The Game

"All first-class fishermen on the Sea of Galilee were fly fishermen and John, 

the favorite, was a dry-fly fisherman.” 

There are in my opinion two religions when it comes to fly fishing. Are you a dry fly fisherman or are you a nymph fisherman? Some people claim to be both but in my experience you are truly one or the other. Sure a dry fly fisherman fishes with nymphs occasionally but it is usually just to see how the other half lives and vice versa. I fish both nymphs and drys, but I am a dry fly fisherman. I am better at it and I enjoy it more. For those that don't know what that means, it means the fly you are fishing with floats on top of the water imitating an insect that has just hatched or has returned to the water to lay its eggs. While there is no doubt in my mind the nymphers catch more fish, they don't have the same level of connection with the trout that us dry fly fisherman have. 

For me fly fishing with a dry fly is magical. Watching the cast from start to finish, the loop unfurling behind you while you change rod direction to start the line, leader, and fly moving in the forward direction, to the very moment when that forward loop unfurls in front of you and the fly gently lands on the river and starts the drift. All the while making sure the drift is perfect, by mending and watching and mending some more. The fly getting to the end of the drift and starting the process all over again, but maybe this time altering the length of cast or the lane for which you want the fly to drift. 

I am lucky because I fish a river essentially in my back yard that is one of the best dry fly rivers in the United States. The trout in the Pan are "usually" looking up and looking for insects on the surface so hence the excellent dry fly river. Of course the trout in the Pan can mess with you as well, and since I think they are starting to know me, they are starting to mess with me on a daily basis. Thus the game begins.

As I have said before,  just being out on the water is the reward, but having a fish on the end of my line is a gift. While there is nothing better than catching a trout on a fly, as a dry fly fisherman there is something else that is almost and is sometimes more exciting than the catch, what is that you ask? It is what we call the refusal. The Pan is a beautiful river, healthy and gin clear. Therefore with some practice you can see the fish in their lanes waiting for meals to drift by, whether underneath the water or floating on top of it. And with that you can watch how they react to your dry fly. Tonight I fished for about 2 hours, I caught 2 fish but I had about 12 of the best refusals ever. This for me leads to some very exciting not catching anything! I cast my fly out and make sure the drift is as natural as I can make it, I watch my fly drift over fish and I watch them turn and start to rise for my fly and at the last minute they turn and swim back down, that my friends is a refusal, sometimes they can be very dramatic with splashes or they can be very subtle. But it is always awesome. Because the minute you see that fish turn you know you have about a 50/50 chance. Is he going to eat it or isn't he. My hand tightens and I get ready to set the hook and then he swims away, dang it! But man that was cool. This cat and mouse game is what makes dry fly fishing so exciting. When you can see the fish turn showing interest in your fly and actually eat it and turn back to head down to the bottom with what it thinks is a prize insect, there is nothing better. But at the same time the refusal of a dry fly is just as exciting, because for me it makes me think, was I doing something wrong? What did that fish see that made him think twice? This to me is why fly fishing is a beautiful sport. There is so much to it. You really do have to out smart that fish. Fish have tiny tiny brains, but it amazing to me to see their instinct take over. They turn, follow and then decide something just isn't right with that insect floating there and they head back to their spot. It is truly a beautiful dance between man and beast. 

“...it is not fly fishing if you are not looking for answers to questions.” 

The Riddle

This past week has been one of mixed emotion, my wife and I were in the last steps of underwriting for our loan for our house we are buying here. I won't go into much detail but lets just say that the entire process was a nightmare, especially for two people with 793 and 798 credit scores, zero debt and fairly good jobs. We went from sweet, we got our house, to crap lets just go back to Minnesota were things are normal, to your loan as been approved and you are closing in 4 days. Overall I am happy to be here, but it is really different and I am having a bit of a hard time settling into "small" town life. There are things I miss about Minnesota and sadly those things aren't going to be replaced by anything here. Anyway, we are moving again and this time it will be for a while. And we are thrilled.

OK, enough of that crap. I have been out fishing 5 times since my last post. 4 times on the FryingPan and once up at some spots that I have found up Independence Pass.

The FryingPan has become a riddle to me and I am having a hard time solving it. I am not sure if it is the time of day that I have been fishing or if it is the fisherman but I just haven't caught much. I get one fish here and one fish there, but nothing in the way of a multiple fish day. Hmmmmm. I am trying to figure it all out and while I admit I am not really into this sport of mass numbers of fish, I would like to see a fish a little more often than once and a while. Last night Melissa and I went out and spent the evening on the Pan, we brought food and drinks and planned to fish until dark. We got a great spot and geared up. We fished with no luck for about 45 minutes and then took a break to eat dinner. After dinner we tried again. I was throwing everything I could think of, everything that "always" works on the FryingPan. Royal Wulff's, Sparkle Dun's, Parachute Adams and even Rusty Spinners. No luck, no rises, no interest. Hmmmm what is the deal. I noticed Melissa had switched to a nymph and indicator rig and was casting away in a really nice run. A few minutes later, I hear, "I got one" I looked over and sure enough there is a good bend in her rod and a couple seconds later she has a fish in her net. She held up a nice brown for me to see and then placed him back in the water. Again I switched flies and not more then 2 minutes later, I hear, "I got another one.." Sure enough again there is a big bend in her rod and a couple seconds later she has another nice brown in the net. After releasing that one I walked over to see what she is using. But as I get to her spot, I seeing her indicator hesitate and then jet downward, she raises her rod for the hook set and sure enough she has another fish on. This one is jumping and fighting her good so I grab my net to help her get him in. We work pretty well as a team, and Melissa knows pretty well how to fight a fish now and does her thing to help me net the fish for her. In the net another nice brown trout. She reaches in, unhooks and sets him free. Melissa catches 3 fish in about 20 minutes. I finally ask her what she was using and she shows me she has a beadhead flashback pheasant tail on, a size 18 about 3' under her indicator. She solved the riddle of the Pan last night. While I was bummed I didn't catch a fish, I was happy and proud of her. She is newer to the sport so there is nothing that I have enjoyed more then watching her progress and watching her learn and perfect her technique each time she gets out there. It makes me happy.

To me fly fishing isn't about catching fish, it is about trying to fool the fish into even taking a swipe at a fake bug that is made from string and feathers. It is about feeling the cool stream around your legs and listening to what the stream is trying to tell you while you are a visitor to it. Last night I wasn't listening carefully to it, while Melissa was. She listened and solved mystery. Even though I didn't catch any fish last night, I was able to practice casting and mending my line to give those feathers on the end of my line the perfect drift. It is amazing how fishing 3-4 times a week make you a better fisherman, while I still have a lot to learn, the fly rod has become an extension of me and I can usually control it pretty dang well. All of these things I mentioned make an evening on the water rewarding for me whether there is a fish in my net or not.

Stick with me here: My father taught me how to play golf when I was 8 years old and during those times especially as I got into my teens, I would get frustrated and mad when I wasn't playing well, he would slow me down and say, "Eric, you are never going to be better than the game. So just do your best and the rest will fall into place." I listened to him and played my best and just enjoyed the game whether I was having a good round or not. I became an 8 handicap golfer heeding that advice. And while I don't play golf as much as I used to, I bring his words into my fly fishing world. I am never going to be better than the sport of fly fishing so just enjoy your time on the water. I do that every time I have that fly rod in my hand and am tying on a hook covered in string and feathers. Enjoy your time on the water and take something away from it every time. I do and I am a better person for it and I owe much of that to my father, who never fly fished in his life.

The FryingPan

So I guess the idea of this blog is to give a little insight into my trips out into the fishing world here in Colorado. And maybe even a brief trip report. Or maybe those are the same thing. I guess I haven't figured that out yet.

I have decided that I am a creature of habit. Last night I packed up my stuff and headed to the Pan after dinner for a little evening of fishing. I have decided that I like fishing in the evening especially on the FryingPan because the crowds are less and I can find a spot to fish. The funny thing about that statement is there are 13 miles of river to fish and I fish the same 750' of river pretty much every time I go out. Last night was no different.

I come around the corner and see the little parking area and usually get fairly excited especially when there are no other cars there. Last night there was 1 car. That's OK I can share my spot. Well sort of. I geared up and headed down to the river.

For those that don't know the FryingPan is what the flyfishing world calls Gold Medal water, in other parts of the country it might go by Blue Ribbon water, it has something to do with either the number of trout per mile or the weight the of trout per mile. Something like that. To me, it just means it is a kick ass river. The Pan is a tail water which means it sits below a dam and in this case it is a great thing. There are lots of bugs, the water stays the same temperature year around pretty much and the fishing is basically good always.

This is big mayfly season here in the valley, the Green Drake is hatching and the trout are looking for in most cases bigger flies. Last night while I was weeding through my fly box I looked up and there was a fox staring at me from the other side of the river, it was pretty cool and a little spooky at the same time. People that know me, know that I am not a big fan of wild animals. And basically I figured he would attack me at any second. So I quick thought about all of my friends and wife, just in case I was killed by that fox. I continued my search for the perfect fly while every once and a while looking up to see if killer fox was still there. The second time I did look he was gone. The funny thing was, I turned around to see if he was behind me. He wasn't...

I began fishing and thought about how it looked like it was going to rain and that I was glad I brought my jacket. I noticed that it seemed that the flow had dropped on the Pan and it had, it went from 278CFS to like 235CFS, I was glad because it made wading and fishing a little easier.

I had my first strike about 20 minutes into the evening. The fish took a swipe at a size 12 parachute green drake. I quickly got the fly back out and 2 casts later I had my first fish on. It was a nice rainbow, I got a real nice look at him, probably in the 16"-18" range, I say I got a nice look at him because just as I worked out that size estimation in my head, he threw the hook and was gone. Bummer for me. But at least I had one.

I casted a few more times in that area and decided to move back toward my car because it was raining a little bit. I changed flies, decided on a size 16 Royal Wulff which is a great fly for me on the Pan, I guess to the fish it casts a shadow that the think is either a Drake or a Pale Morning Dun. 4 casts into my new location, I had a really nice take. And a few minutes later I had a nice Brown in the net. He was maybe 14" pretty fat and nicely colored. I took the hook out and give him a nice look and dipped him back into the cool waters of the Pan and off he swam. I made a few more casts and decided to call it a night. It was getting dark due to the clouds moving in. All in all it was a good night.

As I took my waders off, tore down my rod and put my things back in my car, I thought about the fox that I had seen earlier in the evening and wondered where he ran off to. I wondered if he had found a spot to hunker down for the evening or if he had caught a trout to eat for dinner. I hoped he was OK. The evening produced not very many fish for me. I haven't quite yet solved the riddle of higher flows on the FryingPan but it is fun to try. Someday I will have it all figured out.

A New Beginning

I have been told that I should blog about my experiences fly fishing and especially now that I live in a place where there are more fly shops then traffic lights in the town that I live in.

I have been told that I have a unique way of telling a story. My mind jumps around. Just bare with me.

First let me tell you about how I do things when it comes to writing. I write. Whatever is in my head lands on this "paper" I do not proof read or at least I don't proof read very well. That is how I do things. I just write. It usually will make sense and if it doesn't I encourage you to read the sentence again and you will most likely figure out exactly what I meant.

I am not an expert when it comes to fly fishing! There is no one that loves this sport more than I do. But I am not an expert and nor do I claim to be. But that said, I catch an awful lot of fish. You are probably better at fly fishing than I am.

I love baseball, between fly fishing and baseball. They tie and I would have to sit down for a long time and pick one. Therefore I won't. They both rule.

I embrace both traditional style and Tenkara style fly fishing. They both hold a place in my fishing life, neither one is better than the other. I am not going to argue that point. They both have their merits and they both are a ton of fun here in Colorado.

I tie flies, and I am pretty bad at it. But they catch fish. I love trying. Sometimes they turn out pretty good, but usually they don't.

I have been fishing for 30 years and fly fishing for 19 of those. In fact that is now the only way that I fish now. And in my opinion it is the only way to fish. Especially for trout. Speaking of that, I haven't caught anything other then a specie of trout in 6 years. Before that it was all largemouth bass and pan fish. My goal in my fishing life is to catch a Bonefish.

I practice catch and release strictly. I do not keep anything I catch, nor will I. I do not like to eat fish and I figure, I tricked the fish, they deserve to go back swimming. I am excellent at hook removal, so my fish live. At least I hope they do.

This blog is called All Quiet on the Western Slope. I live on the western slope and flyfishing is known as the quiet sport. Tricky huh?

My home river is the FryingPan, it is 10 minutes away from my house. Some of you know that river and understand how blessed I am. I love that river, I catch fish on it sometimes and sometimes the river wins. But the beauty of standing in the Pan and looking at the mountains is really whats important.

I have a few secret spots that I have discovered that aren't on the Pan. And they are quickly becoming favorites. I catch fish there.

I will most likely not add a lot of photos to this blog. But once and a while I will.

I will blog hopefully a lot, but more likely it will be once and a while and it will be some rambling.

I moved to Basalt Colorado in May from the Twin Cities area of Minnesota where I grew up and lived all of my 42 years. It was hard leaving. I miss home. Pizza here is terrible.

I am an IT guy at the hospital in Aspen. It is a cool job, I like the people I work with even if they don't fish. Barely.

My goal is to fish 300 days this year. But honestly I really want to hit 200. I think right now I am at 33.

I invite you to follow my adventures and heck even to come and fish with me, please send your comments.

Follow me on twitter for ramblings, of IT stuff, fly fishing, vinyl record talk, baseball and other nonsense @eaphilipp