A bit here, a bit there

I was able to take some teens from our church out to private pond to catch some fishies.  There was no size to the fish (mostly bullheads, gills, and sunfish), but everyone caught fish!  Some actually caught their first fish, so it was a trip well spent.

Here are some of their catches...with a little expert photoshopping of course ;)

Most of my time was spent baiting hooks, untangling messes, and unhooking fish.  I barely had enough time for a couple casts, but I did manage this guy.

Other than that my time has been required in places away from the water...sigh.  I'm aching to get out for a good long trip, but am scrambling to find the time.  However, I realize the name of the blog is Troutings.  How could I finish a post without one trout picture right?  

Luckily, I was able to do a drive by on the Grand Mesa.  There will be a lot more posts coming from this area as the roads and lakes open up.

For those who haven't been to the Mesa, you're just missing out.  There are over 300 lakes scattered on the worlds biggest flat-top mountain.  Half of them are supposed to be fishable.  The altitude hovers around 10,000 feet and you find yourself amidst pines and quaking aspen.  Being a Utah boy I feel like I'm in the offspring of the Uintah's and the Boulder's.  Hopefully I find favor with brookies, grayling, and colorado river cutts this summer!

Anyways I digress...I did a drive by and saw a sliver of open water on Island Lake.  I just had to stop.  There wasn't much open water, maybe 10 feet.

I didn't have a ton of time, but did manage some feisty bows.

Nothing huge, but it got me pumped for the Mesa to thaw!  Here's to a bright summer ahead with many amazing trips :)

Life is short, live it well.

I Reeked of Skunk

I have been fishing these past few weeks, but I haven't been catching much.  I started to get the feeling I was in a slump.

Being new to western Colorado, I'm sort of fishing blind.  I use the internet and people around as resources, but there is a lot of exploring on my part.  These past couple weeks I've been met by snow, rain, impassable roads, iced up lakes, and just a good old fashioned skunking.

I finally found myself at Ridgway Reservoir.  I was hoping to find the browns and splake, but by the end of the trip I was hoping for anything.

Pretty skies though

After much effort, this monster planter finally came to hand.

Needless to say, that didn't even begin to wet my appetite.  I bagged the reservoir and set my sights on the Uncompahgre river.  I know a land owner that said he'd let me fish his property so away I went.

This wasn't a very big section of river, but it did bring me my first decent fish.

Soon I found another.  This time it was a pretty chunky Cutty.

I fished entire length of property without another fish.  My appetite for chunky fish was growing.  I set my wheels back to Pa-co-chu-puk.  Thank the good Lord I did, I sure needed to catch some fish :)

The marabou was my best friend again. 1/16oz head in black all night long.  Enough talking though, let's all just look at the pics right?

This guy seemed thicker towards the back than the front.  Shaped like  paddle :)

All in all, it turned out to be the exact evening I needed to wash the smell of skunk off of me.  Here's hoping the slump has passed!  

Life is short friends, live it well...