Fish fanatic.

Yesterday I pulled a half dozen small trout out of Boulder Creek. I filmed some of it with my new iPhone 4.

Then after work, I work tried a mouse pattern that Moj had tied in March. It worked. I successfully caught a fish after midnight with a mouse pattern. It wasn't the 20" Brown Trout that I was hoping for, but the fact that it worked simply thrills me.

Combination Win!

Blue Jays.

I have become an ornithologist lately. We have a nest in a tree in the backyard that started with 5 babies. There are only 3 left alive and they always want to try flying. However, they aren't ready. So every morning I go outside and keep the dogs away. Lando wants to play with them and Topper wants to eat them. 

Today one of the adult birds dive bombed me and left me with a lump on my head as I tried to rescue the juvenile and return him to his nest. I returned to put on my helmet and shatterproof sunglasses. Feeling much safer I got the ladder and returned the bird to its nest. He immediately jumped out again. I climbed down the ladder, picked him up, parents shrieking and flying close by, and the little guy trying to jump out of my hands and commit suicide. I put him back into the nest and remained on suicide watch for another 3 minutes.

I returned a few minutes later and there were 2 juveniles on the ground. I knew the ladder was useless. We got a large trash bin with sticks and leaves and placed a towel on top. I hope the parents use it as a giant nest on the ground and the babies just hang out inside until they can fly.

One is left in the tree.

My new favorite book.

I find it very amusing that when we are out of something at the restaurant I can come up with many excuses for my tables. I lied to one table and told them that the fish was very popular so we had sold out. The table beside them, I had to keep my voice down to mention, honestly, that the fish was "not very good" and we were taking it off the menu. Of course there are many other things that I hope we are taking off the menu because the food sucks. We are undergoing big changes as our general manager and executive chef have all quit this week. Apparently the staff turnover is very high and the owner doesn't think it's his fault. He is the only person above these people that keep leaving. Whatever. I just wait tables. I am supposed to be at a meeting right now as they try to teach us about service.

Waiter Rant.

Blue River again!

I have been reading Waiter Rant since I seem to be a disgruntled realistic restaurant employee and another server with a similar attitude loaned me the book. Now I am hooked on the blog as well. Turns out he is a waiter, dog owner, and blogger. Sounds god to me. The author is now a published writer and a decade older than me though.

Yesterday, we took Moj's mom to Breckenridge for the day. Of course the Blue was awesome to fish. All dries, all day. Tons of fish make me very happy. There is so much water here in Colorado and not enough time.

Cool video.

Gnarcade from Mike Benson on Vimeo.

Boulder Peak

Last weekend was the Boulder Peak Olympic distance triathlon.
Swim: 25 minutes
Bike: 1:18:22
Run 43:17

My bike still needs lots of work and I feel like it always will. The most exciting thing was that I hit a fox going about 35 mph down the back side of Olde Stage Rd. He jumped out right in front of me and I clipped his back end. My front wheel wobbled and I screamed as I wondered which side of my body was going to get the worst road rash. Things worked out and I didn't crash. I looked back and saw the fox lope across the road. Looks like we both made it! I was probably a bit more cautious after that than I would have liked to be.
Nearly at T2 three guys were riding side by side and a car was trying to pull out perpendicular to them. I passed them as the car nearly took us all out. One of the guys crashed into my rear wheel. We both stayed upright and almost doesn't count.
So a couple of close calls and I was happy to be out on the run. I ran hard and passed more people than passed me. My run kept me just under 7 minutes per mile and I am very happy with that. Today I rode my bike and I look forward to the 70.3 next month!

Fish update.

Overnight trip to Brainard with some friends. Lando and Topper loved it. The fishing was fun, but I am still hating fishing in non moving water.

Moj got the most fish of the day.

Boulder Creek with a friend. His new friend is allowing me to perfect my fly tying.

The fishing on Boulder Creek has been amazing. When the kayakers aren't there, the water is clear and the dry fly fishing is on fire. Eager fish destroying anything floating by. When the water gets muddied, nymphing is necessary. I am not a fan of nymphing, but I love catching fish. The girl in the tree wouldn't stop talking about her Dad fishing, but she had never seen a a fish as "cool" as this one. I guess her Dad isn't a trout fisherman.

Another job!

Now for job #3. I am now working with Blood Knot magazine. It is an e-zine published every other month that is dedicated to fly fishing. We update the supporting website with fresh content every week. Let me know if you want to advertise with us! I look forward to jumping into this industry. BloodKnot.net

Test run of Tangelo.

I am testing out Tangelo for my images. Mouse over the image for more information.

New job.

I am the race course manager for the 2010 Boulder Marathon. Come and run with us. BoulderMarathon.com

Carp-e diem.

I found myself with a few hours free and despite actually catching trout in a recently non blown out local creek yesterday, I decided to teach myself patience at a lake stalking carp. I have been carp fishing a half a dozen times, usually by myself flinging flies, and wondering why these fish are so much smarter than myself. I have repeatedly gone into Front Range Anglers to listen to the wisdom of the people that I see in the blog with many golden monsters in their hands. I thought that I was doing what they told me, but it was never producing fish. The closest I ever got was when I found out the hard way that my tippet was too light. (Something a trout fisherman just doesn't understand.) 

Today with thunderstorms threatening and not much hope remaining, I still found myself creeping along the banks of my favorite lake, stalking the Colorado Bonefish. The first fish was huge and feeding hungrily. His tail was making ripples on the surface and he was neck deep in mud. I still found a way to spook him. He cruised away slowly seemingly annoyed that I was dropping "food" all around him. I continued walking to my favorite spot and found a couple carp eating pretty close to shore. What I thought was a stealthy approach was too quick for one of the fish and he disappeared beyond casting range. His buddy didn't notice me and I got a cast a bit further than I wanted. My brain still thought these were real bonefish. I thought of all the tips that I had gotten from FRA and tried to slow down my heart rate. I stripped my fly hoping to drop it close to the fish's face. I pulled it a bit too far, but let it sit for a moment. The carp noticed, turned 90 degrees and sucked up my fly. My heart stopped. When I set the hook (with a big strip like Jay said) I expected to see my fly skittering across the bottom. Instead, there was a tightness in my line that meant I had hooked the fish or another rock, stick, weed, bottom of the lake, or other more likely scenario. Then he ran. Fish on! Hot damn, I had finally hooked a carp. Then I got nervous. Would my knots hold? My drag is too loose. Can I actually land it? How do I land a carp? I had to stop thinking and start reeling. Luckily, my friend was watching and I was able to tell him that this was my first carp and I was very excited. I noted the bend in my rod. Man that looks good. The fish tried to run into the reeds, but I was able to keep him out. This was nothing like dragging a log to the surface that so many people expect. This fish took off. I would get him close and he would run again. Eventually I was able to land him (I dropped my rod in the water and scooped him up) and pose for a picture.

The folks at Front Range Anglers know their stuff. With their help, I was able to land my first carp. Now who wants to go fishing tomorrow?