Decisions, decisions...

[Catchingtrout]

Heading to Mn tomorrow for a week of business. Originally I was planning to cast a few bugs in the evenings. Now What?

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/eve...cle/id/203833/

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/shutdown.html

[Travis C.]

Will you be mobile? WI and MN have a recip agreement for the St Louis River and possibly Lake Superior. I would check that if you can't get an in state.

Better double check with the game service up there though.

[Catchingtrout]

Originally Posted by Travis C.

Will you be mobile? WI and MN have a recip agreement for the St Louis River and possibly Lake Superior. I would check that if you can't get an in state.

Better double check with the game service up there though.

The final decision has been to fish anyway. No one can sell a license, so how do they enforce fines for fishing without what they refuse to sell? LEO's are hit and miss on how they answer. The general consensis is that as tourists/Business travelers we are at least spending money on food, fuel and lodging. I did buy another 8WT rod too. A warning is more than likely the most I'll get anyway.

[Travis C.]

I'd say that is a good risk.

Good luck, what you hoping to find up there? Will you be able to fish Superior any?

[Catchingtrout]

Travis,

I fish for Trout or (ATB) Anything that bites. I found Pike, SM (Streamers stripping in calm and riffles/drop offs) Perch and Blue Gil (Streamers/Nymphs in calm water) and Walleye (Streamers jigging along bottom in the Cannon river) Lilley Pads and grass were a problem on the lake edges.

I fish a lot of the US and 9 out of 10 trips are unguided with no boat. I am notorious for fishing ponds, streams, and small rivers near the hotels I stay at. Some places I go I've been going for @ 9 years so I have a good idea of where to go and how to fish. I'll be in Colorado in 2 weeks and I'll fish the St. Vrain (Greeley area) Arkansas (Pueblo/Canyon City) Blue (Frisco/Dillon) and no GPS or map is needed. The Mysis shrimp and Green Drakes should be the flies of choice for some Hogs below Dillon. 2 weeks later I'll be back and we are fishing Delaney (Massive Browns eating Damsel Fly nymphs) for 2 days in a boat and in belly boats. The rest of the time will be spent on the S. Platte wading.

[Travis C.]

That is pretty awesome.

I am floating a river tonight looking for big kypes.

Have heard some great things about the Blue. Will it be hopper time on the S. Platte?

Since you travel so much and find time to fish snap a few pics here or there. I bet the scenery is as good as the fishing. I doubt I'd be the only one interested in seeing them.

Safe travels....

[Catchingtrout]

Did you find any Kypes?

Most of the rivers in CO should have nice numbers of Hoppers on them. When I was in WY this spring they were predicting Hoppers to be heavy like they were in 2010. With the openness on much of the S.Platte Hoppers are always a good Summertime windy day option as are ants and small beetles.

Know anyone who fishes Washington State? I am adding 3 weeks there in 2012 and wonder when the best time to go is. I'll cover the entire state.

I usually work from 7:00AM til @ 1PM then travel to my next location. Different town every day, so not all trips work out for fishing especially in the winter. I can do better with pics.

[Travis C.]

Originally Posted by Catchingtrout

Did you find any Kypes?

No really big ones but check out my river night fishing thread from Saturday. I caught some pretty good ones.

[Catchingtrout]

Nice.

[Catchingtrout]

Sunday - St. Vrain muddy - Big Thompson muddy - Cache la Poudre muddy Storm
Monday - 4.5 hrs (traffic delay) from Greeley to Pueblo - Storms
Tuesday - Pueblo and Colorado Springs Storms in the evening
Wedneday Dream Stream or the Blue. Praying for NO lightening.

[Travis C.]

Man the blue or dreamstream on Wednesday....hoppers.

That can really make up for all the weather earlier this week.

Here is to good weather in the morning.... stick that pig!

[Catchingtrout]

Wednesday turned into the "Dream Stream". I left out of Colorado Spings after work and made it to 11 Mi Canyon @ 2:30. Decided the Canyon wasn't worth $5 federal trespass fee (Storms coming) and drove up to the "Dream Stream" section of the South Platte. If you have never been to these areas one is a deep canyon and very beautiful. The other is wide open space with winds that can easily be 20 -30 mph for hours on end. When I arrived at the "Dream Stream" a nice storm showed up and let's just say that lightning striking the ground within site was enough to make me put a 9'6" stick of Boron back in the truck. After a short wait the storm passed then it was Game On. The moto in CO is "If you don't like the weather here. Wait 5 minutes." I was on the H2O fishing by 3:30. Since this stretch is a tail water I started with the typical dry/dropper and indicator/double nymph set up and tiny bugs. After a few missed fish and landing smaller fish I decided there is more to fly fishing than staring at a little dot on the water for 5 hrs. It was time to change lines and tie on something worthy of the fish in this section of H20. A sinking line with a nice Streamer was in order. The fish were fewer but their sizes got a little better. One of these days I will actually use line that the bigger fish can't break. Or as the case is more often with me. Line that I can't break getting snagged on brush behind me. Yea, I smacked myself in the back a time or two with all of the wind and I have the bruises to prove it. I was able to connect with fish that I won't say much about because with no pics who believes you anyway? I will say this. If you think there are nice fish in TN you are correct. If you want to see more fish like that more often. Well, Go where there is a lot more water and more big fish. Colorado just happens to be one of those places.

Thursday I fished the Blue River below Dillon Reservoir. The flows were up a little more than usual but easily fishable and wadable. Mysis shrimp and San Juan worms were the choice flies. Fishing the Blue is always a treat due to the convenience and its potential for some LARGE fish that love to eat the Mysis Shrimp that come out of the reservoir and they were coming out. Unfortunately potential was all I had. I only fished for a couple of hours due to storms again, but I did get into the Columbia outlet. This section of the Blue is a tail water that comes out below a dam at a shopping Outlet right off of I-70 at Silverthorn and Dillon, Colorado. The weather was better than the fishing. I had a storm come up on the way back to Denver that dumped lightning, snow, hail, and rain all within 5 minutes.

I head back to CO in 2 weeks and I haven't decided exactly where to go yet. My options are open and am thinking:
1. Delaney Lakes
2. Walden - S.Platte going into WY
3. Cache La Poudre
4. Rocky Mountain National Park
5. South Platte (Deckers, Gill Trail)
6. ?????

I do have to work some in the Aurora/Denver/Littleton area while I am there, but I have Sunday PM, Monday, Tuesday PM, Wednesday, Thursday PM, and Friday AM. I fly out @ 7:30 PM Friday

Tight Lines

[Travis C.]

Man, I am glad you got a break in the weather long enough to hit the dream stream section. I bet there are some really huge fish come up out of 11 mile in the spawning run.

For those not familiar with why it's called the "Dream Steam", it's a section of the South Platte River that is a tailwater below one lake connected to another lake roughly 4 miles downstream. Grasslands on both sides, wade friendly, constant temps most all year since its a tailwater and open to the public minus spawning times. These fish can refuge in the lake below fatten up or move up into the river section.

It is on my bucket list for sure.

Great pictures and nice fish..

Those are beautiful pics and awesome scenery. Thanks for sharing them.