Fly Fishing – KEN WHEATON

Date: July 9, 2023

Location: Silver Dollar Lake, an alpine lake off of Guanella Pass, Colorado.

Elevation: 11,945 feet. (3,640 meters)

Hike in: 1.9 miles. Moderately challenging.

Gear: Sage Dart (3 wt) with the Sage Spectrum LT (aka, the “I got my annual bonus package”); a Simm’s SolarFlex hoodie; Hoka Speedgoat Mid GTX2 boots; an old Patagonia hip pack; REI hiking pants that were too tight and came unzipped a few times (but only when I was walking in front of other people).

Fish caught: Not a damn one.

This weekend, I thought I’d try fly-fishing an alpine lake. Change of pace from my usual go-to at Deckers, which I assumed would be crowded like crazy. I also thought about hitting Cheesman, but I recently bought a 7-foot, 3-weight set up just right for smaller fish in small streams and higher lakes.

I chose Silver Dollar Lake for a simple reason. It’s the closest true alpine lake near me. There are bigger, closer lakes to me, but none of them are above the tree line.

Getting to the trail head: The trailhead for Silver Dollar Lake trail is off of Guanella Pass and can be located on Google maps by searching Silver Dollar Lake trailhead. (It’s just over an hour from my house — which, incidentally, is about the same amount of time it takes me to get to Cheesman or Deckers.) Early in the morning, there is little to no traffic on the Pass when accessing it from Highway 285 in Grant. I’m going to assume there’s more traffic coming from the I-70/Georgetown side simply judging by the huge number of cars already parked at the Guanella Pass summit area. But I can’t imagine the traffic is heavy early in the morning.

Continue reading →

(This post is rated PG-13 for strong, but entirely appropriate, language).

You’re walking down a path running along a rushing mountain river when you hear a grunting up ahead. You pause. Maybe it’s a bear or a hog of some sort. Do they have hogs in the mountains? As you draw closer, you see a man wearing boots up to his chest, a hat jammed onto his head, polarized sunglasses. He’s bent over, in some sort of distress. Maybe the nine foot pole he’s grappling with has pierced his side. There’s a pair of hemostats on the ground, almost in the water. Nail clippers, too. He’s mumbling furiously.

Closer still, you make out what he’s saying. “You piece of shit. Come on you little son of a bitch.” Over and over, weaving in worse as he goes along, sounding like The Old Man from “A Christmas Story” fighting with his furnace — except you don’t need to use your imagination to figure out the words.

You’re looking at me on my first solo fly fishing excursion.

Continue reading “The curse of the fly fisherman” →

Tag: Fly Fishing

Fly-Fishing Report: Silver Dollar Lake, July 2023

The curse of the fly fisherman