A month or two ago, my buddy Kyle, of Sleep When You’re Dead,  invited me to head up to the famous Colorado River and fish Lees Ferry with him and a couple of other guys. Having always wanted to fish this unique and beautiful river, I jumped at the chance and started tying a whole passel of bugs. With the car packed to the gills and thermos full of coffee, we headed north to Flagstaff and then through the reservation to the river. The first day we met up with Kevin Krai, a well known Arizona fly fisherman, and sped up the river on his boat. We found an empty bar with some prime riffle water and spent the rest of the day hooking fish on midge patterns, red hots, and eggs.

Most of the fish that we brought to the net were between 12 and 14 inches with a few pushing 15, possibly 16. For their size, these fish fought hard, knowing how to use the ice cold current to their advantage.

Kevin, Kyle, and I met up with some standup guys from the local fly fishing forum. It was a real pleasure getting to fish with Scott and Chad and finally put a face with the name.

After fishing the evening, we left the river as things were getting dark. Kyle had arranged for us to stay in the Cliff Dwellers house that Lees Ferry Anglers rent out. Very nice to have a warm place to dry out our waders and boots and get some grub in our stomachs. I had cooked up a batch of venison stew and luckily everyone was starving so they gulped it down. The rest of the evening was spent tying flies and telling some lies about big fish we caught.

The post Arizona Fly Fishing: Lees Ferry (Part 1) appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

It’s that time of year again here in Arizona. Cactus League baseball is starting to ramp up and the ISE show is back in Phoenix. Before heading over to the show, I threw my fly rod in the truck and I headed over to the carp ponds to see what was moving. The carp were around but it seemed that the bass were more apt to play. After getting my fly fishing fix, I wandered over to the Expo and met up with some good people and friends.

I was able to stop by and talk to Terry Gunn from Lees Ferry Anglers about the river. I have a trip coming up in the near future and all signs are pointing to great conditions. The guys at AZ Fly Casters were there tying bugs and on the end, Dave Brown from Dave Brown Outfitters was hanging out talking to people about bird hunting and fly fishing up in B.C. It didn’t take much, but I think I am going to have to go up and pay him a visit in the near future.

As I wandered through the displays, I recognized a familiar face in the archery tournament. Darr Colburn from Colburn and Scott Outfitters was there with his son, Parker. Darr was flinging arrows downrange and racking up some good numbers. I’m thinking for next year about trying to round up some stickbow guys to go down and make a traditional showing.

Next to the archery range was a Dock Dog Contest. It was pretty fun to sit and watch the pups showing their jumping abilities. Some of these dogs jumping over 25 feet. I think my dog, Budder, could hang with the best of them though.

Mike Stewart was manning the Desert Fly Casters booth while Cinda Howard was on the casting pond giving a casting demonstration. I had a really cool opportunity to meet fellow blogger, Marc Neilson, from Tonto Ramblings at the show. Mark was a really nice guy and I’m looking forward to doing a bit of fishing with him in the future.

Overall the ISE show was a good Saturday diversion, but I did feel that there were not as many vendors or people as past shows. What did you all think?

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