Colorado Fall Fishing
I have fished 28 of the past 31...yup, I'm a glutton.
I had similar experiences as "cofisher" on the "Pan" and guides seem to have the same locataion choices as me.
This past month, I fished the Blue (good), Thompson (decent) and the Arkansas in addition to the "Dream Stream." For those of you who are not familiar with the dream stream, it is a stretch of water about an hour out of Colorado Springs, CO and the usual fish is 20" or better. The photos from the coloradotrouthunters.com, which I am not affiliated with, are not mine, but the results have been the same. Or, just type in "dream stream colorado" into google.
However, that been said, the best fishing I have had...read that enjoyable, has been in the high country of Colorado. this year has been somewhat iffy with the high snowpack and heavy runoff causing havoc with the trout. Heavy flows and tired fish.
Being the patient guy I am and realizing that the patient person can catch fish, I parked myself at our cabin for about 3 weeks. It's up near Leadville CO at about 9500 feet. Each day I went out and tried various streams and a few high lakes (you had to walk in to). If you picked the right time of day and watched the hatches, you had a frenzy of fish. You had to be really selective about patterns and rig, although I must admit I prefer dry over nymph fishing. Since the flows were still high early in the trip, I used many humpys, parachutes and such. I figured that the trout were hungry and seeing something at lest edible would make them strike, they didn't have much time to think about food choice in the fast water and hit the fat and visible flies. It worked on the cascading mountain streams.
The lakes were a bit different...the trout were cruising just off the boulders and riprap off shore and stayed deep. Casting with a big attractor and having a size 12 or so green scud on a 2' 4x dropper, worked on the natives and cuts. Where I usually got the 10-12 inchers, this rig was getting 14-16 inchers. Incredible. I did get wet and muddy a lot and had to sleep sitting down under a poncho one night (reminded me of Nam..), but it was worth it.
Back to the streams. I was having a great time on the outlet of Turquiose lake, about half mile plus downstream from the dam. I found some beaver ponds in heavy brush, hard to get to but the fish were rising. I had a 3 wt, 6-1/2' graphite and used #18-20 PMD's and BWO's, with equal success. Brookies...houndreds of 'em!...well maybe about 30 in a couple hours. Lot's of tree trout and lost flies (re-tied each evening by the fireplace). The brookies were averaging about 8-10" and I had about six over 12". These are absolutely the most beautiful and fun fish to catch...trust me.
Later, I was going for some food fish (stocker rainbows) at a little place called Crystal Lake just south of Leadville, and I was talking to the local fish and game guy. He told me about an unknown stretch of water on the Arkansas that was opening up. It was a hike in...about 1/2 mile or so, but at this point all I had was time. I went there. You could park at a public spot but had to walk the river quite a ways to get to the access area, which was only about 1/4 mile of available water. Private above and below. I only caught 3 fish...browns...the smallest being 16" and the biggest nearly 20" (I pushed him a bit flat against the rule). Elk Hair Caddis, size 14...dark because of the overcast.
Same day I ran into the same Fish/Game guy checking out the area and he asked how I was doing..and I said OK!...he smiled and told me they were trying to get the whole area open for next year...drat...don't tell the guides!
This ended three weeks ago, just before Labor Day and I am going back up tomorrow. The flows are down and based upon the way the summer ran, I suspect that the Ark Browns are going to be gorging for winter. The cutts are past spawning and should be gorging too, getting ready for winter...man it doesn't get any better than that..
PS...I moved to Colorado figuring that why not live where you want to vacation?
Reply With Quote