Jimbo
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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
There’s going to be trouble…..
Well I slept in this morning for no reason other than I’ve been going at it for more than a month. Mike was already up and the coffee was on. We made some breakfast sandwiches and talked a bit about the time in between. Mike had gone to 11 mile. The flows were coming down but still high. And since literally everything else at the time was even higher, every angler with time on his hands was wading the canyon. I asked if he went and looked at Cheeseman, but he hadn’t. So he had come back to the Conejos and was happy with the fishing.
With Mike going to pick up Nick today, I told him I was thinking about heading up to the Lake Fork of the Conejos to fish. I spent too much time in camp and snapped on that fact and then hurried to get wet. I headed up the forest road along the Conejos. I arrived at the Lake Fork trailhead and there was narry a parking spot left !!!!!! What’s up with that ? Well it’s never a good thing to fish up a small creek behind someone, much less behind a bunch of someones. So….. What’s plan B?
Well how about the Hidden Mile section? Why not?…..
So I headed back down the gravel road and pulled in……And noone else was there….. PERFECT !!!!!!
Maybe this was the right choice afterall.
Yes I left those here !
Let’s get going, I’m burning daylight !
Again, I’m no mushroom expert, but those are growing on a cow patty, and they sure do look like something I’d pick up in the 1970’s and eat.
Wow, look at that water.
Could anything be more Perfect ?
I crossed the river again to fish the far side. There’s only a few places you can cross the river at these levels and not many people do it. Last time I was here I caught some good ones over there. Sounds good to me.I looked over the inside of this bend again. I played “name that fly” with a brown here last time, but I didn’t catch him. I didn’t see anything here this time, but still made a bunch of casts just in case…..
Well I kept working up the river. I covered a bunch of good looking spots without a strike or refusal !!!
Finally at this spot all that studying the river and casting to likely holding spots paid off……
There’s are real good Brown, Not a real 20’er, but an honest 19″.
I tried for a selfie but…..If you look real hard in the sunglass mirrors you can see the Brown swimming away.
And looking at the tippet you can see how close I came to loosing this fish.That thing was all chewed up. During the fight he had been around several of those rocks seen in the picture above. I worked like a madman to get the leader off and was extremely lucky I was able to net it before the tippet broke.
With that one on the books I could relax a bit.
I sat on the bank and ate my Jelly and Peanutbutter masterpiece.
Time to smell the roses…..It’s beautiful country !
So finished with lunch I step into the river to retie the leader.
When I’m finished and look down in the water,…. And I see something.Look closely….. Right in front of that rock is a sizable Brown. (Right off the point of the biggest rock, look for it’s fins and then silhouette) It’s not 15 feet in front of me. I dare not move another inch. So I have the Split Flag tied on that the last Brown ate. I cast it out. It’s right on line. The Brown sees it and rises for a closer inspection. Nope it turns away and back into it’s spot. So I start another round of…..
“What fly will he take?”
March Brown…. Nope
#10 Brown Chubby…. Nope
Peacock Para X….. Nope
Stimulator…. Nope
X Caddis…. Nope
PMD…. Nope
So many looks,… So many refusals !!!!
And he continues to come back to the pillow in front of that rock every time.I’m looking through my boxes for flys I haven’t even tried all summer.
I find a Mercer’s Missing Link and tie it on.
This time he seems real interested. He turns rising through the water column looking at the fly. He follows the fly downstream for a good 8-10 feet. He starts to come to the surface. He opens his mouth and his jaws break through the surface film… He is now about 5 feet away looking downstream at me standing there… With his mouth still open he turns away. I mean he didn’t even close his mouth, he just turned back down, mouth still open ?!?! How often does that happen? He must have seen me, because he Spooked !!! Rarely do fish go through all that, ready to clamp down on the fly, and then turn away at the last moment, but this Brown did !!! This is the first time I have seen such a last millisecond refusal ! I almost think he winked at me before disappearing. And when I say disappear, I mean he was GONE!!!
Elvis has left the building!Wow that is tough to take. Well I guess that’s it.
Just as I’m about to start upstream again I glance at the rock again.
Woah,… wait,… there a fish right where the Brown was. I put the Missing Link over the top and it doesn’t move.
So I cut that one off. I see a #16 Red Quill in the box,…
Why not? So I tie it on…..
I make the cast, it’s right on line, the fish sees it. And this time strikes it like a lightning bolt.
Wait this isn’t a Brown, this is a rainbow and a even larger fish. It fights hard in place for a few seconds and then swims out into the main current. I let him swim there for awhile. I will let him wear himself out a little before I try and force him back to me. Now I apply the pressure again, I turn him, and get him coming to the bank. I pull the net and let it float on the water till I need it. He resists momentarily and then I drop the rod and use side pressure to bring him towards me that last few feet. I grab the net and scoop him up…..No way…..
This is amazing !!!…..
This is the same Rainbow with the hemorrhoid that I caught here 2 weeks ago !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No Way !!!
Yes Way !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He is literally not 20′ downstream from where I caught him the first time and he seems to be doing just fine.
He must call this place home because he sure hasn’t moved.
This is hard to believe, catching the same fish happens so rarely, and in the same place.
But does happen,… About once every Blue Moon.I am stoked !!!
I look up and I am still trying to rap my mind around what just happened. I notice some small pieces of wood floating by,… that’s strange! I look at the river and it seems to be just a little bit muddier. Well I am standing in a silty place and maybe it’s just the mud I stirred up fighting and landing this last Rainbow. I look upstream and can see thunderstorms way up there. I watch the water a few more minutes. It’s getting muddier and rising!
It’s rising fast !!!!!!
$#@*%^$)!I’m about a 1/2 mile from the only point I can go back across the river.
Time to go and fast. I climb out of the water and up the bank. I moving as quickly as possible through the trees here. Passing by a pine tree I don’t see a pencil sized dead branch sticking out. It sticks me in the ear and starts bleeding. I don’t have the time to bleed and keep moving downstream. I get to the point where its’ just a grassy bench and start jogging. The rivers’ rising faster than I thought possible. It’s already a foot deeper and moving much faster. This is Not Good !!!!When I get to the point where I crossed the river, it is bank full and muddy. Normally it’s about 3 foot deep here and crystal clear. Now it’s a foot or more deeper and muddy. I can’t see the bottom anymore. I slide into the water to make an attempt to cross. The deepest water here is close on this side and quickly it’s to the bottom of my vest and I’m still not at the deepest point. I turn back and climb out on the bank. Years ago when I fished here I fished all the way down to the lower fence. There is a bit of a riffle there. It’s shallower but the water is faster because it’s dropping more.
Here I am on the wrong side of the river, noone else is around, and the only person that knows anything thinks I went to Lake Fork and is somewhere between here and Colorado Springs.
I’m totally S(#@$#!I could be here through the night. I’m not sure the river won’t continue to rise. There are no bridges across the river
for miles and miles. What am I going to do ?!? I think about it and decide I’m not spending the night sleeping on this side of the river. What’s the worse case scenario? I am wading wet so no waders filling up to worry about. I could loose some equipment and have to swim for it.I went further downriver to the riffle. The water was really moving. If I’m going, I’ve got to give it a try now before things get worse. It’s now or never. I zip all my vest pockets up tight and step into the water.
Now is no time to make a mistake. With every step I dig my foot into the unconsolidated gravel. I have my wading staff punched in the bottom downstream so I can lean on it if I need. And I need everything to stay on my feet. Every move must be deliberate. The water is getting deeper. It’s up to my belly button now and moving faster than expected. I’m leaning into the current and moving slow. Several times while taking another step, the foot I’m standing on digs in deeper as the rocks underneath my foot give under the load. Several times I just stop and take a breather. I am using everything I have to remain on my feet and I’m just half way across. I keep moving deliberately. The strength necessary to move my legs through the current and place them where I want to is everything I have. As I get closer to the far bank it’s getting deeper, but at least the current speed is letting up. I have to stop again about 20 feet short of the bank to rest. It’s getting deeper again, it’s up to my sternum now. I’m thinking I still could loose everything this close to the bank. OK,… It’s time to go. I might loose my rod, but I’ve got to make that last effort to reach the bank. Each step is sketchy, but I don’t stop. Now just a rod length from the bank the river is getting shallower…. I throw the rod on the bank, Go, Go, Go,….. a few last steps, and can grab the grass with my free hand now.
I’ve made it !
I’ve made it !!!
I pull myself out of the water and roll over on the bank. I’ve made it and didn’t loose anything.
I stand up and look at the river here…..The water is ripping…..
I should have taken some pictures before crossing, but in that moment I was thinking about nothing except crossing and surviving….. And now that I look at it and think what I’ve done. I get spooked ! I mean if things went bad here, who was going to know where to look for me? And noone would think I was missing till Mike got back and I wasn’t expected back in camp by dark anyway. Yeap I was fortunate and got away with it this time.It’s only about 2pm, but my day is done. I’ve had “MORE” than enough today.
I walk back to the truck and drive back to camp.
Rain’s coming…..I’m thinking my tent could use a front porch, so I drive to Antonito to get me a tarp.
They only have 9X9’s. Well it’s better than nothing so I get one. I grab some light rope to tie it down and head back to camp. I am probably doing all this so I don’t think about what I just did. I did make it across, but I could have easily lost it crossing and who know’s. I went down to the river and cut some willows for poles. Back at camp I put it together…..
Looks good….
It never rained in camp that evening.I opened a bottle of a particularly good malbac and poured me a tall one.
I started working on a fire for the evening.Mike didn’t show up till dusk with Nick. I lit the fire and Jeff the camp manager came over as I started telling my story. Jeff said the regulatory agency that controlled the flows of the Platoro Dam was going to test the gates in the dam, but it wasn’t supposed to happen till tomorrow. They were going to raise the flows from 450cfs to 1000cfs. Turns out they did it today and hadn’t mentioned the change to anyone. So that and not the rains are what had made the river rise so quickly. And the real ironic thing was the flows were only going up for a hour or two. Then they would reduce the flows again back to 450cfs. If I’d only known that, I could have waited it out. But I didn’t ! All I knew is what I could see and that was a river was rising fast and me on the wrong side.
Serendipity !Jimbo
Back to the Conejos
My last day in Wyoming was spent getting everything ready for the 800+ mile trip back to Mogote Campground. The truck needed service and a through cleaning inside and out. After that laundry duty. Then pay my bill at the Hi Country Inn, say goodbye to Barry an his wife, inventory everything and pack it up.
Then I was up early the following morning and on the road before 8am.
Heading south again. This time I would be taking the interstate route. This is a longer but faster route.
Much of Wyoming is high plains and very dry……
IH 80 headed west across the Great Basin to Cheyenne, then turn south on IH 25 through Denver, and turning west again at Walsenburg on Hwy 160. Across North La Veta Pass, down the Sangre De Cristo Creek Basin. Turn south at Alamosa on 285…..It’s getting dark. I hoped to be there by now. Turn west at Antonito on Hwy 17 and Finally Mogote Campground.
There at the same #15 camping spot was Mike. He had gone to the South Platte below 11 Mile, but found it to be extremely crowded. So after a few days he returned to the Conejos. A roaring fire was set and Mike was stretched out in his infinite chair in it’s flickering light.
I walked over to greet him.
“How you doing?”
“I’m drunk!”
Sure enough there was a half empty tequila bottle sitting next to him.
I started blabbing away about Wyoming and asking questions about how the fishing had been since I left. I got more one word answers than I expected.
I asked how drunk are You?
He answered “Too Drunk” to answer questions.
I told him he needed to drink some Gatorade and take a few aspirin before he went to sleep.
I went and got him some from my truck. He started to drink the Gatorade and then said, I’m going to be sick.
Well it was a rough night for Mike.I was first up in the morning and started some coffee. I ate some breakfast while Mike slept away. I knew he was going to not be at his best today. So I relaxed and watched the sun climb into the sky. It was probably after 10 before the bear came out of his hibernation. I shoved a cup of coffee into his hand. I asked how bad he felt. He responded there has never been a worse hangover. I said he needed more Gatorade and some Tylenol to get through the morning. He said sure and then threwup again. He said he had made a margarita waiting for me to arrive last night. Then he made a second, but was running low on lime juice. He made a third, but didn’t know how much he drank before he knocked it over, so he made a fourth and he almost finished that one too. Conclusion,… Mike was not going to be able to fish today.
That’s no problem for me. Mike really only wanted to fish the Conejos. Myself I wanted to fish it all. There were plenty of smaller creeks around here that I have been wanting to fish. Today I could take my pick. I decided on fishing Los Pinos in it’s head waters above Trujilio Meadows Reservoir. I have fished it once before many years ago. I knew there was potential there and had not really had a chance to figure it out because of the rain that day.
So after making sure Mike didn’t need any real medical help, I was off headed west over La Manga Pass.
I turned off on FR 118 and drove up and over the ridge and then down to just above the reservoir.It’s a nice wide open meadow. Some day when I have a 4X4 I’m going to drive up higher and get to the Rio Grande Cutthroat water above the falls. There is a creek crossing up there I have seen and I wasn’t going to risk it in the 2wd Escape. I pulled out my Sage 4711 LL. Now this place does see a fair amount of anglers. The fish here don’t tolerate splashing or shadows in the creek. So they require a careful approach or they’ll spook.
I started off with a #16 Chubby, but they didn’t want it. So I tied on a March Brown and a Rainbow pulled it under right away.
This little guy confirmed what I thought and expected here. Last time I was here I only caught smallish Rainbows. I knew there was the possibility of some Browns and Cutthroats that might be caught here. Maybe I’d find them today.
And another strike….
Well it’s bigger, but still only about 11-12″.
It looks real good !!!
This little creek meanders around creating nice sweeping bends, undercut banks, and deeper pools.
Soon another fish rose and the LL was sporting a good bend…..Well there you go, a nice Brown Trout…..
This is better than I hoped…..
Here is a 15-16″ Brown. This day is already shaping up and as bad as it might sound, I’m happy Mike couldn’t fish because I wouldn’t be here and fishing this meadow. And I love fishing these small waters. I wish I could convince Mike, but he is so into chasing Large Trout. Even if it means catching just a few or getting skunked. Myself I want to catch a good number of fish per day. Big fish are a bonus, but not required. I’m just happy with them pulling my drys under. If I have any bias it’s what species I want to catch. And anyone who knows me knows the order is: Cutthroats first, Browns second, Rainbows third, and Brookies fourth.
Let’s keep going and see what the day has in store…..
Another good Brown…..
Like a lot of small waters after catching fish in a specific run, the rest of the water is usually blown.
So keep moving and covering water…..A dark Brown…..
And the exception to the rule…..
A little guy out of the same stretch.
I am telling you this place is SWEET !….
And most of these fish are nice sized Browns 12-16″…..
And to think I can rarely get Mike to fish water like this, Boy is he missing out !!!!!
I would have thought I would be catching more of a mix of different species…..
But not today…..
Other than those first 2 Rainbows, all the other I caught Trout would be Browns…..
The higher up the valley I went, the tighter the creek got…..
I also had another break off…..
As the afternoon wore on some really small mayflys started to hatch….
These things were probably a Pseudocloeon and tiny. tiny, tiny…..
This was about as far as I could go today….
And one last Brown to hand…..
Time to go…..
A nice stretch of the legs back across the meadow…..
Back at our campsite, Mike was feeling better.
He could actually talk now. Tomorrow he was going to drive to Colorado Springs to pick up Nick who was flying in.
I set up my tent. It’s a Kelty backpacking tent and weighs 4lb 4oz with frame and stakes. If you ditch the stakes it’s 3lbs 10oz. I set it up using the old torn orange tarp for ground protection.It’s small and cozy inside…..
We ate dinner sans the usual bottle of red wine. I showed him a few pictures from today and the Browns I caught. He was surprised. Mike admitted he was too old to be drinking like that. I told him we’re both too old to be drinking like that!
Jimbo
Another good chance to raise the lake is coming Friday afternoon and throughout Saturday. Our trigger date for the Flow Agreement is May 15th and anytime on or after that date the lake hits pool 909’msl, we get sustaining summer flows for our Trout. So…..
Tom tom tom tom…..
Tom tom tom tom…..
Tom tom tom tom…..
Jimbo
As of yesterday at 2pm 13.1″ of rain fell just south of the lake. It hasn’t been updated since then and another heavy band of rain fell around 6pm.
Again most of the heavy stuff fell in a way that it didn’t help the Lake and still it’s up 3/4′. Not bad. More rain is predicted to fall over the entire Guadalupe watershed tomorrow morning and more heavy rains are predicted for Friday night and Saturday.
The trigger date is May 15th and the lake level must be 909’msl or above for us to get sustaining summer flows. So……
Tom tom tom tom…..
Tom tom tom tom…..
Tom tom tom tom…..
Jimbo
Farewell Wyoming
I have become very fond of Afton Wyoming. I have been coming here for about 10 years and the water I have found here and the fish that live in them is something that you can’t find just anywhere. Even with their decline, because of the previous years of drought, there is still fishing found here that I would drive and will continue to drive to experience. With this years’ rains it will get better in future seasons.
This will be my last day to fish here. And I am waning nostalgic. For a person who seeks out Cutthroat Trout, this place certainly offers tons of options. I wish I had more time to explore more of Wyoming, especially the northwest outside of Yellowstone National Park. Maybe next summer.
I would be taking a familiar route,…. North to Alpine….
Then up FR 10138 and the Greys River Valley……
Crossing the river itself…..
Sheep Creek…..
There are many creeks here flowing into the Greys. I have not fished any except a little of Sheeps Creek. After talking to some people and doing some spying on Google Maps, I definitely need to spend a few days exploring some of the more promising ones. Maybe I’ll talk Mike into coming up here and camping in the valley a bunch of days. He hasn’t seen this water yet. And I think he will agree when he gets here that it is a place is worth the effort and the time.
Looks like another good spot to check out some day…..
Mother nature eroding the surrounding the mountains…..
Avalanche Chutes…..
The west side of the Wyoming Range…..
Today I would start where I stopped yesterday. Let’s gear up and go…..
Yes, this place is beautiful…..
I am still using my Scott Radian 590. Before this summer I would have used my old Sage 590 XP and I still like that rod a lot. If the Scott has one advantage it’s that it has a lighter swing weight. I don’t think it is more accurate, or that it has a better flex, but at the end of a long day, after making thousands of casts, my arm does not feel as fatigued. I am going to get a new Sage X series and compare it to that one, which I have not fished yet. We will see which comes out on top after that. There is one thing for sure my old XP is one of the most accurate rods I have ever cast.
Let’s move upstream and see what happens……
I will primarily using my Chubbys. I am hoping for a higher percentage of landing fish that are hooked. Yesterday, for whatever reason I lost a lot of fish that were on and under pressure. I am thinking that it was just coincidence and Bad Luck. It happens to everybody, even the best of fishermen, every now and then. Let’s see what happens today!
I fished for about 20 minutes without a strike. Then I came to this spot.
What’s not to like? Water being driven into the bank, creating a deeper hole, a soft spot next to the bank, and Shade !!! It took a couple of casts to get my fly to drift right next to that soft water. I saw the fish turn out into the faster water and take the fly. I come tight. The rod has a good bend in it. I see the Cutt pumping away against the current. It’s not a big fish, but he doesn’t know that and he’s testing the breaking strength of tippet and the knots holding everything together. I get him to my side and scoop him up.
Alright,… One for One !
Let’s keep going !Another great looking spot. The river’s current swinging across the width of the river. Pouring into the opposite bank and creating a deeper slower trough. I start by sending a cast to the middle of the river and the softer inside area full of big rocks.
BINGO !!!A better fish and another perfect example of why they call these fish Finespots…..
Strong tectonic forced intrusive veins of Quartz to shatter through existing sedimentary rocks….
Bugs, yes we have bugs…..
No wonder these fish are so healthy and strong !
How about sending another cast out, this time closer to the bank and that hole behind that tree leaning out over the river? Again I work up to it. I like to grid out the water and make drifts that will cover each lane hoping something will take it. Finally I’m working the drift next to the bank.
Slurp…..Three for Three !
Time to move upstream.
This spot was just above the last. Here is where the current started on the left before swinging across the river to the right side and the above spot.Look at the brush pile on the left. Looks pretty juicy to me !!!
The fly drift past the brush pile, a shadow shoots out from the tangle of branches, grabs the fly and turns back towards it’s lair. I strike and stop it short. He rips the water’s surface into a million pieces, but he’s not making it back to the tangle of branches.
Here’s a better fish !Who is happy now?
Four for Four !
For what every the reason yesterday was a fluke. Today I was on and not much would change.I was working this water, when something happened, that made me laugh.
I was casting to the shadows on the right. Just as the fly came into the light, just on the far side of that rock sticking out on the right, a fish came for the Chubby. I started to come tight, and in that second, I saw the Chubby come out of the water. BUT,…. One of the rubber legs was stretched out and leading back to the fish that was still holding on to “ONLY” one of the rubber legs. It lasted only a second or so, probably not even two, but I saw it. The fish had grabbed the fly by it’s rubber leg. It didn’t have the body where the hook was. The rubber leg broke and the fish was gone.
So maybe this was part of my problem yesterday. The fish were grabbing the legs and not the body when pulling it under. I mean I like chicken legs myself, maybe these Cutthroats preferred the legs to the breast themselves. Who Knows? But now I have some answers. OK Four of Five, and it’s still good !
Further up in the shadows another fish takes the 7 Legged Chubby. This one gets stuck and after a invigorating fight,… He’s mine !Most of these fish would be 13-15″ today…..
I’m loving it! Five of Six !
Six of Seven…..
It’s time for a bankside break…..
A little Jelly and Peanut Butter heaven…..
Also time to check the tippet. It needs replacement…..
Sitting there and enjoying it all. After my last heart attack, one that I should not have survived, but did. Here I am again in God’s Country, catching Snake River Cutthroats, and feeling good. There’s a light breeze and the sun shone down on me and everything around me.
Man It’s good to be alive !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!It’s time to get back up on my feet and catch some more Finespots !!!!
And they keep coming…..
One after another…..
God has been good to me.
The sun is headed for the horizon…..
Still time to land a few more…..
Here a fallen tree created several excellent holding spots…..
First in the middle on the outside of that fallen tree. A fish darts out of the branches to pull the fly under…..
Then lower down and from behind…..
Another good one eats the fly with abandon…..
What a fish to end it on !!!
I landed 15 and lost 2, so much better than yesterday. It’s always good to realize, it wasn’t me, it was the fish and the day. We all start to think about our skills as we get older. Time catches up to everyone eventually and takes away our strengths. I may have lost a little, but I still have most of what I started with, and I can convert it into results…..One last walk back to the truck here…..
One last drive down the valley…..
I stop here and look at the place where it all began.
Here I caught my first Finespot many years ago. Here the river braids and they wind their way across the valley from one side to the other. This is a place that creates these kind of memories. A place that calls to me in my dreams and draws me back into it’s loving arms.
I’ll be coming back as long as I can stand.
It’s not perfect, but what is in this life?
This “IS” about as good as it gets.
And that is good enough for me !See ya next year Wyoming !!!
Jimbo
