Archive for the ‘ Fall ’ Category

A farewell of sorts

Today was a farewell of sorts. I have had some fairly serious life issues come into being the past couple of weeks and it appears that I will no longer have the abundance of free time to go galavanting about the state (and city) fishing for trout (and carp). Crisis you say? Perhaps, but also know that while you are fishing I will be missing the following not so awesome events;

1. Cold weather- This includes but is not limited to cold fingers, frozen guides, leaky waders, and cold sandwiches (see point 2).

Farewell Release

Farewell Release

2. 6 hour days- Don’t forget, your days will be so short you better bring a flashlight to eat your crappy frozen sandwich. This will NOT improve until March 20, 2012 at approximately 5:12 am. Seriously, look it up.

3. Tackle- Winter will crush your spirit when it comes to flies and I for one will not miss it. The average trout angler in Colorado will fish a black or red midge of some sort. This midge will have a ribbed body that will consist of copper, silver, or red wire. Seriously, how much more boring could that possibly be?

4. Tying. Most fisherman tell me that they spend a lot of time in the winter tying and filling up their boxes for the next season. I try to do this, I tie a lot of flies, but for some reason when I come back out the next year I notice I have 500 thread midges and exactly 7 copper johns meaning I actually didn’t accomplish anything. Maybe it’s just me.

So there, that is how I’m compartmentalizing my jealousy. In fact, I’m going to use some of my weekday evenings learning how to bake. I made Michael Gracie cookies last week, he never told me how they were but I can only assume he got food poisoning.

Farewell…for now.

What I Did Today With Michael Gracie

My story about Michael Gracie and I going fishing today.

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By: Nate Taylor

What Is It Like In Montana?

This made me laugh and miss home. Enjoy.

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The Abundance of Fall

My illustrious friend Justin Armstrong showed me some of the fall offerings in his neck of the woods.

Colorado Kokanee

Male Kokanee

Female Kokanee Salmon

Female Kokanee

Rainbow

A Hungry Rainbow

brown

Of Course A Brown

A Nantucket Summary

I thought this slight paraphrasing of a conversation with my girlfriend would suffice.

GF: How was Nantucket? Was it pretty nice?

Me: Yes, Nantucket is very cool, here is a picture of the island that I took for you, I will base the rest of our conversations off of this map so study it before I move onto the next pictures.

Wannacomet Water Company

Nantucket Island Map

GF: Did you have fun with your friends and did you use some of the flies you brought?

Me: Yeah, we had a pretty good time. I used a lot of the flies that I brought but most of them were totally destroyed by Bluefish…

I actually got tired of Bluefish because they just destroy flies, we were trying to fish for other things.

Bluefish Fly

Bluefish Carnage

GF: Did you use the stuff Gracie gave you?

Me: Of course I did. This just goes to show that when I say I “need” things like reels that I’m not lying. Had I gotten to purchase a Litespeed 4 or Torque 10 like I wanted to then I wouldn’t have had to borrow someone else’s stuff.

Greg Drapeau False Albacore

Albie

GF: You’re a dipshit. Did you actually go fishing or did you just play dress up?

Me: Yeah, we got some albies. Check out these houses that are about ready to fall into the ocean.

Nantucket real estate

A True "Beach House"

GF: Wow, you think those people have insurance on a place like that?

Me: I doubt there would be anyone in the world dumb enough to do that, but I’m always impressed with the abundance of stupidity in the world so…

GF: Well sounds like it was nice, maybe you can go back again sometime.

Me: Oh I will go again…I will.

GF: Sigh…

Nantucket Island

Goodbye, See You Soon

My Nantucket Sleigh Ride

Nantucket Fly Fishing

Looking For a Ride

I’ll admit that the true Nantucket sleigh ride can only be accomplished when attached to a 25 pound striped bass in some inter-coastal waterway in a small skiff. There is however the option of getting a thorough ass kicking handed to you by a small false albacore, that was my sleigh ride. False Albacore make their way into Nantucket in the fall once the waters have cooled and the more desirable and edible Bonito have left the island waters. Capable of swimming at speeds over 40 mph, they make up for their lack of nutritional value with tremendous runs that left me breathless.

False Albacore

Albie

My trip was fantastic and I owe a lot to both my host (Greg Drapeau) as well as my equipment provider (Michael Gracie). For now however, I need to get back to work so I can pay my credit card next week, and maybe some equipment repair fees…

Making Moves

On a whim I decided to go fishing…in the ocean.

Nantucket

Stomping Grounds

Next weekend I will be competing in the Nantucket InShore Classic by day, and throwing sand eels for Striped Bass by night. What can I say, I’m a lucky guy with some great friends. I’m not promising I’ll catch anything since I’ve spent about as much time in saltwater as I have cleaning my bathroom (not much) but hey, I promise it will at least be entertaining.

South Platte River Gauging Station Map

The gauging stations for the South Platte River through Denver can be (in my mind) very confusing. I’ve started a custom Google map that is public, can be edited by anyone. I’ve started with a lot of the stations but I know I’m missing some. I’ll continue to edit the map when I have time/desire but if you see some stations that I don’t have please feel free to add them. In the details of each pin I have put the link to the gauging station. My hope is that you can use the map to see exactly what the flows are wherever you are going, with all the ditches, treatment plants, and tributaries the South Platte can vary drastically from place to place.

South Platte River Gauging Stations

South Platte River Gauging Stations

Here is the link to the google map.

Post Carp Slam Platte Experience

The Platte still is giving it up, Drapeau hasn’t forgotten how to fish since living back east, Kendrick is his usual stuff. Carry on.

Nate Taylor Carp

Elitch Gardens Brown Ribbon Fishery

Greg Drapeau Landing Carp

The Fight

Confluence Park Denver

Bridge Fishing

South Platte River Carp

Doubles

Carp Scales

Armor

Greg Drapeau Carp

Still Got It

Black Friday

Ladies and gentlemen, the misery is upon us. Black Friday has reared its ugly head and has officially begun. I just wanted to remind everyone that while most Black Friday deals revolve around sub-standard HDTV’s and other electronics, there are still some places where you can find some fly fishing deals from the comfort of your own home. So before you make a leftover turkey and roll sandwich this afternoon, check out some of these sites for a few deals to finish your own Christmas shopping list.

1. Deals on the Fly
2. Cabelas Bargain Cave
4. Orvis Sales
3. Bass Pro Special Clearance
4. It’s all about the “O” baby, overstock.com

Obviously there are more, but check a few of these out and it might help jump-start your journey.