Pages

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Rocky Ford Creek Report: A Dream of Spring

It was like a dream of Spring at Rocky Ford. The first thing I did was take my jacket off, and I never put it back on. It was warm in the blessed sun.


Marsh hawks--a brown female and a ghostly white male--patrolled the verges of the stream, and a majestic Cooper's sliced by overhead. Red-winged blackbirds chirred in the cattails, and a Meadow Lark sang its little heart out. Too soon, too soon.


The parking lot was full, and it was crowded along the shoreline. We kept shuffling and reshuffling. I fished three different spots before settling in at one of my favorites. A big fish also settled in just off the bank.


But he wasn't eating. I tried out several flies on him, including this new muddler. He didn't move a fin.


But that didn't stop me. I tried going deep, but I kept coming back to dries. It was a dry or die kind of day. I tried a caddis. I tried a griffith's gnat.


The day began to wear away and I tied the muddler back on and stuck with it.


I wasn't getting the same attention that I got the other night, but I got a follow--a big wake that bore down on the fly and then veered away at the last moment. So I continued to work it as the light faded. But I finally decided that maybe my new muddler was just too big. It was a #6. So I switched to the #12 muddler from the other day.


That seemed to make a difference. I got two swirls from one fish. Then I pricked one but missed the hookup. And then I cast it out into the channel, and before I started to strip it a big, beautiful fish took it with conviction. It was time.


I fished out the day and watched the sun go down and the moon come up.


I hit the road, and as I rolled over the high country I wondered when I would have to wake up from this dream of Spring.

2 comments:

  1. Man that looked nice. That creek must hold some dandy rainbows , the one in the underwater shot looks pretty big and I'd be happy with the one that ended up in your net anyday!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes indeed. The one in the net was probably 20. Ive measured a couple 22s. And they say there are fish up to 28 in there. Im sure of course that some of those have broken me off...

      Delete