The Wild Trout West…Really Picture Heavy
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Finished my 6 wks of 70-80 hr/wk studying took my test and it was off to explore the wild trout west.
Here was the game plan.
Leg 1: The Black Canyon of the Gunnison (Thanks for the help Timmy P)
Drove 19 hrs in the ol’ man’s truck arrived at the rim of the canyon around 3 pm. Started unpacking
We set out on the trail down to the river 2700 ft in about 2.7 miles. My legs started shaking at about 1/2 hr in to the hike and my toe nails were bruised for 5 solid days. The trail is NO joke.
After about 2 1/2 hrs of straight down…apparently nobody had heard of switchbacks when they made this trail. But we finally made it down to this…The Gunnison.
Probably slept for 15hrs that night but woke up to find these little bastages climbing all over everything.
Couple fish were keyed into them.
But the majority were eating the nymphs
So in conversation down there we decided that I might be a bit on the rude side to show up to a friend whom I’d never met’s house at 1 am and smelling like crap and covered in dirt. We somehow talk ourselves into climbing out of the canyon that afternoon. For the first time in my life I “hit the wall” and we made it out just in time to watch the sunset on an unbelievable river.
Leg 2: We grab a painful nap in a cheap hotel and drive down to meet Mr. Aaron Otto! Was pretty pumped to me the legendary AO and the man lived up to the hipe that’s for sure! Generously opening his home to me and my buddy Britt and letting us bum with him for a couple days.
First day with Otto was nothing short of intense! Woke up at the ass crack of dawn to chase down a couple 3 different species of bass on a local lake.
The name of the game is drive around in the boat till you see rising fish and throw a 40-70 ft shot into the ring and strip it home as fast as possible. It was WAY out of this guys league! I missed a few fish but found out I need some practice chuckin some line!Otto could throw though!
And this is was happens when you can!
So we leave town and head to the NE and some of the best kept secrets in the South West. Again got an education on long casts and perfect presentations! For a couple of amatures it was a test!
The next day we for something that I’ve had a lot of practice w/….drinking some brews.
and shooting the shit. We tried to fish a bit but it really wasn’t happening.
That evening we were joined by the family which was an absolute blast! Otto is a lucky lucky man…had a ton of fun w/ the whole crew!
Here’s a cow I saw that day.
The last day with AO we opted for the a little spring creek that I couldn’t get to again if I wanted to! It’s way off the beatin’ path but it was a lot of fun! Who knew AZ looked like that?
Did a little hunting for bugs
Caught a couple beautiful Apache Trout too.
It was time to say good bye to our new friends and head back north. Otto just want to thank you again kind Sir for opening your home to us and showing Britt and I why you love AZ so much! Congrats on CatchMag too my friend hope that opens many doors for you!!
Leg 3: The San Juan. It was the first test for the our new pontoon too! This famous piece of water was absolutely amazing for us. Caught some unreal fish got in education on how to fight BIG fish on 7x and size 22 flies. Needless to say we may have lost some of the biggest trout of our lives but the fishing was so great we quickly forgot!
I’ll be back on the Juan soon…one day was just not enough!
Leg 4: Was family time. Headed to Canon City CO to meet up w/ my uncle and his two little boys for a couple nights camping and fun w/ hoppers.
Had a great time as usual with those guys and saw some really neat countryside!Leg 5?: We went to see if we could catch greyling in Northern CO. Went to a couple known hideouts but all we found were these guys.
and these guys
I wasn’t crying!
Leg 6: Meet up w/ Corey and Doug to float the Green. Holy crap! The Green was so damn beautiful I couldn’t believe it! Doug and Corey are two of the best guys I have EVER fished w/. My stomach is still sore from laughing at those two. They are a couple of buds that really know how to have a great time and make the best of EVERY situation! I don’t have to say anything about either of picture taking capabilities but it was a blast watching these guys work.
These things had me creepin out like a 6 y.o. girl but there were some fish keyed in thats forsure.
Corey and Doug I really want to thank you two a lot for letting us tag along on your float! Had an unreal time w/ you boys and hopefully we can do it again real soon!
Ok so I know I probably didn’t do it justice but man did I have a great time! If you would like to check out some more pix here’s the link and I apologize in advance for all the spelling mistakes I have to get outside and enjoy the beautiful MN weather before I start back to school on Monday. Have a happy 4th everyone!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Luckycatch13/WildTroutWest#slideshow/5353434382415014162Lee
Awesome trip Lee!!! Thanks for the invite to fish and putting Utah on the itinerary. Was awesome to fish with you again and to meet and fish with Brit. Yeah, there were some memorable comedy moments forsure … Put me on the sticks and damn near anything can happen! LOL! 😀
Edit … I can see all the pics.
Edit2 … I forgot to say ‘damn nice pics’!Epics are made not had. Your report captures that my friend. Well done on the photography too, some of the best yet!
From north to south and back again, I sincerely hope the desert was all you hoped for. Sorry I couldn’t join you for more of it.
You are exceptional, and Pffft about the casts. They will come with time, no worries.
Both you and Brit are welcome in my home anytime.
Until October your friend,
A
PS thanks for posting H, He will get a kick out of that tonight. He’s been asking about you guys since you left.
Wow, what a trip! Awesome report Lee, thanks for sharing it. It looks like you had an absolutely amazing time. I’m gearing up for an epic trip myself and your report definitely got me even more pumped to hit the road than I already was, which is saying a lot. Great stuff Lee.
Thanks,
TimLee your slide show hit the spot man…. some killer shots in there. Not sure what the hell is going on with the ‘red bag’ shot but I really like how it came out!!
I’m heading down to the Green in a few days. Between yours, Cor’s and Mr. Barnes stuff I am so pumped!
Thanks for postin’!
Oh to be young again!
Exactly
Nice stuff Lee.
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