Fly Fishing in Colorado Springs

Getting some instruction from Mark

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Colorado Springs

It was a fascinating sight: men standing around in rubber pants, adjusting their flies, whipping their rods back and forth, and occasionally exclaiming, "Look here. I've got a big one!"

Of course, I'm talking about fly fishing. And here in the shadow of Pike's Peak, fly fishing isn't just a hobby, it's a way of life.

I, too, was wearing rubber pants, also known as "waterproof support hose," as I stood in the parking lot of Deckers, a well-fished stream just 20 minutes north of Pike's Peak, waiting for my 9 am beginners fly fishing class to start.

I spent a good deal of time checking my gear, or just fidgeting with it. I carried my rented $300 rod and reel awkwardly, like a new father trying to find a comfortable position to hold his baby. I spent ten minutes studying my sunglasses, trying to determine whether or not they were polarized because I had been told it was a crucial feature. And I rechecked the new fishing license I had picked up at 7-Eleven for $5 to make sure it had the right date, and to see if there was a coupon on the back for a Big Gulp.

Fellow classmates Carol and Libby, both in their 40s, arrived together. Mark, also around 40, and the only one who confessed any experience, came on his own.

Our barrel-chested, bearded instructor was also named Mark, so for purposes of clarification, I'll just refer to limited-experience Mark as Carol or Libby.

Instructor Mark was co-leading the class with Antonio, a junior-high teacher and part-time fishing guide. Both of these men were wearing vests covered with several hundred dollars worth of fly fishing gizmos, though to the untrained eye, it just looked like they were wearing colorful wads of lint.