Fall Fishing in Colorado
I stayed in the Denver area with my buddies Evan and Mike after a work conference. I planned this work trip last minute, so I was actually in Denver and Boulder for two weekends straight. The former being me and Lindsay’s 10th anniversary trip.
But this one was just me and the boys, fishing, hot springing, dapping, and going to see Built to Spill. We had an incredibly tight schedule, started at 5:30am and ended at 1am.
We started off at Williams Fork, where we planned to fish for several hours.
Riperian buffer looking great
The guide for the day, Mike! What a guy.
Between this being my first time fishing for trout, other anglers on the river, and the low water conditions outwest, I felt lucky to catch anything, even the small browns I did catch.
<3
Thankful for these friends.
Gorgeous peek of Williams Fork through the brush.
We then left the Williams Fork and drove downstream to a hot spring on the side of the Colorado River for sunset. We had it all to ourselves.
The epitome of what I think about when I think “western hot spring”
These hot springs pooled up beside the Colorado River, allowing you to cold dip, and soak in the hot spring. We got to soak about forty five minutes before we had to leave to catch Built to Spill in Boulder. What a whirlwind!
Early Summer 2026
Coosa bass near Mentone, AL
Cahaba bass with Tyler on the Upper Cahaba
Nice spotted bass on the Upper Cahaba on this 4wt bamboo
Lunch break on the Upper Cahaba
Warrior Bass in Bankhead National Forest
Glacial deposit
Jeff and I finding any water we can during a very wet late Spring
Coosa bass with blue cheeks
Stripers on the Tallapoosa with Trey
Unparalleled June for Chanterelles (and turts)
After fishing for stripers, we hit the most chanterelles I’ve ever seen
Fly Fishing for Coosa Bass, Northeast Alabama
One day on the West Fork and another deep in the back country with crystal clear low water with gorgeous fall colors.
Benford Lepley
Benford in his fledging two acre Long Island cider orchard. It will be a beautiful project to see unfold.
Still crab cider (no effervescence) from the foam cellar in the garage with an A/C unit to control the climate.
Benford shows me his backyard native garden.
Benford and I discovered our passion for fruit and fermentation at a rural farm in Falkville, AL together with Lindsay Whiteaker. We foraged and collected fruit and herbs to create inventive meads, kombucha, and other wild yeast fermented beverages.
Yarrow house.
Benford sniffing perry from Pyrus Calleryana and similar hybrids. The pellicle is often as beautiful as the smell. Benford often ferments his ciders, perry’s and wines for long periods - three, six and even nine years.
The corner of Benford’s nursery at the monestery near his home in Long Island.
Flowers abound in this unique Eastern Long Island climate.
As we stood in the windy, chilling rain, Benford became more at ease about the height of the pasture flora once he checked on the thriving first-year seedling rootstock planted in the lush pasture.
Here Benford avoids the Redwing Blackbird nesting sites amongst the high mugwort and pasture grasses in Eastern Long Island, near Peconic. The ecosystem, and its native flora and fauna, is an esssential piece to his approach to orcharding and his fermentations.
Benford hand scything seedling rootstock and seedling grafts he has propagated from around Long Island and New York.
Dinner with Benford and Abby who Benford highlights is also an essential part of his holistic fermentation practice.
Benford and I have known each other since we were about 15 years old through skateboarding and photography on a website called SkatePerception. We both attended art school in NYC. This evolved into fermentation in our twenties, where Benford started Harvest Roots Ferments with Lindsay and I. Now in our mid-thirties, we finally got to reconnect in person after nearly a decade.
As a teenager, first seeing the agriculture in Eastern Long Island truly excited me, coming from row crop country in Alabama. This is a picture of the Long Island Cauliflower Association.
Mature eating pears at the Ukrainian monestery.
Myself and Benford in his mother’s Long Island garden. Benford and I long ago transcended friendship into brotherhood. Similarly, I consider his parents dear family who were there for me during my most vulnerable times.