Tenkara on the Rio Grande
We’d been having a bit of a dry spell–my fishing buddy Dennis Vander Houwen and I (he goes by the pseudonym “Dennis Michael” in the entertainment world). We’d been through more than our share of fishing fiascos and I’d been having less than a stellar year (to phrase it diplomatically). Timing, high water, weather, and a seeming raft of wrath from the fishing gods all conspired against me to make this the worst season in my entire angling career.
To make matters worse, I became so depressed, that even when given a hall pass, I declined, just to avoid the inevitable disappointment I predicted. But, I still gave it a go last weekend and was redeemed! The waters came down and I actually managed to catch some fish on Clear Creek last weekend. Could it be that the curse was lifted by the powers of some magical Disney princesses? Or was it just a hoax by the fly fishing gods to tease me into a false sense of security only to lure me back to fish poverty?
The answer came today when Dennis and I hiked up a steep trail to a lake fed by a glacier not far from Denver. That last weekend, I got a tip from a guy I ran into on Bear Creek about tiger trout there. His name was Pete from Ascent Fly Fishing. He told me to fish the “inlet” for tigers. When we arrived, we didn’t know if that meant an inlet of a stream or an inlet of runoff of the glacier. After some exploring, it turns out it was the glacier runoff on the North side of the lake. And unlike a lot of “hot tips” you get in fly shops, coffee shops, or in passing, his info was good.
For those of you who don’t know, I should probably stop here and explain what a tiger trout is. They’re basically a cross-breed that happens when a male brook trout fertilizes the eggs of a female brown trout. In nature, this usually happens accidentally, but in this case, the tigers were bred and introduced. Still, they’re beautiful fish with an unusual “marbling” pattern and colors. And, they live up to their name–even the smallest ones strike aggressively and fight hard despite their diminutive stature. One guy I met on the lake told me he caught a 15-incher one time and another time that he and his buddy caught 92 fish in 2 hours but I’m not sure I believe him because he fished all day beside us and while Dennis and I were pulling fish out consistently, I didn’t see him catch one.
We caught lots of them and a few nice looking brook trout to boot. The previous “curse” was not just broken, it was avenged!
Since this is a fairly large lake (by tenkara standards), I used a my Tenkara USA Ito and a new Fujino tapered 9-meter line from Tenkara Bum (review to come) because the shores were really shallow and I needed the combo of rod/line reach. And it paid off. Most of the fish were caught on a dark-colored sakasa kebari but I caught a few on a a white & natural Teeny Nymph.
To sum up, it was a great day with a good friend on a beautiful lake. Couldn’t ask for more. And, I even got rewarded with a big jar of Dennis’ famous home-made salsa at the end. It doesn’t get better than that.
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It was nice to see you happily catching fish again. I had one of the best days out with you that I can remember. Thanks for suggesting the location. I have added a new fish variety to my list. You forgot to mention that the location was a absolute circus of hikers, dogs, hippies and fools jumping from a nearby cliff. I had fun all the same. Many more adventures await my friend!
Hey Dennis, the “circus” is a topic that warrants its own blog post.
No San Juan chest pack?
Hey Jeff, I recently switched to this: https://www.tenkaratalk.com/2015/01/tenkara-guide-sling/
could you speak to lake/pond fishing technique? i’ve only fished rivers and streams… thx
Hi Bill, I wrote an article on tenkara lake fishing here:
https://www.tenkaratalk.com/2010/08/tenkara-lake-fishing/
And I wrote a guest post about it here:
http://www.tenkarabum.com/tenkara-fishing-in-alpine-lakes.html
hey could i get the details on the salsa?
Like a good fishing spot the recipe for the salsa is a secret.
But I am willing to trade the former for the later. Lol
Jason,
Thanks for the re-assurance. I thought I was the only one fishing at “Love Canal”. Hopefully, the turn around will be sooner than later in upstate NY.
jscon, it’s more like Everest Base Camp up there. Only without all the dead bodies. Well … maybe
Hey there, great write up and beautiful fish. Glad the tip paid off… I often give tips like that to frustrated anglers when I’m having a good year out here in the NE USA… I like knowing that I can bring a little joy here and there like that guy did for you.
One correction – I wanted to point out a little error I saw there. Tiger trout are rare because they are female brown trout eggs fertilized by male Brook Trout. You have it as the other way around – but nature makes it easy for the male browns to dominate the female brookies 🙂
The real magic happens when the male brookie fertilizes the eggs of a female brown and then the tiger trout is born. At least that’s how it happens in the wild. In hatcheries I’m not as sure…
I’d love to fish that spot in September while I’m out for the Tenkara Summit… 😉
Hi Adam, thanks for catching that. I made the correction. If you want to fish there, email me and I’ll point you in the right direction.
THX JASON – INFORMATIVE AS ALWAYS!
Thanks Jason… Great story and pics… I hope the season continues to improve for you and Dennis..
Bob
Glacier? Hmm, wonder if I’ve summer-skied that chunk of alleged “snow” many times in the past…
Geez Jason, I was starting to think you went fishing and fell down a rabbit hole or connected up with a 36 inch trout and went all “River Runs Through It” and didn’t make it home. Seems the rabbit or the fish practice C & R.
Anyway, about three years ago I caught a couple of fish or 3 that looked like a trout, but didn’t. Some guy said, that’s a Tiger Trout. It looked a lot different from your picture, but maybe that was due to different coloring from local diet, or just the local trout gene pool. Looking them up on the internet tonight I found a map of their distribution. About 60 – 70% of my state is colored in as being their range of distribution. I should be catching them more often. I must be doing something wrong or fishing in the wrong places.
Hi David, I went through a dry spell there for a while. Ironically, the “dry spell” was due to all the rain we’ve had here. Every time I got to go out, the waters were high and mostly unfishable. But now they’re coming down and things are getting back to normal so I’m looking forward to a great fall season and getting back on track.
It seems at “Dry spell” and “all the rain” shouldn’t be in the same sentence. However,it’s been an odd summer here too.
I do most of my summer fishing at the family vacation house, 4 hours away. In May/June water levels were low, like Aug. Some smaller streams were dry or nearly so. In July I stayed there 21 days and it rained 19 of them. Sometimes all night and all day. River levels were higher than normal and to high & to fast to wade.
Here in most places trees grow to the water’s edge. If you can’t wade, you can’t fish. And the higher than normal water levels submerged the few places where the banks are normally wide and clear enough to fish without needing to wade. It’s been a summer of more lake fishing than normal. But after the heavy rains the lake water was also often murky and not the best fishing conditions.
It seems water conditions are improving for both of us.
Jason, thanks! I will get in touch for sure.