Guess Who Finally Got Around to Catching Their First Fish of 2017?

Took us long enough, right?! We decided a forecast of 65 degrees with partly cloudy skies in February was a good enough excuse to call Bree in sick from school (teach em young!), and head up to Elevenmile Canyon to catch our first fish of 2017. We would have made this fish catching thing happen sooner, but every time we all had a day off together to harass some trout it would snow or be sooooo windy that our youngest, Abby, would need to be tied to a fence post to keep her from flying away. Yesterday was not only our first 2017 opportunity, but also Bree's first trout on her new fly rod that she asked mama and papa bear for on her bday. Without further ado here are some photos we took from our trip, followed by a quick report!


 


We figured this was a good excuse to give you guys a "Fishing Reports Are Like Buttholes" report for the Canyon.

The flow was hovering around the low 80 c.f.s. mark and was crystal clear and cold, which is usually what it's like in early Feb. We fished towards the dam in a spot referred to as the Money Pit. For the most part the trout were anchored to the bottom and only rising on a rare occasion. Kristen and I saw maybe 5 midges hovering above the water all day, and under those conditions fishing can be very slow without a hatch to motivate the fish. Despite all of that it took our oldest daughter, Bree, roughly ten minutes to land her first of the year on a size 22 red Bloodmidge. I then landed 2 in a row - one rainbow on a size 22 bwo Barr's Emerger, and the other a brown on a size 22 olive Mid-Drift Midge. And then Kristen worked her tail off to get her rainbow which also fell victim to an olive Mid-Drift Midge.

We used 6x fluorocarbon tippet, a number 4 split shot, and the smallest white indicators we had to avoid spooking fish. And almost every strike we got was extremely subtle. It's safe to say that between the 3 of us we probably lost more fish than we landed. Chalk it up to being rusty! In fact, I'm fairly confident that if I was relying on my strike indicator to tell me when to set vs. sight fishing and setting when I see signs of feeding, I would have left the day on a skunk. That's how picky those educated salmos were being! Moral to the story - if you find yourself in a similar situation set on any sign of feeding to give yourself a chance.  


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Opening Day of Spinney - Fishing Report and Photos 2014!

It was a memorable opening day! We got up there as the sun was coming up, and were greeted with a bitter cold south park wind, deciding to brave the weather mostly out of excitement. The toddler was cranky and I can't say that I blame her. Mama and Bree stayed wrapped up in layers of clothes and a fleece blanket, and refused to move. The air temperature reading in our jeep said it was 22 degrees outside, so I'm not going to guess what the wind chill was.

Standing on the shore and getting crushed by wave after wave, you can't help but think about the fact that a few days ago this reservoir was completely covered in ice, and you start to feel like a slice of lemon in a cold glass of ice water. We withstood the punishment for almost 3 hours before deciding to call it and find our buddies, Steve and Travis.

They were fishing in a mud puddle by the south boat ramp. For you guys and gals with boats, that ramp was closed, and I didn't think to ask the game warden -who was checking licenses- when it opens. I'll give you a heads up if I hear anything. Anyway, the girls stayed in the car to get warm and I joined the fellas for a half hour before they left for warmer fishing opportunities. All this after the game warden told Kristen she had to sign her fishing license before he had to pistol whip her. Awkward... and hilarious!

We went back to our original parking spot by the dam, and I decided to give it one last try before we threw in the towel. I can't count how many cars we saw leaving this morning! Literally, I thought everyone was giving up... Being the stubborn angler that I am, I figured I would stick around and see what happens when it warms up a little. None of that having to do with the fact that Kristen reminded me that the fishing didn't pick up last year until around 10 a.m.

9:45 and I hook and land my first fish! It was a healthy rainbow roughly 20 inches in length and colorful. It fell victim to the classic orange and red egg, and the hit occurred right past the end of my rod. Kristen made me promise her that if I hook one fish I would come back to the car to get her, but I wanted to make sure that first fish wasn't a fluke, so I threw out one more cast and landed another fish as big as the first.

I get to the car and Kristen is signing for me to give her a thumbs up or a thumbs down, and the look on her face was priceless when it was a thumbs up. Two ladies who didn't want anything to do with the cold anymore were suddenly jumping out of the car with excitement and racing me to the spot. Funny how the fish biting will do that!

We get down to the water and I had to prove the bite was on by catching another fish, which didn't take very long. The only part about catching this trout that wasn't routine was when I looked over at Kristen after hooking up, to see her sitting on the edge of the ice shelf lining the shore, and watching it break under her butt. She landed with a thud, and we were both so shocked that we began laughing uncontrollably, all while I was still playing the fish.

Then Kristen stepped up to the plate and landed fish of the day 3 casts into her first attempt! The look on her face when she saw it jump was priceless.

The "oh my word" look.

Kristen's first fish, and fish of the day. Safe to say, you're pretty stoked when your first hook up is a tubba rainbow like this.

The wind and water were still freezing, but the air temp had come up ten degrees, and even Bree started doing her usual thing; playing with rocks and kissing fish. She even took the time to get a nap in...

30-40 m.p.h. winds with temps probably in the single digits? Think I'll take a nap on this uncomfortable looking rock! Seriously, who's toddler does this?! People driving by probably thought she was dead. Mom and dad continue to fish...

 Is it any wonder why I'm whooped! Kristen holding another fish of the day contender, and just look at those smiles!

Me playing a fish and getting crushed by waves of ice water.

Daddy getting hit with another wave, and Bree playing with a stick.

Kristen going to work.

Game face, bro. Game face...

Fumble shot.

Kristen enjoying her new Simms jackets. Having fun in the cold.

Overall, what started out as a bitter cold doodoo show, turned into a classic day on Spinney. Anyone interested in fishing here should bring eggs, black or olive leeches, and a few different flavors of chironomids. If you're fishing from shore, get close to the dam, or find a point with a drop-off. I love to do walk and wade trips these first couple of weeks after opening day, so if you're interested in doing a guide trip here drop me a line at jonkleisflyfishing@yahoo.com Hope you enjoyed the story/report/photos! Tight lines.

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

Fish Porn 11-12-13

Took a couple of nice shots of a decent brown on the South Platte, and we figured we'd share them with you guys.

Dream Stream Sunset 10-3-13

Pretty Photo Of A Kokanee Salmon

Jim Browning took a recent photo of a Kokanee that we shot and made it pop with an app he uses to add wavy effects and color. We took it a step further, even though his rendering is beautiful, and since I keep seeing photos on social networks of dudes holding fish where only the fish was in color, I decided to try my hand at it. Here is Kristen's, Jim's, and my teamwork in action!

11 Mile Canyon Fishing Report 5-24-13

Jim Browning, Kristen and I went to 11 Mile Canyon and had a great time. Flows are around 50 c.f.s. but fish were still in the shallow runs and riffles. From sunrise to about 11:00 a.m. fishing was consistent. A steady mix of cutthroats, browns, and rainbows came to the net on Top Secret Midges, JuJu Bee Midges, and Brassies. We started above the first bend above the culverts and worked our way up towards the dam. The weather was drop dead gorgeous and the company wasn't to shabby either... Thanks Jim for a mellow and seriously fun time on the water! Here are a few photos we took during today's trip!

Sunrise In The Canyon - Photo by Kristen 

Lit up rainbow - Photo by Kristen

Battle Scarred and Spotted

Jim releasing a fish - Photo by Kristen

Kristen going to work!

Fish Porn Of The Day Dec. 7

We were going through pictures taken over the last couple of weeks fishing and found this one we wanted to share with you!  It's not the typical vibrant photo we are usually after but it definitely has charm.

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!

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 ;)

Check Out These Photos!

We recently had an amazing family fishing trip to the Taylor River Tailwater and got some great photos of the trip.  We didn't get to fish as much as we wanted do to road construction and traffic but the time we spent on our little vaca was a nice reprieve from the daily grind.  Check out the photos!

Kristen holding her Taylor fish!

Up close and personal with my cutthroat

Another macro of the cutt

This park in Gunnison across from our hotel
had this amazing wood carving! Photo by
Kristen

Taylor reversoir seen through the eyes of Kristen

Wildflowers by Kristen

Photo I took of the hummingbird "hatch"

Photos From Sundays Fishing Trip 3-18-2012

Just had an epic day on the water with Kristen!   A healthy mix of rainbows, browns, and cutthroat were on the menu with some of the most gorgeous spring Rainbows and Snake River Cutts I have seen in a while.   Flows seemed a little lower and the water a little clearer than last week in the canyon but it definitely didn't effect the fishing.  Here are our favorite pics from the day.

Kristen and her lit up Cutt!

My Cutbow up close

To schedule a guide trip and have a great chance to catch fish like this shoot me
an email at jonkleisflyfishing@yahoo.com