Fishing Journal: 20110822 Cache la Poudre River

Had a great day fishing the Poudre on Monday. The water was nice, the holes were attractive, weather was spectacular, natch.

Can't say the fishing was easy, however. Probably caught 5-6 fish, a couple of browns and a few wild rainbows. Morning found us down low, not far from the entrance to the canyon, nymphing. I have never really done this much. Three wet flies, basically getting smaller as you get to the end of the line, where there was a caddis nymph that was exactly like the nymphs clinging to the bottom of the rocks. Tense-line casting was new to me as a concept. I was casting OK. Caught one brown in this area while buddy caught three fish in a nice little channel opposite bank from the access. (The wading was do-able, but it wasn't trivial to get across.) My first guided trip. Guide said the fish were hammering these same flies the day before (don't they always go crazy the day before you're out there?) So patience was a virtue. I would have switched flies a lot more frequently, and I also would have tried some dries, but the guide had the flies and the putative knowledge and who am I to raise questions?

We drove up maybe 10-15 miles to a nice stretch by some picnic tables. We switched to hopper-dropper with some ugly-ass hopper up top and the same caddis nymph down low. I think I caught one or two up top and one or two below here. First one was a nice 10" brown, just beautiful.

Third spot was really, really promising water, but boy the fishing was a lot like work. This was maybe another 20 miles up the canyon, ca. 36-40 miles from Fort Collins. Caught a little 'bow on my first cast, the kiss of death for future catching. Went to a nice fat 90-degree bend in the river which should have bringing lots of food into some nice deep pools. I missed a strike on my dry fly, though it looked like fishy changed his/her mind at the last minute. That's consistent with the refusals that I proceeded to get. Fish in a nice deep pool, right in the edge where they should be, lazily inspecting my junk and deciding they didn't like what I was offering (less likely: how I was offering it). So we switched the bottom fly to a little PMD emerger, I think it was. Worked hard a hundred yards or so, tried to reach a nice looking pool opposite bank that I just couldn't hit. Working hard, working hard. Caught my last fish of the day, another brown, just before 3 pm, which was my pre-designated finishing time. As ever, I was tempted by another few casts on another few pools that were better than the 5,000 I had just fished, surely with hungrier and fatter fish just waiting for a nice bug to float by. Temptation. But I packed up and got on the road.

The entire ca. 40-mile stretch of the Poudre to where I got, probably around 9,000 foot elevation, looks like fisherman's paradise. It's a beautiful river and I hope to spend more time there, though I'd ask for just a bit more enthusiasm from my piscine friends!

Where I Go

8/28/77 update

updated--see below

In an earlier post I had asked about a show scheduled for Folsom Field at CU-Boulder on August 28, 1977. Turns out it was for a festival known as "Sun Day" (this being Sun Day 3), with the following on the bill: Willie Nelson; Emmylou Harris; Dave Mason; Jerry Jeff Walker; Stillwater; Jerry Garcia. This was going to be co-organized by Feyline and the CU Program Council. I originally became aware of this through a Calendar listing in Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph, August 27, 1977, p. 22D.

The Boulder Daily Camera had one earlier mention that I found, regarding a hassle about the provision of emergency medical services (Linda Cornett, "Ambulance Debate Rises in Plans for CU Concert," Boulder Daily Camera, August 14, 1977, p. ??)

This didn't sink the gig, though, at least not according to published reports. It turns out that an illness in the Willie Nelson group and "personnel issues" in the JGB led to the cancellation. The notice speculates that these latter are in connection with Tutt and Elvis, the latter of whom died a bit before the scheduled gig. It also notes, however, that ticket sales had been slow. May have been win-win-win all around to cancel it. For the skinny, see "Big Concert Canceled; Borrow Some Records," Boulder Daily Camera, August 19, 1977, p. 17.

I plan on poking through the Program Council archives to see if there's more to the story, just for giggles.

update--here is the article

just a reflection

I love El Dorado Canyon. Driving there today, the Flatirons just seemed to be stretching and reaching for the sky under the brilliant autumn sun. Never particularly noticed how their angling back from town gives them that "reaching" feel.

Driving back, just basked in the golden glow. Man it's nice up there.

8/28/77?

NB: question resolved, update in separate post.

A calendar listing in Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph, August 27, 1977, p. 22D, indicates a show on Sunday, August 28, 1977 at Folsom Field in Boulder featuring Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Dave Mason, Jerry Jeff Walker, Stillwater and Jerry Garcia.



I am going to check the Denver/Boulder papers for this. Stay tuned.

Some Colorado Camping

Summer 2006, Turquoise Lake. Wildernet. Beautiful, to be sure. But a little overcrowded. Running water was a big plus for TW.



On the way home, K#4 got to go horseback riding on "Hawken" ... with Mount Massive in the background!

Summer 2006, Pearl Lake State Park. Wildernet. Gorgeous, serene, tranquility!!! Highly recommended if you are looking to escape for a few days. Didn't catch any fish, but lots and lots of crawdads there to keep the kids entertained. We did some canoeing thanks to TW's friend and had a great old time.

Summer 2007, Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Wildernet. I thought this would be a cheesy day-visitor type of place, since it's so close to Denver, Golden, Boulder, etc. But boy was I wrong. We were in the Aspen Meadows area, which is tent camping only, at about 9,000 feet. Beautiful spot, nice and serene. No action at all on Dude's Fishing Hole, though the views from there are pretty nice, with some especially nice rock outcroppings. Big downside, not mentioned in any guides or descriptions that I saw, was that cars are parked away from campsites. So, for our campsite (#35), we had to hoof our stuff maybe 200 yards to our campsite. D'oh! The creek isn't much either. But this was a beautiful, tranquil spot.

Summer 2007, Pawnee Campground on the shores of Brainard Lake, near Indian Peaks Wilderness, in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. Wildernet. Ahhh, the Rocky Mountains. This place is incredible. Gorgeous views of glaciers and glacier trails. Snow still on the ground at the campground (elevation ca. 10,300). Easy catching of brookies on Powerbait in Brainard Lake -- Ks 1-3 all caught, #s 1 and 2 totally on their own. K2's was actually a beatuful 14" rainbow. Massive hailstorm put a damper on our second day, but this places is truly glorious. We'll definitely be going back, if only for day trips.

Up second week of July 2007, fly fishing on the Arkansas!!