Today was a Landon Mayer Day.  So who is Landon Mayer.  Just the guy who holds the current IGFA Colorado state record for brown trout on 4lb test, measuring 30 inches long and weighing 11lbs caught in Colorado’s Dream Stream.  Landon is also a Federation of Fly Fishers Certified Casting Instructor. He is a speaker and does a great presentation of fly fishing techniques for large trout.

 He is author of fly fishing books and publisher of fly fishing DVDs.  "How To Catch The Biggest Trout Of Your Life".  "Landing the Trout of Your Life DVD." "Weapons of Bass Production DVD".

What is a Landon Mayer Day? Today it was a cold rainy one.  Sometimes it is cold and snowy or just cold during the winter.  Landon fishes on days when only the monster trout and he are out.  Personally I think he is a little "tetched".  But he does catch a lot of big trout that most of us only dream about.  If you want to catch big trout, you  have to go where and when they are.

Reminds me of Del Canty who floated around the Twin Lakes outside of Leadville, CO on an inner tube contraption that later became the belly boat.  Del told me of being out in a snowstorm one time and hooking a big lake trout that towed him around the lake for 2 hours.  Del said that he never did see the trout and that it was deep into the backing twice.  The last time it sounded and headed for the bottom, Del cut the line just before the line hit the spool arbor to keep from pulled under.  

If you are not catching the Trout of Your Life, why not?  Maybe you are not out in the snow or rain with Landon.  Landon’s home waters are Colorado’s Dream Stream between Spinney Mtn. Reservoir and 11 Mile Reservoir and other stretches of the South Platte River.  He can be reached at his website www.landonmayer.com

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Taking digital photos is supposed to be easy.  Most of the time it is.  But not this time.  All I wanted to do was add the date and time stamp to my photos.  The directions to my Pentax Option W30 seemed simple enough.  I read the directions 3 times just to be sure. 

When I arrived at my favorite creek, I read the directions again.  But as usual, the first button I pushed according to the directions brought up the wrong menu.  Oops!  Click the next button.  Wrong menu again.  Oops!  After running through all the menus, I finally got the date and time stamp but the camera was on manual focus and manual drive mode.  Arrgh! @#$.  Never learned how to program my old VCR either.  (Poor Directions on that too)

Deciding fishing was more important than perfect picture taking mode, I left the camera alone and went fishing.  I did get some nice river scenery shots.  The gallery in the sidebar is Bear Creek in Lair Of the Bear Park.  And yes, there are still some bears around the area.  As you can see Mr. Beaver has been building a dam.  This dam is some 100 to 150 feet long.  Effectively, the beaver dam has made a very nice tailwater fishery in the park.  Upstream the water is murky and gray colored.

The next day I read how to reset the menus.  This time the directions worked fine.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
www.110flyfishingtips.com

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A friend sent this to me a while back.  Just thought I would share it with you. It is worth reading again and again.
 
A young man learns what’s most important in life from the guy next door. It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.  

 Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.
"Jack, did you hear me?"  

 "Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It’s been so long since I thought of him. I’m sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said.

"Well, he didn’t forget you. Every time I saw him he’d ask how you were doing. He’d reminisce about the many days you spent over ‘his side of the fence’ as he put it," Mom told him.

"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.

"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man’s influence in your life," she said.

"He’s the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn’t be in this business if it weren’t for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important…Mom, I’ll be there for the funeral," Jack said.  

 As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser’s funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.

 The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time.

 Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture….Jack stopped suddenly.
 
"What’s wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.

 "The box is gone," he said

"What box?" Mom asked.

"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he’d ever tell me was ‘the thing I value most,’ Jack said.

It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.

"Now I’ll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."

It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read.

Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. "Mr. Harold Belser" it read.

Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. 

Jack’s hands shook as he read the note inside. "Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It’s the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch.

Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover.  Inside he found these words engraved: "Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser."

"The thing he valued most was…my time"

Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days.

"Why?" Janet, his assistant asked.

"I need  to spend some time with my son," he said. "Oh, by the way, Janet, thanks for your time!"

 "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away,"

 
Think about this. You may not realize it, but it’s 100% true.

1. At least 2 people in this world love you so much they would die for you.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don’t like you.
4. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
5. You mean the world to someone.
6. If not for you, someone may not be living.
7. You are special and unique.
8. When you think you have no chance of getting what you want, you probably won’t get it, but if you trust God to do what’s best, and wait on His time, sooner or later, you will get it or something better.  
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good can still come from it.
10. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a look: you most likely turned your back on the world. 11. Someone that you don’t even know exists loves you.  
12. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.
13 . Always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better when they know and you’ll both be happy .  Be gentle with the bad stuff.  You will be remembered for your kindness. Compliments catch more friends and you will feel better too.
14. If you have a great friend, take the time to let them know that they are great.  

The internet marketing people talk a lot about how life is just making money.  Life is about more than just making money.  Making and keeping friends is much better than gold. Friends can love you, support you when you need help, laugh with you, enjoy your succesess and triumphs, go fly fishing with you.  Never seen a Franklin bill ($100) do that.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
www.110flyfishingtips.com

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From the ladies of Colorado Women  Flyfishers who fished the Blue River behind the Calvin Kline stores and above and below the foot bridge.  (Editor Note: There is some nice water and some good fish in that area).

Air temperature ranged from mid 30’s to low 40’s with clouds and snow showers all morning.  Afternoon was sunnier.  Official water flow was 170 CFS but river was low enough to wade across in the area behind the shops.

Successful flies were #10 Crane Fly Larva, orange eggs and Mysis shrimp patterns. The ladies were successful on the 29th.  (Editor:  I was hoping for a few colorado fly fishing pictures to add to the post but don’t have any yet.)

My friend, Joan, said the ladies also fished by Deckers, Colorado the last week of March. They fished by the first parking lot and then the one up over the hill.  The fly of the day was the Crane Fly Larva there too.

Charlie’s Fly Box in Arvada, CO has a great photo tutorial on how to tie this pattern. Charlie is a fly tyer extraordinaire.  He also does his own photos. http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/details.cfm?parentID=100

Charlie says the Crane Fly is a giant midge and follows the same larval and adult stages.  In the larval stage, the burrow into the river bottom and are often called large "rock worms".  The larva are from 1 to 3 inches which is a good meal for any respectable trout. In the adult stage, they are known as Daddy Long Legs. 

High water runoff and tailwater releases will wash these tasty morsels out of hiding into the trout’s food chain.  So get going and tie some up.  Then go for the big fish.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,

Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
Fly Fishing Tackle for every need Freshwater and Saltwater.
www.110flyfishingtips.com 
Trout Fishing Tips and Secrets Beginner to Advanced

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Looking for Carp Fly Fishing in the Denver Metro area.  Try the South Platte River near the REI store at 1416 Platte St Denver, CO 80202 (303) 756-3100 View Map and Directions

A story in either the Denver Post or the Rocky Mountain News about 4 years ago told of Barry Reynolds start as a big name in fly fishing.  Barry invited an ESPN producer or editor to go with him to the S. Platte in Denver where Barry spent two hours catching large carp.  Most well over ten pounds.  Result was Barry got his own ESPN show for awhile. Don’t know if the spot was by the REI store or not.   Barry’s Book Carp on the Fly was also a result of these endeavors.

I have also been told a 15 pound carp will put up a great fight.  If you need carp flies, try the Trout Fisher off 6th avenue in the Cherry Creek shopping center.  They are supposed to have good ones.

If any of you readers catch some large carp in the South Platte, please post a comment and send a pic for display if you wish.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
www.110flyfishingtips.com

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A New Fly Fishing Colorado Resource

Thanks to a member of the flyfishcolorado yahoogroups for this heads up. The Colorado Division of Wildlife does a great job of managing a wide variety of species, ranges and streams funded primarily from sales of hunting and fishing licenses.

The Colorado Division of Wildlife has recently released a great resource for both avid and beginner anglers:
"Fly Fishing Colorado" DVD

http://wildlife.state.co.us/wildlifestore/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=D08

It takes a year round calender look at fly fishing events throughout the state and different waters where you can hit these events at the prime times. It’s a valuable resource for in and out of state anglers. All proceeds go to the Colorado Division of Wildlife which is solely funded by the sales of hunting and fishing licenses and NOT state tax dollars.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
www.110flyfishingtips.com

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Yesterday I stopped by the Denver Angler to replace my net seine lost on the South Platte River Monday 3/10.  I was impressed with the clean organized shop owned by Rick Typher.  While there I purchased a net seine that fits in its own pouch attached to the handle of the landing net.  The white soft seine material is fitted with an elastic band to hold it in place over the net for seining insects.  You can leave the seine on the net all day, only removing it to net a fish.  Or you can tuck it safely away in the pouch attached to your landing net handle.  This net seine is quite a handy device.

The Denver Angler is a full service fly shop.  Call 303-405-4512 for fly fishing schools and tying class schedules or to book a guided fly fishing trip.  The shop features Simms Waders and Simms Wading Boots, Korkers Wading Boots and Sage Fly Rods and  Ross Fly Reels among other fine fly fishing tackle. 

The shop is located one block west of I-25 and Arapahoe Road and two blocks south on Yosemite in the Southgate Center (watch for the entrance sign on your left).  Yosemite is the first light west of 1-25 on Arapahoe Rd.  Open Mon - Fri 9am to 10 pm, Sat 9 am to 4 pm and Sun, they are on the water. Directions
Denver Angler
6870 S. Yosemite
Centennial, CO 802
303-405-4512

Tight Lines,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-tips.com
www.110flyfishingtips.com

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