The Tour

"And to your left is Chuck's Ledge, followed by the Boulder, and then we have the Sandbar.  Just downstream you will see the Island, the Flats, and finally the Riffles.  All this water is prime trout territory." 

That's kind of how I spent much of the day yesterday at Blue and I thoroughly enjoyed introducing two fine gentlemen from Allen, Texas to some of the pleasures of this river.  Dan and John both live in Allen, Texas and about six months ago they decided to take up fly fishing.  Both Dan and John live less than ten minutes from Cabela's in Allen and that must be a terrible hardship to have.  I must say they were geared up rather nicely. 

Yesterday's trip would be the first for John and the second trip Dan had made to Blue.  The week prior Dan was trying to get to the catch and release section, but he unfortunately walked up the east side of the river and never got to see the middle or upper section of the C and R. 

We got on the water about 7:30 and immediately began getting hammered by the wind.  The wind was brutal and unrelenting.  I decided to have these guys fish a tandem rig and most likely did these gentlemen a disfavor.  Trying to throw a tandem rig in gusting wind is like asking for a lot of tangles... and tangles we found.  However, we overcame all those minor problems and found some trout. 

Dan would find the first trout of the day fishing upstream from Cottonwood Pool.  He would end up catching two in this pool on a brown bugger.  There were a good number of missed hook-sets due to being a little slow on the rod lift, but that's natural to someone brand new to this game. 

Dan Wilson

 

 



We were hoping to get on the sandbar, but it was occupied most of the time. When a vacancy would come open we would start that way, but before we could get there someone else would be wading out.  So in trying to practice what I preach about etiquette we yielded this sweet spot. 

 

Down at the Island, Dan would find more trout with a Frenchie pattern and John would find his first trout of the day with a Copper John.  There would some more tangles, more wind,  and for Dan a good number of missed hook-sets.  If he'd caught all the trout that ate his flies he would've had a dozen fish for the morning. 

 

John with bow on line.



One of the most rewarding things for me during our morning time was how Dan learned to make a back-handed roll cast and I have to say he had some good distance on it.  I can't imagine the distance he'll have in six months with this back-handed execution.  It was a pretty sight to watch. 

It was near the noon hour and the sun had yet to break through the soup in the sky.  With numb feet and aching fingers, we decided to hit Scotty's for a lunch break. 

When we walked into Scotty's, there sit the one and only Chris Adams.  Chris, being the good soul he is, bought lunch for the lot of us.  Over Scotty burgers, tots, and a corn dog to try and satisfy my incredible craving, we talked about a good number of things as Chris was trying to sell us on the idea he was probably rusty because this was his first trip to Blue this season. 

Now, Dan and John may have believed Chris but I didn't  As far as fly fishing, I know Chris pretty darn well and the guy is never rusty - he's like a well-oiled machine.  And, about a half hour later Dan and John would get to see this for themselves in the south wilderness.

As we walked into the south wilderness, Chris opened up and shared his knowledge with Dan and John naming the landmarks, showing them sweet spots, and soon he would gift them both with the famous Bubba Bugger. 

At the bottom of the hill we came upon one of the "Too Lovely To Litter" stations that Matt and his crew have established.  Chris and his son did a good job building these stations and hopefully they will help the litter problem at Blue.

At Coyote Pass, Dan would find another trout with a Frenchie pattern.  Upstream a ways John would find his second trout of the day with a Copper John.  And further upstream, Chris was putting on a demonstration of "How To Catch A Ton Of Trout With The Bubba Bugger". 

John with a south wilderness bow.

Yours truly didn't spend a whole lot of time fishing yesterday.  My concern was being more attentive to the guys from Allen since this was all brand new to them. However, I did get some time in and ended the day with sixteen to hand.  In doing the math, the Frenchie pattern accounted for 88% of the bows I met today.  The brown bugger accounted for the remainder.

 

 

 

 

Before we knew it, three o'clock had already come and gone and it was time for me to head out.  I said so-long to Dan, John, and Chris and begin my walk out, but did stop for about ten minutes at a really sweet spot and found five more bows on five casts.

 

I am so delighted that the guys from Allen, Texas have discovered Blue River.  I can tell you just with the time we spent together today, that this river has gained two more devoted stewards and they inasmuch said so.  Dan and John will be back many times and each time they come they will discover something new about fly fishing and something new at Blue River.