Before I tell you all about the Denver Fly Fishing this past weekend and the great fishing we had afterwards, I want to personally thank Greg and Michelle Krochta for hosting me the past week. I have known Greg for several years (he was also a SWA pilot) He is an incredibly good friend and fly fisher.
I spent a week in the Denver area for the show and to fish some in the freezing temperatures of Colorado in February. I arrived in Denver late morning on Wednesday, February 15th. The show was to start on Friday, so Greg and I planned to fish a couple of days before and after the show. Well, the temperatures were in the teens, so we decided against the fishing until the temperatures warmed up a bit. On Friday we met up with Jason Edwards, our member and owner of Woolybugger Fly Company. It was Jason’s first show, and he was taking a big gamble on selling his new T-shirts and caps. Greg and I helped Jason (along with Jason’s friend, Greg) set up and get ready for the big show.
On Friday I visited many of our sponsors and met some hopefully new sponsors. Jason Randall, Landon Mayer, Mark Troilo (from the Original Ty-Rite), the Colorado Mayfly Project, Casting for Recovery and Project Healing Waters groups, Trout Routes, and more. Also, we had several of our members there too – Charlie Trankler, Tim Graham and Al Hautly showed up at the show!
Greg and I worked the show on Friday and Saturday, helping Jason at Woolybugger and visiting booths and gathering materials. Jason did very well and was excited about his new prospects. A big thanks goes out to Jason Randall who used his influence to help Jason meet other organization leaders at the Show. Jason was even approached by no less than four fly shops who wanted to sell his T-shirts. In a nutshell, Jason was very pleased on how the show turned out. The show was loaded with fly fishing companies and travel companies. Next year if you are interested, we could meet out in Denver for the show and of course, fish a few days too.
On Sunday and Monday Greg and I headed out to get a little fishing in before I returned home. On Sunday we fished the South Platte in the Decker’s area for about four hours. The cold temperatures and water made the fish a little lethargic and fishing was tough although we did catch fish. On Monday we fished the Eleven Mile canyon for about five hours with Greg’s friend, Doug. I have fished with Doug before, and he is an exceptionally good fly fisher from South Africa. The water was cold, and the wind picked up but that did not stop us. Some genuinely nice fish were caught to include an 18-inch cutbow, 17-inch rainbow and two 16-inch rainbows (see pictures) – plus a few smaller trout. Unfortunately for me a fall in the ice-cold river ended my day about an hour early. Yes, I hurt myself, but I will be ok. Pain is just weakness leaving the body – plus the fishing was good.
The flight home was uneventful and now it is back to fly fishing classes, the Charity dinner, and a fly ting expo all within the next three weeks. Busy time but love every second with this fellowship.
