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Written by Donovan Henderson
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Wednesday, 31 May 2006 |
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Page 1 of 7  
The swoosh, gurgle and ripple of the Big Thompson River sounds a promise that all anglers know at their core.
In the calm “hole” on the other side of the stream, or that “seam” where the swifter runoff flows by calmer water, awaits a wiley rainbow or brown trout, whose instincts, habits and tastes etch a blueprint that all fishermen strive to know by heart.
 What’s the right fly for this time of year, this time of day, this temperature of water?
The constant quest for a river’s secrets, combined with the high of communing with Mother Nature, makes for a subtle rush that keeps veteran anglers coming back and immediately hooks the novice on the river for the first time.
“I believe in every cast I’m going to catch a fish. Without a doubt,” Loveland’s Ellen Dailey says. “Why would you cast if you didn’t believe it?”
And that’s the hook: With every cast, there’s the promise of success.
In northern Colorado, there’s a host of brooks, streams, rivers and lakes that afford fishermen of all levels the opportunity to take part in one of the outdoors’ great activities.
I found the thrill of snagging that first fish while on a day trip to Estes Park with Greeley’s Todd Fulton and NEXTnc marketing coordinator Jon Patton. In talking to seasoned anglers, I also discovered that what has kept them enthralled with the sport for so long is the same thing that I felt my first time fly fishing.
Nothing beats that moment when you feel that tug, pull back to set the hook and call out, “Fish on!”
“I FLY FISH WHEN I'M NOT GARDENING”
Dailey has been fly fishing for 20 years, and she exudes enthusiasm when she talks about her connection to the water and to the fish. She is on the board of One Fly Jackson Hole, an annual fishing event in the Wyoming tourist community. She once started a women’s fishing group in New Mexico that grew to 150 members, and she still travels the world looking for her next catch.
She shinned to the sport when she broke her leg skiing and fishing was the lone outdoor activity she could do.
“It was about the only thing that could get me out of the office,” says the former workaholic, who counts gardening among her passions as well.
She’s fished in the same boat with several well-known anglers, the most famous was Wyoming native and vice president, Dick Cheney.
Dailey and her late husband Denny Andersen shared their love of fishing for many years, and their motto came from the Harry Middleton book “The Earth is Enough: Growing up in a World of Flyfishing, Trout and Old Men.”
“There’s always the possibility.”
Time and time again, you’ll find that philosophy is as much a part of fishing as the technique.
LINGO AND LUCK
Nymphing. Emergers. Mending. High sticking. Dropper rig. Point fly.
As Fulton stands in the knee-high water showing me proper technique for a roll cast, terms like those roll off his tongue just as the river churns downstream.
I cast a few times without hitting the mark. Then, with a few minutes of muscle memory under my belt, the fly begins landing where I want it upstream. Close enough anyway.
We both watch as the white strike-indicator floats by, interspersed with white foam bubbles. The current or the bottom forces a bob here and there, but no fish.
Then luck smiles.
I don’t have to sweat three hours without success.
I cast upstream to catch the seam with an emerger fly. After mending my line, I high stick the strike indicator downstream and it runs the full course of my line’s slack. Just as I prepare to recast, boom, there it is.
“Set!” Todd commands.
Just a quick tug and the brown trout is on my hook. I reel, gently, and guide the fish to the side where Todd waits with the net.
My first fish on a fly line.
My inexperience becomes quickly evident. As I hold the 15-inch trout for my obligatory photo, the little bugger squirms out of my grip an into the waiting water.
But we did get the photo.
FISHING WITH FRIENDS
After 10 years of nagging from his friends who fly fish, Flor Lara, 34, of Greeley decided it was time to dive in. He’s done plenty of time on the Green River in Utah doing regular lure fishing.
Now, it’s time to starting learning the art of fly fishing.
He spent a recent afternoon at Garretson’s Sport Center in Greeley buying gear for a trip up the Big Thompson Canyon, not wanting to keep borrowing from his friends.
He settled on a pair of Orvis waders and some gravel guards to keep rocks out of his new boots.
“My friends are good (at fly fishing), but they’re still willing to teach me,” Lara says.
Just by being around them, he’s learned a lot, even the vocabulary. As he talks to Blair Lampe, Garretson’s fly-fishing guru, Lara mentions his “four-weight fly rod.”
So he has picked up a little something around his friends.
“You gotta fake it a little,” he says with a grin. “But out in the field, there is no faking it. Either you learn it or you don’t.”
“A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT”
 Char Bloom says the movie — a Robert Redford film that romanticized the beauty of fly fishing in Montana — heightened men’s interest in fly fishing. Women have since been influenced by the enthusiasm of the men in their lives, and have taken up the sport.
“With women, it’s huge. We are the fastest growing part of fly fishing,” Bloom says.
Bloom is an accomplished fly-fishing guide and she has started her own line of fly-fishing gear for women. She is also the mother of Jeremy Bloom, world champion skier and recently drafted football player of the Philadelphia Eagles.
“As long as you don’t have a physical disability, a woman can get involved in fly fishing. It’s all technique,” Bloom says. “That’s why women can get good at it.”
Formerly of Loveland, Bloom now works primarily in Keystone.
Although the popularity of fly fishing is growing among the ranks of women, Lampe says that interest as a whole has remained steady in northern Colorado for the past several years.
Like Bloom, Lampe is a seasoned fishing guide.
Once novice anglers have a grasp of their technique, and they have some experience reading the water, the next step is to learn some etymology, Lampe says.
A successful fisherman will know what bugs to use where, and at what time of day, and at what water temperature.
THIS IS NO FISH STORY
Like hiking or any other activity that gets you outdoors, fishing provides its surprises. Bloom tells a story that happened when she was guiding. She and her charges watched three river otters tackle some rapids on the Colorado River on their backs. At first, she thought it was just debris floating down the river.
The remarkable part of the story is that the otters got out of the river, ran back up the bank and floated down the rapids again.
“What I love about it is that on any given day, (fly fishing) will give them an experience that they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”
And by the way, the count at the end of my trip: Todd, 5; Jon, 3; and me, 3.
Not bad. Not bad at all.
  
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|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
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|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
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