Discount Fishing - a must visit for any Angler!

Mike decided to restock the Fish Creek Spinners, so I loaded up a bunch of bins of 3 packs and headed down to Discount Fishing - Santa Fe Drive, Denver CO.

Discount Fishing Storefront

I always get excited making the trip. I gotta say that it's a must visit for any fisherman. Talk about Angling sensory overload. There's something very special about the place, cultivated over years and years of Colorado fishing.

Here's Mike pricing some trolling cowbells (older picture - I missed running into Mike this trip)

Mike Pricing FCS trolling cowbells (in front of the Fish Creek Spinner rack)

Here's the FCS Real Estate today.

Fish Creek Spinners at Discount Fishing - Santa Fe Drive - Denver, Colorado

I've got to hand it to Mike, he knows how to build a good team. His staff's outstanding and always helpful. You have questions they'll take the time to get answers. Need to find something, they know where it is, including fish and fishing locations.

Where to catch what, and what to use to catch them.

Wander around and enjoy the tradition, bring a friend or younger fishing partner. Take my word for it, it's rewarding time you'll not find in very many places.

What can beat a bag full of new fishing tackle?

Well.. maybe a couple Fish Creek Spinners in it, would be worth a try - Get'em Wet!

The guys I met today, are a great asset to the business. They're anxious to help and you'll usually find them paired with a customer answering questions and communicating about fishing.

Caught a break and took a couple quick pictures.

Austin Parr and Brad Douglass - two of the Discount Fishing staff

Take that time, when they're busy, to wander around and check out the place.

Sure is a feast your eyes; all the products, techniques, tackle and fishing tradition. Lots of tackle!

Don Guaydacan finished ringing up a customer order

In my opinion, Discount Fishing is a must stop for any fisherman that needs to charge his batteries and maybe part with a Ben Franklin or two!

Unlike the plastic outdoors mega marts, this place has 'true' character. Years and years of angling history hanging around to be figured out and enjoyed.

The business occupies a pretty good sized space and it's filled with tackle and gear wall to wall and top to bottom. It's on the floor, it's on the ceiling, it's on the walls. And guess what? The walls seat a near endless array of pegboard displays that pivot and swing from side to side, each side covered with tackle and gear.

Did I mention the pegboards hang from walls, also covered from floor to ceiling with fishing tackle and gear?

If you want some reel fun, Discount Fishing offers Guided trips

• Chatfield Reservoir Walleye Guided Trip
• Private water Trout Fishing Trips 
• All on the Rocky Mountain Angling Club waters

Austin Parr was nice enough to send me a few pictures, the walleyes fresh off the water this morning.

Austin Parr and a couple Chatfield Reservoir Walleye beauties - lots more caught, btw

The ride!

Nice Brown Trout 

Awesome! Just Sayin!

Awesome.

Don't be in a hurry when you stop, there's just 'too' much take in!

Wander around, get in the zone.

I usually walk out with a tackle buzz - Just sayin! 

Honor and Duty

He died young at 55.

My kids never knew him.

I think of him often, especially today.

Four Brothers, all from Illinois, went to war overseas. Honor and Duty.

Dad didn't talk or tell war stories, so much of this is fragmented reconstruction.

Dad the youngest, he left high school to enlist. He lied about his age to join at seventeen. He saw the end of the war in Europe.

https://www.google.com/search?q=25th+cavalry&rlz=1C1GGGE_enUS423US423&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=1zGDU56lO4OOyATwjoCABw&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1600&bih=775#q=11th+armored+division&tbm=isch&imgdii=_

John, the oldest brother and my namesake,  came back damaged by shell shock - PTSD. I can only imagine the horrors he dealt with, mission after mission in the thick of it. He made it back but disappeared, Rumored to have committed suicide. He was never found, leaving a wife and son without a dad.

Delmar, the second son,  joined early in the war and was an Army ranger, a paratrooper. He parachuted out of silent gliders, special ops behind enemy lines, and was killed on one of his missions.

Walt and Dad, made it back. Steel in their hearts, fearless and cocky. Both self-medicating with alcohol their entire lives. Both raised families, Walt in Illinois, Dad in Wisconsin. Dad met mom in Peru,IL while she visited her half sisters in Illinois, Doris and Beulah. They lived in Peru and La Salle. Both married to other vets. Doris and Leo, Beulah and Lou. Dad had three sisters - Bernice, Millie and Dee, they also lived in Illinois. All had kids and families.

Because he was youngest, Dad saw the end of the war. He was a tail gunner on a mobile unit jeep and I can only imagine the destruction he witnessed, sitting on top that jeep, a target as they crossed all those borders. He got some medals and was wounded by his own bullet. When ordered to disable some German vehicles, shooting out tires and generally messing them up, a bullet ricocheted and hit him in the leg. He got a purple heart for the wound.

He brought back war memorabilia. A nazi flag, some German medals, spent shells, and a whole lot of hard ass.

I recall reading an article where his unit transported recently freed Jewish prisoners from an Austrian concentration camp. The living dead. Guessing that was not a fun job.

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10006142

IMO, we grew up, protected from the outside, but with a whole lot of latent fear on the inside. 

Scar tissue. Living with that fear, makes us strong.

He rolled with the Tanks, miss you Dad.

Early season Brown Trout - Northern Wisconsin run off

High water and cold temps - Rambo fishing!

 This nice brown caught on a 1/5oz Metal Armadillo, proves once again, to catch fish, you got to go fishing!

 Thanks for the picture Bryan, and keep getting the FCS wet!

Northern Wisconsin early season Brown Trout caught on FCS 1/5oz Metal Armadillo

1/5oz Metal Armadillo's

Got those 'Need your feet wet' blues?

Time to cattle prod those "get your feet wet" nerves!

First, some Dashboard views! Getting there is half the fun - Doc Cheatham and Nicholas Payton

Gopro videos from Zirkel Wilderness - Beaver Pond fishing with Fish Creek Spinners

South Platte Gill Trail- Nice flow and gravel bottom - Canyon chutes and rushing narrows

Rocky Mountain National Park - Windy Fall Day in the Park

Noise on the Line - Component Counts and Noise

Fishing Spinner component counts and Noise

To 'Stare'
a) To gaze fixedly; esp. with eyes wide open at fishing lures!

I was that enthusiastic kid that loved to fish; first with bait, then lures, then some flies, now lures again. When I got to the local hardware store's fishing racks, I certainly stared and gazed fixedly (just sayin...). We all scan the lure choices, over and over again; searching for the perfect color, a new blade, a style that we may not have.

Many times I'd settle on a proven favorite, something I may have lost; something I felt comfortable replacing with my hard earned money. Many times I left without a purchase. Spinner choices were limited back in the day, in central Wisconsin. The hungry brook trout, on the other hand, were plentiful in the Rib River.


After a few years I became accustomed to the choices available and experimented less, sticking with my proven favorites; when I lost a lure I replaced it to re-supply.
Growing up in Wisconsin, I saw Mepps French spinners in the local hardware store.



I immediately grew to like fishing with spinners. They gave me a way to cover more distance, to see, smell, and hear more nature. Moving through the woods from fishing hole to fishing hole and also the white water rapids in between the holes was awesome fun. I still fished bait because I loved to catch night-crawlers! At night after a light rain or a heavy dew we'd be out with our flashlights crawling around getting dirty, trying to be quicker then the worms and stock our wormbox. We didn't mind digging for worms but the night-crawlers were more fun!


Fishing with spinners became my summertime passion. Over time, I began to prefer spinners, over bait. I never minded getting my feet wet, and fishing streams in deep brush always provided an opportunity for a splash or two (a habit that's endured the years). Later after leaving Wisconsin, I discovered Panther Martin, then Blue Fox Vibrax and now days, Fish Creek Spinners. Granted, I design and make Fish Creek Spinners, so what would you expect me to say!


My life's experience fishing with spinners has taught me a few things about them. Life has taught me a few things about my purchasing habits as well (but that's a different story!).


On the spinner fishing experience, what I have recognized is that you want 'Noise on the Line'.
More components = more noise on the line = more fish attraction.




That said, here's my summarization of popular spinner component counts. I picked what I thought was the most popular model for several familiar companies (my old favorites or more familiar models in my opinion). Then, with the noise on the line argument on my mind, I counted components.

Panther Martin = 6 components; imported by Harrison Hoge from Italy, recently China
Mepps Aglia = 9 components; imported by Sheldon's, Inc. from France
Abu Reflex = 6 components; imported from Sweden by Abu Garcia
Blue Fox Vibrax = 8 components; Made in USA, Minnesota
Wordens Roostertail = 6 components; Made in USA, Washington
Fish Creek Spinners Armadillo = 14 components; Made in USA, Colorado
Fish Creek Spinners Paddlefish = 18 components; Made in USA, Colorado


The more components on an inline spinner, the more noise there will be during rotation, as the blade rotates, collides and grinds against the spinners body parts, the more the better.




In the case of the Armadillo, you'll notice wear marks on the inside of the blade, where the metal discs have worn contact lines. Those wear marks don't come without vibration under the water and vibration attracts fish.

Swing blade 1/8oz Glass Armadillo Three models (F102, F117, and F122). Chattering noise profile caused by the blade. Swing blades spin faster and closer to the body, colliding and causing friction against the wobbler discs.

Looks like Blogger and Flash don't play well together (based on big white block). So if you want to listen to some spinner noise recorded by a hydrophone, you'll need to visit the Fish Creek Spinners Spinner Sound page

This Armadillo spinner should be in everyones tacklebox. It gets the attention of trout, bass, perch, crappie and every fish that notices and strikes at spinners.

Each spinner model has a unique blade and body configuration with it's own underwater sounds. Sounds get amplified and transmitted by underwater currents and aggressive fish take notice. Take a few minutes to listen and imagine.

That's my story, and I'm sticking with it, because it's the truth!

Step in and get your feet wet! Join the anglers choosing these spinners and the ever widening circle of new waters visited, cast by cast!

Spinner of the week 1-29-14 - 1/8oz June Bug Transformer

These Spinners rock my boat!

They introduce a new blade, changed hook attachment, and new mainstream a new hook dressing -  the June Bug Blade; slip R bend hook attachment, and zonker strip banded trebles.

June bug blades are unique and different. They don't use a clevis, similar to an inline blade, but also have a secondary brace that provides two points of rotation on the wire. Two wear points on the wire, generate extra noise and vibration.

June Bug blades spin well at ultra-low speeds and give off a very consistent strobe-like flash as they rotate.

Pretty cool blade. They've been used on trolling cowbells for many years. I decided to try them on spinners, and now have 3 size variations available, plus a walleye version.

I first saw the slip R bend on a Blue Fox. This attachement fits will with zonker banded trebles, salmon lures, and any spinner that is fished in a variety of waters where regulations about barbed vs barbless are dealt with. The Transformer uses a big tail bead behind the blade. This bead has a large center hole, twice the diameter of the spinner wire.

Open slip R bend

Hook in R bend

Slip the end back into the Tail bead - Done

The extra space allows the spinners wire to be bent back (R bend) and slid back into the bead, leaving a loop for the hook. You can open and close the loop by sliding the bead forward or backward on the wire.

The nice thing with the June Bug blade, is that you can also spread the brace to take up slack on the wire. Just not too much in either direction , else it will bind or weaken the brass.

When the bead is slide forward, the loop opens to form the R and you can change out hooks, replace zonker colors.

Zonker banded trebles are another evolutionary break-through.

I started out using bucktails on the Tranformers and other spinners for dressed hook options.

Tying bucktail on treble hooks is kind of tedius. There's three sharp barbs to contend with doing your wraps. Get it about done and start half hitching and snap the thread breaks...You know the feeling.

We had been making zonker spinnerbaits for some time, tying the strips and wraping shoulders, made a nice looking spinnerbait.

Fish Creek Closed Loop 2+oz Zonker Spinnerbait

Other Spinnerbaits used the Silicon Starflash Skirts

Fish Creek Spinners Closed Loop Spinnerbait

Just a matter of time... 

A few years earlier, browsing through a Netcraft catalog, I found and bought Skirt Banding Tool. Never used it as I found a great wholesaler of banded skirts. 

Skirt banding tool

Looking at purchased banded Skirts,  skirt bands, and Zonker Strips, I dug out the Banding tool and got creative.

The result.....Zonker banded dressed hooks - now available as hook options. Fun choices!

Fish Creek Spinners Zonker Banded Treble hooks

There you have it, the spinner for this week and future fish pictures is the June Bug Transformer. Eighteen color variations and more dressed treble choices in the Other Category. 

Oh, the transformer part of the name references how it's look can change with a new banded treble or different hook type - barbed treble, Single, dressed barbed treble, dressed barbless treble, dressed Single, etc.

Spinner of the Week - 1/5oz Metal Armadillo

This spinner model has been around awhile and holds a place of esteem in my book of memories and folder of fish photo's returned by happy anglers around the world.

Fish Creek Spinners 1/5oz Metal Armadillo 

The body beads are nickel that's been powder coat painted with transparent powder. This model also has a few fluorescents - Orange, Green, and Yellow.

There's just something that feels right about the 1/5oz weight in your hand - substantial, and fun to cast in larger waters.

That very blue spinner above, caught my son Will a toothy Brown Trout in the Colorado River and left him with some respect for the lure and the species.

Colorado River Brown Trout cuaght on Blue Metal Armadillo

Here's a crappie caught in Bemigi,  Minnesota - another caught on the blue and gold

Nice Sunfish - Bemidji, Minnesota Blue and Gold Metal Armadillo

Here's a sea trout caught on a red one by Lars, in Denmark

Denmark Sea Trout caught on Red Metal Armadillo

That said, the model is this weeks spinner of week. Here's another picture of one of my favorite colors.

Fish Creek Spinners 1/5oz Green Metal Armadillo

To see more, visit the web store at Fish Creek Spinners Metal Armadillo

Check out the New Revolver widgit!

You should see a mini-earth slowly revolving over to the left. If not, refresh the page.

The widgit loads each launch, but if you've cached NOTL blog in a prior visit, you may not initially see it.

While browsing blogger stats this morning, I saw visit stats from a trout blog in Poland -
 (Tom and Matt's Trout Travels) and decided to go take a look and immediately noticed my location spinning on this cool little javascript app.

It was tagged with a source, so I went and took a closer look. I really like it. The blogger stats don't show city, just country. Although not a pinpoint location, it's a far better look at location sensitive traffic.

Oh what the heck, I'll put the snippet in the post. This is the seasonal version, so it's showing some snow! Little red dots are prior visitors, and the expanding white circles should be where it thinks you're at, I guess interpreting the visits IP address.

A few more Revolver observations worth mention, Mouse down on the globe, you can stop or speed up rotation with horizontal drag. Vertical drag can give you a view from the north pole or change the angle to another perspective. Then here are all the little icons in lower left to tinker with. As admin, I can go to look at history countries with drill in to individual states, or regions.

I'm a happy camper and don't see a downside to it's use so far!

Spinner of the Week 1/14/14 - Ultralite 1/30oz Fire Fly

Off to a fresh start for the new year with the best intentions and taking another shot at bringing back the spinner of the week posts.

That said, here's my vote for first Spinner of the Week choice on the third week of 2014... and since I'm the only one voting, there's nobody to blame but me.

This weeks choice is the ultralite 1/30oz Fire Fly - this one in Crystal Green.

The Fire Fly spinner is a sweet little unit, barely tipping the scale off zero. It's not for everyone, but has a sweet spot niche for those anglers fishing around and finding the time to wander off the main flow into those hidden and ignored tributaries that mostly get stepped across while fishing the larger flow waters.

Some of my 'best' discoveries ever - beaver ponds holding back runoff and containing flow, hold schools of brook trout and hungry cutthroat. To find them, you need to follow the small flows, sometimes for hours across false peaks and marshy wetlands. The fire fly fishes the waters before you get to the ponds.

Surrounded and sometimes covered by thick brush and undergrowth, or lost in marhy wet lands, but still enough flow to cut under banks and hide hungry colorful little fish.

Drop and drift fishing. Stealth fishing into pools the size of a toddlers swimming pool. Ultra-fun discoveries where the 1/8oz and 1/5oz spinners are to heavy and hard to control.

Anyway, you know where I'm talking about. Here's a few more colors to look at.

Fish Creek Spinners 1/30oz Blue and Silver Fire Fly

Fish Creek Spinners 1/30oz Brown and Gold Fire Fly

Fish Creek Spinners 1/30oz Silver and Silver Fire Fly

Fish Creek Spinners Red Orange and Gold Fire Fly

Eighteen variations to choose from and hook choice options including single hooks and barbless trebles

See the full set here 1/30oz Fire Flys

There's a few early season deals listed on home page News link popup, provided you have FCS popups enabled.