Best $9 Ever Spent

-- Fishing with Howard --

It all started with a Facebook message a week ago. I had a conference to attend in Broomfield, CO and knew Howard Levett (a.k.a. Windknots & Tangled Lines) lived the next town over. Howard and I have interacted via our social networks for over 3 years. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet and possibly find some time to fish together. Both Howard and I were able to work our schedules to have Friday off and the outing was planned.

Winter Solstice and Holiday Cheer

-- Merry Christmas --

We have reached the tipping point between night and day. A winter solstice for 2012 is finally here. There were plans for wetting a line today, but high winds and downpours gives solitude and reflection a seat at the table.

2012 has been an interesting year. High school to college transition for our son, Matt, a spirited election and a world facing many economic, social and environmental challenges. Where to go from here?

As long as the rivers flow, I know where my direction will be.

As we look forward to more day than night, we wish all hope for a prosperous new year and tug with every cast.

Thanks so much for your continued support and following. I will close with some holiday cheer from Matt's Troutdoors Productions.



Best of Troutdoors 2012 from Troutdoors on Vimeo.

Altitude Sickness

Forgive me for not posting for some time now.

My son, Matt, and his friend, Michael, remixed their video from our Rocky Mountain fly fishing last July.

Makes me want to get back to Colorado very soon.

Update: Michael's remix made the Orvis Friday Film Festival last week! Congratulations, Michael!

Happy Easter and Anniversary

-- Summer Vacation in RMNP --

It's been one year and one day since the birth of the Gin Clear blog - an Experiment in Creativity. A lot has changed in my life over the last year - two jobs, a son heading to collage, a daughter celebrating her 21st birthday and a loving wife, always putting up with my BS who lets me go fishing, was elected to her third term as town selectman.

The highlight of the year was our wonderful vacation in Colorado - our first fly fishing family vacation.

During the year, I've been virtually immersed into a passionate and welcoming social fly fishing community - blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Vimeo, YouTube, Goggle+ - every interaction is positive and supportive. If only the rest of the world was this way.

 I truly enjoy being here. I appreciate that you are actually reading this and occasionally have a nice comment to add. I appreciate the great content everyone in this community shares and contributes. Through your words, images, art, videos and deeds, I see people who care about their families, the environment and the future. It's refreshing.

Happy Easter! Enjoy this special time with your family and friends.

Oh yeah, just like a year ago, the Red Sox are off to a stellar start, 0-2.

Thanks for visting.

Mile High Fly -- The Movie

 -- Director and Cinematographer --

When I was a kid going on vacation, my dad would take hundreds of pictures with his Nikon cameras on Kodak Ektachrome film and create engaging, music synchronized slide shows with multiple projectors. He would spend weeks putting these shows together and finally, on that special night, we would file down to the finished basement, take a seat at the bar, grab a Coke and some popcorn, dim the lights and the show would begin. For the next twenty minutes, we would relive every waking moment of our vacation through the eyes of my father and his Nikon cameras.

While the slideshow would sometimes drag on, I fondly look back at these special family moments of gathering as a simple way to be together, to enjoy each other and laugh about the memories captured on film from our recent vacation.

Four months have passed since our wonderful Colorado vacation in and around Rocky Mountain National Park. In true spirit of the classic vacation slide show, my son and his friend have put together a great video recapping all the highlights of our trip.

Grab a Coke and some popcorn, pull up a seat at the bar, dim the lights and enjoy....



Special thanks to Flies & Fins for the soundtrack.

Living the Dream in Colorado

-- Dream Lake, RMNP --

I was fortunate to extend a business trip to Denver in August of 2010 and got hooked up, through a friend, with a seasoned fly fisher who lived in Boulder, CO. He was gracious, like all fly fishers, to put me on his local secret stream on Friday evening and then take me to Rocky Mountain National Park on Saturday to fish the Big Thompson. He left after lunch and sent me to Dream Lake to chase greenback cuts.

Fish were landed at all spots on that trip and the decision was made to bring the family to Colorado for our first family vacation outside of New England in 2011.

-- One of the millions of Elk in RMNP --

We started early in the day since the trip required a traverse of the park over Trail Ridge Road. What a beautiful road with a plethora of wildlife. Elk, moose, deer, marmots, pika , coyote and even big horn sheep where spotted during the trip across North America's highest continuous motorway, with more than eight miles lying above 11,000' and a maximum elevation of 12,183'. During this first week of July, there was still a good amount of snow as well.

-- Lots of snow on the trail --

We arrived at the Bear Lake trailhead around 9 AM and started the easy trek up to Dream Lake. We had plans to fish Dream Lake until lunch and then continue up to Lake Haiyaha after lunch, but the snow pack and weather changed these plans.



There were many others throwing their lines in the lake and the spot where I had luck last year was being fished by three others. A hike through the snow and steep banks to the back side of the lake brought some solitude to cast to cruising greenbacks with dries and nymphs. They occasionally looked at the flies, but none were taking.

-- My better half casting to cruising greenbacks --

I watched my wife across the lake land her second trout on the fly and first greenback with a Goddard caddis (her first trout on the fly was reported in the previous post and also caught with Goddard caddis - flies tied in prep for our trip).

-- Michael's first greenback --

I decided to hike back around the lake, have some lunch and try my luck on the other side. My son and his friend both got into their first greenbacks and I was the only one yet to land one that day.

-- Matt, my son, lands his first greenback --

-- Cruising greenback --

A spot was picked, the cruising fish saw the size 18 parachute adams and I had my first take but no hookup. As I waited patiently for the cruisers to return it started to rain. As the rain got harder, I climbed back up the steep rocky bank to seek shelter and tie on a different fly. Another fisherman, decided to take this spot as soon as it was vacated, so another location was found as the rain lightened.

-- Greenback cutthroat from Dream Lake --

After a couple of casts with the new fly, I finally brought a greenback to hand. I stayed in that area as a big thunderstorm started to roll in and landed a second. The lighting and thunder was fierce and we found some cover to wait out the storm.

-- Thunderstorm I --

-- Thunderstorm II which inspired us to pack-up and leave --

-- Happy Campers heading down the trail --

After dealing with two intense storms, we decided to pack it in and head back to the car. We all had success at Dream Lake, with the boys and my wife catching their first greenbacks. The trip back included a stop for pizza in Estes Park and then the trek back across the Continental Divide to Grand Lake.

Before I close this post, our prayers go out to a Fly Fishing in NH board member and dedicated conservationist and fly fisher -- Otter. He is struggling with cancer and put up a farewell post this week. I've never met Otter but have been frequently moved by his posts over the years and know he is a wise and very kind soul.

We also would like to wish fellow blogger, Brk Trt, of Small Stream Reflections a speedy recovery from his minor stroke. Get well soon, Alan.

And finally, please pray for the safety and quick recovery of those hit hard by Irene. Our friends to the north in Vermont, were particularly hard hit with flooding and washed out bridges.

Thanks for listening and hopefully I can pick up the pace with some more summer fishing stories.

A view from Gin Clear's better half...

-- A family adventure --

For years, we have vacationed in a quiet, Maine, mountain town. The agenda was always the same--a canoe trip on the Androscoggin, climbing a White Mountain 4,000 footer, fishing mountain lakes and streams and an evening of laser tag, provided the family with a sense of security and relaxation.  Our son, Matt, was about to enter his senior year of high school, and we wanted one spectacular family vacation, choosing Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.  Colorado offered some of the country's finest fly-fishing opportunities.

-- Bait Chucker --

I grew up a bait chucker, fishing for perch in a 16 foot Lyman on Lake Erie.  For four years, I lived on a trout stream in Meshoppen, PA and would take my spinning rod to the water, catching trout and suckers. I put the rod away after an unexpected encounter with a copperhead.

On one of our early vacations in Maine, I decided to bring my spinning rod and show my rambunctious son the joy of fishing.  After the first bluegill, my son was hooked.  Fishing replaced dinosaurs as his universe.

-- One of his first fish --

When Matt was in grade school, we had a deal -- get the homework done and we'll go fishing after dinner.  The little pond down the street was full of bass and it became routine. Over the years, Matt has become an accomplished bass fisherman.  Sometimes, I would join him. Dog leash in one hand and fishing rod in the other.

-- Another 3 Bass Night --

-- First Brownie on the Fly --

I don't know how Matt became aware of the sport of fly fishing, but one day he asked me to take him to Wal-Mart to buy a $60 fly fishing rod and reel combo.  He practiced casting in the front yard and soon started catching bass on the fly.  For Christmas, he was bound and determined to buy the same fly rod/reel combo for his dad and walked over fifty dogs to earn the money.  Soon, father and son were taking float trips and weekend excursions throughout New England, fishing for rainbow, brooks and browns.

-- Brookie in the White Mountains, NH --

When you enjoy something, you have to share it with the ones you love and that is how I learned to fly fish.  Matt was my instructor. He had such skill and made the sport look effortless and elegant.  Matt could easily have been the casting double for the movie, "A River Runs Through It." As a child, he didn't always have the patience to stay with me and correct my flaws, but would go off to fish on his own.  As soon as I got a wind knot or tangled in a tree, he was gone. I accompanied my guys on several trips and never landed a fish.  Matt was frustrated with me, but never stopped asking me to go.

By the time we traveled to Colorado, Matt was a young man. Late one afternoon, fishing Arapaho Creek, Matt set his rod down and came over to sit near me.  He had caught his fish for the day and wanted to give me a few words of encouragement.  As usual, I hadn't caught anything.  He suggested a Goddard caddis and roll casting into the side of a pool.

-- Look at the smile on Matt's Face --

"Fish on!," I screamed.  Matt ran for the net and waded into the water to make sure the fish didn't get away.  It was nice sized rainbow.  My first trout on a fly.  I don't know who had the bigger smile, me or Matt.

Hookers, Sanders and Beer

-- Sanders is my neighbor? --

In the continuation of our Rocky Mountain travel log, we will take a little diversion from fishing and talk about other parts of our trip -- lodging, Grand Lake and beer.

Because of the 4th of July holiday, our stay in Grand Lake was split at two different places.  The first was a condo on the North Inlet Creek right in the town of Grand Lake.  The second was a cabin just off Rt. 34 about 10 min south of Grand Lake overlooking Shadow Mountain Lake. We will talk about the lead pic later in this post.

-- I-70 Heading west out of Denver --

We left Denver International with one stop for food and a visit at Charlie's Fly Box.  Knowing the rivers were high, we picked up some 3X leader and tippet and some cone head streamers to help us get stuff deep in the heavy flows.  It was a pleasure to meet and chat with Charlie Craven at his shop.  As he looked up some of the river flows for where we were heading, we were both rolling our eyes.

-- All the snow runoff is heading to the Pacific --

The weather was clear and traffic not that bad for the start of a long holiday weekend.  The drive over the Continental Divide at Berthoud Pass was breathtaking.  On our way home we went over this pass in dark and rain, which was a bit more nail bitting nerve racking.

The town of Grand Lake is small and seasonal, but it was packed in preparation for their famous 4th of July fireworks. The condo we stayed in for a couple of days was right on North Inlet Creek. This was an ideal location for fishing in the "backyard", except for that damn runoff thing...

Shot from the condo deck

And a bit further downstream

-- Steamers Galore! --

We also were greeted with the stench of dead fish that someone staying in the condo about a week ago did not fully grind down the disposal.  With my son suffering a touch of altitude sickness, the smell put him over the edge and had him part with his pizza lunch. What a great way to start our vacation.

After a couple of days at the condo, the fish smell was gone and so were we.  We moved to the next cabin and to my surprise, blog follower Sanders was my neighbor!  From the sign post on the cabin road it looked like he was bringing the Hookers as well -- PARTY!  I knew we were in the right place when the toilet seat told me to fish streamers.

And of course the beer.  I did not touch a Coors while in the Rocky Mountains, but the local brews from Boulder Beer Company, Grand Lake Brewing Company, Odell Brewing Company and Breckenridge Brewery were excellent.  

 -- Colorado's Finest Microbrews --

I'm a bit partial to hoppy beers and found the "Hoppy's One Ton Pale Ale" and "Stumpjumper IPA" from Grand Lake Brewing to be my favorites.  The "Wooly Booger Nut Brown" and "Avalanche Amber" ales were also delicious.  They all were good and I'm thankful that the micro brewing revolution of the last 20 years is going strong.

-- Happy Crew after great fishing week --

Food in the local restaurants was ok to good.  We ate out a couple of times and fortunately no one got sick (this has happened to us on previous vacations).

I'll keep putting more pics and stories from the trip.  Hope this non-fishing stuff doesn't bore you.

Thanks for following!