Mike Haddorff and Dan Vogel, guys I met at Altar Fly Fishing and Christ in the Rockies retreats, invited me to join them for winter fishing on the Blue River in Silverthorne, CO. Not having done this before, I was a bit hesitant, but decided to give it a go and renew some great friendships. It had snowed over thirty inches the week before, so I was expecting the worst.
Fortunately, the weather broke and though it was chilly, the sun made it very comfortable and the temps were in the upper 20’s to low 30’s. The Blue River flows right through Silverthorne and is a beautiful tailwater fishery coming out of the Dillon Reservoir.
We stayed at a huge log house out of town with a spectacular view of the Gore range. We scouted the river the first afternoon and visited the local fly shop, Cutthroat Anglers. They gave us good advice and we loaded up on midges in size 22-26! This was my first attempt the fish flies this small and it was a challenge. The guides recommended getting one of our guys to spot fish for the others from the multiple pedestrian bridges crossing over the river. We did this to great success. This is a very technical fishery and we had to use all of our skills to catch these wary trout. What makes this place so special is that after we were done fishing for the day, we walked out of the river and into the many restaurants along the river and walked right in with our waders and rods! No one thought anything about it and we had a ball.
In the evenings, we did our own cooking and the meals were a special time to review the lessons learned during the day and to plan the next day. Mike is a scotch expert and brought some very good spirits to sip, purely for medicinal purposes. 

There is something magical about the Rockies mountains in the dead of winter. The beauty of God’s creation can hardly be captured in the pictures, but we tried our best. Friendships can be strengthened on trips like this and I hope you will consider grabbing a few close friends and giving this a try. If you layer up like Kenny has taught you, you are in for the thrill of your life. Thanks for the invitation Mike and Dan. Let’s do it again!

Dave Beerbower