I woke up at 7 AM and made a big breakfast of eggs and bacon. There are few scents better than that of bacon frying on a cold morning. I bid farewell to Steve and headed for the river. By 8:30, I was in the water. I found a huge boulder about 200 yards down river of the first entrance to Cove Campground that looked like a good fishing spot. As I approached the boulder, I saw some fish surfacing behind it. So, I skirted around a small island and stalked up to the fish from downstream. I found a big rainbow trout not too far ahead and to the right of me. Around 9:30, I came to realize that I had stumbled upon a sweet spot for trout. Fish hit the water all around me. At about 10 AM, the tricos began hatching. The air was thick with flies. Dead bugs littered the surface of the water.
I threw many different fly patterns at the fish. Around 11, I switched back to a small trico pattern after trying about a dozen flies, all with no luck. This time, however, I really concentrated on getting the drift of the fly to look as natural as possible as it progressed downriver and over the big trout I had originally seen. He was hanging out in a little more than a foot of water. Though it was subtle, I saw the rainbow fin up to the surface of the water and sip my fly. I set the hook perfectly. Fish on! The fish's power and strength emerged as I fought him with my dad's 3 wt. Sage fly rod. After about a two or three minute fight, I landed the 15", 3 lb. rainbow. He was beautiful. I held him in the water until he had regained enough of his strength to swim away.
I caught my next fish at noon. I was using a Rainbow Warrior followed 20" by a RS-2. I had a 1 B splitshot leading the Rainbow warrior. I hooked the 13" cutthroat after my fly had drifted downstream of me and I was beginning my cast back upriver. I guess the lurch of the fly sparked the fish's reaction.
The bite died at 12:15 PM, so I left for a lunch break. Knowing how many fish had been around me, I should have had a lot more strikes. So, I decided it would be worth it to set up a guided trip to learn the techniques I needed to be a successful fly fisherman. I called the South Platte Fly Shop and set up a trip for the next day. I then went to the Lake George General Store where I saw Rick, the guy from the fly shop who had helped me the day before. He had caught 13 fish on the same fly I had been using! I definitely needed some guidance.
When I returned to my campground, I found a paper on the post next to my site saying that it had been reserved for the following two nights. That would have been nice to know earlier! Realizing that I would likely not find another site in the campground for the weekend, I elected to climb a nearby mountain instead of fishing. The mountain was adjacent to my campground and took about half an hour to climb. It was farely easy, but there were some large boulders I had to scale that would have resulted in some less than desirable consequences if I had slipped. Nonetheless, I reached the top. The view was outstanding. I added a rock to a stack that someone else had begun and then lit a cigar. I sat up there for several hours enjoying the quiet, yet beautiful, scenery. To one side, I could see the canyon where I had been fishing. To the other, I could see an enormous valley enclosed by mountains. Although it rained lightly for a while, this was my favorite sitting spot of the entire trip. I don't know if anyone could hear me, but I shouted as loud as I could from the top of the mountain, just for the heck of it. I called Cassie before heading back down because I had cell service here, but not in the campground.
At my campground, I realized that my tent's rainfly was useless. So, I draped my blue tarp over the tent. I ate cold hotdogs for dinner because it was raining too much to start a fire. Sleeping in the cool environment was a welcomed relief from the hot and humid areas I had been camping in previously.
13" Cuttroat Trout
The existing rock pile with my new addition
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