Fishing Tips

   Tips for Stress free life  >  Expert Zone   > Fishing tips

       Fishing tips by experts


Lucky Hat


Do you have a lucky hat?

It was a beautiful warm day in the mid 70's. Typical of what we get in Colorado during September. I started out by checking the stream flows on the stream flows page at fly-fishing-colorado.com. The South Platte below Cheesman Dam was just perfect running 250 CFS. The water should be clear and not too much moss yet.

I was fishing the bridge pool where CO 67 and a Jeffco Highway come together. The water was crystal clear. The pool had just enough moss in it to offer fish protection and challenging fishing for the fisherman. After two hours, I had only had a couple of strikes but could not get hooked up.

So I headed to the car for my secret weapon. The "Lucky Hat" or in my case "Lucky Cap". Mine is old and dirty. I purchased it in 1990 on a trip to Cancun, Mexico. How long it has been my lucky cap, I rightly can't remember. Probably some 12 years or so. It has a logo on the front that says "Hard Rock Cafe". It is not even a fishing cap. Yet when I wear it, I almost always catch fish.

Armed now with my fish catcher, I headed back to the pool. On the way, I noticed a hatch of very small insects coming off. Letting one land on my hand, I examined it. It was a baetis hatch getting started.

Hurriedly, I clipped off the RS2 from the 7X dropper and tied on a 24 baetis I had purchased on a recent San Juan River, New Mexico trip.

Wading carefully to my casting position behind a medium rock, I dropped the two fly rig into one of the runs feeding the pool. The currents swirled the fly into the depths of the pool and by some big rocks in the middle. Then out into the faster currents at the tail of the pool.

Nothing this cast. Repeating this same drift pattern for the third time, I felt a solid strike and raised my rod to set the hook. After a good 5 minutes of fun, this beautiful rainbow came to my net.

A couple of casts later, I hooked up with a really nice brown. This one was 10 plus minutes of fun before netting.

During the next hour, I caught and released 3 more bows on my #24 baetis out of the bridge pool before the hatch tapered off. Switching back to the standard rig I usually fish. (A #16 flashback, gold ribbed, bead head hare's ear upper and a #18 or #20 gray RS2 dropper on 7X tippet) I fished the west bank downstream from the bridge. After catching and releasing a couple more fat 15 or 16 inch rainbows, I headed upstream toward Deckers, CO; stopping a mile below to fish. This is one of my favorite areas of the S. Platte. Often it will be crowded but today there were only a couple of other fishermen upstream from me. I fished a couple of small pools, while wading toward a main pool farther out. I caught and released a couple of small 12 inch bows from these pools. At the larger pool, I added more weight to get closer to the bottom. This pool is deep even at 250 CFS. About 10 minutes later, the line stopped dead half way through my drift. I knew that a good fish was on. Raising the rod, the battle started. After ten minutes, the fish was still racing up and down the pool. Finally I got his head to break water. Thinking I had won the battle, I put too much pressure on. With a pop of broken tippet, the fish disappeared into the depths of the pool.

That was the last fish of the day. But my tally was nine very nice fish for a day on the S. Platte. I had fished the S. Platte off and on for many seasons. This was my best day on the Platte.

I had worn my "Lucky Cap" a lot that 2000 season. The 2000 season was my best ever with over 425 fish hooked and released.

Was that cap responsible? Of course not! Such a thing would be superstitious. "Right!" All I know is that I seldom get skunked when that cap sits on my head. Probably I pay more attention to my drifts and to fishing conditions when I wear my Lucky Cap.

It just couldn't be that cap! Could it?

If you don't have a Lucky Cap or Hat maybe you should.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,

Marshall Estes, editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
Colorado Fly Fishing Tips
copyright 2004 Marshall Estes

About The Author

Marshall Estes , editor Colorado Fly Fishing Tips has been a fly fishing and fly tying enthusiast for over 30 years. Check out our other issues at http://www.fly-fishing-colorado.com.

editor@fly-fishing-colorado.com


MORE RESOURCES:

See the complete list of Articles on Fishing tips here

Have a look at Best Selling Books on Fishing tips

 

Google

See also : Other articles on

Depression, Grief Loss, Happiness, Humor, Inspirational, Motivation,
Positive Attitude
, Meditation, Spirituality Goal Setting, Wealth Building, Ethics, Stress Management
Yoga, Alternative Health, Build Muscle, Exercise,   Aerobics Cardio, Fitness Equipment Pregnancy  Dating, Elder Care, RelationshipAcneBeauty, Hair Loss
Cooking Tips, Recipes, Top Tips for everything Crafts Hobbies, Creativity, Fishing Photography, Pets,
 

Latest info on : Fishing

 


CBC.ca

The Fishing Lobby Wins Again
New York Times
... whose citizens consume four-fifths of the world's bluefin tuna, thus providing a steady market for poorer countries with big fishing industries like ...
Japan must back down on harsh fishing practicesSan Francisco Chronicle
Japan's lobbying sinks bluefin tuna fishing curbsNational Post
WWF proposes ban on purse seinersTimes of Malta
TIME -CBBC Newsround -Independent
all 1,212 news articles »


Warren Reporter

Fishing season heating up with warm temperatures
Mount Vernon News
Trout fishing is also good at Mohican State Park in the Clear Fork and Mohican rivers. “Also, if you're interested, they are starting to catch northern pike ...
Rainbow trout stocked, fishing to begin in April at Lakewood Forest PreserveWQAD
Some NCW lakes open for trout fishing on April 1The Wenatchee World Online
Carpenter's Brook Fish Hatchery programs designed to hook folks on fishingThe Post-Standard - Syracuse.com (blog)
Mountain Xpress (blog) -The People's Defender
all 21 news articles »


Business leaders urge guv to veto fishing-access bill
Salt Lake Tribune
Gary Herbert on Friday in an attempt to get him to veto House Bill 141, which they say will severely limit fishing access and hurt the state's economy. ...

and more »



Night fishing allowed in 4th annual black drum tourney
Delmarva Daily Times
CAPE CHARLES --The Eastern Shore of Virginia Chamber of Commerce invites anglers to the fourth annual Black Drum World Championship Fishing Tournament to be ...

and more »



Longboat fishing on the White River
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
God doesn't subtract days spent fishing from the span of one's life, or so I've been told, so perhaps this day would not count in the reckoning of the days ...

and more »


Fishing Report
Bastrop Daily Enterprise
They're moving to the shallows and four over 8 1/2 pounds have been caught fishing the Strike King Red eye Shad, 6 inch lizards and Super Flukes in pumpkin ...
Fishing report for March 18, 2010NewsOK.com
Fishing Report 3-19The Southern
Midlands fishing reportThe State
CharlotteObserver.com -The Tennessean
all 8 news articles »


New York Daily News

Cops rescue baby seal from Staten Island fishing lines
New York Daily News
A seal, like this one, was rescued from fishing lines by a couple of New York's Finest. A pair of city cops saved a scrappy ...
Trapped in fishing line, seal rescued in waters off TottenvilleSILive.com
Cops seal dealNew York Post
NYPD scuba divers rescue baby seal in TottenvilleSILive.com

all 7 news articles »


Riverside Landing to host first fishing tourney today
St. Clair Times
“We are very excited about hosting our first fishing tournament,” said Councilman Jimmy Hollander. “Everything looks so nice and neat. ...


Google News

 

Why not be an expert yourself  ?

 If you can write on any of the above topic, you are welcome to submit your
 articles in our database :

 Submit your article here   Our Article Area

You are here Home > Tips for Stress free Life > Expert Zone > Fishing Tips


| Fishing Tips Home | Fishing Tips - Complete list 

| Main Home | | Meditation Corner

                |Health Tips  | Workplace Tips  | Soul Tips  |Expert Zone  |

Recommend us  |

 Books, DVDs and accessories on meditation & yoga  |

[About us] [Contact] [Privacy Policy]

Copyright 2006, Meditation is Easy.com, All rights reserved