October 24, 2015
Flow: 559
Water Temp: 61-65
Paradise Lost…
It is with a heavy heart that I watched my last sunset in
front of my little stone house above the river. In the name of progress GOAL
Academy and the Nature and Raptor Center have made a deal that will turn my
home into offices and classrooms and I have been asked to vacate. In my short
tenure as caretaker I’ve got an inkling of its wonder. I met a number of
characters and lost souls when the chore of checking the grounds came due every
evening. I witnessed incredible winter landscapes on this bluff only to be
followed by an incredible spring as two ospreys built a nest and raised two
younglings right in front of me. I had the pleasure of seeing the chicks take
flight for the first time. All the while I’ve been able to walk to the river
and had many weekends where I never started my truck. The stars and the sound
of the coyotes have been the only thing that has kept me sane as I took over
Trigger Ink and became a business owner again.
In every adversity there is the seed of a greater benefit. After
living my life as a rolling stone for twenty five years I’ve bought my first
home. A little spit and polish and I have my own fly fisher’s man cave.
Now before I begin this next segment I may need to remind
you; my loyal readers, that I wear a lot of hats. I’m an Owner-guide of Steel
City Anglers, Owner of Trigger Ink and president of the Southern Colorado
Greenback Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Each of these organizations has their own
mission and it has been hard over the years trying to keep the media straight
on who’s who. Trigger is a screen-print / embroidery / promotional product shop
where I work to keep nine employees in paychecks and control the insanity from
the fact that most folks think I fart tee shirts and that’s all the work it
takes. Steel City Anglers was born from a pro guide (Lou) and a trout whisperer
that came from something completely outside the box of the guide schools and
wanted an outfit that set their own quality standards, Life guiding and the
guests we’ve had has been good. Some have gone on to be guides themselves.
The Mantle of running a Trout Unlimited chapter was something
I didn’t aspire for. If I didn’t step up the chapter would have folded. We had
a great run of board members that helped get us to where we are now. The
chapter is solvent and we’re even sending money to other chapters and even the
state level. The Frostbite Fish-Off has become a Colorado institution and I
regret to have to put a hiatus on the tourney for a year but we all have to
relearn the river after a 7500 cfs summer. The river has changed quite a bit and
there isn’t enough time to qualify enough beats to make it as equal opportunity
as we strive for. The FFO will be back and bigger than ever. In the meantime
we’ll concentrate on our December banquet and annual meeting featuring Landon
Mayer. We have openings for a number of leadership roles and I encourage the
community to step up. Most roles take
just a few hours a week.
I know, I know… What about the fishing? Flows are still
fluctuating and moving trout day to day. Midge hatches in the morning and caddis
in the evening have offere some good dry action while the noon hour seems to be
the slowest. It is a good time to carry two rods for nymphing/dry/streamer
action as it comes up. Cover lots of water and where you find one trout you’ll
find many. Fishing the lumberyard the other day produced zip in most structure
then eight in one little boulder cluster. Dries were spent bwo and Griffiths gnat
and nymphs are zebras or most black midges and scuds.
As we head to winter water storage (Nov 15th) we’ll
be exploring a different river and looking for the winter trophies.
P.S. Lou is one hell of a painter.
Tight lines,
Ben
