[slayerfish]

We hiked to a lake near Leadville on sat. and fished from 1130am till 230 pm.Started out throwing a gold bouyant,2 hits but no hookup.It was windy as hell,so went to a fly and bubble.Used a size 12 muddler on 4 ft. leader.Caught this cutty on second cast:

            Caught this one on 4th cast:

             My buddy's fish,also the biggest:

 

[slayerfish]

You know,just about every high lake I've hiked to has nice cutts like these.The hike can be anywhere from 2 miles to 10 miles one-way.The key I think is to be off the beaten path.Trails to lakes that dead-end in cirques are a good starting point.This keeps the happy hikers away,cause they like to do "loops".I have found that lures work great in the spring at ice-out,then as the summer progresses they wont even look at metal.Then its time for fly rod or fly&bubble.Terrestrial patterns or big nymphs start to work then towards fall.All the above fish were caught on a muddler or elk hair caddis fished very slowly.

 

[slayerfish]

This is my 15 minutes of fame!

 

[slayerfish]

Wow,Dan-maybe I should run for office!

 

[slayerfish]

I used to wear coke-bottle glasses I was so blind.But I had that radial keretotomy or whatever and now I have x-ray vision.All I need is a pic of the lake and I can "see" if there is fish in there.Saves a lot of walking.I use a combination of maps(topo and Delorme) and the internet and I ask everyone I meet if they are a fisherman,and if so,where they go,etc.I found a super sweet spot in wyoming by talking to a guy in Ixtapa,Mexico.Its what I do when I'm not fishing.