River Conditions and Weather River running at 140 C.F.S. and gin clear. Water temp. 43 degrees. Unusually warm weather ushered December into Boxwood Gulch accompanied by some fantastic winter fishing. Up slope snow storms that dumped on Denver left only a dusting of snow on the valley of trout here in the Bailey Banana Belt. A release of 100 C.F.S. of clear warm water from the Roberts tunnel tailwater 5 miles upstream, was a welcome winter present for the BIG BOWS of Boxwood. Fish that had moved into their winter holes and lairs, have opted for the food rich riffles and pocket water and are feeding on Stoneflies, May nymphs, scuds and Caddis larva that was set adrift by the increased flow. This will be a December to remember. Notable Catches Harold Klausner of Denver and his cousin Art Spinner of New York celebrated Thanksgiving on the 26th of November with left over turkey and a couple dozen Rainbows each on what turned out to be a rather balmy day of nymphing patterns that ranged from #18 Haresears to #8 Gold Prince nymphs. Harold hit a fish before lunch in Heartbreak Hole that refused to come off of the bottom for about 5 minutes. Having guided Harold throughout the year, and knowing his ability to handle trout of the XXL caliber, I took my time getting into position for what seemed to be a certain net job and photo session. Suddenly, our confidence was shattered as the HUGE BOW turned and ran from the main channel, into the Oxbow and down stream breaking the 4X tippet and leaving Harold with the realization of why it's called Heartbreak Hole. He simply looked at me with this big grin and announced, "That's lunch." After some splendid sandwiches, and Art's tales of Striper fishing on the East coast, it was back to the river where double hookups were frequent. Instead of concentrating on netting the largest fish, I started to place myself between cousins and put both trout in the bag at the same time. (To judge a River Ranch Outfitter guides expectations, just check the size of the net that he is packing.) With light bookings, 1000 HOT fish per mile in my back yard, and a severe itch to fish, I decided to host a "Friends of the Riverkeeper Day" on December 5th. A fresh blanket of snow and an abundance of sunshine met me in the Deer Camp as I prepared the campfire for breakfast. The first invitee to show up was a long time friend and veteran Boxwood angler Jim Morgan. A big smile was protruding from his grizzled beard because he had seen mornings like this before and knew what was to come. By this time, the smell of campfire smoke had reached the riverside home of Boxwood Gulch owner Dan Mauritz, who showed up with a large thermos of coffee in hand. Next to arrive was Harold Klausner, back to even the score in Heartbreak Hole followed closely by Sweet Sandi Zachau, the rookie of this select group. The sound of sizzling bacon and sausage, laughter and the babbling river was interrupted as Frank Prekel ( aka Frankie T. Manly ) made his entrance fresh from what he called his death bed. " If this cold is going to kill me, he said, I would rather die at Boxwood than anywhere else." The day was set. Following Boxwood Gulch protocol of "Ladies first", Sandi was the first to hook up in her favorite Convention Center Hole, she was also the first to break off a 5 lb. plus Bow, and the first to re-rig. Ladies first at Boxwood. Harold was busy in the famed Bridge Hole spanking Bows on a Gold Stone nymph and had the honorable distinction of being the 2nd to re-rig after what he said was the biggest Boxwood Bow he had ever hooked beat him in, you guessed it. HEARTBREAK HOLE! Morg was quickly on his way to his average 25 fish day while Frank disappeared into the Oxbow with his 2 wt. Thomas & Thomas. With my guests all in the river and introducing themselves to the trout, it was time to get rigged up. As I exited the clubhouse with my favorite 4 wt.T&T , .5 Abel reel, fresh leader and my vest weighted down with memories of the season, I realized just how fortuitous we were to have the river, the trout and the December day so mild, so dandy and so fine. The day came off as scripted with everyone landing trophy trout throughout the afternoon. Sandi's victory over a 27" Rainbow in the Oxbow water was the highlight of the day for me. I has been a lot of fun watching her grow into a confident angler with patience and knowledge far beyond her angling prowess. Of the 72 trout landed, 15 were of the 5 lb. caliber. Morg got his average 25 fish, Harold got beat up in Heartbreak Hole-------again. Sandi was the HOT ROD by landing the Palomino she had been chasing since September. Frankie T. Manly topped his personal best by landing a Bow over 23" on his 2 wt. I managed to reward myself with an old lantern jawed Cutthroat that lives in a special place, in a special river, on a very special day. Thanks to all of my friends for keeping me in the river and away from my TV. I heard the Broncos lost--------------------------------------again. Barry Conyers River Keeper

Update from 06/30/2010 June....the month of higher water. It scares some anglers because they never learned how to catch fish in off colored high water....We only had about 3 days of really dirty water. Many of our guides love dirty water and consider it the time to land the really big fish...and it is but we only had a few days of run-off conditions Some big fish landed in June...28 inch Brown, 30 inch Rainbow, 8 lb Cutbow, 8 lb Brown, 19 inch Brookie. Quite a few 22 inch + fish were landed on nearly every trip. The fish were either eating real big stuff like streamers, or size 18-20 emerger patterns. We did land some fish on Parachute Adams and Beetles. If you want to land big fish book your next trip in June. Our guides will share their secret tricks with you for catching and landing big Trout in higher than normal off colored water.

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