Signs of Life.

Its not a huge secret that winter is not my favorite season. And being a ++ sized guy I'm not real fond of the dead of summer heat either. But spring time is just about right. I had a chance to go visit the river the other day. It was in the mid 50s and the sun felt really good. I was hoping to try out a new version of Micro Bugger. This one is tied with a few strands of Red Fox tail hair as the tail, an olive dubbed body, and grizzly hackle, oh and a small dark bead. All on a standard length size 10 nymph hook. The river is still a bit high but very clean. So I worked my way down stream letting out line down and around the curves and then slowly working it back against the current. After about 20 minutes I got a really hard hit. A solid 9 inch brown came from under the cut bank and drilled the bugger with murderous intentions. Even for its small size, there is just something to be said for the way a brown trout fights. But the fight was short and sweet, and the fish was healthy and beautiful. After I slipped him back in the water I looked around and started noticing thing I had not noticed until now. Birds were chirping a bit louder, the air smelled clean and new. Even the grass along the banks of the republican are starting to get a whole lot of green to them. "All good signs" I thought to my self. With that I headed home. 

A Change of Direction.

    As the weather is warming up and spring has sprung, I have decided to take the RRE in a new direction. While the whole thing started as a project for me to fly fish the North Fork all the way from its spring to the Colorado/Nebraska state line, and to catch the fabled wild brown trout that inhabit it. I spend a much larger portion of my time fishing the ponds, lakes, reservoirs, and creeks the feed the Republican. And for all intents and purposes I completed my goals. So now as we enter the spring/summer fishing season I plan to draw my writing towards all the other area fishing I do. Those who know me well, know that between mid April and mid Sept, I fish our local lake as much as 4 days a week for bass. Most of that is between 3:30 and 7:00 am. I still fish the stream for trout up until the water turns to warm, and there are area Reservoirs that feed into the republican full of bass, catfish, crappie, and wiper. And let not forget carp. The bonefish of the Prairie. I spent way more time through the year fishing for these fish than I ever spend fishing the river for trout. So that is where I'm going this year. I'm hoping its going to be a good year, filled with big fish, bigger lies and a few interesting stories. And if not I will make some up and you will never know the difference.

A New Year.

Happy New Year everyone. Today was a really good day here in NEC (North East Colorado). Its been a long, cold and wet late fall and winter so far. But we have had some really nice days the past week and today was great. Almost 60 degrees, sunny, fishy. So kevin and I headed to river after lunch for our first outing of the year. The river was clear, and maybe a little higher than normal. We started out by swinging some wet flies down and accross covering the bends and runs. After a few smaller chubs hooked up, I switched to a micro bugger that I've dubbed a "Sand Sage Special". Its a standard size 10 wet fly hook, white tail, white body, grizzley hackle. This seems to be "THE" fly pattern for this stream. I like to fish them both upstream and drift them like a nymph, as well as cast them down and accross into a swing then strip them back as a streamer. After the change up we started hooking into some bigger fish. Kevin was working small brown nymph and I was swinging my bugger through the cut banks when I hooked into something with real weight. A nice little brown came flying out of the water and threw the hook just a few feet from me. Kevin caught some decent chubs and i caught a really nice fat one that measured in at 10 inchs. Between that and loosing the trout I would say we had a pretty good first fishing trip for 2015. I'm really looking forward to this new year. My wife got me a new tying vice for christmas and I've been tying like crazy. My bass box is stacked real nicely and my small stream box is really looking good. I know I have talked about simplicity before and this year I am really going to focus on that. I went through notes from the last two years and I have been tying only about two dozen patterns total. My bass box has a really good selection of Clouser Minnows, Gurglers, Schminnows, and a couple patterns of my own. My small stream box has some Miracle Midges, Micro Buggers, Elk Hair Caddis, wingless adams, assorted soft hackle wets, and some really simple dubbed nymphs. My small stream box is also doubling as my carp box. So now I'm down to two fly box's total.   I really like the way they are stream lined now. We're going to get more into this in later posts but for now its good to be back and its going to be a good year.

I'm Still Out Here!

I was doing a little web browsing this morning on smallmouth bass fishing in the fall, when I stumbled across a blog called The Republican River Experience. And I thought to myself " Shit I haven't written in a really long time." So hello blog world. How are you doing? And yes I'm still out here. My last post was before the 4th of July, so there is a lot to catch up on. First and foremost I didn't fish the river much this summer. Around mid June the bass fishing on the local lake gets so intense that its all I really focus on until the end of August. My bass fly fishing takes place between 3:30 am and 7:00 am three days a week during the summer months. And this summer was no exception. All total I brought over 90 largemouth bass to hand between June 7th and Aug 30th. The largest weighing in around 7.5 pounds. And lost lord knows how many. I also brought an impressive 17 channel catfish in, 8 crappie, and several hundred bream. All on fly tackle. Not a bad summer. I learned some new things which is always good. Saw some amazing things, and witnessed a few that really hurt my feelings. Fished some new waters this summer that were good if not downright awesome. Took the kids fly fishing several times. Always fun. So yea it was a really good summer. And now its almost November. And even though I have been to the Republican a few times in the last two months my focus has mostly turned to Work and Waterfowl. Around here especially in my line of work fall means harvest. Corn and Soybean harvest to be specific. And since about mid Sept I have been at work nearly everyday doing my part to get these fall crops in. With the small amount of time I have had off I have taken advantage of my other obsession which is waterfowl hunting. But that has nothing to do with fly fishing the republican river so I won't indulge on it, although the feathers I collect from wood ducks, teal, and mallards as well as pheasants, geese, and turkeys do contribute to my fly tying every year. I am hoping to get in on some mid fall brown trout action if I can and there is always winter stream fishing which is one of my favorite times of year. The river survived the summer heat ok. Better than the past few summers anyway. But it seems to get just a little lower and a little slower every year. Its hard to watch but what can you do? Anyways I'm back and I plan on doing a lot more writing soon. I might even ask Santa for a new digital camera so I can ad more pictures to my posts.

Jungle Warfare

With a watchful eye, I make slow deliberate steps through the chest-tall grass, aware of any danger that might be underfoot. The sound of flowing water is just ahead of me now. Not the fast moving rush of a big river, but the slow sliding gurgle of a warm water stream gently passing by. I am nearly in it before I realize that I'm even on its banks. Suddenly, I hear a screech overhead and a shadow whizzes past. Just a chicken hawk on its way out for an evening meal. The stream cuts deeply to my right and the water is slowed by the sudden change in direction. It's here I am briefly made aware of the presence of my target. There under the bank a dark shadow sits among the slow swirling weeds and water. I prepare my weapon for the attack.  It's a short rod, only a 7 footer, smooth rolled fiberglass and cork. The line is light - 5wt with a 7 foot leader. At the end, a small black fly is tied on. The fly is meant to look like a lot of things and look like nothing at the same time. That's why it's effective here. I judge the distance to my target and check the wind and current. 25 feet, maybe 30. If I misjudge, my fly will hit the water too close to the fish. If it's too short, the fish might not see it at all. Making a good cast in this tall grass is difficult, but I manage to hit the water about two feet in front of the cut bank with just enough slack in the line to get a perfect drift. The line goes tight with the current, then it goes even tighter with sudden extra weight. The water explodes. Victory is mine.

FINALLY!!!!!!!

    As anglers, we know all about "firsts." The first fish we ever caught as a child. Our first fly rod. First fly tying kit. And the first fish caught on one of our own flies. Often we never really lose that sense of childhood excitement. We might make note of our first fish of a new year or maybe the first bass caught in the spring, first fish caught in salt water or maybe our first wild salmon. Then, it comes full circle when we get to watch our children and grandchildren when they catch their first fish and on their first fly rod and so forth.
   Today was a special day for me - one of those "firsts" that will live with me forever. I set out more than a year and a half ago on a personal quest to fly fish the North Fork of the Republican River here in eastern Colorado and to try and catch the elusive (if not somewhat mythical) wild brown trout that are rumored to inhabit it. Even though I have caught many fish and walked many miles of riverbank, the trout have always avoided me. I've seen them swiming, seen them sitting on the bottom of the river almost motionless. I've watched them feed on anything else in the world but my fly. I even hooked one last year only to have it throw the the fly back at me and give me the finger. But not today. That's right, my friends. Today I caught a trout!
   Now, please don't misunderstand me. I have caught many trout in my life. I've caught rainbows, and cutbows, cutthroats, browns, and brookies. I've even caught wild steelhead in the pacific northwest. So why you ask is this such a big deal today? Cause I said so Damnit! But seriously this was a big one for me. I grew up here. And up until just a few years ago, I didn't even know these fish were in our little creek. On top of that, add in the feeling of being denied over and over again. It was due time, I guess. When I finally held that little fish in my hand for those few seconds to get a picture, I felt like a little kid again.
    So what now? I'm certainly not going to stop. I guess now I will have to wait for my first one over 20 inches, or maybe my first double. Who knows? What I do know for sure, though, is that the trout in the North Fork of the Republican River are not a myth. They can be caught, and they are beutiful. And I want more.

Just wanted to point out that this is not my fish. I found this image on google images and used it because it was very close to the size of the one I caught and the river looks strikingly similar to my river. 

Early Moring Blues.

Like most anglers I know, I don't have enough hours in the day to do all the things I want. As a father of three, a husband to one very hard working young woman, and an employee in a company that offers less than perfect hours for going fishing (add that to the fact that it is the end of  the school year, and we are leaving very, very soon on the largest family vacation we have ever been on), and I am down to almost no time for chasing fish. But if you look hard enough you can always find an hour here or an hour there. It simply requires that you sacrifice some little things. Like sleep.
So I left the house early this morning with a 5wt in hand and a few flies and my lunch tucked into my backpack, and I headed to work. By way of the river, of course. The object was to stop at the creek, fish for an hour or so, then finish off my walk to work arriving just in time to stash my gear, clock in and start the work day. Simple, right?
The water was higher than normal and very cloudy, so I led things off with a nice dark wooly bugger. Almost instantly I was hooked up and was quite proud of myself for being such a master fisherman. I fought the fish for a few seconds and was gaining line when, to my disappointment, the line went slack. Can't win them all, right? So I head down stream to the next little hole. As I said the water was higher than normal, and when I stepped forward onto what was once a solid creek bank, suddenly it  gave way and I was up to my shins in cold ass water. (My boots are still soaked, by the way.)
After having a few choice words with myself, I again moved down stream. At the next hole I found bluegills sipping bugs off the surface. Excited, I changed flies to a nice little Adams. Nothing. Change flies again to a very small caddis. Nothing. Change flies again to a Griffin Nat. Nothing. I went through 5 flies, 2 feet of tippet, and couldn't catch a cold. Or maybe I will catch a cold 'cause my feet are freezing. On my final cast, I hooked a nice sapling tree on the far bank of the river, broke my line, and called it quits for the day. Can't Win Them All.