I’m the guy next door with the ugly lawn. Yeah, it’s small and I should probably do something with it , but you can suck it because I know where my water comes from.

You see, in the Front Range of Colorado, we get most of our water from the western slope, where large rivers flowing from the continental divide are diverted to provide the large population of the Front Range its water. My little lawn probably doesn’t put a dent in it, but I don’t see the point to having a lush, green lawn during our driest months. My neighbors set their sprinklers out day after day wanting a nice green grass. I can understand this, but not here – and not what we are harming to gain it.

My goal is to eventually zero-scape this, which means killing off the grass that’s there and installing drought resistant vegetation with rocks and maybe a tree. I can’t avoid using a little water on it, but when August rolls around, I don’t sit a sprinkler out for hours at a time, every day. I just let it die.

The information is out there, but people in my area still don’t understand exactly where their water comes from. Why do we love Colorado? And why do we continue to destroy our resources for a little green lawn?

Let’s keep our water here:

Courtesy of Colorado Trout Unlimited

Be sure to check out savethecolorado.org and defendthecolorado.org

Photo: Kyle Perkins

In case you missed it, I wrote a small guest piece for Deneki Outdoors South Andros Lodge the other day. Head on over and check out the rest of their posts from Alaska, to BC, to Andros.

All the Important Questions

You’re a month away from your first bonefishing experience, let alone your first salt fishing trip. While you grew up on small streams in the Rockies stalking pocket water for pigs as you slowly hike through brush or snow, you know this is going to be different – but how different, exactly?

The first thing you do before a trip to South Andros and Deneki Outdoors’ Andros South Lodge is talk to people who have been to flats in search of bonefish before. Luckily, a few close friends plan yearly trips, so you’re in good hands.

Key points of advice are to practice casting longer distances (with wind if possible) and remember to strip-set instead of the usual trout-set. After a few lessons, the results are something like, “Nope, you need to double-haul that cast”, or “Nope, too many false casts.” As you can imagine, anxiety rears its ugly head.

As time passes, your anxiety about failing increases. It seems the only thing you can do right is tie up Gotcha patterns. Finding a suitable way to create the salt flat experience in a high- altitude, snowy climate just isn’t working.

So the time comes to catch the first red-eye, then another flight in the morning, and finally a short hop over to the island of South Andros. Beautiful skies, sand filled beaches, and of course Kalik await. You hang out your first night at the Slack Tide, tie a few flies, and discuss the possible destinations for the next morning.

With a loud 6 am wake-up call, you jump out of bed and feel the lump in your throat almost growing by the minute – it’s time. After a great breakfast and full spread of lunch items (in which you only make peanut butter and bacon sandwiches, of course), you set off to the launching dock. You’re met by your first guide of the day, and the announcement that you’re heading to the West Side more than excites your comrade and boat buddy for the day.

The run is about 30 minutes, and then it’s time to grab a rod and get up on the bow. You wait, nervous, as your guide slowly poles a flat. Small lessons are already being learned: pull enough line off your reel, leave enough leader, and line off the end of your rod. Don’t forget to hold that fly loosely in your left hand. It’s silent, only wind and small waves making subtle sounds.

Then, it happens – you hear, “30 feet, 11 o’clock.” Your bare feet shuffle, you cast and just about pop that fish on the head with your fly. Nothing more to say other than that fish is long gone. You knew it, knew you were going to fail.

While searching more flats, your guide is very instructional in an almost comedic way, as your fishing mate sits back and laughs quietly at your attempts – almost assuming you’re getting skunked your first day.

On the bow again, your guide spots a large school of bonefish. While you can’t see a thing, you trust his instincts and just start launching flies into the area – “50 feet, 9 o’clock!” Strip, strip, strip, “fish on!” your guide yells. First thing you do is try to trout set.  Then you reach for the reel, “No, let him run, mon.” After about 20 minutes of your heart racing, the fish making runs, and all the while your buddy in the chair laughing, you have almost got the fish to the boat. Everything has seemed minimal before this – you’ve landed your first bonefish on your first day ever saltwater fishing.

Everyone is ecstatic, and you have your first bonefish in your hands. The camera flashes, but one question you forgot to ask was how to handle these fine fish…

Photo: Michael Gracie

]]> http://compleatthought.com/2012/03/09/all-the-important-questions/feed/ 0 http://compleatthought.com/2012/02/15/changes/ http://compleatthought.com/2012/02/15/changes/#comments Thu, 16 Feb 2012 06:06:03 +0000 kyleindenver http://compleatthought.com/?p=1940

Yeah, it’s been a while since my last post – but for all good reasons. If you didn’t know, I became a dad for the first time on January 28th to a beautiful new daughter. While some things were expected, others were not. It seemed at first waiting was the hardest game, though it was nothing compared to the hours, or days, of my wife’s labor and birth of Hannah Layne. We all go through changes in our life, but this one came to be completely different.

Those reading this may understand words related to ‘contractions’ or ‘water breaking’, but only those mothers and fathers can relate to the experience of watching their loved one go through something so terrifying and ultimately devastating to ones’ belief in human nature. You see, I thought I was prepared, but what happened on that late January day will forever change my life as I know it. And after the anxiety passed, there was a new life that was before unreal to me. Those bumps in the belly just aren’t real until you see big eyes and hear screaming lungs.

I’ve always seen the woman I married as the strength in me. She’s tough, doesn’t put up with any shit, and usually gets what she wants. Giving birth gave me an entirely new outlook on who she is – the TOUGHEST person in the world. There aren’t words to express what she went through during those hours, but I do know that she wanted it, and in the end, appreciated every single minute. Not that I did, but I’ll never under-estimate the power of a woman again. They compare the pain to a man being kicked in the balls – but imagine that every 3 to 5 minutes for over 24 hours.

We’re now blessed with our 2-week old daughter, Hannah. With of course a biased opinion, she is the most perfect thing that I could ever imagine. I’m giddy as school girl – even gushing over new clothes and even poop. While I thought I would hold this as simply another change in my life, this is by far, the most important thing that could ever happen to me. We’ve experienced changes, but some changes will last a lifetime.

Thanks to all of you that have sent well wishes our way. From small to large, we appreciate everything. I can’t wait to get my little Hannah Layne on the river – even if she just wants to enjoy the outdoors or actually catch her first fish.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program – but don’t think I’ll hesitate for a moment to pass along little tidbits as Hannah grows.

Kirk Deeter over at Field & Stream has a pretty cool little contest going on right now. It’s focused on domestic pet hair, and how you use it in your fly-tying. While I’ve used my husky’s hair for a few years, I’m glad to know that others are catching on how to use items (or animals) around the house to help them with tying flies that actually catch fish. My husky’s hair has been used from everything to PMDs to Streamers, and in this case, a midge emerger.

Go over and enter your idea or picture for a chance to win a copy of his book, The Little Red Book of Fly Fishing.

Here’s Kirk’s animal of choice.

I got to meet up with my old friend Matt Schliske from Schliske Bamboo Fly Rods this past weekend to finally raise my first cane on the Poudre river in Fort Collins, Colorado. I met him and his family (thanks for the hospitality Marguerite) at their house and got a quick tour of the ‘shop’. After a quick mac & cheese lunch that mostly consisted of a conversation between his youngest daughter and her favorite color while she pushed a chair in my direction, as to scare me into a corner, we set out to fish a local spot with a few of his custom rods.

I’ll admit, my expectations were that of a sloppy noodle cast that was meant for only small creeks in tight spaces. Yeah, I was wrong. From the first time I picked up my favorite of the day – a 7952 7’9″ 5wt 2/1  Rio Grande – I was able to easily haul it for distance and accuracy. I never thought that bamboo had such a backbone to it. In fact, I was able to tie a few of my heavy streamers on it and cast with ease.

It had a blonde cane and spring green wraps tipped dark claret with a single dark claret intermediate wrap and triple tipping at the ferrules.  The ferrules were also over wrapped with spring green silk.  The reel seat was spalted maple with Struble nickle silver cap and ring.

While in awe of the pure craftsmanship and design of all the rods I fished that day, the fish just weren’t eating what I was throwing. A few hits, a few misses, but that was about it. That’s a December day in Colorado for you. Numb legs and the sun setting over the mountains after 4pm. Nevertheless, casting flies to fish that weren’t eating was better than sitting at home in front of the television watching my Broncos get beat.

Can’t wait to get one of these out on a late summer or fall day skating streamers to drifting dries. If you get a chance, take a look at the site. I’m completely sold on these custom bamboo rods and can’t wait to get one for myself.

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