Fly Fishing like a Rock Star (Hardwear Sessions)

By Rowan Jimenez, MHW Warranty

For the past 3 years since I started fly fishing I have come to realize that, as much as this is a sport that requires good technique and experience, it is also very much a sport where good luck plays a major role. Just like in any other sport you'll have your good day, your bad days, and of course, your epic day... and an epic fishing day is what I had in my latest trip to Aspen Colorado. Again I have to be honest, in only 3 years I've been very lucky to have fished in some amazing places in the US, but Aspen definitely I have to put in the top ten. I began my trip by wading on the Frying Pan near Basalt late in the afternoon upon my arrival, casting a few dry flies with very poor luck. After a couple hours I had only landed a little brown, at about 11". It didn't do much for my Latin ego, saying size matters, this was totally unacceptable.

Woke up Sunday feeling great and very juiced up to hit the Roaring Fork. Our guide was going to takes us for a long ride of about 8 to 9 miles that would end up in the Colorado River. After a nice cup of Joe and a nice breakfast sitting next to Kurt Russell (one of the many celebrities that populates this town) I'm feeling right in my element. What can I say? The life of a Rock Star is, you know, Hard! It's about 10:30 am when we get to our launching area and it is looking good! We put all of our stuff in the boat - mainly fishing gear, a dozen pieces of fried chicken from the local store, some cokes, H2O, and, of course, cigars. Blast off.

The first hour and a half I go from a 4 weight to a 6 weight rod and several changes on my set up, ending with a triple set of a tiny nymph, a sand worm, and a prince. I fished the rest of the day with this and it proved to be the ultimate set up. We hit this great stretch with some nice pools and I start casting into the ripples when suddenly my guide starts mumbling: COME FISH/ COME ON FISH/ EAT IT FOR ME/ HIT THAT HIT THAT/ COME ON FISH! Every time I cast he'd start over again. It wasn't too loud but he was very animated about it and, I must say, even though I felt a little annoyed I could not help myself from being hypnotized by his words, kind of like what happens when you listen to sticky pop melody from a commercial on the radio. It gets stuck in your head. Indeed fish started to hit. I get on a rampage of epic fishing landing about 10 fish over the next 2 hours, and not just little fish. These were hogs, 15", 18", 2 to 3 pounders, beautiful Rainbows and Browns, all while singing that mantra to myself - COME FISH/ COME ON FISH/ EAT IT FOR ME/ HIT THAT HIT THAT/ COME ON FISH!

The sky started to turn gray and within minutes we were getting pounded by this crazy storm. I have never been scared of rain but this felt like hell was coming down. This is one of those moments, being very much a serious atheist individual, that it kind of sparks second thoughts about is there any truth behind the existence of a major force that holds it all together. "A GUITAR GOD." Lucky for me I had my most cherished piece of MHW gear a man could ask for, my Tempest SL shirt. We no longer make this little beast though we continue to use the outstanding fabric. All I want to say is that this piece rocks and please bring it back just like Justin Timberlake brought sexy back, it'll be worth it. This is my last one. Immediately as I started working at MHW in the first week I abused my employee privileges and purchased 2 before they were Byed Byed from our out of wear line. My first one got stolen at the gym and this one I opened from its fresh original packaging especially for this trip. If you ever see one, buy it. If it is a medium, let me know, I'll buy it from you.

We pulled to the side and waited a total of about an hour for things to settle down. We hit the river again, chowing on some of that nice greasy chicken, light up a cigar and once again I get back to Nirvana.

The Epic fishing is on again and I'm loving it, I mean this is orgasmic, "Altamente Intoxicante." Sun is out again, we're dried within half an hour and I'm just killing it. We pass this nice little bumpy area over some small boulders right under a bridge and WHAMP! I see my strike indicator go down real fast and I point my rod to the sky aggressively as I have done for the past hours. I must say that at the beginning I probably lost more than a few before I realized that I need to put more power in it to hook these wild creatures. This thing is pulling hard, I release my index from the line and start to reel it in. I knew this was no little fish... talk about size matters. After about 10 minutes of huffing and puffing and getting the boat to the perfect landing place, I bring my best effort of the day into the net. This is a ROCK STAR fish, a gorgeous brown measuring 22" and weighing 5 Lbs. Can you say AWESOME LUCKY BASTARD! I take the appropriate picture and put this guy back in the water. I'm done. I feel good, and I mean real good. We have about half an hour before getting to our final stop and end of our day. I thank my pops for showing me and introducing me to one of the coolest things I've had the chance to do while being a mortal and of course being a ROCK STAR. I take a moment to look around while puffing my cigar. It's beautiful out here and one last thought crosses my mind... Oh yeah, THIS IS THE LIFE OF ROCK STAR.