Deckers, CO. South Platte River. January 11, 2013
My office, my laboratory, my church… it’s all running together these days. The river is where I am spending my time and it sure is nice not to have to split my time between so many places. It was cloudy and 50 degrees down in the Canyon and I was basically by myself all day.
Today was an observation day. One of the trickiest things on a river is being able to spot a fish. In the winter months in particular, it can be pretty close to fruitless to blindly fish a river. The flows are low enough (especially this year) that it makes sense to walk up and down the banks to find your fish. Sounds easy? Hardly. It’s a skill that you develop over time – kind of like spotting a bird on a tree. You know they are there, but seeing them is another story. And so I spent an hour or so just walking besides the river trying to see a fish… and didn’t see one. I even purchased another pair of sunglasses with more of a bronze/brown tint, which was supposed to help, but obviously didn’t.
Oh well, I made some friends today including Brown Jack, the donkey, and an American Dipper, who was very upset that I had invaded its territory. It danced around on several rocks and was quite graceful unlike me as I stumble across the river tripping over rocks. I think it’s quite an accomplishment when I get across without taking a dip.
