January, 2012

 

1/6:  A repeat of an earlier trip to the Roaring Fork down in Glenwood Springs proved much more successful this time around.  Though it was only a couple of weeks ago, it seemed the trout still had more or less very soft mouths transitioning from fall to winter conditions.

Today the hookups were a lot more productive - - even if my hooking skills had not ratcheted up very far.  

Suspect connecting with maybe 30% of the strikes (I actually felt).  That was a lot better than back in December.

The weather was great (for fishing).  Not great for skiing - which actually was why we were down here today.

 

So only a couple of hours on the water brought at least a dozen plus good fish to hand.  Best was maybe three pounds.  Only one whitey as well.  Not a brown to be seen.

Here's a quick video of some of the action:

 

1/9:  So much for the Arkansas this time around.  We drove to Salida hoping that the nice weather would give us a chance at some of the local browns, but it was not to be.  Getting into the canyon near Wellsville brought instant disappointment when the spots we'd planned to fish were completely iced over.

I tried some unsuccessful casts a few other places without any strikes at all before we retired to the motel in Salida and at least were able to enjoy a nice cheese fondue meal that night.

Next day it was again too cold in the morning, and Buena Vista was unfishable as well.

Am not sure I learned my lesson though, as I hope to try the lower Gunnison on an overnighter next week - assuming the warmer weather holds.

Last Logbook Entry  � for previous day  

1/26:  Gunnison trip fell apart due to (happily) some bad weather that gave us some much needed snow here on the ski slopes.

But with Sue in Denver today visiting her folks, I popped the dogs into the Element and drove back to Glenwood to try the Roaring Fork again on another nice day before what appears to be a pretty big storm heading to town tomorrow.

It's a lot of work dealing with our old man dog.  He barely can haul himself over most of the larger boulders along the stream, but he managed to get through the first part of the trip without my having to pick him up and carry him along.  Caught a nice brown on that part of the river, then put both doggies back in the car for the duration of my casting and worked some of the regular water without having to deal with them.

It wasn't great today - flows are well down from earlier in the month, and the fish weren't hanging out in their normal winter sports.  But did manage to hook and play and release a few mixed bows and browns and enjoyed being in the sun and on the water as always.

Here's the short video of the activity:

 

 
 

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