It is well known by those who fish with me that I am not the trout park type. I am not a fish numbers guy and I will take quality time alone on the stream over 30 fish days anytime. Generally speaking something about trout parks just rubs me wrong. I don't like fighting for water space and I am not real keen on catching a fish that was just released that morning. Now don't get me wrong, I am not against trout parks, I have many friends that love fishing them, and I think they provide a valuable service (mainly they are a great place for beginners to learn the craft and they also help keep fishing pressures on more sensitive fisheries) they just aren't my cup of tea. We all have our things, mine is just not trout parks, nothing personal. Needless to say I went into fishing the Roaring River with not the highest of expectations. However, I am also a curious angler and it was catch and release season only, so I knew the numbers would be down, so I decided to give it a go. The river itself is very beautiful, with the first portion forming a series of waterfalls and alternating pools, followed by a more typical meandering Missouri trout stream section below. By my estimation there were still a lot of people there, you wouldn't have been able to go twenty yards in either direction without running into someone and up by the spring there was a person every 15 feet. If this is low season I wouldn't have lasted ten minutes here during high season I am sure.  Furthermore it is worth noting that for the majority of the park wading is not permissible. There is a limited section where you may, but I had to ask a park ranger for where this was specifically. 

Anyhow, enough with the preface. It was a new place on a beautiful winter day. I fished and caught a ton of trout. It was a good day. Will I go back, probably not unless it is a side stop or I am with a group of good friends or family with whom the time spent with them will be the greatest thing of value. Between 8:00 AM and 12:00 PM I would conservatively estimate I caught 25-30 trout. I would cast just below the falls, let it drift into the pool and every third of fourth cast would yield a fish. The first four hours I fished one thing: a bead head hares ear with a very small green mayfly nymph dropped behind it. Around noon something peculiar happened, it stopped, the non stop action just stopped. My best guess is that after every pool had been cast to four thousand times that day the fish were just put off. I still caught fish but it wasn't like the morning. As such I decided I would just catch them on random things in my box, patterns I rarely fished or perhaps had never fished before. For instance I had never even fished a Royal Wulff, a pattern that I know for many is a staple attractor pattern, I just hadn't ever used one so I fished it caught a small trout then tied something else on and so forth. That is how the last four hours went until the park closed at 4:00 PM. Maybe 5 or 6 fish were caught in that time and it was just neat to play around a bit. Nothing large was caught but I did see two or three 10 lb+ trout. That would have been a riot for sure. Admittedly the last half hour I tied on an 7" articulated peanut envy streamer and chucked that at the bank. No follows or bites but one can always hope. 

Years ago I found myself huddled around a campfire with friends. Each of us were retelling our fishing stories of the day, undoubtably some stories more indulged than others but regardless the evening was filled with laughter, camaraderie, and visions of what could be for the next day. For myself that night was particularly special, only a few hours before I had just caught my first trout on a fly rod. All day I had struggled but finally after the sun had set and with the aid of the ubiquitous olive wooly bugger I was successful. Not a big guy but my first and I will never forget. 

What I remember equally well of that evening is several men talking about a small stream in hushed voices. They spoke of a place where the trout were notoriously difficult to catch, wild, easily spooked, and rich with color. Those that had visited this fishery emphasized that if you caught a trout here it was a real accomplishment and if you caught anything of size it was something to be particularly proud of. That conversation has stuck with me the past five years and the in my mind the stream gained a certain mystique, a place I had to visit and hoped I would succeed. A place where I could test my angling abilities and see how far I had come over the years. So it held it's place on my bucket list for years and when a good friend of mine invited me to join him for a trip there I had to say yes. 

I have always come away from my trips with Jeff learning something and this time was no different. He is a good friend and you would be hard pressed to find someone better to share the water with. The water was a touch low and gin clear and I have to thank him for graciously giving me the first shot at the more promising locations. To my delight we both caught fish and being January we had the entire waterway to ourselves. This trip was one I will remember for a long time to come. You can check out day two of this trip here. 

Tailwater's simultaneously offer some of the greatest fishing opportunities and some of the most frustrating. They can be exciting due to the sheer number of fish, the potential to hook into some monster trout, and the multitude of water scenarios with which you can fish. Yet water conditions often fluctuate throughout the day and regardless of planned generation schedules the powers that be often seem to have their own maddening sense of humor as to what they will dish out to anglers. As such, when fishing tailwater's it is always best to have a back up plan. Originally Jeff and I had hoped that unseasonably warm conditions this weekend would equate to low power generation and wadable conditions,  and thus we would be able throw large streamers for big Browns. However, water was up and we were confined to sticking pretty close to the banks.

Recently the President of my local Federation of Fly Fishers chapter, Martin Kollman, wrote the following article on fly lines and their construction. I found it very informative and it is with his permission that I am republishing the article. I hope you enjoy it and learn as much from it as I did. You may find a link to our FFF chapter here: Free State Fly Fishers.

I get a weekly news letter from Deneki Outdoors and one of their topics was on fly line construction and how it is put together to achieve different results. I pay attention to this after asking Davy Wotton what was the biggest advance in fly fishing over the last years and he said easily fly line. We typically use weight forward (WF) lines, as they shoot well and give a little more power in the wind than the double taper (DT), but the DT is smoother on the roll and prized by dry fly fishermen for it's fineness. Shoot heads and skagit/spey tend to be for chucking big flies or going the distance, so these work more like throwing a baseball to drag the running line out into deep water than worry about how stealthy they are. Take a look at this section description of your fly line and think about what you are tossing on your own rig this trout season.

In a typical 'weight forward' fly line profile you can expect to see some, or all of the following components…

30 ft Weight: Just what it says, the 30 ft. weight is the weight of the first 30 feet of line measured in 'grains'. It is what dictates the line's appropriate line weight (i.e. 5 wt., 6 wt., and so forth). Why 30 feet? at 30 feet, both weight forward and double taper lines of the same 'line weight should weigh the same, allowing for some consistency when matching lines to rods from varying manufacturers. However, there is an accepted degree of error in line weights, and some lines can vary from 1/2 to even 3/4 of a line size within the same 'weight'. Therefore, knowing the 30 ft. weight can be helpful in matching a line to your specific needs.

Tip: The tip of the fly line is nothing more than a short level section to which the leader is attached. In the past, the tip was used to extend the life of the line by providing a section that can be trimmed after attaching a leader, without cutting into the taper of the fly line. With the popularity of welded loops however, the tip of the fly line is not as important today as it was before, and thus does not need to be as long.

Front Taper: The tapered section connecting the body of the tip to the line, the front taper determines how energy is dissipated from the line to the leader. A long gradual front taper allows for a more delicate and accurate cast, while a short aggressive front taper lends itself to better turnover when casting heavy flies or casting into the wind, although it is less accurate. Choose accordingly.

Belly (Body): The belly, or the body, of the line is the portion of the line with the widest diameter. It is where the majority of the energy is carried throughout the cast. The longer the belly of the line, the greater distance potential. The shorter the belly, the easier it is to load the rod quickly for shorter casts. Choose your belly length based upon the distance you fish most often.

Rear (Back) Taper: The tapered section connecting the belly of the line to the running line. the rear taper is an underrated portion of the fly line. A long rear taper allows for greater control of the fly lilne over longer distance by creating a smooth transfer of energy. A shorter rear taper creates a quicker transition to the thin running line, allowing for greater distances when shooting line. Both have their advantages depending on the type of fishing at hand.

Head: The head of the fly line is the section comprised of the front taper, belly, and rear taper. The length of the head determines the amount of line that can be effectively carried in the air while casting. The longer the head, the longer casting potential. However, more false casts are often necessary to length the amount of line being carried in the air, which may be difficult for some casters. The shorter the head, the less false casts needed to load the rod before shooting line and may be easier for casters of all abilities.

Running Line: The thin, level line comprising the back end of the fly line, the running line provides a low friction segment designed to send the head as far as possible when shooting line using weight forward or shooting taper fly lines. Unless you are planning on boasting casts around the 100 foot range, the length of the running line is not overly important.

On days I cannot fish or be outdoors, an outdoor video short is generally a good way to put a smile on my face. As such I am going to begin posting a few videos from time to time that I really enjoy and think you guys will as well. I hope some make you reflect, some inspire, and others laugh. To begin, here is one of my favorites entitled, "Where the Wild Fish Are" from Bobby Foster on Vimeo. Enjoy.

Let me begin by saying, what an awesome book. 50 Best Tailwaters to Fly Fish by Terry and Wendy Gunn is an incredible resource to those who travel, are looking for destination ideas, or are just wanting to pick up additional information on your favorite fishing spots. Many a night has found me flipping through the pages of this book dreaming of the next trip that may await me. In actuality, the book covers 56 locations, I agree that "50 Best" has a better ring to it than "56 Best", but I am not complaining in getting 6 more. Of those, as of the date of this writing I have been fortunate enough to visit five: Lees Ferry, The Frying Pan, Norfork, White, and Taneycomo; and I can attest to the information given and even for those places I have now fished several times I still learned a lot. Further, had I owned this book in my arsenal prior to arriving I think it would have helped me tighten my line much faster. Each chapter consults a guide in the area for their expertise and includes a map of the area highlighting points of interest, hatches that occur annually, when to expect them, what tackle to bring, and area guides and fly shops. This has become one of my favorite fly fishing books and serves as a great compliment to another great destination book: So Many Fish, So Little Time. This book deserves a place on the bookshelf of every serious angler and will pay itself back several times over in the wealth of information given to you. The only thing I can't promise it will help with is the travel expenses that will result from you purchasing it. Your destination bucket list will easily double, I promise. 

Lee's Ferry is arguably the most beautiful place I have ever fished. Gin clear water between towering 700-1000 foot red rock cliffs. A part of the Colorado River system and nestled within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area just north of the Grand Canyon, Lee's Ferry should be near the top of every anglers bucket list. To quote Mark Williams, "You're bound to feel small standing in a river flowing through an ancient ocean in the desert under prehistoric cliffs that rise 1000 feet in the air." Void of the typical hatches we have become accustomed to (caddis, mayflies, drakes) the primary forage for these wild Rainbow trout is midges and freshwater shrimp. In fact rumor has it the Zebra Midge pattern was developed here. Beyond this, the trip to the fishery was particularly exciting as my fiancee and I had gotten engaged the day before, furthermore she not only caught her first trout on a fly rod it was her first fish on the fly. She also was able to catch several on dry flies (cicada patterns) while sight fishing. Our guide was Natalie from Lee's Ferry Anglers, whom I highly recommend. She took the time to really improve Jane's cast and put us on a ton of fish. We caught no monsters but caught far more fish that we could have hoped for. But for me the trip was beyond expectations just to see Jane really excel in the sport and enjoy herself. For a time I even put down my stick and just watched her fish. I couldn't be prouder. I hope you enjoy the pictures to follow and one day find yourself in this spectacular fishery. 

Midway in the day we switched from nymphing Zebra Midges and Shrimp in the riffles to sight fishing drys. This is where things got really exciting.