I went to Colorado this past week and visited a good client and friend.  Since the Keys are like a graveyard I took some time off to go fishing.  I just can’t get enough, and when I travel I always go fishing.  Most of us captains vacation around this time because it becomes very desolate this time of year.  From kids going back to school to hurricanes forming in the Atlantic, people just don’t seem to start coming down till November.  But if you do come down the hotels cut you a break — sometimes you can stay for almost half price!  This is also a great time to fish down here.  You can catch tuna, dolphin, wahoo, loads of bottom fish, and some sails are already starting to show up.  Cobia are starting to show up on the gulf wrecks and permit is showing up, too.

On my vacation, I went to see my buddy Dave Rogers who operates many businesses in the Denver area.  He is the one who designed my web site, which I get many compliments from all of my clients.  His son Tucker took me fly-fishing on the dream stream.  This is a world famous stream with rainbows, browns, and cutthroat and cutbows, which are a hybrid, mix of a rainbow and a cutthroat.  Tucker runs one of the Orvis shops in the Denver area and is an expert fly fisherman.  Tucker is an amazing fly fisherman with skills beyond the pros.  He used to guide, but being a manger for one of Orvis’s best stores, he has no time to pursue his guiding career.

I was a little rusty casting flies, but as the day wore on I seemed to pick up where I left off a year ago, the last time I picked up my fly rod.  Fishing for a living I just don’t seem to get enough time to play with my fly rod.  My first fish was a rainbow about two pounds, but looking at the photos, it looks smaller.  That’s why I hate getting into the photos because I just make fish look small.  Tucker taught me to look for rising fish which are active fish feeding on the hatch.  It is really important to match the hatch, and as the day goes on you have to change your flies to what flies are hatching.  It was raining and cool so the hatches were small.  But as the day heated up more and more bugs started to emerge.  After a long day of catching trout, I went to Wyoming for a couple days of walleye fishing in Glendo.

Glendo is a small town of 229 people, but people travel all over this country for its excellent walleye fishing.  As fishing goes it was slow, but we did catch a few and some carp and catfish.  I got to vertical jig, trolled, and we used flee flies, clackers, and cranks baits of all sizes and colors.  I learned that walleye fishing is hard and lots of work when the fish aren’t biting.  Switching back and forth between colors and different styles we covered it all with little success.  I had a great time spending time with my friends, though, and that’s what really counts.  Catching fish was a bonus.  I have been told that last year during this week it was off the chain and people were limiting out in a few hours.  But this year just like down here in the Keys, the fishing was all mixed up — fish showing up late and leaving early.  We had a great year, but it threw us a curve ball, and made us captains work a little harder to find the fish.

I will be fishing this next week as long as the storms aren’t too bad, so give me a call.  I still have a few days open, but days are slowly filling in.  Don’t forget to consider fishing in the off-season — the fish don’t know that there are less people down here!  So come on down, beat the crowds and save some money coming during the fall.