The Week Of Fishing, Friends, And A Few Firsts

The past week has proven to be everything I love about being a fly fishing guide and this place I call home, The 4UR Ranch. The 4UR Ranch rests quietly tucked on the edge of the Rio Grande National Forest, 8 miles Southeast of the town of Creede Colorado, within the San Juan Mountain Ranges of Southwest Colorado. The ranch has a touch of history, from a summer hideout of the Ute Indian tribe in the 18th century, to the oldest concrete building in the State of Colorado, to a Hot Springs Hotel with healing power whose visiters include a President, Walt Disney, and other celebrities of the times. CF&I (Colorado Fuel and Iron) once mined on the east side of the property looking for feldspar. The mine and it's mark left on the land still stands and looks as though it could fall on any given day the wind blew perfectly hard enough.

The main reason why people visit this piece of hidden history is because of the quiet, gentle creek that flows through the ranch. The ranch has 7 miles of private, fly fish only, catch and release only tailwater(the water below the damn) known as Goose Creek, or simply Goose; it is host to 5 types of salmonids; Rainbow trout, brown trout, brook trout, the hard to find Rio Grande cutthroat trout, and a hybrid fish that is a mix between a rainbow trout and a cutthroat trout know as a cut-bow. Horseback ridding is also offered, but fly fishing on Goose Creek is what attracts most guests. The peak season and peak fishing has just begun...

Stalking big trout is not something I do as a guide unless my friend Shannon comes to the ranch(pictured to the right). People can't fight big fish, they tune out my instructions because they get that big fish syndrome or big fish fever and they try to horse the fish in quickly which causes the line to break. Trout are masters at using the current of the rivers to their ultimate advantage; so it is important to try and navigate the fish through calm waters and let the trout run or else you will never land the fish. In trout fishing we only use 4 pound test line(sometimes less) so it is easy to break a big fish off. It is a patience game with a big trout and people just have a hard time with.

Goose Creek has finally come down to a low enough flow that it is easier to spot fish. Shannon and I love to spot big fish and stalk them. I have fished with him before so we know how to communicate in such a way that this stalking strategy works for both of us. For the three days he was here it was big league fishing. We spotted and then fished for 15 big fish, give or take, and other smaller ones. As I said before, I don't use this approach with anyone when I'm guiding, but this is fishing with a good friend, not guiding. We had a blast! We caught lots of big trout but no real trophy fish. Below is a picture of us releasing one of the bigger fish we landed.

You never forget your first and for fly fishing anglers they never forget their first trout on a fly rod. Every so often one of the perks of my job is introducing someone to fly fishing, particularly, fly fishing for trout. Balancing between frustration and reward is a constant battle as a guide with a new angler, but with an eleven year old boy it is all amplified. Cash(pictured at the top of the page and below), is an energetic, competitive, well-mannered, intense, patient, emotional, a good listener, and just a fun young man to fish with. He came with his Grandparents, four cousins, and his brother and sister. I guided Cash 4 days straight and he wanted to know how long every fish was and it's weight. There was a competition to catch the most fish between the boys so Cash needed this valuable info to boast to his family. Boys will be boys...

Cash struggled at first while his competition showed success, which boiled inside him like a geyser waiting to erupt. Then, he hooked a big cut-bow trout; fighting it well as he listened to the instructions I was yelling, when suddenly the fish ran him under a rock and broke free. The geyser then erupted and a few tears were shed. I calmed him down and told him there was a bigger cut-bow 10 feet up stream and he was going to catch it. As a guide you try to avoid promises at all times, but this time I went for it and on his fourth cast, fish on. The intensity built, as the fight lasted a long five minutes, with a few close calls around more rocks; the net would eventually go heavy and the fish was Cash's for that moment in time(Pictured below). A very special moment for both of us.

Cash progressed over the following days with me as his guide and would in the end prove to be the champion amongst his family by landing four more fish than his next closest cousin.