Ok, I’m going to South Fork on the 20th of July and need some help. I will be there for about 9 days and would like to get some great fly fishing in. I hear the water is a little high everywhere. At least here in Oklahoma it is… Any places withing say 50-60 miles of South Fork that I absolutely need to fish? I know there are many but I will probably only get to fish about 2 day’s of my stay so I need to be put on some awesome water. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The most appealing so far to me is the Black Canyon but I don’t want to be fishing and hiking in for hours if water is super high. THANKS!!!
I’m not sure about your definition of awesome, but I hear the Grande is some pretty awesome water right near town. I believe there is a blue ribbon section of flies only between S. Fork and Del Norte. I don’t know about crowds. My suggestion would be to hit the local fly shop or call them in advance, buy some flies and procure some info. Don’t forget the FAOL write-up on the Rio Grande.
Good luck.
Try loging onto the Rainbow Grocery Store in South Fork, CO. Lots of help in the down town store. The Rio Grand is probably going to be your best bet. They will know.
I would hit the Conejos, the Rio or the Animas. If you want to drive a tad further the San Juan would also be a good choice~
Thanks all!
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The Black Canyon is more than 50 or 60 miles from South Fork. I haven’t tried to hike in, yet but there was a recent article in one of the Denver papers trying to discourage folks from the taking the hike from the rim. There is one point that you can drive down to the canyon in the park at the upper end of Black Canyon. There’s even a NP campground down there. Limited fishing access due to cliffs but it is there.
There is some,as you say awesome water, near SF but much of it will cost you to fish. There are a couple of spots along the Rio that require a stay and a steep rod fee but the fishing is great. I can give you some names if you want to spend the cash. Much of the river is locked up in private access and you need a boat to fish it. For most of the gold medal/blue ribbon water you really need a guide and a boat so again you are putting out some cash.
Just upstream about 4 or 5 miles from SF on the Rio is Coller and Upper Coller Wildlife Area public fishing—There’s a couple of miles of access here with some added wing dams for structure. If you hike a bit you can find some large boulder formed pools. You can catch trout in there every day but you may have to work hard for just a few–on the other hand they don’t cost as much. You’ll need to get a map to figure out the public access along the Rio. There is, of course, a lot of access up in the National Forest around Rio Grande Resevoir but that’s about 50-60 miles up from South Fork. You might consider checking in with the folks in Creede’s flyshops, they are always helpful to me but I’ll bet they will suggest Upper Coller. I would agree with the Conjeos also as a possibility. The Animas is more than 50-60 miles. Don’t be afraid to work over the pocket water on the South Fork itself–the fish may not be big but they’ll be there. Since it is so close you can spend more time on the water even if it is right beside the highway.
I find that the Rio is very finicky especially over the last 4 years of on and off again drought. Sometimes during hatches it is just amazing and at most other times it is hard work nymphing. You should start having a grasshopper hatch by late July and that will probably be your best bet on the big river. I’m lucky enough to get out there two or three times a year. In fact I will be out there starting the 24th for a week or so. I actually do most of my fishing in the high country or on the other side of the divide in the Gunnison drainage, I just seem to figure out the streams a bit better. Silver Mallard had an article earlier about fishing on the other side of the divide here on FAOL under Ozark Angler. http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/ozark/ozark04307.html
Here’s the link to get you to the Rio Grande’s Great Rivers article here on FAOL: http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/greatrivers/riogrande/
I’m not sure what kind of experience you are looking for but I agree that the San Juan in NM is another option. It is about as far from South Fork as trying to get up to the Black Canyon. You might consider that if you want really large trout in big numbers–you’ll at least see them even if they have lock jaw and are uncooperative.
BW
Try my column titled “Rivers and Mountains” here on FAOL. There is good public access to the RG just N of SF and E of SF there is some more. Within 50-60 miles of SF there are TONS of options. And it is a MYTH that you have to pay to play in that area…perpetuated by the guides, fly shops, and lodge operators in the area who have such pay-to-play access. There is a LOT of public access up there.
You can also come back north and hit the Arkansas near Salida
That IS another good option, but outside the 60 mile radius set in the original post.