FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

“SAVE OUR WATERS”

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The Wade Right Fishing Belt

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Check out their new CFG Madre Sling

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One of 45  lakes we hit today.

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The new Knockin Tail is available in Victoria and a tackle store near you.  

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We have really been lucky on our morning drives.  As an example Wednesday we saw tons of mule deer, some elk, turkeys, and one of the coolest coyotes I have ever seen.  It was almost black and really big, at first we thought it might be a wolf.  But he stopped long enough to let us get a good look, and it was clearly a coyote.  I know I keep saying it, but to really “hunt’ the wildlife good optics are a must.

Thursday we decided to hit a couple of roads we have wanted to see, which included somewhere around 6 lakes.  One thing I have been surprised about is the number of lakes, there are lots and all have trout.  The first couple not a bite on spinning gear which surprised me, though it was just a few casts and then on we went.  Before the day was over we visited a couple of lakes and saw tons of stuff.

I did meet Jake who was at the first one with his family.  He is a hard core fly fisherman and we had a good chat.  He fished the Peidra the day before and caught a really good rainbow but not big on the numbers, so my results the last 2 days ended up being just fine.

Seeing plenty of mule deer and the occasional elk.

There is no shortage of lakes in the Pagosa Springs area, and they all have trout.

We stopped at a lake called New Meadows and I stuck supper on a Rooster Tail.  They were willing and it did not take me long.  What we did not know was going a few more miles up that same road would have been worth it.  At happy hour at our favorite motel that night we met Deano.  He works with the government on water projects and spends tons of time high up in the mountains.  We found out if we had gone farther up the road to another lake we had a good chance to see a moose, which would be cool.

The Boss.

On our drive  we hit the fly shop in South Fork and I replaced the ones I lost the day before.  I lost them on fish, bushes, rocks, you name it I hooked it.  But it comes with the territory and is all part of the learning process.  Funny how with fishing, whether it is a $20 lure, or 10 $2 lures it still seems to come out the same when it is all said and done.  And some powerful readers is in my future next trip.  All this fly fishing stuff is small, really small.

It just never gets old at the top of the country.

It is so nice to hit a lake and sack up supper.  All the rest of fish caught in streams and rivers I release, whether it is a catch and release area or not.  So here is a picture of the trout out of the lake.  Looks pretty good huh?

From the lake to our table.

It took me a day and a half of hard work at it to finally get a clue.  The water has been dropping and the primary creek we fished was the Peidra River coming out of Williams Lake.  Wednesday we worked hard wading where we could and only managed 1 small one apiece.  The Boss had 4 or 5 bites on a dry fly, I stayed with the midge.  But day 1 was a wash.  But I was starting to have a clue what not to do.

Brown trout are just plain beautiful.

Friday we headed down below the lake which is quite a hike down to the river.  I lost one and missed one, the Boss did not have a bite.  I really have a lot to learn on fast water.  So we hiked back out and headed down river to a good area to wade.

A rainbow.

Once we started again after lunch Nancy had a little twinge in her back so she read a book and I kept after it.  Finally it started to happen.  I think it was 4 or 5, all browns, all related to runs with big rocks, as long as it was not to fast.  Another part of the learning curve, the strike zone is small, real small, and precision casting is important.  And I would like to thank a nice brown for tipping me off to the area that had the fish.  As the dry fly drifted past a rock he rolled on it, not an attempt to eat, just enough flash to clue me in they were there.

Fly fishing really is an interesting sport.  There is lots to learn, and I actually learned some.  One thing is NOT setting the hook, but just lifting the rod.  I actually tossed one over my head!  A fish, not the rod.  But we never did solve the top bite. It was 0 for around a dozen rises.  After finally taking a picture of a small brown Friday evening I forgot the camera on the river bank.  But as it was Friday, and Saturday would be our last day, my plan was to go and get it in the morning, and hopefully fish some depending on the weather.  Turned out it is a good thing the camera is water proof.

The best rainbow I  could manage on the fly rod.

It was pouring when I got up at 6:00 and headed to the river.  On the way the roads were cat shit slick.  They had been rock hard as they have had little rain, so once it got wet the top turned to a slick muddy mess, which made going down some of the big hills interesting.  But 4 wheel and taking it slow I made it without piling up.

The first Brown trout that I landed.

When I got to the river it was pouring so I walked back to the camera and there it was.  It was real apparent that the water was on the rise, sound alone told me that.  I did not even put on the waders, it was thundering and lightning all around and it was clearly not going to be long.  So back to the truck to get both rods, a #16 midge on one and a floating bug of some sort on the other.

First cast with the midge a brown jumped on so I tossed the dry over them and missed another.  I only fished a couple of hours but ended up with 6 bites on top and not a take.  Not sure about all that, but it was interesting to see them come for it.  Maybe the general small size had something to do with it.  So I stuck with the midge and caught another 3 or 4.  Slowly but surely the river was coming up, and then here came the debris and the color.  Really glad I got an early start because once it started it was over.

It is Saturday afternoon and we might make one more wildlife drive, and scope out some property that looks interesting.  The more we come here the more we like it.  Folks are nice, the weather is great, and there is all the fishing you could want.  Heck, there is even a large lake only 3/4 of an hour from here with lots of bass and some really big pike.  And as we have learned on our drives there are other areas with roadside access to assorted small streams.

The water is about to get right, but it really is so dependent on snow melt and rain.  And there is still now on the divide.  So we got lucky this week as the levels got better every day, but the rain today had them coming back up rapidly.  We never did fish the San Juan, it was getting close, and the guy at the fly shop said the drift boat fishing was getting good.  And over on the Rio Grand it was still high, and where I caught lots of browns in October was still to high and running hard.  But the drift fishing was getting good and the fish were eating drys.  So if we make it back out here in July like we had planned it should be just right.

Our guide near Estes always told us when you catch a fish stop and look where you are.  This week we have really lived that, thus only 2 reports.  Instead of being tied to the computer and camera we have just been enjoying the beauty.  Everywhere we looked it was something and we appreciate just being out here and spending all day outdoors.  Access is what makes Pagosa Springs the place it is.  The more time we spend outdoors the more we know we have lots to learn.  This has been another great week, but like all trips it comes to an end.  We will be home in a couple of days and it is back to “real” life.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines