The family loaded up the Subaru and headed up to Vail with both sets of Grandparents for the holiday weekend. It was a great trip and nice to get away. Beaver Creek had Oktoberfest and Vail had the Taste of Vail, which meant a lot of German brews for me! My father-in-law and I were able to sneak out to fish the Eagle yesterday for a few hours. It was windy, hot, and sunny but I thoroughly enjoyed getting back out on the river.
This was my first and largest fish, about 13-14" who nailed my Red Quill emerger fishing in the surface film. I have always known the Eagle to be a caddis river, though according to the guy at the Fly Shop the Eagle used to boast the most prolific Red Quill hatch in the state. However, that has since changed. He did say that due to all the improvements upstream in Minturn, etc. and the mine cleanup (years of progress) the river is coming back. The fish we caught were all about the same size and put up a hell of a fight so if they are any indication of the river's future, things are looking good!
This Red Quill Emerger was the only fly to catch any fish all day. The trout were not keyed in on adults and nymphing got us zero hits, they were on the emerger and hit it whether fished as a dry, in the film, or drowned.
After about 3 hours we had to pack it in to head back home but we each caught a few fish and missed a couple more. A few were starting to turn quite colorful with the brilliant yellow belly and red/brown spots getting ready for the spawn. Unfortunately I couldn't get a picture to turn out to show :(
I forgot my cigars...d'oh! So we had to stop at a liquor store to buy some no-name cheapies. While there I was quite excited to see Stone's Sublimely Self Righteous Ale on the shelf! 90 IBU's of pure deliciousness is heavenly. For a full-year release this brew seems to be getting harder to locate around Denver. Sitting in the Eagle for a while chilled it right up and it was a great treat and a fine way to end the day.Hope to get out again soon!
