On day two of my trip to Boulder, my brother wanted to take me trout fishing since I had never been. I’ve never really fly fished, so he brought me to a lake in the mountains where I could use a spinning reel to try my luck. We had ventured up mid-morning, so we couldn’t find a parking spot at the foot of our hiking trail to the lake. We unloaded our gear and my brother parked his car down the road and walked back up to where I was waiting from him.
Just as we were getting stuff on our backs for the 1/4 mile hike, we realized we had forgotten the trout spinners we were going to use as bait. Of the two spinning reels we had, one already had a spinner attached, but the other did not. So my brother had to hike back down to the car and exchange his spinning reel for a fly rod and flies instead.
When he got back, my brother gave me a few tips before we made our way to the lake. He said to cast out the spinner, wait 3-5 seconds, then reel in. If a fish hits, I’ll know it. He also warned me that trout have teeth, so not to grab it like a bass if I caught one. I should grab it behind its gills.
By the time we got on the water, it was already noon. It was a pretty windy day and the wind was blowing against us. I was surprised at how well I was able to paddle against the wind. I thought it would be a lot more work, but I was able to get around pretty well.
We worked away from our put in spot for about 2 and a half hours with not so much as a bite for either one of us. We didn’t quite make it all the way to the end of the lake, but decided it was time to head back. About half way back, I was leisurely reeling in when, BAM! FISH ON! My brother was right. There was no mistake that it was a fish. I fought it for several minutes. Once I got it to the tube, I remembered what my brother said about trout having teeth. I tried to position the line and fish so I could grab a hold of it. I made several attempts without success until I got it to my right. I tried to pick it up with my line to get a better angle on it and it thrashed and SPLASH. It was gone.
It looked to be a 14-16″ rainbow trout. I was so disappointed. That was the only action of the day.
Given the lack of production and the wind, both of us were really drained, both mentally and physically. We headed back to town, got cleaned up, and went to dinner at the Pearl Street Mall restaurant he works at. He introduced me to all his work buddies and treated me to an awesome meal. It was neat to see him in his “natural habitat.”
Overall it was a disappointing day for both of us, but I still enjoyed myself. It’s always good to be on the water and the view was gorgeous. It was my first foray into trout fishing and I hope to do it again soon.
Gotta love the scenery on those mountain lakes. Looks like there is still snow up there too. We’ll get a fly rod in your hands yet.
I actually wouldn’t have minded trying fly fishing, but we figured it would just be easier to go with what I know given the limited time we had.
Nothing better than a hard hitting leaping Rainbow Trout from cold water. You didn’t mention it so I will suggest that when you make this trout trip again be sure you have a landing net. Makes landing and handling the fish somewhat easier.
A landing net definitely would have come in handy. I wouldn’t have lost it then. It would be handy fishing at home, too. I just have to find one the right size (not too small for the fish, not too big for the float tube) and figure out where to stick on the tube.
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Since you didn’t land that trout we will have to try some lake trout fishing in the old pond. And if that dosn’t produce we will try a portage for those nice brook trout that the DNR has been stocking. I can taste them now.