8-22-08 Mike Kruise     

 N St Vrain

 I only Had a couple of  Hours so I went to Lyons. The fishing was very good. Small Midges I put on a Griffiths Gnat first, and that had some success. I also used a Gallups Rusty Spinner the Browns seemed to key to the rusty spinner, I fished for about 2 hours caught several fish, and missed a bunch more. all in all the evening was good fishing.

8/13-8/18
Dick Shinton/Joe Johnson

RMNP 

Joe and I fished upper Glacier Creek pocket water on the 13th. Fish mostly took the trusty Los Alamos Ant, but also hit a variety of other dries including a Flip Flop Ant, Para Adams, and Red Quill. In addition to some good fish, we saw a flock of four blue grouse- three hens and a rooster. I fished the Big T in Moraine Park on the 18th from 3:00-7:30. I had great success with a Parachute Adams, including a nice 15" brown. The big bull elk are already bugling and attempting to round up their harems. Fishing in the middle of all this action is one of the things I look forward to every year. With the snow on the high peaks and the mating behavior of the elk, it's hard to believe it's only the middle of August.

7/29-31/08
Dick Shinton

Glacier Creek-RMNP

Fished a long stretch of Glacier, about 2 miles total, on Tuesday. I am not one to count fish, but I estimate I caught more than 30 fish in about 5 hours- every one on a tan/yellow Los Alamos Ant. The stretch I fished is mostly pocket water interspersed with a few big pools. It seemed that every pool produced 2-3 fish, and every other pocket yielded another. Even in a stretch that would have made a great steep-gradient white water kayak course, there were fish holding in nearly evry little quiet spot, ready to hit a well presented bug. It was a major hoot. Thursday, Ben Brown and I fished a couple of places on Glacier from about 3:00-8:00pm. The fishing wasn't quite as good as Tuesday, but the fish cooperated nicely and we did well. Small dries like a size 16 Para Adams or yellow Humpy produced the best results. Ben was kind enough to bring along a couple of cold Alaska Ambers that finished off the day quite well.

7/21/08
Mike Kruise  

Wild Basin

My day started late and I almost didn't go. It was going to rain- you could see the clouds forming. About 1:00 I headed up anyway. I haven't been to Wild Basin in quite awhile and the river was looking great- not a lot of people. I parked halfway to the bridge by the corral. I set off across the swamp. The fishing was excellent in the braided area. Every little hole produced; I used Griffth's Gnat, PMD Spinner and Flip Flop Ant. After about an hour or so I decided to make my way to the river. The hatch was thick. The river was perfect. I decided to put on a Stimulator and a dropper, a Bead head Pheasant Tail. I hooked up right away. Brookies- lots of brookies. It rained on and off all afternoon. I'm glad I had my rain jacket! I changed up a lot just to see what was working. The magic seemed to be a black or tan Flip Flop Ant. For a while it seemed to be almost every cast. I ended my day at the at the bridge ,where to my surprise I hooked several Greenback Cutts. I caught these guys on a Rusty Spinner.  I even had the pleasure of having a cow and calf moose cross the river 25' from where I was standing, and they stopped long enough for me to get a good pic. The day was great, the weather was Colorado and I even caught a few fish!!
Tight Lines Everyone
Mike

7/12/08
Dick Shinton

Various places in RMNP

I have had several clients/groups in the last two weeks in the Park, and we've fished Cub Creek and various stretches of Glacier Creek and the Big T. Waters are down to very fishable levels, though still high in a few places. The fish are taking just about anything you might want to use, from dries like Stimulators, Elk Hair Caddis, Para Adams, PMDs, Green Drakes and Rusty Spinners to wee midgies. The ever-popular SJW in pink or purple is still my go-to dropper pattern, but we've also had good results on PTs, CJs, Princes and Frank's Flashy. Other good dries for your dry/dropper rig are the Charlie Boy Hopper, LA Ant, Tan (or other color) Tick, Flip Flop Ant, Foam Beetle and the like.

You'll see other entries here that recommend a particular fly (see Mike's entry below re: the Griffith's Gnat), which reminds me how much your fishing success is tied to your confidence in a particular pattern. Part of it is obviously the pattern itself. It's hard to beat the Gnat, a Para Adams or a Pheasant Tail, but I know anglers who fish almost nothing but a Royal Coachman Trude year-round and catch fish on it. What does this mean? It's often the WAY you fish a fly that counts as much as the pattern. I love to tie and fish the Parachute Adams, so it's usually the first fly I tie on when I go fishing in the summer, and I stick with it, probably past the point I should. But- because I have confidence in it and fish it a lot, it catches fish.

7/7/08
Mike Kruise  

Cub Creek (Rocky Mountain National Park)

I went up to Cub Creek and fish were caught! The flows are down a little and water is clear- fishing was ON. The hatch was prolific. BWO, PMD, RED QUILL, and a very small Midge- dark gray in color. I put on a PMD Spinner, Rusty Spinner and a Grifiths Gnat; they all worked well but the Gnat was the ticket.

TOP Water is on big time- the fish are looking up. I am still using 5x Rio Leader and a 6x Fluorocarbon tippet. The water is clear and the more invisible your tippet is the better, so the best advice would be to quit your job and go fishing, or just take the day off. Run off is not really a factor, it just changes how you fish the river. So c'mon into the the shop and we will steer you in the right direction.Tight Lines Everyone