rain, springtime green, and some river gold

Posted on May 25, 2026 by troutondries.com

It was their shoulders, the top of their heads or noses that were breaking the surface. Rarely did I see a mouth gulp or sip the Olives or Pale mayflies. They were mainly on Emergers. It made for challenging angling. I stuck to one fly. No dropper. Low riding and surface piercing patterns: a soggy Usual, Klinks, some soft hackles. Many drifts were ignored/ rejected. Luckily many chances and with that some success.

Everything was green. And the warm sun mixed in with the occasional shower/spring storm made for some amazing lighting on the land and water. It was spellbinding. And the daily weather transitions often kick-started or augmented the hatches.

What was suppose to be a fairly long trip turned into a short five day one as my car engine indicator light came on and stayed on. Kind of unnerving. I was advised to put duct tape over the light so as it wouldn’t bother me and to keep on trucking and fishing. In spite of that “sound advice” I decided to make a premature run for home. I didn’t want to get stranded on some muddy back road, with poor or no cell coverage in the middle of nowhere. Frustrating as heck as the river was alive. It was buzzing. And the wind was never an issue. And because of that I got to explore and fish the lower river more.

On the drive home from this place I always say to myself: “It’s the best hatch river I’ve ever been on”. It’s also incredibly beautiful.

hiding under railway bridge during storm

Road trip: Bwo’s, Blue Jays and Bat flips

Posted on November 6, 2025 by troutondries.com

“The Blue Jays won the bat flip contest hands down. Some of the best ones I’ve seen since Jose Bautista was at the plate. They showed-up, stood tall, faced the payroll Goliaths of the league and slugged it out inning by inning…best attitude, team spirit, comradery and most enthusiastic, loud and appreciative fans…all players winners in my mind…the most entertaining team I’ve seen in a long time “. — Bob

Road trip. Fishing, not Baseball. Last one for the trout season. It’s been sunny and blowing for weeks along the eastern slopes. The two conditions often go together in Autumn. The upcoming weather prediction was for 2 or 3 days of calm and overcast skies. A perfect set-up for a late season Blue Winged Olive (BWO) hatch. So I decided to take advantage of the incoming low front and drove due south in full sun and high wind, and woke up next morning under a heavy sky and best of all calm.

The riverside campground where I stayed in mid-canyon was empty. Harper was left off leash as there was no one around to bother. She chased squirrels and some deer, and nosed the fire pits. Fortunately no skunks showed up when it got dark. Most mornings it was 32f or slightly above. In the afternoon it was 40s or low 50s f. There were a few anglers around and some floaters. The fly shops were open but quiet. A great time to look at angling stuff. Local restaurants were closed.

The night is long at this time of year and daylight short, and dry fly opportunities brief. One or two hours in the afternoon, maybe slightly more, depending on the intensity of the hatch. My first day I experienced a weak hatch. The second day it drizzled a bit, was colder and the sky ominous looking. The hatch was strong. The river section I was on came alive, and I connected with size 18 and 20 parachute BWO dries. Rising trout on November 4th. It was a good day. So good I flipped my fly rod in the air.

Some images…

life ignites

Posted on September 13, 2025 by troutondries.com

AT MY LATITUDE DAYS are noticeably getting shorter. Mornings cooler. The sun archs lower. Shadows are longer late afternoon. Some trees are coloring and shedding their leaves. September has arrived in the Rocky Mountains.

It was 46f (water temperature) at 11:30 am on a nearby mountain stream the other day. It always runs cold. It’s cold in July. It’s cold in August. Same in September. By mid afternoon the creek probably was a few degrees warmer. Maybe it hit the 50f mark, probably not. Some hatches especially the larger Drakes are only suppose to emerge when the water temperature climbs above 50f and into the mid fifties. In the stream I was on Drakes can pop below 50f, some of the large ones and definitely the smaller, Flavs (Flavilinea Drunella). In my experience it just takes sunlight to flood the river bottom. That seems to be the trigger. That’s the spark that gets a really good hatch going in a frigid flow. With the mid-day sunlight the submerged rock clinging nymphs then let go and make their way to the surface. And trout wake-up and begin chasing their ascent, and start feeding on those riding on the surface. The river comes alive. Witnessing it is always special as is searching for the best that the stream has to offer when life ignites…

Standing in a River Waving a Stick

Posted on October 11, 2024 by troutondries.com

“I’m an instinctive caster and use whatever elements of the formal casts I need to get a good drift. I think it’s best to be inventive and flexible…I’ll cast upstream, downstream or sideways; whichever direction gets me the drift I want.”– John Gierach, Author, Trout Bum

SOME NIGHTS HAVE BEEN COLD. I HEAR the furnace kicking-in in the wee hours. Rivers are cooling down. There are fewer late afternoon rising fish. They are retreating. Bottom hugging. The big sleep is coming. I just read John Gierach passed away. A big loss. If you are a fly fisher you know whom I talking about.

A few season end images. It has been a good one. Glad I covered a lot of moving water. Glad I stood in a river and waved a stick….

untamed

Posted on August 20, 2024 by troutondries.com

MID -AUGUST. MORNINGS are noticeably cooler and shadows are longer around suppertime. The Corn truck is parked along the highway. Bears are foraging for berries in the river valleys. All are signs that we are transitioning into late summer. It’s a reminder to “catch it while you can.”

Some photos from recent outings where the trout haven’t been tamed…