Fishing Information

Colorado Fly Fishing - Bait Huckin vs. Fly Fishin


It was one of those fishing trips. You know, everyone catches fish but you, you loose six or eight of your most expensive streamers, it rains buckets, and you sink the boat. That's right; I got skunked at Steamboat Lake over Memorial weekend.

I was determined to show those meat huckers (worms and power bait) that a well chosen and strategically placed fly was as effective as anything a conventional fisherman could load on a hook and hang under a bobber. Well, no such luck, I got stomped.

The fish were rising like mad on a midge hatch, and I threw everything in the box at them. I could swear I saw a hefty rainbow nudge my fly to the side to eat the natural laying only centimeters from my damn near perfect replica. As we watched the group of 12 year olds add another 18" fish to their stringer (full loaded, I might add) I decided it must be a lake thing. I don't fish lakes often.

I usually have good luck with a streamer in faster moving water, so I head for one on the several tributaries hoping to get the boat up far enough to make a make a few good casts. No such luck, here comes the wind. Determined and frustrated, I proceed to lose several of my best streamers in the dense shrubbery surrounding the mouth of the creek (can't retrieve them since the current is too strong to get the boat any further up the creek).

On the way back to camp we are passed by a couple of boats with stringers of fish crashing off the bows of their boats (hmmm, are they just rubbing it my face, or are they tenderizing the meat?)Questioning my decision to become a fly fisherman, I head over to the dock to pick up my 5 year-old son and a fresh styro of night crawlers. I'll let my son fish the meat before I crumble and load one up on the spinner myself. Surprising, no luck with the meat either, and hear comes the rain. I throw my arms up and ponder my karma activity of the past year.

We charge for shore as the lake turns to white caps. The rain and lightning moves in fast. Did I mention that we got the boat for free and have no clue what to do in the rain? We pull the boat up close to shore near our camp, outside of the no-wake zone. We leave all of our gear and head for the soggy camp.

Well, apparently it's best to leave your boat in protected cove in the no wake zone. From what we could tell, our boat was hammered with 300 to 400 gallons of water from the waves and boat wakes from boaters rushing back to the dock. Yes, it sank in 18 inches of water. I didn't realize a boat could sink in 18" of water! All of our gear is floating around the shore. The gas tank and gear which included an Orvis waste pack with hmmmm, some 500 plus flies. Every box any fly had to be opened and dried on the dashboards of our trucks.

We bail the boat, load the truck and haul our soggy gear and crippled egos back home.

Next memorial day, it's back to the river!!!

Rick Chapo is with http://www.nomadjournals.com - makers of small, compact fly fishing journals, hiking journals, rock climbing journals, travel journals, bird watching journals and more.


MORE RESOURCES:

Long Island Charter Fishing Suffers From Fuel Costs, Job Cuts
Bloomberg - 12 hours ago
29 (Bloomberg) -- This weekend will be Burt Prince's last chance to salvage something from a summer fishing season wrecked by the surge in fuel prices and ...


Voice of America

John McCain Selects Sarah Palin as his VP: Fishing for Hillary Votes
whudat.com, NY - 8 hours ago
This pick makes no sense unless he’s fishing for those disgruntled Hillary Clinton voters. So he wins the election and.. then what? ...
Video: Moms React To Palin Selection kcratv
Republican vp candidate a little-known beauty queen, gun advocate Vancouver Sun
McCain Surprises With Pick of Alaska Governor WIS
WTOP - WEBCommentary
all 5,650 news articles


Buoy 10 fishing season to close early
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com, OR - 1 hour ago
(AP) — Prolific catch rates have led managers to close all salmon and steelhead fishing at the Buoy 10 area near the mouth of Columbia River. ...
Breaking News: Buoy 10 area at Columbia's mouth closes to fishing ... Longview Daily News
Holiday weekend minus tide series expected on Oregon coast KTVZ
all 5 news articles


Mobile fishing tournament called off due to Gustav
Press-Register - al.com, AL - 6 hours ago
The Mobile Big Game Fishing Club Labor Day Tournament has been postponed due to Tropical Storm Gustav, officials announced today. ...


Two men missing after fishing trip
Winnipeg Sun, Canada - 10 hours ago
By Chris Kiching, SUN MEDIA Two men from Sayisi Dene (Tadoule Lake) First Nation have gone missing during a fishing trip in northern Manitoba, RCMP said. ...
Search underway for two Manitoba men who disappeared while fishing ... Bugle-Observer
Missing canoeists from Tadoule Lake First Nation mySteinbach.ca
Two paddlers missing on Tadoule Lake Winnipeg Free Press
all 5 news articles


Fishing Report - August 29, 2008
Allentown Morning Call, PA - 13 hours ago
Fluke and sea bass fishing remains good on the Jersey reef sites, and plenty of keeper sea bass are being caught at Shrewsbury Rocks. ...
Central Pennsylvania fishing report The Patriot-News - PennLive.com
all 4 news articles


Feels like fall and fishing is fine
Eagle Tribune, MA - 11 hours ago
We are still weeks away from the true fall frenzy, but fishing has been quite good this August, and anglers will find many options. ...
’Tis the season for fall fun Boston Herald
School activity is A plus Boston Globe
Tidal bass willing to reward anglers Washington Times
all 9 news articles


DNR seeks fishing regulations input
Albert Lea Tribune, MN - 12 hours ago
Special and experimental fishing regulations for walleye, bass, crappie, sunfish, northern pike and lake sturgeon will be the subject of nine public ...


Holiday is huge for fishing, hunting
San Diego Union Tribune, United States - 16 hours ago
By Ed Zieralski Labor Day weekend always is the time when seasons converge, and this year is no different with ocean fishing going strong and hunting season ...


Report: little improvement in fish stocks
Boston Globe, United States - 2 hours ago
By Jay Lindsay AP Writer / August 29, 2008 BOSTON—Battered New England fishermen are facing the possibility of even tighter fishing restrictions after a ...
Federal report: Most groundfish stocks overfished Boston Globe
all 2 news articles

Fishing - Google News

home | site map | Ocean Photography
© 2006