IMG]
Wish I had some pics of the scenery. Beautifull fishing in the red sandstone canyons of the Coli.
After getting off the river we headed towards our final location, Aspen, where we were going to be hitting up another river the next morning, before we had to get back for my buddies "fantasy football draft." Crazy right? We set up camp just outside of Aspen. Had a great dinner over the campfire.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/3451eca4.jpg[/IMG]
Day 3:
Had way too much to drink and so the next morning we decided we should fuel up by grabbing a cup of coffee in Aspen. Wouldnt you know it, we ran into Lance Armstrong (his legs are huge by the way). After my buddy and I drank our coffee and debated the finer points of performancing enhancing drugs we arrived at our final destination.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/f7a44d8b.jpg[/IMG]
Let's just call this place "jurrassic park." While the fishing was tough due to how clear the water was, we saw monster fish in all ideal holding water, including one brown that had to be in the uper twenties. Jeff managed to catch a few, and break off a few monsters, while I on the other hand got the striped kitty in the few hours we fished. Jeff clearly had the ju-ju going that day. Apparently I also faield at being the camera man that day, as I only managed one pic of a smaller brown that was a little camera shy.
http://http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o578/Drifter7772/c9d6e408.jpg[/IMG]
After getting our butts handed to us on this river, we vowed to return next year right after the first run-off when water conditions are better. So, until next time, it was fun checking out the rockies.
We have my ladies cousin's wedding to attend to in stanley Idaho on the banks of the Salmon River next weekend, so hopefully that will give me enough out of state fishing fuel to survive the winter 8)
If anyone wants more detail on locations and flies if you are heading towards any of these rivers soon, feel free to PM me.
Thanks for reading.