FISH CATCHING TRAVEL
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Last night, Saturday, we headed back to Pagosa Springs to get into our rental. 10 miles south of Pagosa on the highway, then another 5 on gravel to a small community on the Rio Blanco in a valley. The house is new, and cool, and the river is out the back door. Of all things it rained, it has been real dry here, and the river was running an ugly brown. But I wasn’t to worried as it should fall by morning, which it did. So at 8:30 I hopped in and started fishing.
The Rio Blanco.
The river is really a creek, with long stretches of really shallow water, with no visible trout. But it does have some pools and cut banks that look great. While I was fishing this morning it dropped a good 10″ and started to clear fast. I was tossing a small spoon when I got a bite, which I missed. The next cast my first Colorado brown smacked it.
It has been a while since I caught a brown trout.
After a quick CPR, I am using barbless hooks, it swam off no worse for the wear. In the next little stretch I lost a real small one at my feet. And then a great bite from a nice brown who came out of a cut bank and smoked it. Unfortunately it did not stay buttoned up. From there I managed to lose the good bait in a tree, it is tight quarters, and the other 3 baits I tried did not produce a bite. Not sure if it was the smaller bait, which is suspect it was, so off to town later to get what I need.
As I waded back to the house I spent some time looking and did not see any trout, especially in a couple of places I should have if there are that many around. And the small waterfalls with a good pool at the base of them did not produce a bite, which really surprised me. There are lots of big crawdads and really small minnows, which will help with color selection. I have a feeling this would be a great stream for the fly guy with the 3 weight.
So no problem with the results of the morning’s wade. Even the Boss said when I got back to remember it is in the doing in one of the great places on this earth. It is so beautiful in this canyon where the house is. Quiet, other than the sounds of the river, and surrounded on 2 sides by mountains, what could be better than that. The more we come here the more I like it. And as a side note there are so many lakes in the area there is tons of places to fish for a variety of fish. And in some of the lakes, more research to do on that, there is some crazy limits as in no limits on some species. Smallmouth, pike, and even walleye on some lakes. Who knows the skiff might make the trip one of these days.
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A new bait coming soon!
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As we had a few hours to kill yesterday we made a quick pit stop at Mesa Verde, a national park, to see the pueblo that was occupied for a couple of hundred years around 1000 AD. Then they vanished for whatever reason. We really did not have enough time to see it properly, and a return day trip is in the works so we can hike the trails.
The real reason I bring it up is as we were headed up the big mesa to get to the ruins it started to rain. Then it dropped from 75 to 55 degrees and it hailed. Not hard enough to do any damage, but 98 degrees with 75% humidity like home it is not. As I sit on the porch listening to river and typing this it is 75 degrees and perfect. And the state really needs the rain. Both areas we have stayed so far have had big fires, one 160,000 acres, it is so dry. Just like home they need the rain.
Early up for another wade, I got a couple of smaller baits so it should be a little better. We still have to make it up to Chago’s place that he bought this summer. Should be a great drive and we will probably take a hike while we are there. Then Tuesday it will be a different fishing spot, maybe a guide, or we might just rent a 4 wheeler and hit the trail. It really is an outdoor lifestyle out here. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
