By my third day in Colorado, my soul was ready to fish, but my body was beat from two solid days of fishing. We slept in and made a late start of our float. After a fantastic BBQ platter loaded with baked beans and potato salad at Moes Original BBQ in Eagle, Colorado, we dropped the SUV and trailer at the takeout and headed back upriver to the boat.
The float started slow and it took me a while to get into the swing of things. After some rerigging, Jay suggested the Eagle River standby – a Pat’s Rubber Legs and a pheasant tail. That did the trick and soon fish were coming to the net. After a couple of tangles, snags, and lost flies, I could feel my blood starting to boil. Jay was kind enough to pull the boat over and let me rerig, and before we pulled back into the current I floated my two fly rig on the edge of the seam next to the boat. On the second pass through, my indicator dipped and I came tight on what I thought was the bottom of the river, until the rod started to pulse. After several minutes of wondering what I was hooked into and sweating the thought of losing it, a slab of a rainbow made its way to the surface and Jay quickly netted it.
My legs were shaking as I cradled the fish pictured above for a quick photo, before releasing it back into its watery home. I think the look on my face in the picture above kind of says it all. Colorado is slice of heaven.
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Pig of a rainbow Ben. Nice fish.
Thank you Jay. I couldn’t have been happier.
Ben
Beautiful fish and scenery too.
Thanks Corey.
Well look who floated the Eagle! Nice huh? I hope you got a chance to experience what it must be like to wade on greased bowling balls! Gorgeous fish, gorgeous water and scenery…that’s why it’s one of my favorites. I can fish it whenever I want! Nice job Ben.
It certainly is a beautiful river, Howard. I’m more than a little jealous that you have such pretty water to access.
Ben
Nice Rainbow!
For what it’s worth, Moe’s Original ain’t half bad for good Southern BBQ. I’m from Memphis (“BBQ Capital of the World” in case you didn’t know), but I now live in Birmingham where we have 4 Moe’s locations. It’s actually hard to find decent BBQ in B’ham. Moe’s is one of the few local establishments that gets my seal of approval for decent Q.
Good to know. My taste buds were telling me that it was pretty good, but it’s good to get an authentic take on it. I’m definitely down to go back.
Ben
Nice. Very nice. Chunk rainbows, big grins, and Q. It don’t get much better. Except maybe, streamers… 🙂
Thanks Mike. It certainly doesn’t get any better.
Ben
We always hit Moe’s on the way to the Frying Pan, you made a good choice!
Man Ben, you get to have all the fun! Beautiful fish! That second bow had some intense coloring…