It was late spring, probably the end of May and time to get away fishing. Marie and I loaded the car and headed for North Park Colorado. We were going to camp and fish the beaver ponds for brookies. We drove along the north border of Colorado next to the Wyoming line, north west of Cowdrey into the Routt National Forest.
Although the sun was shining we started to dodge melting snow drifts as we attempted to reach our favorite campsite, located along the stack of beaver ponds bordering the road. We never reached it and were forced to find another site in a stand of budding aspens, campsites deluxe leftover from fall Elk hunting camps. We quickly pitched the tent, strung up the tarps, set out the table and stove and other campsite items we always bring, gathered firewood and settled in for a what would
likely be a cold night.
After a hearty camp breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns, and bacon, we drove back to the middle of the ponds to test our luck. The Spring runoff had the dams overflowing and they were less than stable for standing on while spin-casting. The fish were hungry and catching them on spinners was always fun until the school got wise, then on to the next pond. During the course of the next couple hours, I noticed a large hawk pass overhead a few times. It was the size of an eagle, with a large wingspan, but seemed less heavy in its body proportions. Its body was primarily white with wing tips of brown. I didn't recognize it immediately, but when it dove to grab a trout, I knew it was an Osprey as I saw its black eye band... the eagle with sun glasses.
I watched it fly back with its fish to an old growth pine on the forest side of the ponds. A massive nest was hap hazardly assembled on the broken crown of the pine. In it was the Osprey's mate and maybe chicks. The memory of the sun, the hawk, and the fish stuck with me and I turned the geometry of it into a set of letters. An O for the sun, an L for the Osprey's wings extended in flight, and a C representing the fish grasped tightly in the hawks talons as it flew away. This OLC became Osprey Lure Company, my first spinner business.
