Day 80
Today Mark and I decided to go to the Big Thompson River above Drake to try our luck. The day was sunny and in the 80's but was windy to make it a little tougher. The river was shallow and crystal clear, which made it easy to see the fish for some sight fishing.
We started at one of the spots Mark likes to fish and within 3 casts I had a bite but couldn't set the hook. I thought this was to be the start of a great day, that was not the case. I get a couple more bites with the same result and Mark has had only a couple of bites too but no fish. We decide to move down river and fish at another one of Mark's spots. We start casting and after about 30 minutes Mark finally catches a a little 9" brown. With only one fish between the two of us we decide to move again.
Our final stop of the day is Moraine Park in R.M.N.P. We pull in and there is a heard of elk grazing on the other side of the river. No one else is on the river through Moraine Park but the wind is still blowing pretty good. Mark has switched to a purple san juan worm and a size 24 green flashback pheasant tail and within minutes has caught a fish, and then another and another. After his sixth or seventh fish he comes over to my still fishless self and hooks me up with the same setup as he has. Not five minutes later I have my first fish, a nice 12" brown caught on the pheasant tail. Over the next hour I catch six more fish, all browns , three on the purple worm and three on the pheasant tail. The last three I caught by dead drifting and walking the drift down the river bank until I got a fish.
We call it a day around 6:15pm with Mark have a great day at Moraine Park and myself having a great finish to a otherwise slow day. On a side note, Mark's fish were almost all brookies. Great day to out in Colorado with a buddy!
Rod: Iwana 12'
Line: 3rd Gen Traditional Tenkara 10 1/2'
Flies that worked: Purple San Juan Worm, Green Flashback Pheasant Tail nymph(size 24)
We started at one of the spots Mark likes to fish and within 3 casts I had a bite but couldn't set the hook. I thought this was to be the start of a great day, that was not the case. I get a couple more bites with the same result and Mark has had only a couple of bites too but no fish. We decide to move down river and fish at another one of Mark's spots. We start casting and after about 30 minutes Mark finally catches a a little 9" brown. With only one fish between the two of us we decide to move again.
Our final stop of the day is Moraine Park in R.M.N.P. We pull in and there is a heard of elk grazing on the other side of the river. No one else is on the river through Moraine Park but the wind is still blowing pretty good. Mark has switched to a purple san juan worm and a size 24 green flashback pheasant tail and within minutes has caught a fish, and then another and another. After his sixth or seventh fish he comes over to my still fishless self and hooks me up with the same setup as he has. Not five minutes later I have my first fish, a nice 12" brown caught on the pheasant tail. Over the next hour I catch six more fish, all browns , three on the purple worm and three on the pheasant tail. The last three I caught by dead drifting and walking the drift down the river bank until I got a fish.
We call it a day around 6:15pm with Mark have a great day at Moraine Park and myself having a great finish to a otherwise slow day. On a side note, Mark's fish were almost all brookies. Great day to out in Colorado with a buddy!
Rod: Iwana 12'
Line: 3rd Gen Traditional Tenkara 10 1/2'
Flies that worked: Purple San Juan Worm, Green Flashback Pheasant Tail nymph(size 24)
So you just cast and follow the drifting fly down the side if the river? Was it riffles or a run? Dax
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