The weather was more than perfect compared to most days at the DS. Little wind, off-and-on cloudy/sunny skies and temperatures hovering around freezing made the day that much more enjoyable. The lack of a crowd was surprising too.

Lately, I have been addicted to throwing throwing streamers. I even said to my buddy while gearing up, “It’s a streamer day all day today.” But after about an hour of nada, I ate my words and switched to a nymph rig. My choice was rewarded with an almost non-stop bite! The fish were not dreaming today. One fish after another aggressively took my presentations. There is nothing on Earth quite like hooking into multiple 20+in. fish within minutes.

Enjoy some sweet photos (not too bad for my new camera phone!)

While I was on Isla Holbox a while back I took this series of images of the most beautiful sunset I had ever witnessed. Hopefully, you can see and feel just a little of what it was like to be there surrounded by such an amazing display.

Enjoy!

Check out some animations I made in a semi-time lapse style. Unfortunately, I am a photographer without a tripod (thanks theives). So I improvised and experimented with Photoshop CS3 to align and animate the images. Enjoy.

No Tripod!

The tree is alive and growing!

Oh my...

Early the next morning I sat in the bus station waiting to board the bus for a four hour speed bump filled ride to Chiquila. Once off the bus, with a new found respect for the guy who got on a little late and had to ride standing for 4 hours, I hopped the ferry to Isla Holbox. While I looked around to gain my bearings, it hits me, I have walked into a new world. Small boats in the very small harbor were my first sign that I was in a rare place. The next was my ability to look right through the downtown area and see the opposite side of the island, the exact spot where the Caribbean Sea meets the Gulf of Mexico. I felt the release that you feel when you finally realize you are on vacation.

After a minute of just standing there in awe, and sweat. I grabbed a taxi (golf cart) to my hostel Ida Yuleta Camping. I walked in and saw one of the coolest hostels in one of the hottest places on Earth. After looking at the tents and the dorms, I decided the big tent would be the best choice for me and my gear. At $90 pesos per day I couldn’t resist. After dumping my stuff in the tent I immediately ran to the beach and jumped in the sea. I turned around and looked at the beaches of Isla Holbox stretching for miles in both directions away from a town built mostly since Hurricane Wilma all but wiped the Palapas style architecture away. I soaked in a shallow sandy sea that stays shallow hundreds of yards along a shore lined with an amazing array of shells. This is exactly where I wanted to be.

That's my tent!

Seeing this during what was already a spectacular sunset almost took me to my knees in tears. Pure Beauty.

I have found where I want to be.

A very friendly Flamingo

I will never forget this sunrise.

Rafael, my guide, cut the motor jumped on the casting platform got the 12wt ready to go for me, put the rod in my hand, and said “cast, cast!” I stood on the casting platform on the bow of a 24″ boat in open water, casting to a school of charging Tarpon surfacing for baitfish and cruising in a pack directly at me. I put a cast right in front of the group. Stripped a few yards of line. and felt the tug of a large fish taking my fly. Rafael had told me to really “bury” the hook when setting the fly. So I pulled as much line as I could hard with my left hand while side setting the rod as forcefully as I could. Miraculously, the hook buried itself in the one square inch of soft mouth between the bone hard lips of the adult Tarpon. The fight was on.

Fighting the big one.

My 100+lb. giant Tarpon

My boat for the fly fishing excursion.

Does anyone want to invest in these guys with me?

Shot with my Coolpix P6000 using the macro mode.

The weekend was spent enjoying my new neighborhood with the air filled with the sounds of truly creative independent music. That creative energy got under my skin. On the final day I decided to bring the camera and have a little fun while watching one of the last ever shows by Everything Absent or Distorted.

It was a great time.

Check out the photos below for a glimpse of the UMS…

My plan for the 5th, 6th and 7th was to drive and hike deep into the wilderness of Colorado, relax in the great outdoors and catch a few large trout, specifically of the Cutthroat variety. I got in the car at 4:20AM Sunday morning and hit the road. Watching the rising sun follow me into the mountains over Loveland and Vail Pass awoke my mind and my spirit. The misty morning clouds and fog just getting hit with the sun’s diffused rays over Vail created an amazing sunrise, and the most beautiful rainbow that will not be forgotten. Four and a half hours outside of Denver I arrived at the trailhead ready to go. My backpack was already packed and ready to go. I went from car to trail in under three minutes. The three mile hike up to the lake revealed an amazingly green Colorado with the most wildflower blooms I have ever seen. I felt like the luckiest man alive to be fortunate enough to experience such amazing scenery. I thought about everyone in their cars stuck in traffic. All of the people who will never see such places if not for a postcard. I want to bring this beauty home, to show people that we have a choice. The choice of continuing our path of destruction on this Earth or we can become one with our surroundings again. Let’s live with the Earth, not just on it. My contemplation, and fast hiking led me to my now favorite place in Colorado. As I crested the last ridge, the lake and surrounding mountains came into view. What a sight! I knew right away this place was special.

I found my spot and dropped pack. Before I knew it, my fly rod was in my hand and I was tossing flies into this lake that supposedly holds big fish. The fishing started out slow. Cast after cast, nothing. I had heard they were in here, but where were they? Maybe I was on the wrong side of the lake I thought. It was time for a little exploration. Around the lake I went, with millions of mosquitoes and gnats in tow. I felt like Pigpen from the Peanuts! I was glad I brought that super power bug juice. The amazing scenery made up for the annoyance of the pests. I just didn’t care. I was content to say the least. Once around the lake near the outlet, I spotted a large trout cruising freely in the shallows munching on the thousands and thousands of bugs that grow and hatch out of this lake. Slowly, I snuck up as close as I could without being spotted, prepped my line and cast towards the monster. The fish turned, followed my fly closely, looking at it from multiple angles, and decided not to eat. I cast again, this time a little closer. I twitched the fly in front of the fish and watched as he opened his mouth and sucked in my fly. I set the hook and the fight was on! After about three or four minutes of strong fighting I brought one of the most beautiful Cutthroat Trout I have ever seen in person to my net. After a couple of photos I revived this brute and sent him off to fight another day. That afternoon I caught only one other fish. It wasn’t until the nearly full moon rose over the mountains that night I had the idea of night fishing. I had never fly-fished at night before. I had heard the results could be good. So I went for it. I put on my headlamp switched to stealth red light mode and tried not to trip on my way back down to the shore. Four casts later and I was hooting and hollering with another large trout hooked on the end of my line. How a fish can see an almost all black colored fly at night under water still brings me awe. That night I caught my personal best Cutthroat and Brook Trout. Casting a fly rod at night reminded me of the scene in Point Break when they were surfing at night. It was all about the feeling. I felt my casts were actually better at night in the dark than they are when I can see what I am doing during the day!

After a late night of non-stop big fish action, I made my way back down to the car so I could explore some of the areas other fishing hot-spots. I wasn’t disappointed. I upped myself from the night before with this larger than life cutthroat, caught on a dry!

What a summer so far! I hope to be fortunate enough to see more beauty like I did this trip. And to do it with the people I love.

With Alicia in California and Aaron off on a couples only weekend in the Flattops, I was itching to get out and do some high lake exploration. After consulting Colorado Lake Finder in conjunction with Google Earth, I devised the plan of attack. Two lakes at about 12,200ft. were the target. Lake Finder showed significant stocking over the past few years. Google Earth showed a moderate hike in that can be accomplished in under two hours.

Leaving my house in Denver at 5:15AM delivered me to the trail-head at 7:00AM (thanks to the poorly timed one-lane construction zones!) The beauty of Colorado can overwhelm sometimes. The morning light on a crisp summer day took over my mind and released all stresses. I arrived at the lake a new man about 9AM. There was only one other person out this early. He was setting up a sweet little float boat. Think a mini raft with kayak oars. I said hello and worked my way around to one of the inlets. I would find out later the guy was the founder of Colorado Lake Finder, Alan. Lakefinder is a program that can tell you all you need to know about any Colorado mountain lake. Thank you Alan.

Immediately, I spotted a pair of nice sized Cutthroats cruising the shallows. There were a number of fish rising on this gorgeous morning too. My excitement built. I had found the lake I had been looking for. I geared up and tied on a egg sucking leech pattern that worked well in other high lakes earlier this year. After about an hour of casting I had nothing. They must not want the deep fly. On goes the hopper dropper rig with a pheasant tail dropper. Another hour of casting and a full loop around the lake, nothing. What does any fly fisherman do when nothing else works on spawning fish? Tie on an egg pattern. So I did. About a half-hour later as I was making my way along the bank I had a major hit. Too bad the leviathan snapped my 5X leader! Could have been the Cutty of the year. I’ll never know. At about 1PM I decided to head out and beat the weather down to treeline. If not for the beautiful scenery I would have been upset about the skunking the lake handed me.

Once back to the car my desire to feel a trout on the end of my line started to take over. Where could I go? Then I remembered the creek along the road looked very promising. There were a few beaver ponds and a meandering creek along the stretch I decided to jump into. My choice was rewarded with non-stop action on dries! These fish were hitting flies as big as they were! I caught a three inch Brook on an inch and a half hopper! The stench of the skunk was gone. I only fished for about a half-hour before the weather chased me down the hill and back into Denver. My experience on Guanella Pass was one to remember, and hopefully not the last this year.

Enjoy. Yes, there will be more…