Fox At Cheesman Canyon

Had a fun day in March with a couple of great guys on the South Platte river in Cheesman Canyon. We worked extremely hard for our 5-6 quality fish, but that was just a small part of the trip. Our morning started out with an up close and personal greeting from a rather large and beautiful fox! Just wanted to give a shout out to Mike and Matt. Thanks for spending a day on the water with me! Hope you learned a few new tricks, and had as much fun as I did. Check out the photos...

Quick Fishing Report For Local Area Reservoirs (Pikeview, Prospect, and Quail Lake)

Anybody looking to catch a trout on their lunch break needs to look no further than our local lakes. This is a great time of year to fish for trout from shore with a fly rod. Use a two fly rig similar to what you would use on the river. 5x leaders and tippet with roughly 6-8 feet from your indicator to your first fly.

The first fly should be something that grabs attention! We like to use apricot eggs; 16 inches off the bend of the egg hook try a size 16-18 bead head hares ear, or b.h. pheasant tail nymph. Chironomids are the main hatch happening, so Zebra midges and large black beauties will also fool fish. Your BB sized split shot should be 16-18 inches above your egg. 

Fishing with an indicator rig such as this, I prefer to let it sit after making my cast. If you're in the vicinity of fish you won't have to wait long before you get bit. If you don't catch a fish after the first couple of minutes try slightly adjusting your depth. If that doesn't work change locations. You will know right away if you're set up correctly and in the right spot. Anyone fishing this way can catch fish until the sun goes down. We recently spent a few hours at Pikeview fishing for trout and had a great time with consistent action, so if you're sitting at home with nothing better to do than watch ESPN, get off that duff and go educate some local trout!

On The Fly - How to Properly Handle and Release Trout

Yesterday's On The Fly column was about reducing mortality rates for fish post landing in our catch and release fisheries. Follow the link for some friendly tips!

Angler's Covey Online Store Is Now Live!

So it took long enough... but Angler's Covey finally has an online store! Follow the link to check it out, and maybe, buy that new fly rod you've been drooling over in the shop!

CLICK HERE!

Oakiwear Toddler and Children's Breathable Waders - First Impressions

Our daughter turned 3 years old in February, has an interest in the outdoors, and loves water. She has spent the last 3 years wondering why she doesn't get to play in the water with mamabear and papabear during our fishing adventures. Now she can!

This will be my 5th year working in the fly fishing industry, and one of the things that struck me as odd when we became parents was the complete lack of waders available for toddlers/children from the major suppliers of outdoor gear. And, even though some people will try and tell you otherwise, having kids doesn't mean that you stop living an active lifestyle. In fact, many new parents can't wait to take their kids fishing. Bree was two months old when we took her on her first fishing trip, and we never looked back!

Recently, Kristen was searching the web for toddler sized waders and came across the Oakiwear website. Oakiwear's entire purpose is to sell waterproof gear for outdoorsy kids, or to help parents create outdoorsy kids. When we saw that they sell waders we immediately bought 2 pairs! There are a plethora of options available in both neoprene and breathable, and a range of sizes from 2T to age 12.  Colors include: camo, pink camo, blue, and tan.

Like waders made for adults, Oakiwear's waders for kids run big. There's a size chart available on their website. When ordering online, fitting for any type of clothing becomes problematic. Trying to fit someone for waders is a total pain in the butt, and that's our only complaint. Fortunately, they do sell to retailers, so maybe if parents make enough noise at the Covey here in the Springs we can bring them in the shop!

Kristen ordered sizes 3T and 4/5 because Bree is close to the 90th percentile in weight and height. Since our little girl is the size of a 4 year old, we got the 4/5 thinking that they might fit, but they are massively big on her. Size 3T is large enough on Bree that I doubt she'll grow out of her waders this season, and when she does we will be ready with backups.

The waders themselves are basic, and that's not a bad thing. The breathables have a single layer nylon shell,  sealed at the seems, with rubber boots attached. The boots on the 3T waders are size 10T, which is both good and bad. The large size is good because it leaves plenty of room for Bree to grow, and it also creates plenty of separation between her foot and the water. The separation is important because it helped Bree stay warm while standing in a freezing cold river during March.

The large size is bad because it's hard enough for a toddler her age to learn how to walk in water. There were times when it seemed like Bree had on a pair of swim fins the way she was walking. You float tube guys and gals know exactly what I'm talking about.

She fell several times just standing in one spot while picking her feet up. Fortunately, we wouldn't let her wade in anything but calm water, and never deeper than a foot. Bree also has enough respect for cold water that she landed on her butt in a way that allowed her to stay dry. None of that having to do with previous experiences...

(Warning: put your toddler in the water at your own risk, Sue Happy America) There, I said it!

This brings us to accessories. The waders come with a wading belt, WHICH IS IMPORTANT, and a nylon bag to carry everything in. There are no chest pockets, or any other fancy bells or whistles. Again, basic is all you really need. It's not like your toddler has a smart phone they plan on taking on the water. And the last thing you want is food in a pocket somewhere, waiting to be forgotten, only to ambush you 2 weeks later while cleaning.

The waders are currently on sale at https://www.oakiwear.com for $84.99. Price will vary slightly with size. Shipping is free! Regular price is $129.00, which still isn't bad.

What would you pay for the price of experience? Honestly, that's what we are talking about. $129.00 for waders that allow your kiddo to get that much more enjoyment out of their time on the water with the family, or $129.00 on toys and junk that they will play with once before losing interest? We would much rather watch Bree throw rocks, catch fish, and play during our adventures, than sit her in front of a t.v.

This is a first impressions review, so we can't go into detail about warranties or durability until we have some more time with the waders. They do come with a limited 1 year warranty, and Bree put the breathable variety through it's paces on the first day and walked away dry. Just like any breathable wader with a rubber boot, you won't want to leave these in the car or hanging out in the sun to long because I'm sure they're susceptible to dry rot. We will keep you updated as Bree breaks them in!

For now, check out the rest of the photos of our test run. This day also happened to be the first time that Bree played and landed a fish! She is a little small to cast a 9' 5wt. yet, so daddy did the fishing, and Bree did the landing with daddy's instruction. She was so pumped she gave the 14" Dream Stream cuttbow a big kiss before we released it!

Going in for the smooch!

Geobass Madness - Peacock Bass

Every once in a while we are so inspired by something that we have to share it, even if it's not Colorado related. These Geobass guys are in Columbia chasing huge peacock bass, and it looks like no fun at all... Until, that is, they start catching ginormous huge bass! This is ridiculous on so many levels. They are using 40-60 lb test and 10 wt. rods, and are still getting abused by these powerful fish. Check it out!

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

Who am I?
My name is Ish.
On my hand I have a dish.

I have this dish
to help me wish.

When I wish to make a wish
I wave my hand with a big swish swish.
Then I say, "I wish for fish!"
And I get fish right on my dish.

So...
if you wish to wish a wish,
you may swish for fish
with my Ish wish dish.


                                                         -Dr. Seuss

Deckers Fishing Report 3-13-2014

Flow - 110 c.f.s.

Water Conditions - gin clear...

Fishing - fairly good!

Kristen and I got a late start, not getting on the water until around 9 am, and every single spot worth fishing upstream from town had at least one angler on it. Lesson learned. We both needed a break from the combat fishing on the Dream Stream and figured Deckers would be a safe bet... The good news? Down stream from town there was still plenty of open fishy water, and fishing was good!

Apricot eggs with a size 22 Top Secret Midge as a dropper was the poison. Bring your 6x fluoro and small white indicators because the water is low and clear, and the fish have seen plenty of pressure. Ratio of egg eaters to midge eaters was down the middle. Ratio of browns to rainbows landed was 3-1, but the rainbows we did land were healthy! Taking turns, Kristen and I landed roughly a dozen fish in 4 hours, and long-distance-released as many. A few midges came off mid day, but no fish were rising to them. And, there is a strong presence of olive baetis nymphs in a size 18-20, so it's a safe bet to say that you could get into a decent bwo hatch during overcast days. Bring your small Parachute Adams.

Great day of fishing with the family! Just don't come here expecting to get away from the crowds.

Kristen holding fish of the day!

Learn How to Tie Two Very Simple and Effective Egg Patterns!

We just wanted to quickly share with you guys and gals two extremely easy to make and effective egg patterns to use during the spring and fall spawning runs. First, let's start with Lee's Ale Egg. While we don't share his apparent disdain for pegged beads (because there's a right and a wrong way of doing things), we do love flies that we can tie in 2 minutes or under that catch fish. He's shown everyone the photos, and these catch do work. If you enjoyed his video, and would like to learn more and get the materials necessary to tie these, follow this link! Here's the vid...

This next video is of the Egg Over Easy. Rick Murphy and I were playing around with different types of chenille, and he came up with this pattern tied with Trilobal Antron Chenille...




I use these with a ton of confidence during the spawn runs, and almost always catch fish with them. Our favorite color combination is the one being tied in the video. They also work great on Spinney Reservoir the first 3-4 weeks after ice-off!