Bluegrass and Trout in Colorado

Good column in The Drake.

 

Because fishing and fiddling go well together.

The browns had started to rise just as Sam Bush was taking center stage. Twenty yards of dimpled St. Vrain trout water was all that separated me from Planet Bluegrass amphitheater and a full night of music in Lyons, Colorado. The urge to tube my rod prematurely and forgo my well-designed plan was tempting, but I knew the river had something left to give. A final fish slashed at a wildly swung caddis and made a couple runs before coming in. With my gear stashed I made my way through the crowd to my tarp. I stood for some time in my wading boots, wiggling my toes to better feel the parts of the river I’d taken with me. I looked out across the crowd, beyond the stage, and back to the canyon water. Then Sam began to play...

Mishawaka Bellvue, Colorado

Mishawaka amphitheater, discovered and constructed by motorcycling homesteader Walter Thompson in 1916, sits close enough to the Poudre River that it would no longer be legal if it weren’t grandfathered in nearly 100 years ago. It’s an intimate space for the seven hundred or so lucky enough to get a ticket.