Tag: Lees Ferry Anglers

Colorado - Lees Ferry Reach, Lagniappe

Lees Ferry Redux

By Tom Burnett

Last year, almost to the day, we fished the Lees Ferry Reach of the Colorado River with Skip Dixon and Kevin Campbell of Lees Ferry Anglers.  We were joined by fishing buddies Dan McCormack, James Kelly and his son, Andy.  What we discovered was one of the most strikingly amazing landscapes you can imagine…. as well as a world class fishery.  At the Lees Ferry put in, we watched as anxious rafters prepared for their journey downstream through the Grand Canyon while we boarded a jet boat for our run upstream toward Glen Canyon dam.  After a great day fishing, Skip and Kevin shared their perspectives on this fishery and its surroundings in Lees Ferry Fanatics.  While we were in Arizona, we also took numerous photos and incorporated them into our highlight video post, AZ Memories.

Our time last year was so good here, we decided to come back this spring.  Skip took us out again on a beautiful day in the canyon.  We found some gorgeous fish that Skip captured in his photos shown above in this post.  I told Skip that our post on this trip was going to be about him and his photos.  He has an eye for photography that captures not just the fish, but most importantly, the surroundings in this magical place.  He also uses a variety of filters to further enhance the images and their meanings.  His pictures are always treasured as mementos of our time with him on the water.

Skip avidly chronicles his time on the river, as well as providing fishing reports.   He takes a very mathematical approach to his guiding, making sure to document river flows, temperatures, hatches and fishing success among many factors.  His methods help assure his clients have the best chances at success on the river.  You can find his reports and chronicles on both his Instagram feed as well as on his Facebook page.

When to come fish with Skip?  Anytime is the right answer, but according to Skip, the summer Cicada hatch is not to be missed.  He also hinted that if you want to target big browns, think about fishing in January or February.  We can’t wait to get back whenever we are in the area to fish the river and experience this vividly stunning landscape.

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Arizona, Lagniappe

AZ Memories

By TB

When we arrived in Arizona, the first leg of our 2017 River Ramble adventure, we were excited about more than just fishing.  As a matter of fact, we spent the early part of our time in Arizona hiking, enjoying the outdoors, meeting up with old friends, hanging out with our daughter Kelly and yes, we still did manage to find a river to fish before our first “official” TU Top 100 river of 2017.

We set up camp at the Lake Pleasant Recreation Area in North Peoria, AZ, a burb of Phoenix.  We took some time to hike around the area trails, stumbling upon some burros grazing on the side of the hill.  Beautiful cactus of so many different types were everywhere. We also found some beautiful wildflowers already blooming along the trails.  We especially enjoyed the yellow poppies that seemed to be the first up in the desert landscape.

We did find a river to fish just north out of Sedona called Oak Creek.  When we contacted some of the local guides about fishing the river, we learned that the river was blown out by melting snow from the mountains around Flagstaff.  Such news might discourage others, but Barb and I still ventured up Oak Creek Canyon to see the river and wet a line.  It looked like a green veggie smoothie flowing downstream.  While the fishing wasn’t great, the scenery was.   The drive up and down the canyon was spectacular.

When we got back to Phoenix, Kelly was off work and we were able to go to a farmer’s market and a street fair.  Later on, we attended an Arizona Rattlers Indoor Football League game as well as a Suns game.  The fans in Phoenix are very lout and proud of the home team.    We had a blast with Kelly, exploring Phoenix and just hanging out.

Some of our dear friends from Lincoln NE, Ted and Deborah Watson, came to Phoenix to visit their daughter and we had a chance to catch up with them as well.  Its always so much fun to see them.  We had the pleasure of going to their daughter, Katherine and her husband Brian’s home for burgers and beers.  Then after they’d hit the links, we met up for BBQ in Cave Creek.  We’re already planning a meet up in South Dakota as we traverse the US from west to east in August.

Next, Chuck and Marty Raplinger invited us to join them and their Benedictine College Raven college buddies for a weekend of baseball, BBQ’s and pickleball.  Terry and Sandy Cullen were the ringleaders of our pickleball matches and helped us learn how to play the game.  As you can see in the pictures, everyone had a lot of fun in the sun and at the ball game.  While I whiffed at my share of pickleball shots, I’m already looking forward to seeing everyone next year if they’ll have us back.  By then, maybe the muscles I’d not used in forever will be recovered and ready to play more pickleball.

Finally, we were joined by a couple of fishing buddies, James Kelley and Dan McCormack, as well as James’ son Andy to fish the Colorado River, Lees Ferry Reach.  Before we fished however, we attended a game at Sloan Park between the last two World Series champs, the Royals and Cubs.  The Royals came out victorious, but, it’s just spring training.  Hopefully, this will carry over into the regular season.  Who knows, maybe they could meet in the 2017 Series.

Once we got to Lees Ferry, it was fish on!  We went out on the river with Skip Dixon and Kevin Campbell of Lees Ferry Anglers.  We motored upstream from the Lees Ferry put in, where the Grand Canyon raft trips begin.  We were in search of beautiful rainbow trout, not rapids.  We found them in some of the most beautiful areas we’ve fished.  And yes, while it’s really not about the fish, we DID catch some beautiful ones.  We also had a chance to tour some of the cave dwellers ruins, more wildflowers and a picturesque view of Horseshoe Bend before the sun set on our Arizona adventure…. giving us memories that will be with us forever.

Ramble On

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Colorado - Lees Ferry Reach, Guide Talk

Lees Ferry Fanatics

By TB

When we were planning our trip to fish the Lees Ferry Reach of the Colorado River, we contacted Lees Ferry Anglers in Marble Canyon, AZ.  We were excited to fish with them because the owners of Lees Ferry Anglers are Terry and Wendy Gunn, who have written several fishing guide books that are must reads.  While we are currently fishing our way through the Trout Unlimited Top 100 list, Terry and Wendy have written books on the 50 Best Tailwaters to Fish and one I’m sure we’ll be fishing our way through, 25 Best National Parks to Fly Fish.

Our Lees Ferry Anglers guides for the trip were Skip Dixon and Kevin Campbell.  I say guides because we were joined by Dan McCormack, James Kelly and son, Andy.  It must have been a tough decision for Skip and Andy to determine who got Barb and me and who got the “guys”.  It ended up, Barb and I went out with Skip and the guys went with Kevin.

We put in at the Lees Ferry put in site, which is also the put in for rafters going down through the Grand Canyon.  The Grand Canyon trips are 14 days on the river, packing in everything you need for sleeping on the banks of the river and shooting some Class 8-10 rapids (many western rivers use a 10 point scale vs. the usual class I-V scale).  Needless to say, we headed UPSTREAM in jet boats to fish the sections from Glen Canyon Dam down to the Lees Ferry put in.

While we went upstream in boats, we actually wade fished on the trip.  We’d scurry from spot to spot, fishing for a few hours at each spot along the river.  We were fortunate to hook into some really nice rainbow trout along the way with the guidance of Skip and Kevin.

Our guides also pointed out some canyon features and wildlife along the way.  We saw wild mustangs, osprey (they love to fish more than we do!) and even 6 condors riding the wind currents above the canyon walls.  The guys saw Peregrine falcons soaring the red cliffs of the canyon.

We always, always say “Its Not About the Fish”, and in this case, while the fishing was great, the scenery was even better.  We fished at the curve of Horseshoe Bend, but the view from above was spectacular, if not a bit scary.  You walk out to take the iconic picture of the area, and there are no handrails, fences or other barriers between you and a huge drop into the canyon.  I couldn’t get Barb to go near and she hid her eyes watching others peering over the edge.

Everyplace we’ve fished thus far has been beautiful.  The saying, “trout don’t live in ugly places” is so very true.  However, we’d have to say that of all the rivers we’ve fished, this is one of the most spectacularly scenic places yet.  That said, we’ve now fished 48 of the TU Top 100 Trout Streams so there are 52 more to go!

We hope you enjoy this “Guide Talk” with Skip and Kevin.  It’s incredibly informative and these guys obviously love this river and having fun along the way.  If you come to the area, make sure to contact Lees Ferry Anglers and ask for Skip and Kevin!!!

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