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

Posted on March 27, 2013March 27, 2013 by The Fly Trout — Leave a comment

Visiting New Mexico

Over the weekend we went south to visit my dad in the Land of Enchantment. I have never been fishing down there and wanted to give it a go. My dad lives in Santa Fe and the closest rivers to fly fish are the Pecos River and the Rio Grande, both are about an hour drive from his place. So on Friday we decided to try out the Rio near Pilar, NM and we both had no luck. He’s not a fly fisherman so he was trying lures and bait. I tried eggs, midges, streamers, san juan worms, and nymphs. Pretty much anything but dries and all to no avail. We only fished for a couple of hours because of the terrible wind, but it was nice to get out there try a new river. Hopefully I’ll get back there when conditions are little nicer.

This was pretty sweet. My dad just bought a new compound bow while I was down there visiting and we were testing it out in the back yard. He took a couple shots, then on the third shot it made a weird sound. When we went to see the target we were both in disbelief. He hit the arrow inside of another one. I don’t think he could do that again if he tried.

Posted on March 8, 2013March 8, 2013 by The Fly Trout — Leave a comment

Pre-Spring Fly Fishing

On Sunday we went out to the only mountain river I have been to this winter, the South Platte in Cheesman Canyon. The good news is that I was able to use my new rod and reel and try out some streamers I tied up. The bad news is that I need to learn how to use these big ole flies. I know that tiny midges are usually the name of the game in this heavily-fished tailwater, but I wanted to try my luck with streamers for a couple of reasons. Number one, I just got a new Redington CPX rod with the Lamson Konic reel and wanted to fish with the new set up. It’s fun using new gear, right?? Number two, the last time I went to Cheesman, I went with my buddies Jason and Esteban and Jason caught a couple using Rapalas. So I thought, “I’ll just tie up some streamers and slay ’em!” WRONG. Those fish saw my streamers and (in an English accent) were like “This old chap has to be mad. We are a civilized bunch. We don’t eat fillet o’ fish. We eat caviar and petite midges.” Needless to say I didn’t have a bite. How did Jason and Esteban do you ask? Esteban also got a case of the skunk flu. And of course Jason, with his trusty Rapala, was able to bring in two nice browns.

My shirt didn’t help my skunk.

Jason likes to show off.

Posted on January 29, 2013January 29, 2013 by The Fly Trout — Leave a comment

Ain’t no fun if the homies don’t catch none

I went out to the South Platte in Cheesman Canyon with my buddies Esteban and Jason over the weekend. We chose Cheesman because it’s one of the few places to fish during the winter here in Colorado. It was an abnormally warm January day. The high was in the low 50s! Cheesman is already a tough place to fish, but the winter makes it even tougher because you have to use tiny little midges and if your fly isn’t real close the trout won’t budge. And Sunday was even tougher because the water wasn’t as clear as normal, making it difficult to sight fish. So needless to say, I was skunked. I had one hit, but couldn’t set the hook. And wouldn’t you know, Jason was able to catch two. What was his secret you ask? He was using a Rapala!

On the hike back Jason was drinking a beer and when he got to the last of his it he poured it out and we were like “what the heck are you doing?” He said it was just the foam. Then Esteban said he was pouring it out for his homies who didn’t catch any fish. It reminded me of the Snoop song, “It ain’t no fun if the homies can’t have none.” And even though his homies didn’t catch none, it was still fun being out on the water. Stay fly.

Fly tying the night before.

It looked and felt like spring.

Jason with his second brown.

Posted on May 23, 2012 by The Fly Trout — Leave a comment

Three Skunks and You’re Out

This past weekend I went to the famed Cheesman Canyon to fly fish the South Platte River. For the third time this year I saw many large trout and also for the third time this year I was skunked in the Canyon! It’s quite frustrating to see so many beautiful fish ignore what you are offering. Even though I didn’t catch anything, it was still nice to be out on the water.

It’s hard to see, but in that clear water there is a fish that was unwilling to cooperate.

The weather was just about perfect on Sunday.

My buddy Esteban before he knew he would have to hold up a giant boulder on the hike back.

That rock is larger than a house.

Check out the close up. He was not really holding up the boulder.

Posted on May 4, 2012May 4, 2012 by The Fly Trout — Leave a comment

Not So Clear Creek

I was really excited to do some river fishing today as I hadn’t been in a couple weeks. Right after work I headed straight up to the foothills, past Golden and into Clear Creek Canyon to fish Clear Creek. I slapped on my gear and hiked down to the river.

Any luck? Nope, not luck at all. No bites, nothin’. I didn’t see any fish, but that was because this river was fast and definitely not clear. Looks like I will have to go again this weekend! Check out this “exciting” video of the river.

Posted on March 26, 2012March 26, 2012 by The Fly Trout — Leave a comment

Magical Mustache or Lucky T-Shirt

I have been out on the water just a handful of times thus far in 2012, and up until yesterday I hadn’t caught a fish. Each time I would say the cliche lines like “A bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work.” or “It’s nice to just be in the outdoors.” We all know that those are mostly true statements, but the point of fishing is to catch freaking fish! And yesterday was the day to break my skunky streak. I took the family to the Chatfield Gravel Pond, which is a medium-sized pond right next to Chatfield Reservoir.

I wasn’t quite sure what fly I was going to use so I started of with a wooly bugger. After a few casts, I started to see a few occasional risers. I immediately switched to a comparadun because nothing beats watching a fish take your dry fly sitting on top! The fish were definitely not going crazy on the top of the lake, but I knew if I was patient I would get one. And sure enough, BAM! He took my fly and I set the hook. He wasn’t much of a fighter but it was still nice to get my first trout of the year. The wife and kids weren’t having any luck with their bait and lure fishing and were ready to leave even though everyone knows “you never walk away from the table when you’re on a heater.”

I’m not sure if it was fishing with the family or the too cool for school shirt I was wearing or my sweet stache, but something helped me break my no fish streak. I’ll give credit to the shirt. I only caught one and he was definitely too cool for school.

Comparadun

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Posted on March 18, 2012 by The Fly Trout — Leave a comment

Bear Creek Skunk

I went out to Bear Creek late Friday afternoon hoping to catch a few hungry browns before the sun went down. I was excited to fish the creek for the first time this year. And I was also excited to use my new Costa Del Mar shades and my new Cabela’s 6’6″ 4wt CGR fly rod. I hadn’t caught a fish yet this year so I was really excited and optimistic that this would be the time to get the skunkiness off, but sadly it wasn’t. I didn’t even get any hook ups. I am not sure if the area I was fishing was just fished or if the not-so-clear-water (melting ice making it kinda cloudy) was the cause of my goose egg. Either I was a little bummed that I didn’t catch a few, but it’s always nice to be out on the water.