Cutthroat Anglers

Fishing Reports

Guide Wisdom

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Cutthroat Anglers Owner Trapper Rudd with fish

Cutthroat Newsletter - 3/20/07

We are very excited to announce a launch of totally revamped website for Cutthroat Anglers. You'll continue to find the same knowledge and charm of the old site; however, now we offer additional features and a cleaner layout. Scroll down to learn more about the website.

Along with the new website, you've probably already noticed that we've updated the newsletter template. We'll also explain more about the newsletter and how it interacts with the website later in this newsletter.

Overall, we're trying to create a more concise, user-friendly Internet experience. Obviously, our focus is still on Colorado trout; however, we're also expanding our coverage on all fly fishing topics. It is our goal to create the ultimate web portal for the virtual angler. No one is lucky enough to always be on the water, so now you have the Cutthroat Anglers' webpage to fill your down time.

You might think we would be satisfied with a new e-newsletter and website, but we have more improvements to announce. We're currently in the process of completely overhauling the fly bins and overall fly selection. We've increased our fly pattern selection by 30%!! We are also re-organizing the bins to make both hatches and specific patterns easier to find. This is definitely a work in progress, so please forgive our mess if you stop by the shop in the next couple of weeks. We will have a home for every pattern in time for the Summer rush, but we will gladly find any pattern you need while we sort through the new patterns.

In the end, we're just a group of guys who love to fish, so, of course, we will list a run down on the Spring-like conditions and above-average fishing conditions around Colorado.

There's only a limited number of spaces available in the Spring session of our Guide School. Contact the shop to learn more about the school or click on the link to left to see the itinerary.

We'll be announcing another exciting saltwater destination trip the next issue of the newsletter. Check your inbox over the next week or two to learn about the hosted trip next winter.

Combine the launch of our improved website and the upcoming Spring fishing and you can almost hear the buzz of excitement growing at the shop.

Colorado Fishing Overview

Old Man Winter is slowly loosening his vice-like grip on the entire state of Colorado. About the only good thing resulting from the Summit County deep freeze was the unlimited possibilities for chilling beer. Granted, we had a few warm days that produced good midge hatches and any ardent angler that bundled up against the cold could find a few trout willing to munch a perfectly drifted, micro midge; but now its really time to start fishing. Clean out the closet, dust off your gear and head to the river.

Our guides are running regular trips to the Arkansas (near Salida) and the Colorado (near Glenwood). The usual winter spots are fishing well too, but some days you can get by with only a polar fleece in Glenwood or Salida. The warmer weather also creates perfect conditions for early season hatches.

The Arkansas River is famous for the Mother's Day Caddis hatch; however, the Blue Winged Olive's usually steal the show. The BWOs start a few weeks before the Caddis and lead to just as many sipping snouts but accompanied with far fewer anglers. You should start to see rising fish below Salida soon; however, double nymph rigs using tandem BWOs will result in frequently bent rods.

Any warming trend will also lead the guides with trailer in tow to the Lower Colorado. Early season float trips usually find vacant boat ramps and hungry trout. You can find blanket midge hatches, but if you want to catch a brute be sure to dredge the bottom with a stonefly nymph followed by a midge or BWO imitation.

New Features on Website

We've worked diligently throughout the winter to create a new website. Humbly, we believe our new website sets a new standard for website in the world of fly fishing. Granted, some sites might be better looking or have more user-generate info - but we think you'll find the detailed, accurate information combined with the simple navigation and fantastic layout to unmatched. The team at timeforcake creative media, lead by eRin pHeil and Josh Petrucci, were an integral part for both creative design and basic coding for the website. Anybody looking for a web presence or site upgrade will find timeforcake as an excellent resource - we have only high marks and praise!

The bread and butter of our site has always been the fishing reports page. With this in mind, we created an unparalleled page that features realtime stream flows and guide reports. When you click to the fishing reports page, you're now presented with a list of all the rivers we guide and a list of other popular, local rivers. Each river has a rating and a stream flow. Instead of being overwhelmed by a plethora of reports, you can now narrow your search by reading only reports for rivers that interest you. Simply click on the river you want more info and the detailed fishing report will magically appear. Feel free to click on additional rivers to compare reports or click on the same river to collapse the report for a cleaner look. At the top of the page, you will find a general overview of the fishing scene in Colorado which is designed to feature calls-to-action for epic hatches. We think this page is so cool that it's bound to be the new homepage for any avid Colorado angler.

We also feature a new photo gallery that is designed to highlight guide trip conquests, destination grip-n-grins and photos submitted by anglers like you. We can't gaurantee that every picture will be posted, but feel free to email us your fishing pics and we'll try to get it posted on the site.

It looks like this internet thing is here to stay, so once again we're entering into the world of e-commerce. Instead of jumping in over our head, we're easing into the online store by only offering a few essential items. As the demand rises, we plan to eventually add to the store. As always, if you don't see an item you need just call the shop and we'll ship it out to you if its in stock.

The overall layout of the site is much more user-friendly and easy to navigate. We updated almost the entire content and added tons of new content. The Guide Bios are revised and feature all of our current staff. We also have detailed information for each river we fish that will provide you with a basic understanding of each river environment before you arrive.

One of the coolest sections on the new site is the addition of streaming video. We only have a limited selection of videos, but we plan to add more media in the future. Every page on the site features a "tip box" that is designed to display important news or funny fishing tips.

Please take some time to surf through the site and let us know what you think. We hope you think its as cool as we do!

Updated e-Newsletter Template

Unless this is your very first issue of our newsletter, you've probably already noticed that we updated the color scheme and links to match the new website. The primary change to the newsletter is to the "Useful Fly Fishing Links" section. We've listed links to our homepage, fishing reports, online store, guide school and newsletter archive pages. You'll find a link to Trapper's new destination travel company, Sporting Life Travel, and a link to Capt. Eric Hart's website at Red Eye Charters in Southwest Florida. Finally, there is a link the official website to purchase Colorado fishing licenses.

Trapper/Cutthroat Anglers on TV

Trapper and the shop will be featured on a quick segment this week on Versus. The segment focuses on the Blue River and is hosted by Trapper Rudd. The show will air a few times this week.

March 21 at 11:00am Eastern/10:00am Central
March 22 at 2:00pm Eastern/1:00pm Central
March 25 at 12:00pm Eastern/11:00am Central

We hope you like all the new toys. Thank you so much for your patience during the lengthy process. We appreciate all of your comments and look forward to growing the site to best suit your needs on and off the water.

Tight Lines,
Shooter Smith and Trapper Rudd
Cutthroat Anglers

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