Oh, you gotta be Fast

Being reactive and fast to change to conditions is a difficult thing to do sometimes.  Then there are the variables of the fish are present but in different moods all the time.

This season with the flood stage filling out lakes in Grand County has had me very reactive almost jumpy.  Most groups of fish have moved daily and continue to be very tight to the bottom requiring a very sensitive sonar and a slower scan when I want to search fast.

Ya I am admitting this transitional season is stumping me some. We are still catching the fish we need to create satisfaction, exposing clients to the process of finding targets and then going after them. Granby seems the most affected by this effect and it is still filling. Williams Fork is full and spilling slightly. Wolford is full and spilling slightly as well as still muddy looking but settling as we go along.

Hey, fish well and watch out for the debris that moves out into the lakes daily as they fill or wind changes direction.

Also who came up with the easy button idea should be slapped, because like all good things we have to work for em.

The Quick Shift

I got stood up for the first time as a guide in 10 plus years of guiding.  Wow a lack of respect to not even contact and advise me, I won't make it something has come up.  I truly hope they are alright and so are all their family members. 

Now for the quick shift so from guiding to free fishing practice.  A whole different mind set and a shift from the really he blew me off to just fishing and enjoying the day.  Um, a lot like having faith or just trusting things are different and allowing the mind and body to change chemically to a whole different energy.  Kinda like when you are arguing with someone and you realize crap they are right, how hard is to shift then.

Well the lakes around Grand County - Williams Fork, Granby, and Wolford are all on a quick shift of their own as well, the extra high temps and run off have fish and environment shift every day.  The fish are here today and gone tomorrow, with the rising water as well temps going up 2-3 degrees a day.  The fish are quick change artists as well.  I really like the challenge and succeeding and ending up in places where I might not have if things stayed the same.

One of the different places involved passing under this eagle, we were only some 40' apart and it became a message of trust.  Yep an Indian moment where the world of animals speaks directly into your soul.  The message trust in the universe (GOD) go slow and know we are all one.

My response was to relax and just enjoy all the change, and to let it speak peacefully to my soul as 
the eagle trusted my passage.

Waiting is Over

Wow what happened, awhile back I think I was waiting for it all to start. Well it did with big fish and and good times. We have shared moments with folks from Texas, new arrivals from Australia and folks from Georgia. The fishing was worth waiting for and big fish as well as numbers are being caught with the Eagle Claw Sabalos reel with Fins Super line handling fish peeling drag and having to be dragged back to the boat for a quick photo.

The Northern Pike bite is just turning on and it is a test in patience, the ability to slow down and pause sometimes up to 1 minute before moving a bait is brutal. Until you slow down and think it thru. How I slow down is to think about the other predators. Cougars which stalk or lay in wait for the prey to appear.  I also visualize the Pike staring down the bait, then triggering its striking instinct.

The longer I fish the more I realize its about the sport and all the activities involved.  Mostly the ability to use my mind to think thru the environment and challenge my understanding of it thru my fishing techniques.

One of the parties mentioned above and I shared about the challenges of raising our children.  It always surprises me when I run so parallel to folks I spend a day with.  It is truly refreshing and increases my faith.

Waiting

Man I want the ice to hurry up and melt so I can get back to the fish, I love to catch so much. Grand county fishing and reservoirs should get plenty of water and the fish are going to love the extra fertility. 

Why is waiting so hard? I think about what is in front of me and not what I am doing. Everything is reloaded with Fin's line on the Sabalos reels.  The boat is tuned and ready. So I get to be where I am, waiting and learning how to wait. I don't want it to go too fast as it may include stuff and experiences I do not like.

I was recently with a few friends in Texas whom had lost their spouses this last year. I can only imagine the pain and loneliness. I think about this as I wait on something like ice to melt. Seems really trivial at times, but it has me also thinking about what a spouse would want for their partner. I get excited again about the ice coming off and a new season. I hope I can continue to share the changing seasons with those whom I love.

Fishing is a craft which reflects my passion to provide and gather for my family. If you read back through my blogs you will find an open personality, open view of a person experiencing nature and the crafts surrounding it to become an expert at viewing the environment and responding to the opportunities available to the given day and those whom are with me. 

Come share a day on the water with me at Grand Lake, Williams Fork and/or Wolford Mtn. Reservoir and if you want a big fish fun day with Bernie I can hook ya up with him for Granby Reservoir.

So while I wait, I will fish with friends and catch me some walleyes and catfish. Heading to Clayton New Mexico to fish this week end.

"It's Here"

Do you know the wait, that wait, waiting for something to arrive like a whole season. Say the season of ____________________ or the season of being a parent or grandparent. I sure hope you folks find this insight spilling out of my head and the point of view of life which creates a wholeness in ourselves as well as others around us entertaining and thought provoking. 

Yahooooooooo, I am a grandpa, wow I used to think waiting for spring and fishing to kick back in and the preparedness to be a thrill once it arrived. It is an amazing journey being a parent. When my kids were born I was so terrified and busy providing I truly missed the creation which was in view right in front of me. To have time now in life to look at this creation brings into view so much more other forms of creation and love. Ya I know you tough guys think this is mushy so this is what life is. We cannot be tough or know what to protect until we love or it needs us. I am trying to convey the feeling and thoughts that we are all one and there is really only one love (Just Like U2 states in its song). We all strive to live with others and be with them as friends, lovers, spouses, brothers, sisters and children. Then why is this so tough sometimes? It is because just like the fish, life is not the same every day. Us and them, we all need to swim to a different place occasionally.  Loving others in our world is about noticing what is the same and what is different today then being gentle and providing a being next to another.

This has me thinking of the joy I feel when I catch a fish, that primal response (God, the world /universe) gave that to me, I was here making a choice to catch this and it worked. I am grateful for the gift and proud of my choices to create this success (Yes I do see the world this simple). 

I ask for all who read this to stop and think for a few of the joy of just being outside and how safe a place this can be to just be in the world (i.e. going to sleep this night being able to think back to something like I saw a falling star with a friend, child or my parent). This life is not forever and a day is such a short event as well as an eternity. It is only me and my attitude that make the difference.

Like I said I hope you guys find this entertaining and thought provoking, if you would like to fish and spend a day with someone who see's the world a little slanted with love and creation, please join me on Grand Lake, Williams Fork Reservoir or Wolford Mountain Reservoir. 

Oh we can just have fun and fish as well. This season looks good for pike, lakers and kokanee. 

My closing thought or words of wisdom are from a friend and fellow guide Bernie Keefe (fishingwithbernie.com) "FISH THE BITE DO NOT FORCE THE BITE, JUST GO FISHING"

When A Pattern Falls Apart

When a pattern falls apart, we need to make some changes! In fishing we begin to look for an alternative pattern using the information we developed from the last pattern. I know those who don't fish on a regular basis are thinking what is Steve talking about now?????

Ya sometimes I wonder myself. I am going to use an example from fishing which happened while fishing a tournament a few years back with Jim T.. We had found a group of fish in 22'-30' water in a clear spot in the middle of a seasonal, very large weedy flat. As we fished and cared for the fish in this spot, we practiced in other areas but never came up with a more consistent bite or place for success. SO this became our first and our go to spot on Saturday morning. We started there and had success, we placed 2 of the right fish in the live well and were looking to upgrade the size as the fish on this spot had been in the 20" plus range all week. 

You know as fisherman we train ourselves to notice stuff. Well our fish began to raise up from 1' to 18" off the bottom to 3' then 10' and we saw a ball of shad go thru and then our spot was bare. We took as much as 15 minutes to verify this and acknowledged, yes this pattern had just converted to a suspended chasing shad bite which would require a change to pulling cranks in the same area to stay with the same group of fish. 

Well, we decided to go fish the fish others were catching in 3' to 5" of water up in the trees. This would somewhat support what we had watched happen to this group of fish but they would have to make it to the trees for us to have found them there. The hind sight decision would have been for us to have switched our technique and stay with this area fishing to a known group of hungry fish. 

Well to bring this thinking to life in real life is this. Some of you and most of you know I am affiliated with a company called PK Products dba PK Lures. I will be ending my work relationship as a part of the sales force as of March 31, 2014. The reasons for this are mostly on my part this pattern has begun not to produce for me in my situation. I find myself thinking and seeing a new pattern develop as minimizing and focusing my efforts in my focus as a fishing guide and being an educator of this craft. I see, think and feel a new pattern developing in the area of helping folks learn this craft as well as find peace in the use of this skill set to view and think about the choices they make in there lives, ya what is he talking about. Ya I really do not know either but its real a vision of fishing with folks and helping them heal emotionally and physically. 

Please know as far as PK Lures go I will always be a friend of the company and support the folks involved as Pat O'Grady is a long time friend and a bother in Christ. I have always chosen the folks I engage with to have some form of emotional bond or second reason, besides funds and that is the case here as well. I have always thought of PK and its lures as a great product to be fished and succeed with. I hope the folks with PK all the best. I just find the pattern is no longer providing desired result and my passion is shifting to the vision as stated before.

Thanks,

Steve G

Warm VS Cold

That darn ground hog any way, I am going back and forth between if I want warm or cold. I am starting to think about pre-spawn fish stacking up in areas and the wind blowing in on the rocks still cold but open water. And what do I need to prepare or can I focus on to cure this bug for open water, oh travel to Texas. Ya I think that will be something to do next month. 

One thing I did last week was to go thru all last year's GPS and log it to the appropriate lake maps and data files. This was a little mind numbing but very doable using a remote cord to my Lowrance HDS 10 and my computer. It always feels good to be organized. 

Now I will begin working on the open water tackle organization by species Lakers, Pike, Walleye, Trout and Bass. Man I think of all those boxes and how much crossover there is, having Eagle Claw as a sponsor is a blessing as I get to change out the hooks I fish with to the best. 

I am getting excited to see old clients, make new friends and meet new fish this coming guide season. I will be guiding on Williams Fork , Grand Lake and Wolford. Looking forward to these new waters and the classic older one of Grand Lake. I meet a whole lot of tourists who just need some time on the water. 

I hope everyone enjoys this last bit of winter and the spring snows, it seems we will be blessed with water for the summer if the snow fall continues to go this way thru April. 

Well on to the next fish and this years tackle needs.

Oh, I thought I should relate a story about Eagle Claw from my childhood. We used to write to companies in the auto racing industry and ask for stickers to make us look cool to our friends. Well as you might guess I sent a letter to Eagle Claw back in 1973. I already had a Trail Master rod and used it and broke many times which Eagle gladly fixed (which they still do now). If they can not repair it they will help you out with a small fee to a new rod. Hey they also sent me stickers, I mean a bunch of em and some big enough for my bedroom window. Now who do you think the coolest kid on my block was (at least in my mind ). I have always had a warm spot for the company, its folks and its culture. I am so proud to have developed a relationship with a company like this over the  years.