Lifelong Learner

One of the great things about flyfishing is that there is a new opportunity every year — maybe even every time out! — to get into this adventure called fly fishing.  We’re blessed to live in Colorado where we can fish year-round — so learning opportunities happen with every change of the season on the calendar.  

 

We can move from “match the hatch” to winter fishing  and back again in just a few months.  Just learning what to use in a particular season on a particular kind of water can be a new lesson every time out.  Dry flies, nymphs, terrestrials.  Float fishing on big rivers, wading small streams, casting in windy situations at Antero Reservoir.   Plenty of classrooms are out there offering new lessons!

 

Saturday I went into the shop and mentioned I would like to try a streamer.  I had a few questions … some dumb ones, for sure … just about the basics of fishing with a streamer.  I picked up two Sculpzillas — one black, one tan — for Sunday morning’s trip to the South Platte.  

 

About mid-morning, I tied on the black Sculpzilla and cast it out into a deep pool.  I retrieved it across the current and watched its erratic and enticing movement in the water.   The second cast I felt the unmistakeable hit of a pretty good sized fish.  He went deeper into the pool, then I turned him with few quick strips.  A few minutes later, I was taking the streamer out of the mouth a hefty rainbow.  My first fish landed with a streamer.  I watched him head deep into the pool again after the release.

 

It’s great to have one more option in the fly box.  As we head into the cooler water temps in the late summer and fall, I have one more choice to go to for some great fall fishing.