Baetis Blowout

Blustery skies mixed with sleet and snow around noon yesterday proved to be the perfect formula. What seems to be the usual deep nymph rig was cut within seconds and switched to a magnificent floating fly I believe referred to as a dry fly (see its been so long since Ive tied one on, I forgot the name). More specifically a 22 Lowrider Baetis seemed to do the trick. A couple really nice browns to the net by clients I might add. To make a long story short, Blue Wing action is here on the lower Arkansas; and it makes me so happy, I think I may shed a tear!!! Current conditions are sunny, but if a cloud enters a 10 mile radius of the shop you better believe I'm hitting the water, and so should you! Get on the Water! Spring fishing is here!

P.S. Baetis rule my Universe!

T

Spring is Budding

Every year, just when we think there is no hope for winter to ever come to a close, we see hints of revival. This past week here in Southern Colorado, we received some very gracious 50 to 60 degree weather, introducing a new look to both of our tremendous spring fisheries. The Arkansas took a crucial turn towards spring with the start of the stone fly molt in the lower stretches of the river. In the 3 days this past week spent on trips, the Arkansas showed me several different looks, however all producing great numbers of fish.......If you are a heavy Nymph fisherman, get to the river with a good selection of stones and clean up! Fifty minutes north we have a spring fishery second to none, in which has also overcome a transformation in the past week or so. With increased flows and warmer temperatures, the South Platte Below Spinney has really come into its own over the past week. Fair numbers of pre-spawn fish have began to stage in the lower section of the river. Numbers will only increase within the weeks to come, offering shots at some beautiful and sometimes major fatty fish! Every year however, it is righteous to take time to explain some ethical premises by which we as sportsmen must live by in the Spring and Fall. Spending 3 to 4 guide days a week on the South Platte during the spawning runs allows me a lot of time to watch fisherman. It is an inherent instinct for a fisherman to target a large fish in the open. However, please take the time when sighting one of these fish, to survey the area in which the fish is holding to make sure it is not a spawning bed (Redd). The characteristics of Redd will include abnormally clean/ bright gravel, between 3-5 feet in diameter, with most likely 2 or more fish holding on it. These fish are actively spawning, so please allow them a no-hook policy! However, the next month or so will offer some great shots at some ten plus pound class fish, so clear a day to go experience this great stream! Keep in mind, that we have guides out every day, so please feel free to call us for up to date reports or for guided adventures. Especially on our technical tail waters it is a major leg up to hire a guide to teach you how to sight and present to these big fish, so please give us a call today! All in all, we are excited here in Southern Colorado, as spring has officially sprung. Temperature gauges are rising, trees are budding, and our rivers are beginning their transformations into our beloved fly fishing playgrounds!

Get Out, Fish Hard, and keep your head above water!

T

Happy New Year

Against this backdrop of Taylor casting in the rising Alaska sun, we want to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We are truly fortunate to have you all as friends and subscribers. This has been a tough year for many families in our country and next year is still going to be somewhat ragged, so remember......when you are having a bad day or your life gets turned upside down a little, don't write your congressman, they could care less. Go to the river and take stock of the good things we all share. The mountains, the rivers, the fish, the wildlife and the smell of the fresh air. Remember your family and God. Lou Holtz once said that the only people who truly love you are the ones you have dinner with each night. That said, I guess all the love I have comes from Jamie, my old Golden Retreiver, and actually that's plenty for me and I'm lucky to have it. After a day of fly fishing, all seems to be a little better for most of us. Then go home and call your congessman and give them crap about something and you'll do it more eloquently after fishing all day. Take good care and join us at the Fly Fishing Show in Denver at the Trade Mart on January 8,9,10. Come by the booth and introduce yourself. In the meantime, have a great Holiday season filled with joy and a few fly fishing goodies.

Capire et Relinquere,

Bill, Jan and Taylor

RGA Changes Directions in Alaska

Let’s chat a little about fishing over the next few weeks. This is the time when fall turns to winter for good. In Southern Colorado along the Arkansas we can expect about 4 more weeks of good fishing during good stretches of weather. Intermittent snow storms will pass through leaving large amounts in the high country and smaller ones along the lower river. The water around Leadville is already very slow with cold evening temperatures. You can expect to see some beautiful days from Salida to Canon City through Thanksgiving. If lows are in the low teens, expect the following day to be marginal with fish hugging the bottom of deeper pools and runs, especially as they finish spawning and need to rest. Males will chase streamers over the next month, so come prepared for that. I love the Gray Ghost pattern during November. Also Woolly Buggers, Spruce Flies, and Squirrel Streamers will do the trick in natural, olive and orange. The South Platte will continue to fish well probably all winter. Brown trout spawning is in full bloom and closer to the end than the beginning. Some of the large post spawn fish will more than likely stay in the river all winter. Then they will resort to eating midge larva. I still like to fish them behind an orange egg pattern or a pink San Juan Worm. So fishing is still about and the weather is still agreeable for the most part. For those of us who fish all winter, there is no end to the season......we just look like the Michelin Man on the water.

Things are changing a bit with our long standing Alaska business. Taylor has resigned from Clearwater Lodge in Bristol Bay. Royal Gorge Anglers is no longer associated with Alaska's Clearwater Lodge, Lake Marie Lodge or To Toy Lon Lodge. Taylor is now the owner/operator of SoCO Guides, our guide service, and has taken a marvelous opportunity to represent the Wright & McGill Company of Denver for the Rocky Mountain Region. His new job with Wright & McGill will keep him on the road a lot, but he'll be working out of Canon City and will still be able to run the guide program and guide a lot himself. If you have been wanting to spend a day with Taylor on the Arkansas or South Platte, particularly for the Rainbow runs in the Spring, now's the time to contact us for a trip. His calendar for the South Platte in March will fill quickly. Next summer, he and I will host several trips to Alaska. These will be "turn key" trips and we'll take care of transportation, hotels and everything else once you reach Anchorage. The trip I'm very happy about will be on the Kvichak River at Blueberry Island Lodge. It's only a couple of miles downriver from Clearwater Lodge. Blueberry sits in the middle of the river on a long sweeping island and is owned by George Riddle and his wife. The fishing around the island itself is spectacular. George is a wonderful guide and person and has been on the Kvichak since the 70s. We'll take a maximum of six people there twice during the season, one in the fall for trout and one in July for Sockeye. Taylor will guide these trips along with George and another of Taylor's crew from this year. This is a close knit little lodge and you'll feel like you are sitting around you own dinner table at night. Price will be $3200.00 per person plus airfare to anchorage and from Anchorage to Iguigig. Taylor will arrange charter from Anchorage and he can get great prices due to his relationships with the charter companies. We'll also host a Trip to Rainbow Point Lodge on the Copper River at Lake Illiamna. The exact week and exact price will be posted on our web site in the very near future. It will likely be a week during prime Rainbow season as well. Rainbow Point is a small luxury lodge with fly outs and floats. The price on this trip will likely be around $7000 per person, but we’re trying to see what we can finalize that may be a little better than that. So, you’ll see Taylor’s face around here a lot more when you come in the shop and I am ecstatic about that. There is nothing better in the world than having your son take over where you leave off. Jan and I have worked very hard for twenty years in this business and we are delighted that Taylor wanted to join us in giving you even better service in the future. We’ll still be here of course……where else would we want to be? Taylor will provide some much needed help and a spark of youth that we all can use every now and then. Things are good around Royal Gorge Anglers.

Fly Tackle Dealer Show Teaches a Valuable Lesson

It has been another beautiful early fall week in Southern Colorado. The high country is bristling in gold and the lower elevation cottonwoods along the river are starting to join the in the dance as well. As soon as the oakbrush turns red, we'll have the whole shebang. Brown Trout are putting on the feedbag in a big way preparing for the spawning season which should start very soon on the South Platte and on the Arkansas around the middle of October. Actually, fish may be a little ahead of schedule on the Arkansas right now because the males we are landing are showing a bit of bottom lip and their colors are vibrant. They are also beginning to get into "chase mode" as well. I took a couple of nice males on a small streamer two nights ago in the rain by stripping it back up the shoreline towards me. None the less, now is a great time to get out and enjoy the Rocky Mountains. This is the time of year when they truly strut their stuff.

We went to the Fly Tackle Dealer Show in Denver last weekend. For those of you who don't follow the fly fishing industry, that is the show where dealers see all the new eye candy fishing stuff for the next year. There are generally more new gadgets, widgets, shiny reels and overpriced flyrods there to knock your socks off. Back over 20 years ago when we went to our first show, we truly enjoyed it. You really got to spend time with the folks that made the gear and fondle everything, have a few drinks and make some new friends. Now, in order to really hear about the stuff, you have to make an appointment with a rep or just stumble into a conversation. For about the past 10 years, I have been in the "stumble in" strategy. Actually fly fishing has turned into a pretty big industry, but I would bet that Haliburton makes more in one day than the entire fly fishing industry does in one year. However you would never guess that by the seriousness protrayed at these shows. This show used to take up an entire large hall at the Denver Convention Center. This year it was in one of the small ones and they only used half of that. Now, some of that is probably due to the economy, but last year wasn't any better and neither was the year before that. It may just be that the business model of having a big show each year has lost it's luster. Either way, it looked pretty much like a funeral procession had just passed through.

Manufacturers with great gear at blue collar prices did well this year and the hoity-toitys of the business, seemed to be all talking to each other during the time I was there. Some folks just don't seem to grasp the idea that the day of the $800 graphite rod may be over, and rightly so. We haven't had a lot of trouble selling high end cane rods and $300 graphite rods, but the plastic on the top shelf is going begging in most places. In my opinion, these manufacturers have been missing the boat for several years now and their arrogance of pushing the price ceiling is coming home to roost. For one, I am glad to see it, but not everyone would agree. There is absolutely no justification for a $700 pair of waders, an $800 graphite fly rod, a $1500 pair of skis or a $5000 set of golf clubs for that matter. This stuff does not make the fun meter go any higher than a Zebco 202 in the hands of a 8 year old boy when he sticks his first trout on a worm. We all seem to forget that as we get older, and I think we may be better for getting slapped around a little. I think, (and this is not a scientific study by any means) we have seen more folks in the store this year who are really happy about going fishing and forgetting all the politics and crap going on in their daily lives. I have enjoyed that very much and it makes me remember why I went into this business in the first place. To help people have a good time on their day or week off. Fly fishing is not a competition between you and the fish and the fish don't really care if they are caught on a $100 rod or a $1000 rod. They get stuck in the mouth both ways. I took out a little $50 Eagle Claw fly rod the other night and was amazed at how nicely it fished. As I sat on a rock around 7PM in a light rain, sipping a little of the malt, and watching fish rise, I remembered how much fun this sport really is. I'll go back to my cane rods, no question, because I have them and I love them. But they are mostly old like me and beg to go fishing. We just all need to act like a kid every now and then and remember what is important in life........a good family, a few good friends, and old fly rod, and old dog, and a good single malt. New shiny rods and reels pale in comparison.

Next week, I am leaving for Alaska for two weeks, I will be in with my son after a 36" Rainbow. I probably won't catch one and will definately freeze my ass off since winter is rapidly approaching in SW Alaska. Anyway, we'll have a great time and I'll help him close the lodge for the year and then we're going down down to the Homer area to fish the early October steelhead run on the Anchor River and Deep Creek before coming home. Hopefully when I return, I'll have a photo of a pig Rainbow to show you. If I don't, I just make something up, and tell you about it. That's what's expected of a fly fisherman anyway.

Fall IS HERE!!!!!

Did this year fly by or what. Better get your Christmas lists together because it won't be long before the sleigh bells ring and all that stuff. In preparation for that time of year, we will again do our equipment reviews of all the new stuff that we'll see next week at the Fly Tackle Dealer Show in Denver. This is the toy show for dealers. Some of them take this show very seriously and even offer workshops for dealers so they can ostensibly make more money during the next season. The reason I go is to see old friends and suck down a brew or two. During that process, I will look at all the new gear and such and see what jumps out at me. In the meantime, lets talk about fishing and the beautiful fall conditions. In the last newsletter I related how clear the water was but now lets add "very low" to that mix. The Arkansas is running just below 300cfs and is tremendously easy to wade fish. If you want to run a boat, you certainly still can, but it's pretty bony and the fish will spook off the bow depending on the time of day. The biggest problem we're having is shadows being cast by you, your rod, your oars, and your tippet. Again, let me stress the use of long fluorocarbon systems. Hopper/Copper/Dropper systems are still working with a #12 Stimulator dragging a #16 Red Copper John or Copperhead on 5X with a #20 Skinny Minnie or RS2 hanging about 10 inches off that on 6X. These are easy to fish and pretty deadly. During cloudy afternoons or the evening, stay with single dries such as a #16 Caddis, Royal Wulff, Royal Humpy or baby Stimulator. Larry now ties the Ape in a #16 which has been aptly named the Baby Ape to go along with the Papa and Mama Apes. This foam body creature may actually be the best Stimulator I've ever fished. For a photo see the July 15 newsletter.

Antero Reservoir is still fishing well on scuds, but Spinney has been a little slow as has been the South Platte above Elevenmile. These two pieces of water are a head scratcher this year. Fish are constantly moving around on Spinney and I believe its because it has been full and cold all summer long. Sure, you can go there and catch a half dozen on a Callibaetis, but that's not the Spinney we all know and love. The river below has had good flows but fish just don't seem to be present. I know they are there, but they are hard to find. The Trico hatch has gone begging this year. The wolf packs of fish on Trico spinners has just not happened. We'll see what the Brown Trout spawning run looks like in a month or so. In the meantime, just stay with the Ark or Elevenmile Canyon. We should have a tremendous September with BWOs and Red Quills on the Arkansas. Just brush up on your presentation. This is the time to become a better fly fisher.

Just for your information I found this to be somewhat amusing this week. It seems that the DEA discovered some 800 marijuana plants growing in the National Forest this past week just east of Glenwood Springs. The DEA agent in charge said that the plants seemed to "have been there for a while." Duh, you think maybe since about May when the ground thawed. During this process of catching the greatest villians since Sadam Hussein, the National Forest Service stated that if you see tortilla wrappers, Tecate cans, Spam cans or hear Hispanic music you should leave immediately because you may be about to walk up on some drug cartel members from south of the border. So now, the most feared thing in the woods is no longer a Black Bear or Mountain Lion, it is a tortilla wrapper. Run for your lives!!!!!! I'm sorry, but this has to be one of the most racist statements I've ever heard come out of a government agency in addition to being about the dumbest. Heck, it could easily have been me and Larry Kingrey on that trail. I've been making Spam burritos and eating them with Tecate beer since college and I have been known to listen to a little Mariachi every now and then. The longer I live in this world, the stranger so called smart people get. Hasta la vista baby.........

Fall is Here

With August winding down, we not are entering into my favorite fishing season. September, October and November is sanctuary time. Except for hunters, summer tourist season is all but over. We now see the folks that live for the fall. The fly fishers that pray for a little light snow or mist and the hope for a BWO hatch on their favorite stream. Water is clear this time of year and it truly will make you a better fly fisher. It feels and looks like fall today and it's the middle of August. Even Lance Armstrong had to win the Leadville 100 last weekend in a snow storm at the pinnacle of the race. My arm has a twitch in it from just looking outside. Why isn't everyone out fishing? The river virtually has no one on it and this is the absolute perfect day. It seems once that school starts there is a little lull in fishing traffic until after Labor Day. I'd take advantage of that if I were you. And, I'm not talking about business here, I'm simply talking about a couple of hours on the river to sneak away and get your head right. With all the crap that is being bantered about right now by the aliens who seem to be in charge of everything in this country, I want to spend more and more time on the river for sanity. By the way, I'm not talking about illegal aliens here, I'm talking about politicians of all flavors who seem to be from another planet right now. The illegal aliens are mostly good folks trying to earn a living......I would not want to lower their stock by putting them in the same category as a politician. As you can tell, I need a day on the river...... By the way, thanks to all of you who have sent well wishes to Jan after her knee surgery. She is doing well and will be back in the shop soon to help you with a smile.
The Arkansas has reduced in flow down to 450 cfs and still has a little to go. That means fish are going to take sanctuary in deeper riffles and cut bank shorelines around boulder seams. We are starting to see fish move to wet flies with multiple Caddis hatches occurring and we had a sporadic BWO hatch the other day in the rain with lots of fish working emergers about 2 inches deep. This should line up to be an incredible fall season, but you will be required to break out the fluorocarbon tippet even on the Arkansas. Wild Browns will get a little spooky as they prepare to spawn. Right now they are beefing up to do just that. It may be me, but it seems that fall fish and river behavior may be rolling around just a little on the early side. This may be one of those years when we get a late September snow storm. I kinda hate to say that since I haven't had enough summer yet. This has been a pretty cool, wet summer season. We have just not had many really warm, dry days to be proud of. That just hurts my feelings, not the fishing. It has been absolutely outstanding and continues to be. Every river from the Dream Stream to the Frying Pan has been fishing very well, some better than others of course, but I believe we are set up with enough water to enjoy a truly spectacular fall season of dry fly fishing. Don't forget that the spawning run of Browns on the South Platte is only about 5 or 6 weeks away. We had a great one last year and I expect the same this year. So, if you are waiting for your big fishing trip after the heavy tourist traffic is over, then just pick you favorite river and get after it. Stock up on good red wine and some 2" New York strips and go for a fall camping trip. The next few weeks in front of us is when God does some of his best work. The colors are vibrant, the sky is that beautiful shade of fall blue and the fish are happy. And as my mother used to say, "Just go already."