Deerfly Diaries

Successful Alaska Bear Hunt for Sitka's Hairston and Hart

Jason Hairston (left) and Jonathan Hart, founders of Sitka Gear, pose with Jason's bear after their recent hunt in Alaska.  These are some big black bears.

Roaring Fork Valley Women Take to Handguns

As reported this weekend in the Aspen Times, five local women from the Roaring Fork Valley in Colorado are learning gun safety, marksmanship and how to protect themselves with a firearm, specifically a handgun.  But the 10-hour course, which is just getting underway at the Basalt Shooting Range, is as much about self-confidence as it is about nailing bull’s-eyes, says instructor Mathew Bayley.

Check out some video from the class here.

Holy Fat Fish!

Talk about feeding the overfed.  The Black Wooly Bugger strikes again.  Glenn "Big Fish" Melus displays one pig of a Colorado rainbow trout.

 

Spring Runoff on the Roaring Fork River

Well, I can't complain because I fly fished the caddis hatch on the Colorado River on Mother's Day and then the Roaring Fork River this past weekend.  As of Monday, however, a stretch of warm weather here on the Western slope of Colorado has triggered massive snow melt out of the mountains and the resulting runoff has deemed the rivers blown, chocolate milk. Unfishable for the most part.

This photo was snapped below the Catherine's Store Bridge where the river is now running at 2,670 cu. ft. per second, nearly three times the flow from before the weekend.  Further downstream towards Glenwood Springs, the river is running at a whopping 6,100 cu. ft. per second.  This might seem bad, but floods are actually a normal part of the cycle of rivers.  Seasonal flooding is a good way to clean out the river and flush out the floodplain.  That's good, unless of course, you happen to live in the floodplain.  You can follow the real time flows on the USGS web site for the Glenwood Springs gage station on the Roaring Fork River.

I guess I'll have to be joining the likes of others who are planning to take a road trip to fish.  Lucky for me, my "road trip" will be bonefishing in the Bahamas on my upcoming honeymoon.  Yee haw!

New "Women's Outdoor Wire" puts women in the news

For years, the Outdoor Wire has been the daily source of news and press releases in the outdoor industry, specifically hunting, fishing, shooting, and natural resources.  Last week, women's involvement in the hunting industry gained some more credibility in the market by earning its own women's specific space for news and relevant releases.  The Women's Outdoor Wire will be published on a weekly basis by Editor Babara Baird with help from Erica Shepherd.  They have promised to include information on industry news, scholarships, job opportunities, events, career moves and product information relevant to women in the outdoor industry.  Three cheers to the Women's Outdoor Wire.

Barabara Baird requested any input for the Women's Outdoor Wire be emailed to her at Barbara@womensoutdoorwire.com

Mother's Day Caddisfly Hatch on the Colorado River 2008

Once again the caddisflies knew it was Mother's Day.  Trout on the Colorado River were treated to their first big insect hatch of the year.  Water is high and a little cloudy, but rising fish are plentiful for the patient angler. 

The fishing was a lot of fun and productive on both rainbows and browns.  You just had to ignore the caddisflies crawling up your pants, down your shirt, under your sunglasses, in your ears, etc.  A sure sign of a healthy river!

Dandelion Dash in a May Snowstorm

Last weekend I was challenged with my first dog field trial.  This weekend I tested my cardio limits in the Dandelion Dash 5K, held annually in Carbondale, CO as part of Dandelion Day as a fund raiser for the Roaring Fork Family Resources Center. 

As I prepared to leave my house this morning, the skies were blue and the air was a pleasant temperature perfect for race day.  Not too hot, not too cool.  Dark skies quickly descended over Sopris Park and things changed.  Unprepared and unsuspecting racers lamented the fact that they wore just a t-shirt and shorts, but everyone managed to keep a smile and run hard.

My finishing time was 25:16.  A big thanks to my race support crew, Glenn, who ran his own race back to the house to grab my running tights before the start.

GSP Field Trial, PT V: The Results are In!!

Open Walking Puppy:

1st place: Elsie (Sue) 2nd place: Zorro (Glenn) 3rd place: Cruzor (Glenn)

Open Walking Derby:

1st place: Buster (J. Vincze) 2nd place: Cruzor (Kory) 3rd place: Elsie (Sue)

Walking Open Gun Dog

4th place: Sunny (Kory)

The picture says it all! Gary, wish you could have been there.  Full results can be viewed here.  Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

GSP Field Trial, Pt IV: Open Walking Derby

We just ran Elsie, Zorro, and Cruzor in the Open Walking Derby.  All the dogs and handlers did great.  There is still one more brace to run before the judges decide on their placements. The picture is me at the start with Zorro. Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

GSP Field Trial, Pt III: Sunny Takes 4th

Kory Krahl and his dog Sunny took 4th place in Open Gun Dog, with 1st and 2nd place unfilled. Sunny had a great run with enough finds for Kory to shoot all the blanks in his pistol.  Judges said if he had been just a little more solid on flush he would have placed in the top three, as Sunny and the 3rd place dog, Otis, owned by Chris Heyden, were the only two dogs to finish their runs without a DQ.

Kory says, "The run was surprisingly smooth."

More to come on the Derby...
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