ColoradoCasters

Smokey T

Looking for any scrap of water for a quick Saturday run we went with an option Don and I know well. Early meet up and drive in the dark with strong winds rocking us the whole way.

“Ah, these winds will be much less once we get there.” 

I said this trying to paint a positive spin on the morning. Don just looked at me knowing full well that this was wishful thinking at best. Reach the parking area and everything is whipping sideways. Don opens the door and inside the vehicle looks like an airlock was opened in outer space. We both fight our way to the hatchback and start gearing up. Or try to for that matter.

“Should have brought that extra rope!” I yell over the blustering wind. “Might need to anchor the truck down.”

 

At first light we make our way to the water and go to work. Both of us dust off some rust with a few missed hook-sets. But it doesn’t take long before things fall into place and the brown trout come to the hand.

CFS was low but consistent with this time of year. The lakes above are being drained. This fed sediment and decayed algae downstream. Water quality was poor and the rig needed some cleaning maintenance after every cast or so. Far from ideal conditions but doable.

 

Release the fish and wind starts blasting onto wet hands. Because wetting the hands is so crucial for the fish in this stretch an angler needed to recuperate the hands along with the fish released back into the water.

Don hooked into a number of fish and really took over in the last half of the game. Maybe it was the slight adjustment or it was the fact my fingers turned to mutiny after the first few releases. 

A very impressive brown trout for this stretch with a very modest hold on Don’s part. I might have mugged it up a little more with too much forward hold and some kind of angry grimace.

Managed one rainbow that looked to be a stocker that has held out for a while. In a few years this fish could get burly looking from living a river life as opposed to a hatchery existence. I almost fell in by the way reaching down to land this fish. No matter how secure I think a rock is, it can still turn against me at any moment.

 

It has been too long since I have hit some water. Work is still super crazy. Things may actually get crazier for me in the next month or two as several projects roll through at the same time. As much as I love fishing there are bills to pay and deadlines to meet. Hopefully I can still get a few casts in. Thank you so much for your patience and continued patronage during this fishing dry spell.  

Conditions:

Altitude: 7,522 feet

Early morning, Temp 35-45 degrees F.

Mostly cloudy\heavy smoke haze

Water-heavy\medium stain-temp unknown

Wind: @#$% was blowing sideways early. By 10:00AM smoke was chocking us out.

My name is Matt and went too days without fishing.