http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/Blog.html Home-Waters, Salida, Colorado. Helping Fishermen Find Home. iWeb 1.1.2 http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/Blog_files/Untitled-21.jpg http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/Blog.html 60 Home-Waters, Salida, Colorado. Helping Fishermen Find Home. Home-Waters, Salida, Colorado. Helping Fishermen Find Home. http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/E5509FD2-AD8A-4C24-BF57-484C923D3B1F.html http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/E5509FD2-AD8A-4C24-BF57-484C923D3B1F.html Wed, 27 May 2009 08:27:17 -0600 <a href="http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/E5509FD2-AD8A-4C24-BF57-484C923D3B1F_files/Grass%20Lake.mov"><img src="http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/Images/Grass%20Lake.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"/></a>As the rivers rise, its time to head to the hills in search of fish and salvation. With the Arkansas and most of its feeder streams running high and murky, it's the high lakes that offer the best oppo 00:08:21 As the rivers rise, its time to head to the hills in search of fish and salvation. With the Arkansas and most of its feeder streams running high and murky, it's the high lakes that offer the best oppo As the rivers rise, its time to head to the hills in search of fish and salvation. With the Arkansas and most of its feeder streams running high and murky, it's the high lakes that offer the best opportunity locally for a fishing fix. I've never been a huge fan of still water fishing. I like the dynamic of moving water. I like the challenges of accurate fly placement and manipulating the line to achieve a natural drift. That said, Grass Lake has been my nemesis over the last few years. Despite several trips there, I had yet to catch a fish, and the pressure was on. There are several reasons why hiking to a high lake makes for a great day of fishing. Firstly, the surroundings: no crowds, and there is a stark, harsh beauty to these lakes. To survive there, both flora and fauna have to be extremely resilient. They manage to survive in an environment far removed from our comfortable, insulated existence. Secondly, the fishing is often challenging on a number of levels. Unlike rivers, with their better defined holding areas, fish move around in search of food rather than waiting for it to come to them. Consequently, a new strategy is required. Firstly, its a good idea to walk the shoreline slowly looking for fish feeding and cruising. Upon locating a cruising fish, try to place the fly a few feet ahead of the as it swims by - just like bone fishing in the Bahamas, but a whole lot cheaper. Also, look for inflow and outflow streams where the movement of the water creates current, and you will often see fish concentrated around these places also. That said, there are often times where because of light conditions, the play of wind on water etc there is no way you will see fish, unless they happen to be rising. This is the time where patience and paying attention is paramount. Unlike river fishing, where thirty seconds equates to a long drift, on a lake sometimes you throw it out there and leave it for several minutes waiting for a passing cruiser. In this case, I can guarantee that the second you look away will be the second the fish chooses to strike, as evidenced by my tail hook on the video. Secondly, lakes are often very still and clear. Fish can see a long way as they cruise, so are very sensitive to a poorly presented cast. I'll usually fish with a longer leader and lighter tippet to help counter this, as unlike in moving water, a fish has all the time in the world to inspect a fly before deciding whether or not to take. A little trick to help overcome this shyness is to impart a little movement to the fly as the fish approaches. Art imitates life, and sometimes a little twitch of a dry fly, or lifting of a nymph will induce a take. And then, there is the satisfaction of feeling like you have done something healthy with your day. The demands of a hike at altitude goes some way towards mitigating the life of relative sloth that we float fishermen tend to lead. Some days the most physically challenging thing you do is reach into the cooler for another brew, so huffing and puffing up the side of a mountain makes for a pleasant change of pace. http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/0D4C96C4-33B1-4300-992A-C24606520D11.html http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/0D4C96C4-33B1-4300-992A-C24606520D11.html Sun, 17 May 2009 06:30:50 -0600 <a href="http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/0D4C96C4-33B1-4300-992A-C24606520D11_files/Leadville5809.mov"><img src="http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/Images/Leadville5809.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"/></a>Right around this time of the year, it is easy for a fisherman to take one look at the river and think that it is all over till runoff subsides. For those in the know and prepared to do a little drivi 00:06:41 Right around this time of the year, it is easy for a fisherman to take one look at the river and think that it is all over till runoff subsides. For those in the know and prepared to do a little drivi Right around this time of the year, it is easy for a fisherman to take one look at the river and think that it is all over till runoff subsides. For those in the know and prepared to do a little driving around however, there is still some great fishing to be had. An understanding of the dynamics of the runoff, low level versus high level melt and a keen eye on the myriad of flow gauges on both the main stem of the Arkansas and its tributaries, can provide clues as to where to go to find some fishable water. Such has been the case over the last ten days or so. While a quick glance at the river from the F St bridge will seem to imply that it is time to put the rod away and dust off the kayak, upstream in Browns Canyon, for float fishing, and nearer Leadville in the Granite / Hayden Meadows area for wading, the fishing has been varying from average to action packed. It's been a couple of weeks since I have floated. Rather, I've been fishing in the northern reaches of the river above where Twin Lakes feeds in. A significant portion of the river's flow has been coming in from the Twin Lakes / Clear Creek / Cottonwood Creek and Chalk Creek drainages, so getting above them automatically increases you chances of clearer, lower flows. And I have to say the fishing hasn't disappointed me. While the water temperatures this far up the river have still been too cold for any caddis activity, the fish have been eagerly taking stone fly nymphs, either fished deeper with an indicator, or a couple of feet below a large attractor dry like a stimulator. I enjoy the change of pace from float fishing to wading. Wading gives you the opportunity to really dissect a piece of water, study the structure of the river bed and banks and watch the water for the presence of fish. I also love the change in the feel of the river this far upstream. Here the Arkansas is more like an open meadow stream. Lots of riffles and cut banks, and as the video shows, no shortage of wind either. Wind is a part of fishing, just as are missed hook sets, casting knots and beer. Just remember to take a heavier rod, shorten your leader, lengthen your cast, and lower your expectation of accuracy. Every cast is not going to land within a couple of feet of where you aim it. A special mention goes out to Baetis Porter, undoubtedly the best fishing dog this side of the black stump. She doesn't laugh when you miss a hook set, never contradicts your estimate of the size of your catch, and always lets you have first choice of the water. http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/64E6B286-DA28-4E0D-8924-DAB24CB81013.html http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/64E6B286-DA28-4E0D-8924-DAB24CB81013.html Wed, 6 May 2009 20:34:25 -0600 <a href="http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/64E6B286-DA28-4E0D-8924-DAB24CB81013_files/CliffJeff5.2.mov"><img src="http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/Images/CliffJeff5.2.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"/></a>One of the great things about circular time is that it is always noon somewhere. This is of particular comfort to the fisherman when confronted with those extended periods on the river where the fish 00:09:39 One of the great things about circular time is that it is always noon somewhere. This is of particular comfort to the fisherman when confronted with those extended periods on the river where the fish One of the great things about circular time is that it is always noon somewhere. This is of particular comfort to the fisherman when confronted with those extended periods on the river where the fish are uncooperative, and the cooler has cold beer in it. As the video shows, honor was restored towards the end of the day, but for the first few hours we were left scratching our heads as to what we had done to offend the fishing gods. At the outset, the omens were good. There were plenty of caddis around at Rincon, our launch site. Additionally, there were rain clouds threatening, with the prospect of some good blue winged olive hatches later in the day. Indeed, about half an hour into the float, a rain shower moved through, and fish immediately started rising to the surface to the blue wings hatching. Pulling into an eddy, we quickly changed our flies to parachute adams while we watched a pod of fish feeding hard on the other side of the river. Just as we got the boat into position, however, the sun came out and as suddenly and definitively as a light switch being flipped, the bugs and the fish disappeared. This was the beginning of a long dry spell, at least from a catching point of view. We floated several miles through some great water, trying all sorts of different fly combinations with no tangible result.  Then, as the afternoon progressed, the wind came up. This had two effects: blowing the bugs off the water, and making it increasingly difficult to get the fly on the water where you wanted it. Right now, with so many bugs around, the fish are not moving far from their feed lanes. In other words, they expect room service, meaning that a fly cast six inches from a feeding fish in most cases isn't going to cut it. Compare this to July and August, when you can tease a fish three or four feet out of its lair with a dancing hopper, for example. Surprisingly, the wind also saw the fish finally start to feed consistently on the surface. Our patience and good humor were rewarded with some great action in challenging conditions. So there are a couple morals to the story. Firstly, you take what the river gives you. I love hearing all the theories about how and why fish behave the way they do, but at the end of the day, that's all they are - theories. Secondly, the most important piece of equipment a fisherman can bring along with him or her is a sense of humor. That said, the fishing is pretty good on the river at the moment, and with the increasing warming trend as the week progresses, I think we will see the hatch spread considerably up river beyond Salida. The river flows came up quite a bit over the weekend as a result of the rainfall we had, but at least as of today these have stabilized at around the 550 - 600 cfs mark. This is great for floating and wading, although a little care needs to be taking at this level when wading out far from the bank. Our best flies were once again parachute adams and black foam caddis, and while we weren't breaking them off on sticks, rocks and each other, bead head pheasant tails. We will probably have another ten days or so of fishing before the river starts to rise inexorably towards runoff. In the meantime, there are bound to be a few pulses of murky water passing through, but don't let that put you off getting out there. It ain't over until the river is running the color of chocolate milk. http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/DA96BAEB-8F53-4F48-A1A4-848684782ADA.html http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/DA96BAEB-8F53-4F48-A1A4-848684782ADA.html Fri, 1 May 2009 09:21:38 -0600 To anyone driving up or down the Canyon at the moment, it will probably come as no surprise that the caddis hatch has arrived. Thousands of bugs smeared on windshields are witness to one nature's most 00:10:09 To anyone driving up or down the Canyon at the moment, it will probably come as no surprise that the caddis hatch has arrived. Thousands of bugs smeared on windshields are witness to one nature's most To anyone driving up or down the Canyon at the moment, it will probably come as no surprise that the caddis hatch has arrived. Thousands of bugs smeared on windshields are witness to one nature's most prolific and spectacular examples of birth, renewal and the urge to survive against the odds, at least on the fly fisherpersons calendar. Having spent the last twelve months living underwater as small caterpillar like nymphs, the caddis are now hatching in order to find a mate or three, lay some eggs back in the stream and pass the flame on to the next generation. For a fisherperson, this is almost nirvana. Most other rivers in the state, on account of their lower elevation snowfields, are blown out, running high and murky. Here on the Arkansas, an average of four thousand hungry fish per mile are ready to begin their own cycle of fattening up after a long, lean winter by gorging themselves on this regular seasonal bounty. When a guy drives a couple of thousand miles to fish with you because you told him six months ago that if here was here at this time he would have great dry fly fishing, the pressure is on. So it was when Cliff rolled into town. I had the good fortune of meeting Cliff on the Big Horn last year fishing with Jeff Porter, Salida local who is living the dream - skiing, biking and fishing almost daily, with work getting in the way from time to time. If you fish often enough, the gods will smile on you once in a while, and this day was one of those days. We floated from Vallie Bridge to Lone Pine, a stretch that from a fishing point of view hadn't produced that well a week ago. But in fishing, as in politics or sport, a week can be along time. To put it mildly, we caught a bunch of fish. They were active primarily on nymphs in the morning, but later in the afternoon as the water temperature increased and the bugs started hatching, the fish switched their attention to dries. A fish taking a caddis is a completely different animal to one taking a mayfly, for example. While the mayfly takes are usually slow and languid, a caddis take is often aggressive and lightening fast. This can make for spectacular acrobatics on behalf of the fish both on the take, and after during the fight.. Right now, the bugs are hatching all the way up through Salida, and the hatch activity should stay strong through the next couple of weeks. For the record, in the morning we fished with a pheasant tail or hares ear below a yellow stimulator, switching to a caddis and a stimulator once the fish had started rising. The purpose of the stimulator is to help you locate your caddis amongst all the naturals on the water, but this fly still takes a significant number of fish as well. This may have something to do with the attraction of a cheese burger after having watched a long line of french fries float by. If you find yourself in the right place at the right time, the fishing right now can be spectacular. The fish are not shy. I have seen them leap out of the water and take a bug off the side of the boat. I have watched them get driven to distraction trying six times to take the same caddis as it skips around on the water. So arm yourself with a few dry flies, a few nymphs, and get out there and enjoy. If things cool down some this weekend as predicted, look for an increase in blue winged olive activity, and maybe mix caddis patterns with blue winged ones, like sprouts and adams. http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/2B9FCB8D-44DB-43DF-9E86-A721CE816D68.html http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/2B9FCB8D-44DB-43DF-9E86-A721CE816D68.html Mon, 27 Apr 2009 07:42:15 -0600 <a href="http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/2B9FCB8D-44DB-43DF-9E86-A721CE816D68_files/4%3A21C%26N.mov"><img src="http://web.me.com/hmellsop/iWeb/Site/Blog/Images/4%3A21C%26N.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"/></a>From the moment the trooper made the u-turn at Cotopaxi as we drove innocently by, it was obvious we weren’t going to get to launch on time. Fortunately Caveman had his charm offensive switched on, an 00:09:13 From the moment the trooper made the u-turn at Cotopaxi as we drove innocently by, it was obvious we weren’t going to get to launch on time. Fortunately Caveman had his charm offensive switched on, an From the moment the trooper made the u-turn at Cotopaxi as we drove innocently by, it was obvious we weren’t going to get to launch on time. Fortunately Caveman had his charm offensive switched on, and turned a possible citation into a booking for a float trip. By the time we hit the water, it was after 11.00am, the day was perfect, and the anticipation of getting into some caddis action made up for the late start. From a catching point of view, the day turned out to be not as productive as we would have hoped, but boy, did we catch some nice fish.  One of the things I love about fishing this time of the year  is the sheer unpredictability of it all. After run off, you can pretty much set you watch by each day, tie on a big dry fly, get out there and catch a bunch of fish. This time of the year, predictability goes out the window, and you can get reminded that despite having read all the books, and spouted all the theories, ultimately in fishing we are dealing with rhythms and cycles of nature we barely glimpse and seldom comprehend [ which is how it should be ]. That said, I don’t want to sound like I am singing the blues too much. We obviously had a great day. The weather was gorgeous, the company fine, and we did catch some really nice fish. There were a lot of really nice drifts that got snubbed however, and we never settled into any confidence that we knew what was going on. It also goes to show that catching fish takes effort - there’s usually a lot of casts made to catch one fish. Right now it seems that the river is in a bit of a holding pattern. The caddis are tucked up inside their cases, waiting for water temperatures to reach a consistent 52 - 54 degrees, which is their trigger to hatch. This cooling of the weather over the last couple of days has slowed this down. There are a few early-bird caddis flying around, and still lots of blue wings waiting to hatch, conversely waiting for weather that is a little cooler than we have at the moment. The river level has come up a little, no doubt caused by some low level snow melt, and this too has served to slow the hatch down some by cooling the water temperature, but I would expect things to be warming up, both literally and figuratively, by the end of the week. Right now, if I were going fishing and the aim of the exercise was to catch as many fish as possible, I’d probably start with a nymph rig composed of a golden stone fly nymph as a lead fly. Behind that, I’d trail either a caddis pattern, or a mayfly pattern like a micro olive or WD40. As the day warmed up I’d try a dry / dropper rig like a stimulator trailing whatever nymph was working best from the first part of the day, and switch to a double dry rig, like a caddis and an adams, when you start to see feeders. Don’t be afraid to think outside the bun if the usual flies aren’t working. Sometimes, throwing something big a gaudy can be the ticket when all else fails. We probably have about three weeks to make the most of these conditions before run off hits in earnest, so get out there and enjoy.