Well, this weekend the weather and our schedules were all in sync.! My good friend Frank Drummond and I were able to get a day when we could finally get out and fish for the day! So off to Rocky Mountain Park we went! Now before I go to far here it might be a good idea to say that Frank has been guiding that park for 11 years! So as you can imagine he knows every rock and twig by name!

We met at Frank’s place in Estes Park at about 7:30 AM and got his gear into my truck in very short order. “Where do you want to go?” Frank asked. “Well this is your turf!” I said, you’re the one that know the best places! “Well, you know there are a bunch of great places I take clients, how about we hit some of those places?” Frank said. Frank followed up by saying some of these places are kinda hard to fish, real brushy, lots of willows, etc. But there are always fish to be caught there!

I have to say that fishing small rods really shines when you are in those kinda places. I love fishing my special 6 ft rod that I have designed over the years for just this kind of small stream fishing. So off we went on our adventure!

Well, when we first walked in we found a couple of places that look like they came right out of a magazine article, and quite honestly not hard at all to fish, but then… well we got into some of those places that Frank was talking about, we were catching fish all along the way I might add, and some were quite nice. There were browns, brooks, cutthroats and rainbows to be had! And we got ’em all!  A double Grand Slam! Frank is such a good guide and it is in his blood, at one point I had to remind Frank that we were just a couple of good friends enjoying a day out on the river and that he really didn’t have to cater to me, although it is nice to have your own personal guide that you don’t have to pay for! Now one thing I have to say is that the fly of the day was a Caddis pattern that I tie. I use Muskrat for the body and deer hair for the wings then hackle it with grizzly hackle. Makes a great Caddis pattern and the one that the fish really liked today. And I have to say that every hole that Frank pointed to and said “There’s always fish right there” was just as he said it would be! Now tell me that he doesn’t know that Park!

One thing that I thought was pretty cool is that Frank, even though he makes a very nice Bamboo fly rod, elected to fish his J.E. Arguello 7 ft. 202e that I made for him when we first met back in 2006! That rod is numbered #0609. So we fished until noon and decided to call it a day. The weather was great, no wind, nice sunny morning but the clouds did start sneaking in over the divide. Just when we got to the truck and got our waders off it started to rain! Talk about timing!

Well we talked about our experience all the way back to Estes, and just as we were getting into town, I told Frank “Let me buy you lunch” (least I could do) Frank said OK and asked me what I wanted to eat. I had to remind him once again that this was his turf! Without hesitation Frank said “Cheesy Lee’s!” Well I have to say that Frank, once again, didn’t lead me astray! Best Pizza I have ever eaten! “The Fourteener” Frank suggested! Kinda reminded me of when Frank was saying “there’s always fish right there”

Frank knows guiding… and Pizza!

Thanks for a great day on the river my friend… we’ll do it again soon.

Joe E. Arguello