brookies Archives - Fly Fishing T-Shirts and Cool Fly Fishing Apparel from The Fly Trout

Posted on August 21, 2013June 2, 2014 by The Fly Trout — Leave a comment

Get Lost

A few weekends ago my buddy Esteban and I decided to go on a short backpacking trip in the Lost Creek Wilderness in Colorado. This area is pretty popular because it’s not too far from Denver and there is an abundance of hiking trails. The plan was to get up early, drive to the trail head, hike until we found a good spot to set up camp, then fish the creek the rest of the day. The plan was going flawlessly until the rains came. Luckily the rain didn’t come until the afternoon giving us a few hours of fast and furious dry fly action. Those little brookies were slammin’ our dries on what seemed like every cast. Even though we didn’t get to fish as much much as I would have liked it was a great time being out in the wilderness. Check out some of the pictures from the trip. Stay fly.

Esteban at the trailhead.

Me at the trailhead.

The Lost Creek Valley

Gettin ready to rips some lips.

Big hopper, little brookie

Sweet colors on these little guys

Fire stayed lit even in the rain.

Posted on July 29, 2013October 25, 2013 by The Fly Trout — Leave a comment

Free Camping, Fly Tying and Fly Fishing

The weekend before last we packed up the kids and dogs and decided to camp somewhere we had never been. We drove up north past the quaint little town of Granby to Denver Creek Campground. When we arrived we weren’t that impressed so we decided to head up a forest road and find a free spot in the national forest. And boy did we find something good! This spot had a nice fire ring, some logs that were perfect for tables and a noisy little stream just down the hill to lull us to sleep at night. Camping in the forest as opposed to a paid campground is the way to go. The dogs can roam free and there’s not a soul around. Here are some shots from the trip. Stay Fly.

No leash necessary. This dude loves to run.

This little creek flowed about 50 yards away from our tent. No luck fishing here but we did have some luck at the bigger creek down the road.

Mountain sunsets can be pretty amazing.

Tying up some bugs at the campfire with my Colorado Cap and my Colorado brew …

…and the finished products.

Fly fishing lessons.

Nice little brookies in Willow Creek. This muchacho has a Troutstache.

Posted on August 17, 2012 by The Fly Trout — Leave a comment

Monarch Park Camping

Two weekends ago we packed up and met my up with my dad again for another camping trip. This time we went up near Salida to Monarch Park Campground. This beautiful campground was near the top of Monarch Pass and had an elevation of over 10,000 feet!

That weekend was my son Vinny’s birthday and so what better gift than a fly rod and a vest. He was thrilled and couldn’t wait to try it out on the nearby creek and beaver ponds.

After we set up camp we headed down to the beaver ponds to see if we could catch a few. It was pretty slow going and I managed a couple, but Vinny didn’t get anything.

The next day we took a pretty rough road up to Boss Lake. It was about a 2 mile trip up some pretty rough terrain, but after moving a tree out of the road and battling the rocks on the road we made it. And the view of the lake was amazing. I managed to catch one little greenback cutt, but sadly Vinny wasn’t able to set the hook on is one opportunity.

Vinny very badly wanted to catch something on his new fly rod, so after getting back from Boss Lake and chilling at the camp site for a while we made our way back over to the beaver ponds. I am glad to say that this story had a happy ending. Vinny got his first trout on the fly rod!

Posted on June 24, 2012 by The Fly Trout — Leave a comment

Native Lake Trip

My buddy Esteban and I decided we wanted to do a backpack trip and since I love fly fishing, I found us a place that we could hike to and also get some fly fishing in. I chose Native Lake which is near Leadville, Colorado. It has an elevation of 11,293 feet and is home to brook trout and greenback cutthroat trout. This lake was very beautiful, but too shallow along the edges to be able to catch any fish. We saw a couple jumping in the middle, but without a canoe or belly boat there was no way to cast to them. I only caught two fish, one in the creek entering the lake and one in the creek leaving the lake. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Trailhead.

Little stream flowing down the mountain.

Esteban with Mount Massive in the background.

Me with Mount Massive in the background.

Native Lake from above. The most difficult part of the hike was from the trailhead to this point. From here to the lake was all downhill and much easier.

Here’s the part where I show you a bunch of different pictures of the lake. Make sure to check out the lake at sunset. Very pretty.

The Lake

Image 1 of 10

Our beer cooler.

Wait, where are the fish?

Here is the brook trout I caught in the creek that leads into the lake. The little guy squirted out of my hands as Esteban took the shot.

There is another lake, Rainbow Lake, we decided to hike up to and see if we could catch something.

Looking back away from Rainbow Lake.

Esteban found some snow. Thankfully we didn’t run into any polar bears.

I’m not sure why I am smiling because it was quite windy up there and I wasn’t able to cast out far enough to reach any fish.

I had a great time roughing it high up in the mountains. I would have loved to hook up with more fish but it was still a nice little adventure.

Catch ya later, Native Lake.

Oh, you might be wondering about the other fish I caught. He was a nice little greenback cutthroat trout. I didn’t get any pictures of him, but Esteban got it on video and I haven’t had a chance to upload yet. I’ll post the video once I get it ready. Stay fly.

Posted on February 14, 2012 by The Fly Trout — Leave a comment

I Love Trout

Besides my lovely wife, I love trout. I love how slimy they are. I love how spooky they can be or how tolerant they can be. I love how they sometimes eat on the top of the water and sometimes they eat on the bottom. I love to watch them jump out of the water. I love to watch them swim up to my fly and then swim away. I love big 20 inch rainbows. I love little 6 inch brookies. But most of all like the feeling of them tugging on my line. To celebrate my love of trout on this day of love I am sharing a coupon code, ILOVETROUT, for 14% off shirts.

Happy Valentine’s Day