Birthdays, Beers and Bears

Its been awhile since my last post but a lot has been happening and I've been steadily at work, doing odd jobs, getting ready for guests to arrive.  My birthday has come and gone and as many birthdays, good times were had, some fish were caught and too many beers were consumed.  One thing I've noticed is when you are 26 years old and you live and work with 18-22 year olds, it becomes more and more difficult to keep up with their pace.  Not to say I am "over the hill", in fact I'm far from it, but at some point you lose that ability to stay up late, drink til you can't see, and get up the next day and feel as though you could do it all over again.  I'm not sure when that transition occurs, however, I do know that for me that transition is complete.  Needless to say, the following day of work consisted of endless water consumption, excessive sweating and a much needed positive attitude.  Eventually my helmet was loosened, however the sweating inevitably persisted.

Before all of the festivities, I did manage to catch some fish.  The three other guides took me out before dinner to try and catch my birthday fish.  It pretty much consisted of the three of them standing on the bank drinking beers while I fished.  Since the rivers are pretty high and muddy, the timing wasn't ideal and the fishing was tough, however, I did manage to hook into a small brown, which I successfully distance released and brought a nice cutt-bow to hand.  Overall, a good start to a great 26th birthday.

Birthday fish

Two days later, the staff was treated to a white water rafting trip with Mountain Men Rafting, based in Creede.  It was a fun way to let loose and have a little fun as a group and get away from the grind of work for an afternoon.  We floated about 14 miles down the Rio Grande through the Wason Ranch property and ended at the Palisade camp ground near 4UR.

Studly group.

Yesterday, on our day off, two of the guides and I ventured to a reservoir about an hour and a half away to fish for carp.  The forecast stated that the winds were supposed to die down, but we all know how accurate weathermen can be.  What was supposed to be 5-10 mph turned into about 20-25 mph with gusts most likely in the 30s.  Normally, this type of fishing is done with heavy rods, spotting fish, casting to them and using a slow retrieve only to have a 10-25 lb. slab slurp your fly and spool you multiple times before you bring them to hand, the hook slips through their soft mouths or they eventually bust you off in an impressive last ditch effort for freedom.  This was my first time carp fishing with a fly rod and I was excited.  Little did we know that the winds would pick up, causing white caps that made it near impossible to spot fish due to the broken water and the chalky, turbid water that resulted.  We fished for around two hours, decided that we were spending way to much effort hauling flies and slapping water and chose the always appealing alternate: Burgers and beers at the local brewery.  We packed up our gear, headed into town, sipped on some delicious I.P.A., ate some burgers, had some laughs and returned home to the ranch.  All in all a pretty above average day and as a bonus, we scared up a couple of bears rummaging along the road leading to the ranch.  

Geared up for whatever comes our way.

Reminiscent of saltwater flats fishing.

Excellent burger and beer combo

You can just see the second bears head poking out from the top of the hill on the left next to the second tree.

This is why fishing is worth every bit of effort.  Even when you don't find what you were originally looking for, the journey along the way is always an unpredictable adventure.