Knowledge

I stopped in my local fly shop the other day to see a friend. He had customers to deal with and I was waiting around. A customer made some comments about our local creeks. I interjected into the conversation some history to when things happened. Another statement disparaging a stream and another interjection from me on what has gone on with the creek. Ok, so number one I should just shut up and leave people be. The other side of the conversation got me thinking. It's total crap that local anglers and often shop staff know nothing of the plight of our local streams. Hell, one river with a damn goes through FERC re-licensing, and locals lobby for stream improvement money, the money gets tied up for a few years and finally gets used and nobody even knows about it. Local anglers go to great lengths on in-stream flow standards and water swaps yet most anglers are totally unaware of the work they benefit from. So how do you change this? I do think shop employees have to be up on this stuff. This is where they eat, learn it. I also think our TU chapter has to do a better job marketing it's successes. You could save 10 rivers but if nobody knew they were saved they probably wouldn't help or appreciate the effort. I think I have a small task of seeing where to take this.

On the flip side, you are not an angler or sportsmen if you are not involved in conserving your local opportunities.

On the work bench I've finally glued up Tom's rod, Jeff's and 2 more Big Creeks. Looking to plane out a 8' 3pc FE Thomas and 2 variations on the Big Creek taper. Should have some real cool fly reel work coming from Shamburg soon. I've got 2 cool projects with him on a S-handle for a presentation rod and trout version of his St Mark.

Cheers, Shawn

Lots of planing ahead

So, I figured I better get a post up about the latest rod work. 17 rods on the bench, all at the stage of scraping enamel and planning. The best part is the Morgan Hand Mill is just about set up and ready to crank out some rods. With the MHM I decided to build a bench in the basement for planning and gluing.

Here's a list of what's on the bench
Blond 2/1, 7’6” Big Creek 4wt -Jeff Erb
Flamed 2/1, 7’3” Big Creek 3wt – SB
Flamed 2/1, 7’0” Quad 4wt, taper TBD (modified Roger 5wt?) - SB
Flamed 3/1, 8’ FE Thomas Special 4wt - SB
Flamed 2/2, 8’ Freestone 6wt – SB
Flamed 2/2, 8’ Freestone 6wt – Rudy
Flamed 2/2, 7’6” Big Creek 4wt – Alex
Flamed 2/1, 7’6” Quad 5wt (Roger rd2) – SB
Flamed 2/2, Freestone 5wt – Kai
Lt Flame 2/1, 8’4” Freestone 8wt (Carp/Pike rod)- SB
Lt Flame 2/2, 8014 Dickerson or 212E Garrison – Lasse
Lt Flame 2/2, 8’ Freestone 6wt Quad - SB
Blond 3/2, 11’6” Spey 7wt – JD
Lt flame 3/2, 11’3” Spey 6wt – SB
Blond 3/2, 11’6” Spey 7wt – SB
2/1 8’ Granger Replica
2/1 Edwards Quad

Fishing with Grandpa

Harley caught this guy about 100 yards from the takeout of the float.

New boots

I finally tossed a pair of old hiking boots. They were beyond repair. I had glued down the leather a couple times just because I would always forget to buy new boots in time for the next back packing trip. It was interesting to look at the boots and think of where they had been. I only bought them because I had forgotten to take my old favorite Merrel Long trails with me to New Zealand. I spent 2 months hiking all over the South Island in those boots. They had gone to Argentina, Solvenia, Norway, Thailand and all over the west. Trips for my first steelhead, and on down the list. It was cool to think of all the adventures and places. I never expected a cheap pair of boots to survive as long as they did. It's nice to know I got my monies worth, but way cooler to know that I earned the wear on those boots through all the adventures.

Bangkok Dangerous

You ever see that bad action film with Nicolas Cage that takes place in Bangkok? You know, the real bad one when his career was truly in the tank, it was released in theaters but was a true “B-film”? Nope, me neither. I just like the title of the movie.
So if you know my stories about Bangkok, yes it can be a dangerous city. It can be a ton of fun too. So finally on my fourth visit I have a chance to line up some fishing for Barramundi and some of the other larger species of fish. I had caught carp and small cichlids when I lived in Thailand but nothing that was notable. This Sat the goal was to go after some of the more noted fish.
I left Denver at 7pm Friday and caught a 17 hour direct flight into Bangkok. I landed around 6am and taxied over to my hotel. The fishing guide, Mark, meet me at 10 am. Was I jet lagged? Yes, I just spent 17 hours on a plane, but I knew was that I was going fishing. I had always wanted to get a shot at an Arowana, but the water for Sat didn’t really have much for that. We headed over to a Barramundi hatchery. Yes, I was basically fishing a fish hatchery, a small pond with 2000 fish in the 6-15 lb range. No it’s not sporting, but it’s not like I was going to line up these opportunities on my own. So we start out with bright streamers on heavy wire. The gill plates are apparently very sharp. We are talking a fish on every cast kind of stuff. As long as you knew how to bury a hook on a strip set, you were fine. Caught a bunch that way. Barramundi are a fun fish to fight. I’m using an 8wt and they have a ton of pull. The leaps they make are amazing. Largemouth bass style but much bigger fish. One fish leapt 8’, seriously 8’ up in the air. Pretty cool stuff. (I’ll post videos when I’m home.) So after hooking plenty I went to a surface popper to get them on top. This was more like a fish every 2-3 casts. You would throw the fly out and start working it aggressively and then let it pause. Sometimes on the pause the Barra would crush it, sometimes while it was still moving. These fish are so big that any time they took from the surface they were startling. It was epic. The water had no visibility so you had no warning to the take. After plenty of this, we went back into town to hit the Amazon fishing park to finish the day. The goal was to target a red-tailed catfish or an Arapaima, or both. I spent an about an hour slinging flies with a sinking tip and some good movement from fish nearby with no luck. No bumps or anything. I switched back to a floating tip with an Autumn Splendor about 18” from the tip. I needed the fly to sit near the surface where the baitfish why. About 10 minutes in with the floating tip I had a fish take. I stripe set hard and the fly comes out of his mouth. Huge lurch on the surface and I’m just in shock. Can’t believe I finally stung something but that I missed it. Dejection. I talk to Mark for a minute and toss the fly back out. Bam. I’ve got one on the next cast but I didn’t get a chance to set the fly on the take so I go and give the rod about a dozen hard jerks to bury the fly. Mark looks at me worried after I do it 3 times. Now the fight is own. We see that it’s an Arapaima quickly and get set for this being a big fight. I have him on 1x and a stiff 8 weight. He fought hard for about 10 minutes plus, maybe 15. I’m exhausted. From the fish earlier in the day and the total jet lag is finally catching up. Just worn down. The fish would be close and then take all the line out again. We finally worked him close and netted him. That fish was a beast.

Bowed out

So with wrapping up school this spring it was time to close a chapter. I had long ago decided it was time for me to bow out of the CU FF club. This fall I realized that if I kept with it for 4 more years I could say I had coached for it for half my life. It is time, or past due in some eyes I'm sure. So after 14 years of corrupting young minds to fly-fishing at CU, this is my exit. Below is my farewell/thank-you email to some of the main leaders/contributors from the past 14 years. If it weren't for students that had such a strong passion for fly-fishing and sharing that knowledge, it would have never been.

Hey Guys,

This May marks the end of my tenure with the club. Like my brother said before getting married, “It was a hell of a run”. Please feel free to pass this on to other friends from the club that I have missed. Call me this summer and let’s fish.

Shawn

It’s been an interesting spring to look back and think about the adventures and friendships that came out of the last 14 years. To think I’m associated with some of the delinquents to come out of the club. I thought I was doing pretty well by dropping out of school to live out of a car in New Zealand, and then others walked away from good jobs to live like a vagabond through Argentina. Some had crazy dreams of their own outfitting business or stream restoration. Some wanted to save the world while others were corrupted into a life of guiding and never willing to bow down to the Man. Some went to become published authors, others swore to a life by the fly, casting bait-fishing aside. I saw the dreams of doctors crushed under the love for fishing dry flies. Good honest students that become junkies, addicts and bums. Living in squalor to buy the next rod, selling textbooks for waders. Men became fishing guides and leaches on society. Huddled behind vises in dark corners at night. Trying to get a dozen flies tied before the keg'r next door. Ruining relationships to get the next fix. Angering Mom and Dad with the abandonment of classes. Casting girlfriends aside to head south of the equator. These were all great students, the future of America, what happened? Who do you blame?

For the last fourteen years the CU Fly-fishing club has been here through highs and lows working hard to corrupt the minds of young students. It has been a pleasure to be part of it for those years. You know it’s a good run when old friends remind you of stories you’ve completely forgotten. Rafts that busted mid float and holes in boats. All night drives to the Green and the Horn. Sleeping in unfinished houses because we were cheap. Dozens of busted rods and endless big fish. Kitchen tables covered in fly tying material and the countless innovations tested on local streams. Conservation projects with the local TU chapters and volunteering with youth education. The CU club has achieved a ton over these years and has become integral to the Boulder Fly-fishing community.

It’s been an honor to be part of the club for so long. I’ve learned so much from all of you. I cherish the friendships the most that have come from the club. Things were never perfect and I was often busy, but getting to see so many kids grow at fly-fishing was always a pleasure. I can’t thank all of you enough for your time and dedication to the club.

Cheers, Shawn

High mountain cutts and work

So Jenny, Tom and I went into the mountains in search of some large cutts. We encountered spawning cutts that we left alone and spin fisherman that were interested in raking spawners off redds and bonking them. Run-ins with guys that would kill a 16" cutt are exactly why my email is nobaitfishing. It's tiresome to see people not respect a resource and opportunity. All I see is the greed they display. Plunkers literally waiting to fish the inlet where they are spawning till the current group limits out and leaves. Pathetic. No sport involved.
We did have a great time being back in the high country in some gorgeous terrain. We managed a couple fish but it was tough with most fish focused on getting their groove on.