The Wolf At Spinney Mountain

For those of you who missed my post about watching a large dog tackle a full sized Antelope on the back side of Spinney Mountain near the barns I have recently witnessed a second much closer sighting!  I had my clients from a trip two days ago following me back from the Dream Stream on High Chaparral rd. towards highway 24 when we saw a few Antelope next to the road.  My clients stopped to take pictures and I continued down the road when I saw what I truly and honestly believe to be a Wolf.  Or rather it saw me because it was next to the road when it spooked and then started jogging the opposite direction.


This thing is massive and was clearly again after those Antelope!  It is dark gray bordering on black in color and has shaggy long fur, a long tail thick with fur, and is literally the size of a Great Dane.  I can tell you readers what I saw in complete confidence because I was extremely close to it when it started moving away from the road.


I called the division of wildlife to report it, and the lady I talked to put me on hold for 5 minutes after I gave her a description.  She got back on the phone and proceeded to tell me it was someones pet or a hybrid of somebodies pet that crossbred with a Coyote, and that they weren't worried about it.  Before we got off the phone I told her that it doesn't look like a hybrid though I can't ignore the possibility, and that either way it is displaying predatory behavior in broad daylight.  I also told her that I noticed the numbers of antelope have been steadily declining over the last 3 weeks, and that the only reason I have noticed is because this where I have done the vast majority of my fishing and guiding during those three weeks.  "Thanks for your concern sir" CLICK.


So here is the deal guys and gals.  I am a Colorado native who has seen a few Coyotes in my day and I can't in clear conscience not warn you all to be extremely careful and mindful of your surroundings while you are fishing anywhere near the Dream Stream below Spinney Reservoir.  You can either think I am crazy, or take what Im saying to heart and be careful.  If you think Im crazy I don't really give a crap, and you have been warned.  I know there are a handful of anglers that like to fish up there at night myself included.


So just know that there is a huge predator that doesn't mind tackling large Antelope in broad day light (I have a witness) so I doubt that it would have a problem chewing your butt at night.  Just so you know I plan on posting this on any social media, especially where the CDOW can see it because Im hoping this will inspire them to investigate.  If you appreciate my heads up and believe what I am telling you then please post this to warn as many anglers as possible, and lets look out for each other and be careful out there!  Thanks and tight lines!     

Great Year For Jim Browning

This guy Jim Browning has had a pretty incredible year, and I can't think of anybody who deserves it more.  I have chosen to give him the nickname The Humble Fisherman.  He is always very positive and always has something uplifting to say!  It is for this reason that I am proud to share with you a video he put together that shows some amazing fish and equally great photography.  If you are interested in keeping up with Jims fishing adventures he also writes a blog where he posts stories that show his great outlook on life and great photography called Two Guys Wet Waders & Flies so be sure to check it out!

Enjoy the video and thanks Jim!

Photos From Our Recent Salmon Fishing Trip - Gunnison Colorado

Toothy Critter photo by Kristen

We went on our annual fishing expedition to the East River near the Roaring Judy Fish Hatchery which is located north of Almont, and quickly found out that the Kokanee hadn't arrived yet.  The water was extremely low and clear, and the water temps seemed warmer than this time last year which is a good indication that it was still early for salmon to be that far up river.  Because we had driven such a long way to fish salmon we decided that we would go down stream and see what we could find.  We stopped right at the Junction in Almont where the East River meets the Taylor River to become the Gunnison River.


Right away I saw signs of salmon, and ten minutes later I was hooked up on a nice Koke.  Ten minutes after landing my first fish of the day the crowds came...  Apparently we weren't the only people that knew where to look.  There was a noticeable difference in water temperature which we felt the moment we stepped in the river, and the pool we were fishing had more salmon than I think I've seen in any other thirty yard stretch of river anywhere in Colorado.


We landed somewhere between 20-25 Kokanee in 4 hours on either an Apricot Egg, Red San Juan Worm, or a size 18 Red Brassie.  As you will notice in the photos the trees were turning and it was an insanely gorgeous day.  When you mix beautiful fall weather and Colorado scenery with fresh hard fighting salmon you are having an epic day on the water!  I get the impression that if we would have moved down river we could have found more salmon and not been harassed by the crowd that seemed to be getting closer to crossing our lines with each fish we caught, but we were content and willing to share the water so we stayed.  These photos will show you why!  Thank you and we hope you are all having a wonderful Autumn/Fall season!

Kristen's first fish of the day was this monstrous 21" Koke.  Photo by Jon

A close up of Kristen's salmon.  Photo by Papa J

Another nice one.

Again!

Beautiful scenery and fish big enough to fill that net.  Paradise!  Photo by
Kristen

A little fall foliage by Kristen

The family car!  Photo by Kristen

Tight Lines!

The New Sage Circa Fly Rod

So I haven't had a chance to cast this rod or the new Helios 2 but Im excited for both!  And in my anticipation I was doing a little surfing to see what I could come up with and found this video I wanted to share with you guys from Sage about their new rod.  It seems to be a slower action rod that is using their new Konnetic technology which is suppose to help with accuracy.  I know that a lot of people these days are all about the faster rods, but a softer fly rod with accuracy anything close to Sage's The One sounds pretty dang sweet to me.  They disabled embedding so you guys can follow this link if you want to check it out!   Thanks and tight lines!

The Praying Mantis Hatch...

Check out this Praying Mantis Kristen found during our afternoon hike through Garden Of The Gods.  It was massive and probably the biggest bug I've ever seen in real life, and that includes peoples pet tarantulas.  It was at least 3 inches long!  I honestly had no clue that Colorado grew them that big so we felt super blessed that we got to check it out and take some photos.

When we got home Kristen got on the computer and did a little research, and we think that this is a female European Mantid.  We think it's a female based on the info we found that said females are usually larger with more girth.  We also learned that large Praying Mantis are capable of catching and eating Humminbirds!  They also have been known from time to time to decapitate and eat the smaller male Mantis during mating...

The one we spotted on our hike seemed very passive but definitely moved with a chilling purpose when it decided it had enough of us flashing it with the camera, and thankfully Kristen decided to bring our camera so we can share the experience.  I tell a lot of potentially unbelievable nature stories so it's nice to finally have a camera available to capture evidence.  Granted this isn't really flyfishing related, but you never know a big Mantis might be confused for a mutant grasshopper in one of our local lakes or streams and get munched.  I bet it's happened!  Either way I think most of us as anglers find bugs interesting and this is one big bug!

The New Orvis Sonic Waders

Lately I have been looking for different brands of waders to try.  I have had the Simms G3 Guide Pant for the last 3 seasons and even though I absolutely love Gore-Tex for its durability and warmth, and I really love the "when nature calls" zipper built in, I hate struggling with trying to get my feet in and out of the booty.  The ankle cuff is so tight that even when they are dry it takes me a couple minutes to pry my feet out.  When my feet are wet from sweat dripping down my leg on hot days it takes me twice as long.


Don't get me wrong because the benefits of the Simms wader build and quality far out-weigh that minor annoyance.  When I spend an entire day walking around the South Platte looking for fish I am already tired, and I don't want to need an assist from my fishing partner or a sharp pair of scissors to get out of my waders.  That being said I heard that Simms is addressing this issue, and I can't tell my readers that any of the other brands are better because the G3 pant so far is the best wader I've owned.


Moral to the story I might try something else and go right back to Simms.  However these new Orvis Sonic Waders have peaked my interest.  They are suppose to come out this month and they look like a very well built wader.  What I have noticed based on 14 years of experience with waders is that they are ten times more likely to spring a leak at the seams (somewhere around the booty in particular) than anywhere else.  Orvis is very proud of this new SonicSeam technology they are putting into their waders, and if they are easy enough to get in and out of then having 4 layers of nylon vs. 5 layers of Gore-Tex for the shell might be a welcome trade if the price is right.  Here is a link to the Orvis website that includes a short description and a well put together video of their new wader.  

Fish Porn and Other Photos 9-4-12

Kristen suffering from allergies and super tired but still has a smile with a
nice South Platte Cutthroat!

Peace

Up close shot of Kristens fish

A little papabear time on the water!

More riverside cuddle time

Enough of this papa it's time to fish!

Brownie

Cutt Camo

Bug shot by Kristen

Shooting for an untitled but sure to be epic movie ;)