KEEP YOUR PHOTOS & STORIES COMING

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Tom Finley is holding in a big smile while showing off this terrific Brown Trout caught on a Smith River float early this summer

Not to be outdone, Tom's fishing partner, Mark Riley, took this Brown with "a spectacular cast that none of the guides could duplicate"

Josh Poticha of Denver caught this very nice 38-inch Northern at Wallaston Lake Lodge in Canada

This 'bad boy' was caught by Brad Davidson, Flaming Gorge Resort in Utah using a brown Wooly Bugger

This area that has been set aside for pictures of events that one would like to forget but have been captured digitally by "friends".  They have been reduced in size to minimize embarrassment but can be seen clearly by clicking on them.

Jay Zimmerman's "friends" wanted to help him with his wardrobe while he was grabbing some shut eye after a long day catching miniature pike.

We need pictures!  There's got to be someone out there who needs to be exposed click here to help someone you know

August - Bass After Dark - Hosted fishing on private water $100.00 for up to 4 anglers - two guides

Never forget that fly fishing is all about bugs.  It's not about the rods, reels, clothing and so on.  Bug intelligence is what will make you more successful.

With this in mind Front Range Anglers has made arrangements for the Bug Man, aka Patrick Tennyson of the Butterfly Pavilion, to answer your questions and move your bug IQ up several points.  Click here to find out more about this unique event.

South Platte Pro-Am Carp Slam

The South Platte Pro-Carp Slam has been postponed until September 8, 2007 due to extremely high/dirty water conditions.  Spots for interested fisherment are still available .....call Tim Emery at 303.517.9197 for more information. 

Since 1982, emergency rooms and clinics across the nation have reported all eye injuries to a U.S. Eye Injury Registry at the Birmingham-based Helen Keller Foundation. Two years ago, eye injuries from fishing surpassed eye injuries from basketball as the No. 1 sports-related eye injury.

"Within 48 hours, rangers and biologists would stand amid the tall grasses on the  banks of one of the nation's most famous trout streams (Firehole River) and watch in sadness as several hundred - and perhaps 1,000 - big and small trout were swept downstream, the white bellies of their corpses reflecting the sunlight.  It was the largest fish kill known to biologists in the 135-year history of the park."  Rich Tosches, The Denver Post 

Extremely hot weather in Montana has forced the  2 p.m. to midnight fishing closures on 29 water bodies across the state. Fishing operations are really feeling the heat as low snowpacks, early springs, scorching summers and ongoing drought put the squeeze on their bottom line.

On July 20 the National Park Service implemented 2 p.m. to 5 a.m. closures on virtually all streams below 7,000 feet in Yellowstone. 

The upper Yellowstone River from the northern border of Yellowstone National Park through Livingston was not closed last summer, but it closed on July 19th this year from the park all the way to Billings.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks guidelines state streams should be closed if temperatures reach 73`F for three consecutive days. A river can be reopened if temperatures drop to 70`F for three consecutive days. 

Colorado has had its share of problems particularily on the Yampa River which has been running one-fifth of its normal flow in July with water temperatures exceeding 70 degrees.  As a result, the Division of Wildlife has asked anglers to observe a voluntary fishing closure on the Yampa through Steamboat Springs, which has been observed by those who frequent the river. 

Thank Goodness...Another Fly Rod Company

Ross Reels has decided to get into the business of selling flyrods.  Naturally,. you've got to have have a recognized expert to make the pitch.  Mel Krieger was enlisted to fill the role. Their "Essence Series Fly Rods" will retail starting at $99 and will include a rod case and sock.   Guess what? They will also be available as a complete outfit coupled with a Ross reel.

I see quite a few anglers fish streamers with a high rod tip while retrieving the fly.  Keep the tip below the belt level so that you will be in better contact with your fly.  Many good streamer fishermen actually place the tip in the water or within inches of the surface.  A high rod tip is even more of a problem on a windy because the wind catches the line and drags the fly continiously along in an unnatural manner.

Try to keep slack out of the line.  When you flip the rod up and down the fly darts forward then falls back with too much slack.  This can result is missed hookups.

As you cast across stream follow the line with the rod tip.  Try to position the fly with your cast so that it will swim along the bank.  This gives an optimum profile to any fish which is close to the bank.

If you really want to get better at fishing streamers buy or rent Kelly Gallup's DVDs on the subject of tying and fishing streamer patterns.  His stuff is the best I've seen on the subject.

How to spot a novice?  Failure to mend the fly line to prevent drag.  In most cases drag on the fly spells lack of interest on the part of fish.  To catch fish consistently with a fly rod, you've got to be able to control how your fly and your fly line are affected by a river's various currents. When you're fishing with a dry fly or a nymph, one of the keys to a good presentation is a “dead drift” — when the fly drifts naturally in the current, as if it weren't attached to anything. Mending your line means you are throwing it upstream or downstream after the fly hits the water. 

Five Rules of Mending
1. Mend as soon as the fly touches down, before the line has time to bond to the water's surface.
2. Begin the mend with your rod tip close to the surface of the water.
3. Try to mend the line at the hinging point,(where the mended line meets the unmended line) you don't want to move the fly out of position
4. Lift your rod tip high, even over your head, during the mend.
5. Mend with authority - a half-hearted mend rarely moves enough line.

Fly fishermen along Colorado's Front Range are unable to resist the allure of Wyoming's North Platte River. It's close and offers great fishing without the crowds and pressure found in so many Colorado locales. That's why so many "greenies" (Wyomingites' euphemistic term for Coloradans because of the color of the Colorado license plate) head north....click here 

Fly Tying & Such 

 Why Tie Flies .... you can always buy what you need

Wrong.  Fly tying is a essential part of becoming a better fly fisherman.  Aside from obvious satisfaction, you will develop patterns or make modifications to your standby flies that will make a difference on local waters.

If you are new to fly tying, TAKE A CLASS. You will learn all the small things needed to start tying and this will help to keep the frustration level down. This can be very frustrating at first, once you learn the basics and learn to open your mind this will become very relaxing.

All that can stop a good fly tier is his imagination.

Get on the list for fall clases at Front Range Anglers....click here

Caddis Larvae.....always on the menu

In rivers, Caddis larvae can be divided into three basic types; case builders, net spinners and free-living roamers.

All caddis larvae are subject to periodic behavioral drift cycles. This is how populations disperse themselves. Both Free-living and net spinning caddis larvae can produce a silken strand very much like spider web. To move down stream they will hook their line to a rock and then rappel themselves down stream. They are often dangling in the current for long periods. During these periods entire populations can be exposed to trout which will key on them exclusively.

Case builders construct tubular homes from small stones or vegetable matter. Each specie has a defining way that it constructs its cases. Some will be smooth, other are rough. Some are square in cross section, others are round. When cased caddis larva of most species migrate, they simply turn loose of the river bottom and let the current sweep them down stream. The case tumbles and rolls. The larva is often extended from the case waiting to grab onto the riverbed. Usually the dark head / legs and the light thorax are highly visible to the trout. Fish "key" on these dark and light bands.

Don't Forget the Woolly Worm

Don Martinez, a fabled fly tier in the Yellowstone Park area whose business was ultimately taken over by Bud Lilly,  was chiefly responsible for popularizing the Woolly Worm.  You don't see them very often but they still work wonders.  And an tremendous number of patterns have their basis in this fly including the wooly bugger.  The way Martinez tied the pattern is worth understanding.  He attached the hackle at the bend of the hook by the butt and wound it forwad with the dull or concave side facing the hook eye.  He wanted the fibers to point forward and he wanted the soft portion of the hackle to undulate during the retrieve.  According to what I've read he like to fish it in slow moving water with a slight twitching of the line.  In the 1950's this fly was probably one of the most popular in the West as an imitation of giant stones, dragon flys, crane flies, etc.  In the 1960's I always carried them with me and I recently started doing it again.

 

Looking Back

The senior citizens at the turn of the century had many of their priorities in order...click here

 You've Got to be Kidding!

I stepped to the right, and about that time the fish jumped. And when I turned the trolling motor on, the momentum took me right on out. I hit the water, and my thought process was, 'I've got my hat and my sunglasses. That's good. But my cell phone isin my pockets, and that's not good. But the fish is still on,' " he said

Now wet, Cannon felt the trolling motor bump his right arm as he treaded water."

Read the rest in a story, "This Time the Fish Won" written by Del Milligann in the Florida Ledger.....click here

How about a twin-hulled catamaran kayak with a large open cockpit and longitudinal 54-inch-long bench-style seat designed for sitting, kneeling, crouching, or standing while fishing or participating in other recreational activities.  The video is pretty convincing...click here