Big Fish, Big Wind

Today I met Simon out at the Dream Stream for a full day trip.  From the start the wind was blowing and it would only get stronger as the day progressed.  However, that did not stop Simon from putting an absolute smack down on a ton of big fish.  While most fish were in the 18-22 inch class, we did land one Rainbow that measured out at 24.  The fish were extremely grabby as we sight fished to almost each and every trout.  The fish were chowing hard on leeches, worms, and caddis nymphs.  Even in all the wind, there were even some rises that had me considering tying a dry onto Simon's rod.  Below is a just a few pictures from our awesome, yet windy day in South Park. 

South Park Slayfest

The Dream Stream out in South Park is one of those places that can provide for banner days.  Today was one of those days for myself and my buddy Tanner Smith.  The first cast of the day yeilded an aggressive take from a 20 inch Snake River Cutthroat and the day just continued on from there.  Throughout the day big fish were aggressively eating big meaty morsels.  When those failed, caddis nymphs took the full force of big Rainbow, Cutbow, and Brown Trout.  Between the two of us we landed well over 40 fish, many of which were over 20 inches, and the largest being a thick 24 inch Rainbow.  If you would like to sight fish and hunt some of this big Dream Stream fish, the coming weeks will be a great time to book a trip and let me help get you on some of the biggest, hardest fighting fish around.  Below are a few pictures from today.

South Park: Had Ourselves a Time

For the past two days I had the privilege of guiding a great couple from Virginia.  Norm, Georgia, and I had a great couple of days in South Park.  On day 1, we fished the Dream Stream and did very well.  Numbers of fish were high and although we weren't able to land them, we got into a couple of really big fish. Caddis nymphs have been great producers on the Dream, but BWO and midge nymphs are also turning their fair share of fish.  On day 2, we headed to a private stretch on Tarryall Creek.  We fished this beautiful property all day and did very well on both nymphs and dries.  Below are a few pictures of Norm and Georgia with some great fish from Tarryall.  Thank you guys again for coming out.  In other news, I am fully moved into my place in Woodland Park and am loving being only 30 minutes form the water.  The weather has been fantastic and the fish are eating very well.

Road Trip!

The flows on the South Platte River below Cheesman have been bumped to about 250 cfs.  With the increase in water the fish now have much more water to roam and find food.  Today I had the father son pair of Don and Dan.  These two are on a road trip that began in Rhode Island and will end up in Las Vegas.  Thank you guys for stopping in Denver and putting a hurt on some fish and finish the trip with safe travels.  Anyways, we found fish quite willing to eat and managed to land several great fish as well.  The increase in flow gives the opportunity to present larger food sources to the fish that may have been washed off of rocks or off the banks. Worms and Stoneflies were great producers today, while Caddis and BWO nymphs also provided there fair share of hookups.  Look for South Platte to continue to fish well. I will be in South Park the next two days on the Dream Stream and on some Private Water as well.  I will try and get some pics up Tuesday night from those days.  Below are a few pictures from today.

Great Day for a Guided Family Fishing Trip

Today I had the pleasure of guiding a great young family.  Brian, Carrie, and little Lukas had a great day today on Bear Creek just west of Denver.  We did an afternoon trip and the fish were very willing to let us get after them.  While we started off with a shortened up nymph rig to get our roll casts down, we quickly switched to dry flies and the day soared from there.  6 year old Lukas was casting great in no time and his parents were right along with him.  We had a ton of fish come up and eat our dries today and even managed to land a fair number of them.  The bug life in Bear Creek is nothing short of amazing.  Caddis, Blue Wings and even a few Drakes could be seen coming off throughout our time on the water.  Below are a few pictures of Lukas with some colorful Bear Creek Brown Trout. 

Awesome Day on South Platte River

The public water on the South Platte River is fishing fantastic.  If you have ever wanted to learn how to fly fish or just want some pointers from someone who knows the water and knows where to find the fish, now is the time to do it.  Both subsurface nymphs and dry flies are producing with great results as Caddis, Blue Wing Olives, Midges, and Stoneflies are now prevalent.  Today, I had another great trip with Bruce from San Antonio.   The fish were very grabby and were moving in and out of the riffles feeding heavily.  While nymphing produced the majority of the fish, we were able to get fish to eat dries.  There is a strong caddis hatch that had noses popping out of the water from mid day until we left.  Below are a few pictures from our great day.

Touring Middle Park

I met up with Doug Hensel today and we decided to run up to Middle Park.  We started out below Green Mountain Reservoir and fish for about an hour.  The water was very low and fish were very spooky.  We were still able to find a few fish that were not very cooperative. After hooking a couple fish we decided to move down stream a little bit.  We got into several great fish and even got some to eat dries.  Caddis and Blue Wing Olives are really starting to get going.  After finishing up on the Blue, we headed over to the Colorado around Parshall and were able to get into some really cool looking Brown Trout on Stonefly Nymphs.  Again, the BWO nymphs and adults were everywhere. Below are a few pictures of our day in Middle Park.

Metro Smallies

The South Platte River in metro Denver has been getting a lot more press lately.  Trout fishing seems to get better every year, and the carp fishing secret is out.  However, today I decided to target one of the other species that is prolific on the metro Platte.  Smallmouth Bass!!  The smallies seemed to be everywhere today.  Whether it was nymphing the slower runs or stripping streamers, the were on the feed.  I was able to land many and below are a couple of pictures.  As stated above, carp on the South Platte in town is becoming a staple so I could not just forget about them.  I was able to get into a few of them today as well, and saw one that was easily pushing the 30 lb mark.  As far as the trout are concerned in the high country, fishing is outstanding.  The South Platte, Blue, Taylor, Colorado, and pretty much anywhere else is all producing.  We have slipped past Spring and are into the beginning of summer.  Get out and fish.  Better yet, hire a guide, whether myself or someone else and let us show you the ropes.