By Tom Apps
17 April 2010 10:45
It's spring time in the Rockies, and I figured that my son and I would go do some fishing in the Blue River (Blue River Unit) (see on map) just north of Silverthorne, Colorado.
It was the perfect day to go fishing – temperatures were going to be in the mid-60’s, and it was early enough in the year where the trout were really getting hungry from being dormant all winter long. Even at that altitude the mayflies and bugs weren’t out yet which meant that fishing ought to be pretty good.
The one thing I have learned from fishing the rivers and streams in the mountains is; when you fish in early to mid-spring and there is still ice shelves on the banks – fishing is usually pretty good. I have come to a conclusion that when the habitat is just right, the fish are just waiting for that little minnow to come by for them to snatch up and eat. That being said, something told me while walking down to the river that it should be a productive day of fishing.
(Here is a picture of the ice shelves along the side of the river – in case you were curious...)
Well – it wasn’t too long into the day that my son (Brandon) landed this beautiful brown trout. The pattern and colors of the fish were just blaring. The red dots along the length of the fish were so vibrant that it looked like the fish had little ‘bulls-eyes’ all over the sides.
Not 20 minutes or so later (and losing a couple Rapala’s) – I landed this absolutely amazing rainbow trout. When I hooked the fish it was probably only 12 feet away. At first I thought that maybe I had a snag on a branch that was submerged under the water, as there was no thumping or bobbing on the line. Of course I was thinking “well, there goes another lure”. Then after reeling it in some more I started to see the silver-flash of the body, but even at that point I didn’t realize it was going to be as big as it was, because I was reeling the fish up through a pretty strong current in the river. Once the fish reached the top of the water, I was in shock. Once I saw the size of this trout I was scrambling to get the fishing net that was hooked to the back of my fishing vest. I must have looked like I was losing my mind to any onlookers – trying to keep my balance on the slippery rocks in the water while pulling my fishing pole over my right shoulder trying to get this fish in a net that seems to be too small to hold this beautiful rainbow trout.
Once I got home, we measured the fish at 25 ¼ inches, and could only guess that the fish weighed somewhere between 7 and 8 pounds. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that such an amazing fish could be caught only an hour or so from Denver.
In case you are wondering – the Rapala that we were using was the Original Floating Rainbow Trout Rapala.
Enjoy your fishing, and I hope that your fishing trips are as productive as mine have been already this year!
Regards,
Tom.