We spent another weekend doing lots of fly fishing related stuff but no fly fishing. Our rivers were first frozen solid and then Friday it warmed into the 60's and rained like hell. It took a full day for the rains to move the ice out, but by Saturday morning the rush of water cleared out the inches thick ice and filled the rivers bank to bank and then some. So Saturday I went over to Tim Flagler's and tied for a video whose subject pattern has been long in coming. While there we also covered lots of ground ranging from fly tying to fly fishing to equipment to the Denver Fly Fishing Show.
After tying for the video and hanging out with Tim, I headed down to check out the South Branch. It was a far cry from where it was the last couple of weekends. Below is a photo I took about two weeks ago, and below that is one I took Saturday from the same exact location (sort of - I couldn't stand where I had the time before as it was under 2 feet of water). To see how much the river had come up, check out the two snow covered big boulders in front of the trees in the first photo on the left side of the river a little more than half way up. In the second photo you'll note that they are water bound. Its all good; winter spates are nature's way of cleaning house on the rivers.
On Sunday morning we taught the free fly tying class at Shannon's Fly and Tackle Shop and had a good turnout despite the frigid cold that made its way back in after the rains - it was 13 degrees F. We tied a simple scud, Galloup's Improved Baetis nymph, Improved BWO Sparkle Dun, and a Pumpkinhead Midge. It was a great time with some of the usual folks, and a few new tyers to the class that really turned out well tied flies. This Sunday our friend John Collins will be teaching the class and I believe demonstrating how to tie his sculpin patterns
Today was back to work - you don't want to hear about that so I'll sign off.
Sharpen your hooks!
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