Flyfishing at Pella Ponds

Saturday April 9th, I went flyfishing with the Colorado Women's Flyfishing Association to Pella Crossing Ponds in Hygine, CO. The five ponds are stocked by the Colorado Park Service with Blue Gill, Small Mouth and Large Mouth Bass.

Five ladies brought Belly Boats. I'd never heard of a belly boat but you can see from the pictures that these are individual blow up boats that kinda look like a floating chair. Once the boat is inflated, you put on fins. While sitting in the boat, to move around a lake, you paddle your feet. The big trick appeared to be getting the boat down to the water and then sliding into the boat without falling into the water.

Another 6 ladies, myself included, fished from the shore and near shore. Everyone put on waders and boots, hats and sunglasses and waded 3-5 feet from the shore. Wading into the water helped clear the shore with the fly line because there was alot of brush around the edges. I fished with a lady named Cherri, a retired school teacher, and we made our way around the pond with no luck. Here is a picture of Reanna and Joanie, two members of the club fishing from the bank.

After lunch we moved to a different location and began to catch Blue Gill. I caught 7 small fish using a size 18 midge. I'm embarrased to say how small they were but it was all anyone was catching, even the experienced flyfishing women.

But, the fishing was fun and meeting women from Colorado that enjoy fishing was even better.

The next club trip will be to the NorthFork Ranch on April 24th where a flyfishing clinic will be held on the South Platte River.

Restoration in Progress

Henry and I continue to work on the Globetrotter. The worst problem we've encountered is the pest infestion. We've cleaned poop and nests from cabinets, ,oven, refrig, wheelwells, and even under the old tile. So far we've not found anywhere that the mice didn't visit first. Henry pulled off the air conditioner unit and even in that the mice had chewed up insulation and left a trail.

During the past month, we've managed to remove the couch frames, the stove unit, the refrigerator and the heater. The cabinets above the couches and the kitchen unit have been removed. I'm afraid the applicance will need replaced and I don't know where we'll find those units, but I'm sure it's just a matter of location and dollares.

Yesterday the kitchen cabinets were removed. The floor has been scraped and the plywood seems intact. As we work our way to the rear of the unit, the closets will be removed next and then, the bathroom!

It seems like it's taking a long time but with the amount of damage, it seems we can only work in short bursts of efforts. I'm hopeful that the inside is gutted by the end of the month but the going is pretty slow.