Colorado Day 4 The Epic Finale

    After the struggles I had on day 3 I came into day 4 with a ton of rest and ready to catch a lot of fish. It was that feeling you get sometimes while heading to water just knowing in the back of your mind that it was going to be a good day.

  I had thought about my week the night before while laying in bed, wondering what I was doing wrong this whole time. I compared my rig to Scott's rig as I laid there. They where almost exact to the "T". Except for one thing, split shot. We had been fishing deep holes all week, and I don't think I was getting down to where the fish actually where. It hit my like a ton of bricks, and made me feel like the newbie fisherman I once was. On the drive out to the river on day 4 we stopped at a little bait and tackle shop in the town of Gradby. We had stopped there earlier in the week so I could grab a fishing license. I purchased some fly weights and a couple flies known as "The 20 Incher". The 20 incher is a stonefly pattern. The temps where predicted to be warm on day 4 which meant melt off ,which also meant more stonefly activity.

  We arrived to the Parshall hole right around 8:30a.m. I rigged my rod up at the truck tying on the 20 incher followed by a red zebra midge, and a black zebra midge. I thought this rig would be perfect and I had the winning ticket tied on to catch a lot of fish. Also I added a number 4 shot about a foot and a half in front of my first fly. I walked down to the hole and slowly waded out working my rig closer and closer to where the fish had been hanging out all week. BAM! Fish on! I shouted to Scott with a grin on my face. I hooked the first fish of the day.

 A nice healthy brown! I told myself I had it, and today was going to be my best day yet. We fished on through the morning, and all I had after the first fish was one hook up that had gotten off before getting to my net. Scott was still empty handed as well. The thought of a killer day became a pipe dream really quick it had seemed. I was frustrated to say the least, along with my fishing buddy Scott. By 11 a.m. I mentioned to Scott that we needed a change of scenery, and I thought the hole was beat from the weeks worth of anglers that had fished it. He agreed, and it was time to move on.

 We made the long trek back to the new honey hole again, which is probably what we should have done in the beginning of the day. While walking threw the slushy snow I had started to think about the local gentleman that had caught numerous fish the day before right in front of me. I told myself I needed to get into the same spot he was and repeat his actions.

  In the pics above you can see we where standing on top of a submerged boulder. Casting into the seam as there was some fast water to the right and a really deep slow moving pool to the left in front of the rock that sticks out of the water. There where a bunch of large boulders in this deep hole where the fish would sit and watch the food trickle by in the faster water.

  I eased in the water to this spot hoping the day was going to get better. To my surprise it did indeed get better. No more than 4 drifts along this seam I hooked into a nice Brown.

 This guy was full of color and had some defined spots from head to tail. I was getting that fishy feeling again. Three more casts and BAM!

 You can imagine the grin that was on my face now. My good friend was starting to feel like he was doing something wrong now, as he watched me catch fish after fish. At one point an older gentleman walked up by us with his granddaughter and asked if we where doing any good. I responded by catching three fish before he moved on. He asked what flies where hot, and I gave him the inside scoop. The stonefly pattterns caught half our fish, and the zebra midges caught the other half no matter the color. I continued fishing and catching.

 We fished on throughout the early evening leaving by 5:30p.m. It was an amazing day for me to say the least. I caught and landed 14 fish to my friend Scott's 7. I also had quite a few hook ups that landed short of my net. It was an incredible day and week on the water with a good friend. Fish totals for the week Scott-20  Brian- 23 .

  On the drive back to the cabin we where staying in we reflected on the spectacular week of fishing, scenery, and times shared. It was an amazing trip, and plans have already been made for next year. I can't wait to make it back to the wonderful fisheries that Colorado has to offer.

 
                                The drive back every day after fishing almost leaves you speechless.

  If you are ever interested in staying in the Winter Park area I highly recommend renting out the place we stayed. It is referred to as Snow Dream. Nestled away in the pines with all the luxuries you could ask for while on vacation.

 It has a ton of wildlife running around as well. In the above picture the resident fox named trixie can be seen. I did see trixie a few times while at Snow Dream. There is also Moose and Deer in the area as well. For more info on Snow Dream follow this link http://www.vrbo.com/221902  .  You will be blown away by this place which is available for renting year round. It sits in the town of Fraser which is right next to Winter Park. The Fraser River is just down the street and is loaded with trout as well. During the winter most of the Fraser is iced up though. The Colorado River is a short drive away, and the Blue River is about an hour away in Dillon and Silverthorne. All gold metal waters for fishing big trout.

 I hope you all enjoyed the journey I had out west as much as I did!

Colorado Day 3

 Day 3 started out in a slight blur to me. I think maybe it was the gin and tonics, and the rum and cokes possibly. Either way we got up a little earlier than the day before due to the fact it seemed the fish where biting early in the day and later in the afternoon which would be typical for warmer weather. If it meant catching more fish, than I was all about it.

  First stop of the day was the tried and true Parshall hole. We started tossing the normal size 20 midges as they had been the best producers thus far. I started off the day with a nice healthy first fish taking my red bead headed midge.

 Notice I used the rod I built, and I must say it performed extremely well and received a ton of use. Shortly after Scott had landed a decent fish in which I didn't get a pic of due to the squirmyness of the fish. The Parshall hole seemed slow compared to the previous few days.

  After about an hour or so of fishing, a local showed up that we had talked to the day before in the parking lot. We chatted and pretty much fished together most of the day. He only ended up catching a small brown in the hole as well before moving on. Note that we made the mistake of telling this gentleman where we slammed the big fish the day before when we met in the parking lot.

 Shortly after the local moved up stream, Scott and myself decided to go back to the big fish hole from the day before, as that was our game plan from our morning drive conversation. So we started the trek back across the snow covered meadow.

 The spot was pretty much straight back where the uncovered hilltop sits in the picture above. It was a dreadful hike in the melting snow, but well worth it in our minds to get to the bigger and hungrier fish. Shortly after we arrived at the hole, we realized we made a mistake sharing a little info the day before with the local guy, as he was standing right in our spot fishing the very hole we came to fish. He noticed us coming through the trees and greeted us with a "hello again". He invited us in to the water to share the hole that we directed him to. He mentioned he had already caught one 15" Brown before our arrival. We thanked him for letting us squeeze in and started fishing. I think the situation might have come out a lot different if it happened here in the Midwest, but I can defiantly say Colorado folk are more than nice than your average Midwest Joe.

  For some reason, today just wasn't my day. I struggled to get a good cast and drift, and just became all out frustrated with myself. Hence the statement above about the drinks consumed the night before. I had miss casts, caught up in rocks, tangled in trees on back casts, and even hooked myself on a poor back cast right in the cheek. Laugh it up at my expense feel free because shortly after I did it I laughed as well. Some how in all the chaos I did however manage to hook another fish before the end of the day.

  In the midst off all my chaos Scott proceeded to land 3 fish, and with my frustrations and reties I did not get pictures of his fish. At the same time the local was putting on a clinic in front of us, catching a fish every other cast as he made it seem. He was catching a majority of his fish on an olive RS-2. He caught a few really nice rainbows with one stretching over the 20" mark for sure. I watched this gentleman fish for a bit, and took some mental notes. These mental notes will play a crucial role in my last day of fishing on day 4. 

 Fish count is now Scott-13 Brian-9 . Stayed tuned for day 4 because the fish count numbers are going to sky rocket. Also the morale of the story is to take it easy on the drinks the night before an outing.

Colorado Day 2

  Day 2 was a little more eventful than day 1. The temps warmed up a bit more, breaking the 40 degree mark. Which meant melt off and a little more hunger in the fish. We loaded up the truck and left Winter Park by 8:30 a.m. First destination was the Parshall hole again, and it was a great first stop. We landed 5 fish in the first 3 hours of fishing which was spectacular compared to the day before.

 Size 20 hooks where key to catching fish. Red and Black zebra midges did the trick along with the red mercury midge . The fish where not to friendly to any hook bigger than a 20 it seemed. It also didn't really matter what type of bead head was on the midge either. We caught them with crystal, red, black, gold, and no beadhead at all. If it resembled a midge they would eat it. We fished the hole till about noon and then went for a long hike up to the confluence of the Colorado and Williams Fork. We started fishing a section of the Williams fork, but found no fish, not even spooking one. We worked our way back down into the Colorado River looking for deep pools that where holding fish. Low and behold we stumbled upon a honey hole where we saw some fairly large fish rising to Blue Winged Olives.

 The fish where rising to the right and slightly in front of the rock sticking out of the water. They where hanging in the slow water really close to the seam of fast water. They where snatching bugs as they would come to the surface. We saw what was going on and quickly casted toward the rising fish. As soon as the fly would get in front of there face they would strike instantly. 

 This was indeed the type of whole we wanted to stumble upon. Scott's Brown measured 18 1/2" ans his rainbow came in at 16". I caught the split tail brown that looks like he had been attacked at some point in his life, and the big fish of the week was the last pic of me and my 20" Brown. He slammed my black zebra midge and ran for the hills but ended up forfeiting to my 4 wt. rod. We caught 8 fish total out of the hole making for a great ending to a great day. Low and behold this hole turns into a gold mine by the end of the week. Fish count is now set at Scott-9 Brian-7 . I got behind from the start making the old guy feel good about himself and having a lot to talk about, but that will all change by the end of the week. 

Colorado Day 1

   Day 1 in Colorado was interesting to say the least. It was a definite change from the normal driftless streams I am used to fishing. Not to mention this was the first time I had  gotten my fly line wet this year. I defiantly had to work out the kinks in my casting and line mending. It was a rough start in the morning making out to be a great day by the end of it all.

 We started out the morning at what is referred to as the Parshall Hole. It is tucked away right off the road side on the edge of the small town Parshall. The Parshall Hole is located on the Colorado river just downstream of the confluence with the Williams Fork. Here is a shot of the Parshall Hole.

 Just below the riffles lies a deep pool where fish where stacked up in numbers just waiting for food to come by. There where a few large boulders at the tail end of the riffles that where loaded with fish. Our main focus was drifting flies right on the edges of the boulders.

  My good friend Scott hooked up with this nice Brown for the first fish of the day. The fish was attracted to the size 20 red zebra midge topped with a red glass bead head. The size 20 was key during the whole week for being the hot fly in either red or black.

 Shortly after Scott caught his fish, I finally hooked up with my first Colorado Trout.

 It was a nice and healthy 16" fish. Not a bad way to pop my cherry for a Colorado Brown. 

 We fished the Parshall Hole till about 1p.m. and then moved on up stream to Byers Canyon on the Colorado River which is right outside of Hot Sulphur Springs. When we arrived we soon noticed that the water levels where low and there was lots of snow and ice on the banks.

 We fished these stretches even past the bridge up into the canyon and had no luck. We didn't even spook a fish, which seemed fairly odd to me. Either way it was a nice scenic adventure, and a ton of fun exploring some new water that my friend Scott had never fished. 

 We wrapped up the day at about 4p.m. as the temps never got above 32 degrees on Tuesday, but there was a warm up in the predicted forecast which made for an excellent week. So starting off on day 1 the fish count was at Scott-2 Brian-1 . I didn't get a pic of Scott's second fish. I was happy to only get one fish as it was my first big water trout. By the end of the week I was putting on a clinic compared to my good friend. Stay tuned the next few days to see how the rest of the trip turned out.