The Great Trout Trip of 2013 is GO!

Well the plans have been finalized and a buttload of money dropped at Cabella's. Colorado here we come. I'm really looking forward to this trip, but it's going to be shorter than I would like. Personally, I'd like to spend a week or more but the people going with me have work commitments and I completely understand. A weekend in the mountains is better than not going at all.

I originally wanted to stay in a fishing camp/cabin but the prices were outrageous. Sorry, but I'm not paying 5 Star hotel prices for a 2 Star cabin. A hotel room would have been more economical, but I've been told I snore like a Peterbilt riding the Jake Brake down Monarch Pass so 2 bedrooms was a necessity. I also wanted a kitchen so we can cook our catch. Both of those ruled out a hotel so I searched Trip Advisor for vacation rentals and found a condo that fit the bill for $90 a night. Not a bad price, IMHO. It has everything we need and then some. Plus, it's centrally located to multiple fishing spots so we have options instead of being locked into one place to fish.

I went to the Fly Shop at Cabella's and took advantage of their Father's Day sale, picking up a pair of fly fishing rod & reel combos for $39 each. I lucked out and a guy that just got back from the part of Colorado we're heading to was there shopping and gave me some very good tips on what type of gear/flies we would need. I soon learned the rod & reel were the least of my expenses. After adding all the flies, leaders, and assorted accessories it quickly went from cheap to not cheap at all. We will still need to buy more stuff when we get there depending on what the fish are hitting.

Hopefully, I will use all this stuff more than once. This is a learning expedition after all. I'd like to spend a whole summer camping up there after I trade my RV for a trailer.

Speaking of the RV, the buyer that came unannounced wasn't impressed and passed after I turned down a low ball offer. To be honest, I really didn't want to show it to them because I had done zero preparation. It was dirty and nothing was working because the batteries were dead. But I did and now I'm sure they've told everyone locally what a hunk of junk it is. It's really not, but they caught it on it's worst day and that's my fault. I should have paid more attention to it while it was parked and refused to show it before it was ready. I still haven't listed it for sale yet.