Deckers Trip Jan 09

Have I mentioned that I'm not a huge fan of winter? Sure, I grew up in Utah and even used to ski quite a bit. But anymore, cold weather just seems to get in the way of being outdoors. More specifically, fishing. Apparently I'm getting old, and black socks with bermuda shorts aren't far behind, I guess. "Stay off my grass!"

Throw in the holidays, and a few days of arctic temperatures, and it can make for a long, slow time indoors. However, out here in Colorado, it is not unusual to see winter temps in the 50s, 60s, and sometimes even in the 70s. Yeah. 70 degree weather in January. Somewhere, Al Gore is nodding his head and saying "See? I told you so!"

Cyclic climate patterns aside (do your homework Mr. Gore) the winter has actually been rather mild (compared to previous years) and the first week of January saw a stretch of days in the low 60s, which only meant one thing: fishing. So I loaded up the truck, and made a beeline to the hills.

Being that I was pressed for time on this day, I decided to hit the waters around Deckers. Now, normally, this area is productive, even in the winter months, with some mighty fine fish being pulled out of the waters. As a matter of fact, the last time I went fishing with Eva, I hooked a massive beast that would have given an older Marlon Brando a run for his money on the scales. So I was pretty optimistic on the ride up, cranking the tunes and waving at the wildlife as I passed by, being that I'm friendly like that.

Plus, with mild temps and overcast skies, how could it NOT be a great day, right?

Wrong. Crowds aside (and there were a LOT of people out) there were no fish. Literally. It was if they all got together and decided to go somewhere else for the day. Now, I know, you're saying "they were there, you just didn't see them." And to that I would say "don't you have work you need to get done?"

I've been fishing a time or two, and I'm pretty good at identifying places where the fish like to get together and do fish activities. I'm also not too bad at spotting them in the water, whether under the sun, or on overcast days. And I can confidently say that there were no fish. Even in the deep runs.

Ok, maybe there was ONE fish. Or what I thought was a fish. Once I got my line in the water and started drifting past 'it' I started to have my doubts. And just like that, I could no longer see 'it'. There one minute and gone the next. Not unlike my thoughts.


So, needless to say, much of this day was spent hoofing it up and down the river - searching high and low for something. Anything. Another sign that proves my point: the multitude of other anglers 'migrating' as well. When the fishing is good, you don't see us milling about and wandering aimlessly - we're in the water tossing our lines and having as much fun as Paul Reubens in an empty movie theater.

This day, there were a lot of us wandering back and forth, and on one such occasion, a guy asked me "any luck?" to which I replied "there has to be some fish to have any luck." And he responded "true enough."

So there it is. First fishing day of the new year, and it was spent walking. Which isn't a bad thing, considering the fact that I was not in the office, the weather was great, and I was outside enjoying the scenery.

But, I also don't like getting 'owned' on the water, and the last time that happened was on the Provo River in Utah, during a major snowstorm in November of 2004 (Remember that morning, Mr. H?). So this day left me with a burning (sometimes itching) desire to redeem myself and exact some serious vengeance the next chance I got. And I wouldn't have to wait long.