Mattsabasser Driving to Fish-Tips: Don’t crash into the creek

Reaching some of the best fishing areas often requires a bit of driving. The journey to and from the fishing hole can be quite perilous. There may be a lot of fishing tips out there but few that offer advice intended to minimize trouble while traveling from Point A to Point B. I shall make an attempt to fill this void with “Driving to Fish-Tips”.

Don’t crash into the creek

(This story is a few days old and less of a developing story than this vidcapture may portray. I fish this stretch and still not sure how this person smacked right into the sweet spot.)

http://kdvr.com/2012/09/11/car-plunges-into-creek-off-highway-6-in-canyon/

Most of these Driving to Fish Tips are common sense stuff for most of us and a few basic reminders never hurt. It may seem a little absurd for me to say something like, “Can you keep your vehicle out of the creek, please?” But once a year someone manages to drive their vehicle into one or two of the streams that I fish. 

Canyon roads in Colorado have some perilous turns and twists but we’re not talking about some promoted goat path featured on “IRT Deadliest Roads”. Simple things like driving a modest speed and being mindful of the road would help keep the vehicle under control. Maybe I am just asking too much and should keep one eye open for out of control vehicles while fishing. Once again as a friendly reminder I urge folks to match the hatch, crash the hatch but please do not crash into the creek.

A good fishing trip will always benefit from fewer problems. Hopefully these Drive to Fish Tips help anglers reach the water and return home to fish once again. Good luck and good fishing.

Quick trout grab

Looking for a quick trout grab I decided to sling a few casts on the creek. The fish aren’t very big but one a good day you can get a number of fin slappers to the hand. With volunteer fishing bans and low water at some of my favorite places this year, I was glad to see some sustainable depth on Bad Luck Creek.

Flows are decent on this slip of water right now but that could change quickly. Morning and evening are the most common angling shifts available due to the high volume of tubers, kayaks and folks looking to escape the summer heat. Even sections higher up have moderate to heavy rafting traffic. There is always something to contend with in regards to Colorado fishing that adds to the challenge.

Gold patterns worked for the spin situation and I was also able to get a few to hit the ant pattern on the fly gear (yes, I do fly fish sometimes). Fish on the edge of the bank were eager to hit but the larger, deeper fish barely gave me a look. Maybe I could have run a few smaller nymph presentations. Guess I was too lazy to do the switch on the setup. As long as the fish keep coming I tend to spend less time with the experimentation. This is poor mentality as when the fish are biting it is the perfect time to experiment. Frankly there is never a wrong time to try something new.

Most of the fish were very small and under eight inches. A few fish above that slot decided to grace me with their presence. Once caught the fish were almost downright cordial during the photo op, which almost never happens. I didn’t see any rainbow trout and all fish caught were brown trout. A few years back cutbows seemed to rule this stretch but now it appears the brown trout have taken over once again. Of course now that the fish are rebounding there will be some form of disaster. This disaster could be a diesel tanker spilling its load into the water or another treatment plant mishap. Hence the name “bad Luck Creek”.

Male brown trout tend to be darker in color with larger dots further spaced apart. The female brown trout is often more drab in color and I find the dots to be more of an orange tint than red. The jaw is more rounded and less prominent on the female compared to the male as well. Above is a female brown trout with a male pictured above that.

Water levels are a far cry from where they could be here for June but better than some places. Flows are decent now but dwindling fast. Hopefully water managers can regulate the CFS enough to hold through the summer and we receive some additional moisture. Without it we could obviously be in some trouble.

My name is Matt and I’m a fishaholic.