While I make my home in northern Colorado, I’ll never have one of those fancy green and white “Native” stickers on the back of my fish wagon. When I moved here two years ago, I fully expected that I’d need to change my trout-chasing tactics a bit, pick up a few new flies, and generally adjust my expectations before hitting the river. A few days on the water showed that I may have underestimated the differences. But I’d like to think that I’ve evolved as a fisherman to the point where fishing is more than just catching fish: trout fishing, specifically fly fishing in moving water, is fascinating to me in large part because it a constant learning experience. The river, the weather, and trout change on a daily basis, necessitating an evolution on the part of the angler. And what better way to ramp up the learning curve than to load up the truck with various sundry rods, reels, flies, and other equipment and move halfway across the country? . Read the full article

        Such an obscure and chronologically imperfect notion is winter. It can begin early or late, but rarely, if ever, on time.  Personally, I mark its appearance by the date I stop wearing one layer and move to two or three or more. Snow does clarify things, however.

         I once fished a lake with a buddy and his lab in the San Juan Mountains .  We were at over eight thousand feet in pouring rain.  It was bitter cold and fog had settled in.  The mountains were cloaked and the sun was long gone.  We were the only ones out.

        Time to launch, all loaded up, all but Rio , who was squeamish about jumping into a boat.  ‘Rio! Load up! Rio ! Rio !’ Brian called.  Something was holding her back.

       ‘Rio! Now! Load up!’

        The lab launched into the boat and directly onto Brian’s rod.  The tip cracked and flew into the water. Nothing was said.  Rio and master walked back up the ramp in silence.

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We are here to argue the case for carp. By now you’ve probably heard of a few
folks tossing flies for carp, probably heard all kinds of great things about
them, the carp that is. But you haven’t gone yet. Why, we ask. Mindset? Maybe
you remember your dad or granddad telling you those fish were no good. Or maybe
your fishing buddy is one of those guys who just won’t even entertain the idea
of fly fishing for carp. Perhaps you heard that these fish are real tough to
catch; nobody likes to get skunked. So you might have some interest in this, but
you’re really not sure. This is our chance to convince you to get fresh blood in
your fishing, some new opportunities to do something different. Please join us
aas we point out the carp’s high points, and some tactics for catching them.. Read the full article

The Whitefish Clouser was shown to me by a friend who guides on waters close to Dillon, MT. He tied the fly to be used as both weight and as an attractor when nymphing in waters that held a large whitefish population. After a few months he noticed that most of the large fish his clients were catching had actually eaten the Whitefish Clouser instead of the smaller, more imitative nymph that trailed it. I have had a lot of success with this fly all over the West in both rivers and stillwaters. I am particularly fond of it in high water, either during spring runoff or when fishing a tailwater just after flows have been raised. An added bonus to this fly is that it rides hook point up so it is far less likely to snag the bottom than a fly that rides hook point down. The epoxy head helps the fly sink to the bottom quickly and gives the fly the durability needed to stand up to sharp teeth of numerous big fish. Because of the epoxy head, the fly is best tied on a rotary vise. Try dead drifting a Whitefish Clouser next time you find yourself in a river loaded with whitefish and see if you can entice a large trout to take advantage of an easy meal. Read the full article

I have a rule when it comes to tying attractor flies: whatever is good can be made better by using Ice Dub. Ice Dub is a synthetic, flashy dubbing made by Hareline that adds a ridiculously effective trout-catching glow to any fly. They should have called it trout crack dubbing. I use it everywhere - Stimulators, Humpies, stoneflies, midges, scuds, saltwater flies; I could go on. The Renegade is one of my favorite summer attractor patterns for both rivers and lakes, so the logical step for me was to add Ice Dub and make an already good pattern even better. Besides substituting peacock Ice Dub for natural peacock herl, I also replaced the gold tag with a red Ice Dub tag. The red offers a nice contrast with the rest of the fly and I always seem to have luck with red flies, especially in high country lakes and small streams. I will often fish this fly by itself as a dry, but you can just as easily add a small dropper if you want to fish two flies. One of my favorite ways to fish this fly is subsurface in high country lakes. I like to trail this fly 20” off the back of a big Copper John or other heavy nymph that will sink and cause the Renegade to sink as well. Once it gets a few inches below the surface, I strip the flies back with short, slow retrieves. I always have a good assortment of these flies in my box because they have proven time and again to take fish. Tie a few up and see if they don’t do the trick for you next time you are on the water. Read the full article

If you are like me, you probably spend a lot of time browsing the virtual fly fishing world when life prevents you from actually being on the water. As a guide, this happens less often to me than most, but I still make time to regularly visit several fly fishing websites to see what’s going on. Here in the Rocky Mountains we are lucky enough to have some of the best fly shops in the country, and many of them have top-notch websites. Here are five of my favorite fly shop websites that you should bookmark and visit often.   Read the full article

The annual regional fisheries newsletter for the Upper Snake River Region.  From Idaho Fish & Game.  Read the full article  (PDF File)

How does your approach to guiding differ from other guides you know?

I think most guides and a lot of anglers fall into the "monkey see, monkey do" method of angling.  It's easy to learn at the local shop what flies might catch a few fish.  The angler or guide can then copy where others are fishing and how they are fishing.  Combining the two will usually result in some success.  Instead, I like to take bold chances.  Whether bold is defined as some crazy fly that defies conventional thinking for a place and time, or a certain piece of water that can be good, but often is not.  Occasionally I get burned.  However, by taking chances, I've uncovered a wealth of information, and gotten into some of the best fishing I've ever seen. 
. Read the full article

CFB has been open for about 2 years now, but you've been involved with the Fly Fishing Industry alot longer than that.  What did you do before CFB?

Well, I have been a commercial fly tyer for most of my life, starting when I was about 12, and tied flies for most of the shops in the Denver area at one time or another.  For several years there I tied between three and five thousand dozen flies per year.  It gave me a great chance to become a very fast and efficient fly tyer.  As odd as it sounds to the average tyer, I really enjoy a big order of flies...I like to sit down and just go on auto-pilot for a few hours to unwind.  Weird, I know. I was also a guide on the South Platte and Colorado Rivers for about 12 years, I have taught fly tying classes for about twenty years or so now and I worked in a few different fly shops along the way, so opening CFB was just a natural progression for me.  I have always dreamed of having my own shop and now I do. It’s great fun and I am very proud of how it has turned into such a success.. Read the full article 

I believe trout in heavily-pressured Western waters grow accustomed to seeing the same flies over and over, so I am constantly looking for patterns that other anglers aren't using. The Biot Bug is one of these patterns. In larger sizes, it can be used to imitate a variety of mayfly nymphs, while the smaller sizes make great midge imitations. I keep a variety of Biot Bug color combinations in my box, including black, olive, red, and brown, and tie them as large as a size 16 and as small as a size 20. While I will use this fly in a two fly nymph rig, I have found it particularly effective as a dropper under a dry fly when sight fishing in shallow water. Tie up a few Biot Bugs and see if they don't do the trick for you the next time you find a fish that won't eat a Copper John or Pheasant Tail.  Read the full article

While the Bull trout now occupies just a fraction of its historical range, identifying this threatened species can still be very difficult because of its close resemblance to both the Brook and Lake trout that are often found in the same drainages. In many instances the harvesting of the non-native Brook and Lake trout is encouraged to protect Bulls, but differentiating between the species (especially as juveniles) can be difficult because of the similarities. Read the full article

For the life of me, I can’t remember when or where I came up with the Electric Stonefly nymph. What I can remember however, is all the fish I have caught on it. It seems to catch fish everywhere. I always keep a few Electric Stones in my box and find myself reaching for one when I am fishing a new river or when the fishing is slow. I like to fish the Electric Stonefly as the first fly in a two fly rig on a 7.5’ 3x leader. I tie them as big as a size 6 and as small as small as a 12. Try tying a few Electric Stoneflies up and see if they don’t work for you. Read the full article

The Pitzen Knot is a terminal knot, used to attach a fly to the tippet. Once learned, the Pitzen Knot is simple to tie. The primary advantage of this knot is that it is stronger than most other terminal knots. Read the full article

The Bighorn River below Yellowtail Dam has faced challenges in the past, but none were as serious as the good old-fashioned western water fight the river faces today. A decade long drought has reduced Bighorn Lake's levels, and upstream interests in Wyoming want to maintain the reservoir's level at the expense of flows downstream, in essence keeping Wyoming water in Wyoming. The story begins in the 1940s, when the dam was authorized by Congress for the purposes of flood control, hydropower, irrigation, sediment storage, recreation, and fish and wildlife. When construction began in the 1960s, the Bighorn Canyon was flooded to create the reservoir, and farms and ranches and their associated tax revenues were lost to the Lovell, Wyoming area. In addition, businesses that supported these farms and ranches were also lost. The government promised that dollars lost would be more than made up in tourism dollars when visitors flocked to the new Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area with their boats, campers, jet skis and fishing tackle. . Read the full article

How did you get into fly fishing and what was it like growing up fishing on such famous rivers as the Henry’s Fork, Teton, and South Fork?

I started fly fishing when I was too young to remember.  My grandfather on my mother’s side fly fished the waters in the Ashton and Island Park area.  He died when I was only about 6 years old but I was really close to him.  My other grandfather also fly fished and so did my father.  There really wasn’t any other option for me.  I remember getting a spinning outfit as a gift when I was about 12 or so.  I tried it a couple of times but I didn’t enjoy it and eventually gave it away.

Who had the biggest influence on your angling career and why?

My father.  He was the best angler I ever met.  I don’t think anybody enjoyed it more.  Yet he had all of the other responsibilities of life.  He made fishing count among the finest hours of his short life.  He died when I was 21.

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It is hard to believe that less than five weeks before this trip down Interstate 70 would have taken more than two hours, with ski traffic slowing the 65mph stretches to a crawl. My fishing partner and I made the trip to the Blue River in under an hour and fifteen minutes, with hardly a car on the road. It was the beginning of May, which is a great time to fish some of Colorado 's freestone streams and rivers. The mornings have a chill, but the weather always warms with the rising sun, and the water is not yet muddied by runoff. Read the full article