Nice, after work I went fly-fishing the Sartén River. I fished for pt’s and a red emerger midge dropper to no avail, with the resulting darkness switching to the ubiquitous pink worm. Four pitches later… boom the hit. Thinking I must have hooked the tail on a decent fish as it heads upstream at a brisk pace forcing the tenuous 6x. Hmm…far upstream in the rapids, a steep drop coming out in the shallows, then the brief look…yeah haw, big and mighty rainbow! It’s worth bringing this one. So picture me on Dockers, a sweater and dress shoes riding rapids upstream trying for the better part of 15 minutes to land this beautiful specimen. Finally he gets tired and I manage to put it in. He is fingertip to elbow length and a good girth with beautiful coloring, and most importantly POW right on the kisser! One of the best non-Taylor fish I’ve caught. I can’t wait for office time tomorrow for lunch.

Lunch the next day was quite productive with about a 16″ bow on copper netting. But somehow surprisingly hungry! Imagine that. The usual threat from trees, as well as more than its share of plant problems. Trout however are rapacious and devour ECs with a vengeance, two in an hour, but one seizes the opportunity to run downstream towards some sticks who escape unscathed spitting out the barbles hook after a couple of good runs. The other, a formidably sized thug, reminds me to check my knots before every session and walks off with $2.75 worth of facial piercings much to my chagrin (not to mention his own.) In business I revel in the blessings of life!

Welcome to Colorado, frigid micro blizzard conditions give way to sun and cold. Erie yellow spooky storm light. Fishing is irregular with a clear increase in flows and very cold water. Fish to be seen but the dreaded skunk in the day. I may have to go out again in these bad conditions, and I don’t know what hurts my hands or my pride more. The neighbor’s kids look at me suspiciously as I jump up and down in the cold, not much caring about my love for my new found hole. Frigid East Coast cold, dammit! One must take a day off here and there or even the most fun activities can seem like work.

My fly and tackle habit is getting big enough to fund food and medicine for the entire first grade at a third world primary school. Good luck today though as the skunk snap snapped, 2 good bows on a 14 gold ribbed hare’s ear fished wet and one on a cue. I did a little surgery on the last pretty 18 inch bow that fell in love with the hare, the jewels looked pretty cool and were unbarbed with about 12 inches of tail 5x. That doesn’t make me feel so good about the few long-range pitches of late.

Work or fish? What would any sane fisherman do with 1 hour of daylight! Good day, although with little wind. After pan fishing for the last week or so I moved down the river and caught a couple through motel apartments. Dang, you forget how powerful the big water is. Working towards the main bridge, I hook something…you forget what a big effect the strong current has on even the smallest fish. Spring is here and there are Baetis storm clouds, not annoying and killer like the insects in Alaska, but like soft, malleable clouds of food for flying trout. The other telltale sign of spring is the heavy-bodied Rocky Mountain Whitefish that graces my line like a grocery bag half full of water. Not fighting like a trout, but like a load to bring in anyway.

Hit something new nymph prince in size 14 also secret weapons the highly touted new super nymph looked magical today. A fish jumped three feet into the air. More smaller browns today with a nice rainbow. Tired and coming home but one day closer to 100 days of water.

I fished four rivers on Friday including the Pan, Fork Crystal and The Gunnison. Gunnison sat down early. He was productive with North Platte… special streamers (cone heads) big copper and black bugs. Jackrabbit ears and black micro-mosquitoes were rampant on the east portal below the rolling dam. I cross under the roller dam and hold on to my boots for dear life. I went for a refreshing dip with Giardia later that day. The guy on the shore says, “I’ve seen other people swim there, but you’re the only one I’ve seen do it!” I answer that I was all over the state in high school, drowning and spitting up water. Fellow JW falls over laughing.

Sunday morning I took part in monster bow fishing with a Space Invader size 4 on a sink point on a downstream, he spat me out with two super spectacular upstream jumps. Jw is impressed and highly motivated. Walking and wading is lethal, and sprained ankles are a distinct possibility. Keep moving downstream on the far side up and up we go ‘up’ but no further as time and water are scarce and my knee is throbbing like crazy. Good camp just before it gets ugly navigation wise, before going up and down. If you had a jet boat or raft with a motor you would go.

Tried going fishing on the North Fork and Smith Fork on the way home but neither had water. The North Fork was a warm, slimy cesspool; Smith Fork had promised at Crawford, but there was no water. If you need accommodations to fish the Frying Pan River check with Kim at Frying Pan River Rentals 970-379-4559 she has a great place to rent or check it out at [http://fryingpanriverrentals.info/]