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The
Hatch, Arrival Day
One Day
Two Departure
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The Hatch Day One April 27, 2003
Our homebase fly shop, Royal Gorge Anglers, owned and operated by Bill Edrington. Here we hooked-up with our guru guide, Larry Kingrey. Ed Dentry of the Rocky Mountain News was here to tag along and write an article on the hatch and snap a few photos. It was the beginning of a beautiful day. I can't remember if we had an alarm clock wake us up, or if I had awoken on pure adrenaline. It didn't take us long to get our gear together and discover our appetites looking for a big breakfast. Day One had arrived, and I couldn't have been more excited. Looking to take care of the dull ache in our gullets, we started out in search of the Waffle Wagon, an eatery that had eluded Tom and Vince on their trip out here a couple of years ago due to renovations. I felt that by the time we had pulled in to the parking lot, I would be ordering just about everything on the menu. Filled with local charm, character, and characters, Tom and I each ordered what we felt was the house specialty: a smothered breakfast burrito. Spicy, but not hot, this was easily one of the tastiest breakfasts I've had. The monster burrito came smothered in a green chile sauce and was filled with normal breakfast fare such as eggs, sausage, cheese, and the like. Checking the time, we downed our coffee and bolted out the door on our way to Royal Gorge Anglers to meet-up with our guide, Larry Kingrey. Even at a little after 8:00 in the morning, the fly shop was crowded with fisherman crowded around Bill Edrington, hanging onto every word he was spilling about a recently productive fly. The shop itself is small, but very well thought out. Nothing here is without purpose. Very neat, warm, and inviting, RGA is a relatively high-end fly shop, but then again, this is a relatively high-end sport. Larry is a big, tall, bear of a man with hair and a beard to match. He eminates youthful exuberance which showed itself later in this day. Another gentleman whom I had earlier believed to be Larry, turned out to be Ed Dentry, an outdoor writer for the Rocky Mountain News. Ed was in Canon City writing an article on "the hatch" and was following us out to the Arkansas. [read the article] Piling into Larry's van, we pulled away from Canon City and were soon careening through the gorge of the Arkansas. Despite the death grip I had on the edge of my seat, I was amazed at the true beauty of the desert mountains around us. Larry's keen, well-trained eye spotted several young Bighorn Sheep rams feeding alongside the old railroad bed on the opposite side of the river. I took this as a very good omen indeed. Nearing Cotopaxi, we pulled into the parking lot of a KOA to begin fishing a stretch that does not get too much pressure being that it's a private stretch. Larry put Tom into some water a little further upstream from where he put me, and started instructing me on the behavior of the local trout, and what to expect to happen during the morning. Larry tied on a dry caddis pattern with a pupae dropper, about 18 inches below the dry, and had me begin to work a slough coming around a very large boulder in the middle of the stream. Trying not to get distracted by neither the fish rising around me, nor the ones being caught by Tom, I suddenly had one on. Anxiety was quickly replaced with burst of excitement that almost seemed calming. I quickly worked the fish over to Larry who easily netted him and released him after a quick photo op. Ed, all the while, was wading around, photographing the action, and absorbing all Larry had to say about the hatch and the trout. I proceeded to pull 2 more fish out of the same spot before the wind kicked up and punished me for a sloppy backcast. These next couple of hours is where I feel Larry really earned his money as every other cast became a tangle of wind knots more resembling a small bird's nest, only not as tidy. I learned more about my casting stroke, tying flies to leaders, droppers to dries, and the all-important blood knot. I soon abandoned the small, 7'6" Orvis 4 wt. for a stout 8'6" 5 wt. That combined with a patient guide made for a better morning. After lunch, we fished a little further upstream, but the action had slowed-up enough to get us to pack it up and drive even further up the canyon. Larry put us into some water that showed tremendous promise revealing several rises as we got ready to hit it. Wind, again, proved to be a problem for me, but I still managed to pull in a couple of more before calling it a night. |
