BONEDALE FISHING REPORT #17

BONEDALE FISHING REPORT #17

WORK WORK WORK SIX DAYS OF THE WEEK YOU SHALL WORK ON THE SEVENTH YOU SHALL THINK ABOUT IT

Anywhere you go fishing there’s an A-team, and the Roaring Fork valley is no exception. There’s nothing worse than ending up on a group trip with another slappy who’s a complete hack. Certain guides are not team players, and it’s a drag to spend the day with them. They’re either trying to “out fish” you, if there is such a thing, or they’re not competent–both scenarios are a waste of time. As Tony used to say, “Everybody plays, everybody loses.” At the top of my list of favorite A-team members is “Big” Steve Avery. He’s been driven into property management but still can be talked into a trip from time to time. Avery invented the triple-trouble fly rig, which was, and still is, a boon to retailers valley wide. A few years back, Kid Super and I launched mid-morning at BONEDALE and broke off our bugs before Kelso Bridge. Avery drifted by with his clients, who happened to have three doubles in a hundred yards, so of course, we were watching his rigs with glazed eyes. I could see a big Stimi dancing above the water with a fish in tow. Then we saw a nymph pop up without a fish, and we knew: three flies. Avery described it this way, “I woke up one night in a cold sweat, and I don’t know if it was a dream or vision, but I heard a voice in the distance say, ‘Three flies…’” And so it’s been three flies ever since. Every day with Avery is running blind channels, flipping boats and even one morning backing his trailer through the window of a movie rental store. My hope is the economy forces “Big” Steve back into guiding full-time, and Mr. T and the rest of the A-Team are waiting.

Live from the WORLD HEADQUARTERS

Kea C. Hause esq.

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Kea shadow casting somewhere on the upper Fork, BONEDALE, CO. Photo: Copi Vojta