ness

There you go, moguy1973. Good old PB&J is hard to beat. Throw in a couple apples, or whatever fruit is looking good. Sometimes I'll put together a good sandwich with all the fixins if it's a full day. If it's gonna be overnight and/or a few people along, I'll get some of my baby brother's BBQ to reheat over the fire.

With Lily Lake right on the highway, a large parking lot, a handicap-accessible loop trail, and every piece of park literature touting it as full of greenbacks -- guess what? But, one of the most exciting fishing experiences I've ever had was in a canoe on Lily Lake one evening with a massive spinner fall going on -- surrounded by cruising, slurping cutthroats. You'd try to figure out the fish's trajectory, and lay a fly in it's path. I'm sure I didn't have the place to myself, but I don't recall anybody else being out there. And it certainly wasn't fishing in a parking lot. To each his own, I guess. I've found that being willing to get up a little earlier, stay out a little later or walk a little farther will help you avoid folks.

You know River Angler Man, owning that pond or lake sounds great at first, but whenever I think about buying a place of my own, I think I'd get bored with it pretty quickly. Or wish I didn't have to worry about the things that go along with owning something. A lot of what I like to do is find a new place, or explore a little deeper in places I've been before. So I rent. I joined a group and we've got access to 15+/- strip pits south of KC. I figure that'll keep me interested for a while, and they're much more doable than trips to the Ozarks are for me. My scouting down that way shows a few people, and a ton of great water. No jet skis, bass boats, or the other annoyances I encounter at the local reservoirs. Tons of tree-lined shores to keep out of the direct sun. When I get tired of all that, I suppose I'll go find something else. My fee, which includes a bozillion other places to fish and hunt, is less than a year's taxes would be on a small place of my own.

The Frying Pan is a big-name river. It's gonna be crowded between the public accesses and the sports have bought up the rest. 'Here and there' doesn't really describe the overall availability in CO, it describes what you encounter when you focus on places like that. For me, fishing the 'destinations' ranks pretty low on the scale, and big fish or big numbers don't matter much to me either. So I leave that for the rest.

I was just pokin' all the folks that say there's no access in CO, and when there is it's too crowded anyway. Anyhoo -- that's a nice spot. I've fished several locales around RMNP, and people have never been an issue.

How'd you get in there, and where's all the people? I always heard in CO was impossible to get access and had massive crowds.

That smile tells it all!

Sweet, Steve. I've got those on the bucket list. Very cool fish and a great part of the country.

Nicely done, Max. That's a heck of an accomplishment for those boys, and the leaders too. Sounds like you've got your sights set pretty high. BWCA or Philmont are sorta the classics.

I'll fish them when the situation dictates, but I don't enjoy them as much as I do a dry. They usually are a backup for me.

Hey Jonathon, Congratulations! Where on the Big Thompson were you? We were out there last week too, but I avoided BT in the park due to the road construction over there.

Agree -- it will explain a lot of what Wayne talked about -- how we've muddied up and eliminated native populations through stocking, and ongoing habitat destruction. Good book.

Yes they're native. Same genus as rainbows and cutthroats.

Good point!

You couldn't take your daughter fishing, so you busted up your computer? Your handle is the name of a popular fly fishing rag? You split time between Long Beach, CA and Springfield? You make lures for a living? You ask God to bless the Midwest, but your sig file is some West Coast something or other?? Your mantra is Live by the worm, die by the worm? Hobbies include trails and mudding? Is there someone else there we can talk to?

Yeah, when fly fishing became THE thing to do, it was always funny to see the lame casting, humongous flies, hats and vests on the models. They still trot that concept out in commercials about retiring well, travel, whatever.

I was talking to one of my sons today, and the conversation drifted to books and history and things. I was talking about David McCullough, and found this video that I thought was pretty good and relatres to some of the things touched on in this conversation. It's often pretty enlightening to look at things with the perspective of history.

I agree the body length and head shape look like a lion, but the tail looks like a bobcat. I can say, conclusively, that we just don't freakin' know.

So, I've spent about 20 minutes reading about beekeeping. It really looks like a great hobby. Not sure how it would go over here in the 'burbs though.

That's pretty cool stuff. Looks like some pretty good craftsmanship on that hive too. Do you know the story on it?

That kind of treatment seems to be a general trend, and I just don't understand that. With so many of the mom-and-pop stores (of all kinds) replaced by big box megamarts, I would think the remaining small ones would recognize their strengths and leverage them. Good service and personal attention to customers will always have a place, and trumps selection and price a lot of the time. We've got a local fly shop that lost my business a long time ago because they just couldn't figure that out. They have a mail order/internet business but I don't know the mix of business. Regardless -- if you've got a store front, you ought to run it right.

I thought that too, Brian. 600 people on board -- that had to be packed.

JD -- who knows what this guy is all about? You keep saying he's looking for attention, and you're pist that he's accomplished that. Why care? And, you also talk like he's coming out ahead on this deal, what with his newfound fame and cushy life in prison with TV, AC, no bills, healthcare and all those other luxuries. You almost sound like you're jealous! Execute him so he doesn't live the good life, huh? C'mon.

Me too. May have to Netflix that one.