Jimbo
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Always put your parking pass where it can be easily seen (like hanging from the rearview mirror). This allows the owner to know at a glance that you are a LAP member and parking there legally. Also always carry your personal tag with you and display it where it can be easily seen. Mine is attached to my flyfishing vest, some will put it on their hat, or if you use a fanny pack I would suggest you put it on the shirt you are wearing. Safety pins work, but zip-ties hold on better.
Jimbo
Well last year it was annual, this year it’s seasonal….
Also the car limit has been reduced to a maximum of 6 vehicles.
Jimbo
Stocking dates are announced about a week before the actual date. You will receive an e-mail and see a topic appear on the forum. We ask that you sign in on the forum topic so we will know how many volunteers will be showing up. Your kids can come. But keep the stocking dates to yourself. We encourage everyone to give the fish 24 hours to acclimate after the stocking to recover from the stress of the ride in the hatchery truck. This will be even more important this year with the low flows, oxygen levels, and higher water temps. If the info gets out more anglers will hit the river and we will see higher numbers of delayed mortality the first few days.
Jimbo
I think this is one of the problems noted in our recent board meetings. The website is undergoing another serious overhaul and reprograming to make everything more efficient. Plus with the upcoming roll out of registration for the LAP for the coming season, many things are being done for a smooth transition. I haven’t had my private messages working since last spring. So if anybody out there is trying to get in touch call me 210-415-6822.
Jimbo
It’s time for the fall rains to start again. October can be a rainy time of year. We need rain in the upper basin if we are going to get flows up again.
So now is a good time as any to remind our members to remember to ask the Lord for enough rain in the right place again. I’ll start with one tonight…
And then it can’t hurt to add some drums to that prayer….
Tom tom tom tom…..
Tom tom tom tom…..
Tom tom tom tom…..
Jimbo
We now have water temps at several locations and flows across the basins.
Dan’s gettin’ it Done !!!
Thanks Dan !
Jimbo
You sign up/renew both on our website when signing up for the LAP.
Jimbo
It’s a topic of discussion during tomorrow’s GRTU Board Meeting.
Jimbo
Canyon Lake sits at 908.17’msl, so close to pool of 909. We could still get the lake to pool with a good hard rain upstream from Canyon Lake.
There is none in the near term forecast, so to encourage another heavy rain in the right place…..
Tom tom tom tom…..
Tom tom tom tom…..
Tom tom tom tom…..
Let it Rain !!!
Jimbo
We still need more than 1 1/2 feet to get to pool. We about to enter the summer dry spell. If we don’t get to pool in the next 2 weeks or so, it probably won’t get to pool this summer. We sure don’t want a bunch of rain in the middle of the summer because it could mix the lake up and we’d loose the cold water understory. This is a very complex system, when enough rain at the right time and everything is perfect. The right rains at the wrong time and we loose everything…..
Jimbo
The Flow Agreement will be enforced anytime between May 15th and the end of September that the lake hits 909’msl. So if it comes up now we will get the sustaining flows through the summer. It’s going to take a heck of a lot of water to bring the lake up 2+feet, so let it pour down on the upper river !!!!
Tom tom tom tom…..
Tom tom tom tom…..
Tom tom tom tom…..
Jimbo
Who remembers the Memorial Day Floods of 1981? Our local weatherman is predicting 5-7 inches of rain between now and next Wednesday.
It could bring the lake up another foot. GBRA has the lake right at 907’msl right now. So we still need 2 feet to bring it up to 909’msl or the flow agreement to kick in. Who knows what might happen. How about a little Stevie Ray Vaughan……
Tom tom tom tom…..
Tom tom tom tom…..
Tom tom tom tom…..
Jimbo
Duly noted Joel….
Did you ever get up into the Cutthroat water?
I will try again. I’ve pulled and pushed fallen trees out of the way before. I always carry some really heavy nylon rope for such efforts. Still maybe a chainsaw will be taken next time. But I’ve got to try….. Rio Grande Cutthroats are worth the effort !
Jimbo
The Last day
It’s my last day to fish on this summer’s flyfishing trip. Usually I’m in some headwater creek chasing cutthroats. But I came here to show Nick some of the things I know about catching Trout on dryflys. With all the changes in flows on the Conejos I suggested we go fish the Lake Fork to increase our chances at numbers of fish we could catch. Mike was insistent that we fish the Conejos again. Sometimes I just don’t understand his motives, but he’s calling the shots with his son, I’m just tagging along.
So the coffee’s on and we make some breakfast sandwiches. Nick was pumped to get back on the water and stick a few fish. We were taking things slow as the temps dipped in 30’s again this morning, but since I had some things to do to prepare for the trip back home, it’s no problem making use of the extra time.
We would be fishing another spot that Mike had fished last week. He had asked me not to fish either of these spots earlier, thinking I would sore mouth them all. He is funny about things like that, and he gives me too much credit really.
It was about 10am before we left camp. We took both vehicles again and headed up FR 250 to an area on the Conejos below Lake Fork. We pulled over and I recognized this spot was an area we fished last year.
We were going to take turns at different stretches and do some leap-frogging going up river.
Nick had the honors and started fishing up this reach with Mike hovering over his shoulder with tips and encouragement.They saw a fish along the bank here. They tried a variety of flys trying to get him to eat. I watched from my side. Nick was casting well and getting the flys on target, put they could not get the fish to strike. I watched their efforts for about 20 minutes. Then I walked on up to the next run…..
I surveyed the water. The current was driving into the far bank. There was a good holding spot between those brush piles. I’m using the #10 brown Chubby. It takes a few drifts, and then a Brown pokes his head through the surface and takes the fly. It’s a decent fish and it put’s up a respectable fight, soon I have it in the net…..
First fish of the day…..
I hear Nick shouting his approval from downstream. I remove the hook and release the fish back into the water.
Moments later I hear “Fish On” from downstream. I hustle downstream to watch…..
Nick plays the fish well and soon it’s in the net too…..
Another medium sized Brown…..
Mission accomplished….. he caught this fish on a skinny Poundmiester. I looked it over and all the other ones I’d seen were much bulkier. Since my Chubby was not working real good I decided to change things up. The only thing close was a small Stimulator. I had a box full of those. I pulled it out and went through it selecting a size #12 synthetic olive with rubber legs. I tied it on.
I moved back upstream as they continued to fish the same run. Nothing else rose so I moved up into the next reach.
Here the current was on the left side. I started fishing the tailout of the run and worked my way up. It took just a couple of casts for some action. I put a cast right into the middle of the current coming down. As the water slowed down and spread out in the tailout I saw the fish come up and pick my fly off the surface. Strip Set…. The Brown immediately jumped. I heard Mike and Nick again from somewhere behind me let out a Woo Hooo…..This was a Beast ! He ran to the right and then the left, jumping again, and then taking off in another direction. I was quickly on the reel and the Ross Vision’s drag was doing a fine job of taming those bursts of speed. It jumped several times in somersault fashion. Mike and Nick howled with wonder at the display of acrobatics. The fish began to tire and I was able to gain my line back. It was down to a close quarters struggle now. With the leader in the rod tip, this fish did not give up. He darted one way and then reversed. After a very long 30 seconds or so of him swimming just out of reach, I reeled up another 4 feet, and I was able to scoop him up.
Look at the shoulders on this one !….
Now this one is something to be proud of…..
It was just short of 19″, but very heavy.
Don’t you wish you could catch a dozen of these?I released my Brown and again just a few minutes later Nick had another Brown Trout in the net. Things were looking up ! Soon it was Mike and Nick hop-scotching ahead of me to the next run. Both tried their hand at bringing a Trout to the surface…..
Mike’s turn…..
Not this time…..
I watched Mike fish up into the next run…..
Looks like a good hook up, but really we were just clowning around, he’s just snagged…..
Mike asked if I would tell Nick how I would dissect this piece of water. I didn’t take a picture before I fished it. I should have. Here is a look a little bit upstream of the two currents before they merged, so you’ll have to use your imagination a bit to put things together.
There were two currents. One on the right driving in at about 45 degrees to the other coming straight down the left bank. So I told him I would start by putting the first casts on the softer water in the middle below the merger kind of where Mike was standing. Then put some casts along the bank at his feet. Then I would move up and fish where the two currents merged. First riding the soft inside on the righthand current coming across, then moving up to into the right current itself. Then the water above where the two currents merged and finally fishing up the upper current on the left, in the softer water in the middle and then again along the bank on the left.
Then I actually stepped in the water and executed all these casts. When I put the fly on the top of the current coming in from the right and it drifted on the upper softer water above the merger, a little Brown ate it. It didn’t take much effort to bring the fish to my feet…..
Well there you go, the lesson was well executed, and rewarded…..
After releasing that one Mike and Nick jumped up to the next drop……
I walked up the other side to watch. Mike was calling the shots as he could see a good fish working the soft water on their side. It took a few casts, but the fish rose to take the Poundmiester. Nick was heavy-handed when setting the hook and broke the fish off. They both got a good look at the fish, but I didn’t as I was too far back. they said it was a monster. Mike said he hooked a fish like that one, right in this very spot last week, and lost it during the battle. Well Nick needed to tie on a new piece of tippet and another fly, so Mike stepped in…..
Nothing else rose…..
So with the river braiding here, they took the left channel and I took the right….
Here I caught two little Browns. The first on the soft water next to the bank on the right. The next at the inside turn at the top on the left…..
I kept moving upstream and had a refusal in a little eddy.
I saw some small mayflys coming off….I tried several different imitations, I had another strike on a #16 Red Drake but could not get it to hang on.
Well I came to the upper boundary fence and heard Mike calling from their braid to head back to the trucks.
I headed back. Unfortuantely it was real swampy willow bottom land. There were little rivulets that wound around through there making the haul through the willows a muddy stumbling mess. We all emerged out of the bottoms a bit muddy and mosquito bitten from the experience. Nothing a little water and time won’t take care of…..We called it a day and got back to camp early. We were planning a big dinner for my last night. I drove with Nick into Antonito to buy some steaks and potatoes. I also bought some eclairs and a few other sundries. Nick’s a good kid and if he keeps at it he’ll be a fine flyfisherman someday. We talked a lot about fishing and his new job in Dallas.
Back at camp I went about building a good fire for the coals necessary to cook the steaks and potatoes. Once we had a good bed of coals we rapped the potatoes in aluminum foil and put them in there. We tested them every 15 minutes or so but they stayed as hard as rocks after about 45 minutes. So we pulled them out of the fire and fried them in a skillet with bacon and some cheese. I put the T-Bone steaks on and cooked them between MR and medium. We opened bottle of Malbac and later a second. I must say it turned out to be one of the finest meals you could have. And the Eclairs were yummy !!!
Afterward I started gathering things up and putting everything but my tent and bedding in the truck. Then we all kicked back, drank wine, and watched the Moon rise. We all took turns telling fishing stories for hours. It was a wonderful night.
I was up with the sun, started some coffee, and took down my tent, packing the last things away. Nick and Mike put their feet on the ground just about the time I was ready to pull out. I left another bottle of red on the picnic table for them to share this evening and said our goodbyes.
It’s 842 miles to San Antonio, another long day in the saddle.
The Cumbres Toltec was getting ready to pull out of Antonito…..The Sangre De Cristos and a bunch of 13,000’+ peaks on this southern string….
Miles and miles of high plains on eastern New Mexico.
Wouldn’t be a long drive in the west without seeing a few thunderstorms….
This Summer Foray into the Mountains is now in my rearview mirror…..
Yeap, no doubt this trip was a good one. One that presented challenges not normally seen. A wet year, with high water, and messed up hatches. These events conspired to make this Dryfly fisherman have to stop and think.
And I am the better for it.
Till next Summer…..Jimbo
2 Days Left
Mike has been real excited about getting Nick, his son, to come up and fish with us. Today would be the first day we would all fish together. After my experience yesterday on the Conejos, I was encouraging Mike to reconsider his choice of fishing the Conejos up close to Platoro Reservoir today. Jeff said that the regulatory agency was still going to test the gates again today. Mike had a good day up there last week and wanted his son to have the same experience. I told him with flows going up and down drastically I suspected the fish were not going to bite very well. I suggested going to the Lake Fork or even go above the reservoir to the upper meadows. He was positive things were going to be fine. Mike makes the call, we’re going to the TU restoration area.
We sit around camp having a big breakfast and getting reacquainted. It’s about 10am before we load up and start up the Forest Road. It’s a long drive. We arrive at about 11am and what we see is not good. The regulatory agency has virtually shut off the flows I guess to check the gate seals.
Look at all the exposed wet rocks. I am wondering where all the fish will go to seek refuge in these extremely low water conditions? Their notice talked about bumping the flows from 450cfs to 1000cfs for a couple of hours, but did not say a thing about shutting them off beforehand. The water here should be about 2-3 feet around here and it’s less than 1 foot most places.
The original plan was to fish together with them on one side and me on the other. Now that plan is out the window. It’s too low and there will be few opportunities in any given stretch, much less water to fish both sides. When we come to the water, miraculously there’s a couple of rising fish in the only deep water around. Mike tells me they will fish this pod and for me to go upstream about 300 yards so they will have some additional water to fish. Well so much for fishing together and me helping Nick out.
So I back off the bank so as to not disturb any other fish there and hike upstream a good ways.
I start here. I am seeing nothing moving in the water and I can see everything because it’s so shallow.
I am working upstream through the water quickly, looking for any fish at all. After about 20 minutes I see a couple of fish rising. I throw a March brown at them and it is ignored. I thinking I need something smaller so I switch to a #16 BWO. It takes two casts to get the bank sipper on…..It’s a 12″ Brown. I should have used my net as I fumbled the unhooked fish trying for a selfie.
No problem as there is another fish rising closer to the riffle. I get one cast at it and then I see a torrent of water coming downstream. Here comes what looks like the 1000cfs they were talking about. The river rises about 3 feet in a matter of seconds here. Mike and Nick are about 400 yards downstream. I turn around and use my whistle to get their attention as they are on the wrong side of the river themselves. I see Mike look at me, but they look like they are continuing fishing. I blow the whistle again and again hoping they will figure out what I’m trying to tell them, the water is coming and to get back on this side. I keep watching and they figure it out and I see them crossing the river before the flood gets to them.The river is bank full now and I see them coming up to my position which is close by the trucks. I decide to tie on a big Chubby and see if something will still bite this snickers bar close to the banks in this swift water. Nothing rises. Mike and Nick come up next to me and watch a few minutes. We have fished maybe 40 minutes and it’s over.
Bad Luck.We walk back to the trucks. Nick caught 2 Browns while Mike watched. I landed one. Mike said let’s eat lunch and see if the water goes down in that time. We tailgate at the trucks and Mike and I talk about some of the fishing we’ve had together here on the Conejos and me some of the other waters I’ve fished.
We watch the river but nothing changes. It is still ripping. We talk about our alternatives. And really we only have above the lake in the meadows or some place like the Lake Fork. Both will require a substantial hike, the meadows about 1 hour and the Lake Fork a little more. Mike does not want to fish the Lake Fork, so we start to drive up to the upper meadows trailhead. Along the way we can see clouds up there and they are gathering strength. It takes about 30 minutes to get there and sure enough it’s already starting to sprinkle when we get to the end of the road. Looking further up the valley the clouds are really dark and it’s probably already raining pretty good up there. We could put on our jackets and go for a walk, but Mike doesn’t want to even try.
Nick is really excited to see this country. He has never been up in the mountains flyfishing before. He is 23 and his eyes are as big as silver dollars looking at the mountains still capped in snow, the canyons, and waters flowing through them. He is all gun ho’,… let’s fish somewhere ! So we decide to drive back down the valley and look for some water ahead of the flows.
We drive all the way down to the Hwy 17 bridge and the public water just above it. It takes almost 2 hours to get there and the river has not risen yet. Myself I don’t want to be on the water down here when those flows hit as the banks are willow choked and if you get caught downstream it will be real tough to get through them to dry ground and back to the parking area. I suggest we go up Elk Creek, but Mike says he wants Nick to fish here.
I really want to fish with them, but there not much room for 3 anglers and this setup is sketchy should those big flows hit. I tell them I am going to fish the Elk above the campground for a little bit and I’ll be back within an hour. They tell me they are going to fish around the parking area till the flows hit and then head back to camp.
So up the Elk Creek Trail access I go. I grab my Sage 4711 LL which is still rigged up.
This trail heads up to the first meadow.I hustle down to the creek. There is a foot bridge crossing the creek for the hikers headed into the backcountry. Elk Creek is sizable and there are 4 meadows laid out over some 15 miles up the trail. Nice for an overnight backcountry backpacking trip.
I will fish from here upstream.
I catch a smaller Brown right off on a March Brown. It’s only about 7″. It squirms in my hand while trying to turn on the camera and falls back into the water. Nonetheless it shows they are here.
Here on the far side were some nice plunge pools and the March Brown disappears again…..
This fish is obviously bigger. He dogs his way around trying to break me off on the rocks. I stay close and am able to keep the tippet intact. I use the net on this one…..This guy has the most beautiful chocolate brown on it’s sides.
Very nice small creek Brown Trout !!!
Best Trout of the day for me.
I keep moving upstream looking for a third…..
But the light is going and I knew I should head back to look for Mike and Nick back on the Conejos.
I head back to the truck and drive down to the parking lot where I left them. Their vehicle is already gone. I look at the river and the flows have hit. I drive back down to camp and there they are and dinner has been started. Mike says they got to fish about 30 minutes before the flows hit and he had caught a fish, so everyone was off the snide for the day.Not the best of days.
Jimbo
