Colorado Trip planned
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I’m in the process of planning a trip for my Dad to Colorado. He is a nut for trout fishing on small streams and ponds. My trips usually end up in the Arkansas River valley. I like the headwaters near Leadville or the eleven mile canyon.
I’m searching for something a little different. I’m looking for small streams and ponds that limit the hike to within 1 mile, preferrably 1/2 mile, from the nearest road.
My Dad is ~65, so gentle currents are a must. Now saying that, he is strong as an oxe and probably in better shape than me 😎
Timeframe is still up in the air, but will probably be this summer or fall. I’d appreciate any suggestions and guidence.
Thanks, rick
Toby8myShoe…RMNP is a great place to kick around for a few days. The Big Thompson in Moraine Park is easy water and there are a few other streams to check out as well.
There are also some neat streams in North Park in Colorado and just over the border into Wyoming.
Sage advice from Mr. Mortenson.
Here’s some info for you I hope it helps!
Many times a year I get an email from out of town friends, fishing buddies, or newbies to the state and ask…..where’s a good place you could recomend to fish?
Rivers of interest are all dependant on where you would like to fish, the area you may be in, scenary, crowds and sizes of fish are all big factors.
Cheesman Canyon-South Platte River 1 hour away, Spectacular scenary hands down, little tougher fishing since they are finicky but great place and close, bigger fish there.
Big Thompson-Estes Park (right near Rocky mtn Natl Park) 1 hour 15 minutes from Denver, easier fishing, close to RMNP if going to spend time in Estes Park, 12-14″ avg size fish, decent scenary but right off a 2 lane hwy.
Arkansas River-Buena Vista 2 1/2 hours away, perfect access to 50 miles of water, easy to fish, 12-14″, whitewater, many big mountains in the back drop while fishing so hard to stay focused with it being so pretty there.
Colorado River-Kremmling 2 hours away, near Winter Park, spectacular scenary area, great dry fly fishing if the right time, fish avg 14-15″
Clear Creek-30 minutes away Idaho Springs,10-12″ avg size fish, easy to fish, decent scenary but right off I-70 hwy, perfect dry fly stream
Frying Pan River– near Basalt and Aspen 2 1/2 hours away, amazing area with the red cliffs, near Roaring fork river as well, more crowded but BIG fish, BIG hatches and a must if close to there
Spinney Mtn Ranch- Commonly known as the Dream Stream is a 5 mile section of the South platte river nestled between Spinney Rez` and 11 mile Rez in South Park. Big fish move up when the water exceeds 100 cfs in the Spring and Fall for your best chance at huge fish…that and lot’s of people! One last tip…expect Wind!!
Links for fishing Colorado:
1)FFA Website http://www.flyfishaddiction.com/
2)Good site for hatches and rivers http://www.coloradofishing.net/reports.htm
3) Many stream reports http://www.thepeakflyshop.com/
4) River Gauges http://stream-flow.allaboutrivers.com/Colorado/river_flow-sCO.htmlper your dad’s age and fast water, i rarely got wet the summer i spent in breckenridge
i ended up wearing waders at first and got too hot walking along streams like the dream stream^
i ended up buying some $15 wellies at walmart and wore those. i fished 11 mile, dream, blue, tommahawk, 63 ranch, knight imler and some others and didn’t have to worry about fast water.
get a boat at stagecoach reservoir near steamboat and fish for huge pike
there are soo many more places to fish that are off the beaten path, the lesser known streams are all over.
all were in a few hours of breck which was my base camp
there are plenty of little brook trout streams around breck too where you can fish dries on a little rod with a fish on every castsend me an email if you want more detail.
Oh, yeah… The one trip I always thought would be cool would be the Animas- along that narrow gauge railway to Silverton.
I’d hit RMNP on the East side for a day, focusing mostly on the Big T. Then head over the pass and fish the headwaters of the Colorado. It’s a fun meadow stream and there is the opportunity to see moose along the river. Plus the trout are eager to take flies. After fishing the headwaters, I’d drive down stream and fish the Colorado near Hot Sulfur Springs. Bigger river with much bigger fish. Next stop for me would be to head south to the Blue, with the option to move on to Tenmile Creek for some good pocket water action.
Another fun stream to fish is Homestake Creek in the Holy Cross area south of Vail. Lower portions of the creek are steep and with Class V rapids, great for kayaking but not fishing. The sections above the white water is a nice meadow stream with beaver damns making for some fun beaver pond fishing. Tons of hungry browns in that stream. The headwaters aren’t too far from Leadville, just over Tennessee Pass.
http://society6.com/grainfarmer Fly Fishing and Landscape open edition Photography prints.
http://grainfarmer.vsco.co/ iPhone photos
http://instagram.com/chad_simcox Instagramremembered these: http://www.flyfishguides.com/colorado.htm
maps for sale in most fly shops,
tells you private/public land, parking, and most other relevant info for each body of waterbump
ok, so we’re going out breck for the last week of feb.
it has been several years since i’ve fished winter coloradoi’ve been told to start tying up small flies (using charlies fly box site as a reference) and bring some light tippets
anything in particular i should bring? i’m expecting my fishing buddy to provide most, i should just show up with my cold weather fishing clothes.
might even try to ski for a day
Midges (larva and dries) and mysis shrimp for The Blue below Dillon Res. Make sure you have some split shot to get the flies down when they’re not rising.
http://society6.com/grainfarmer Fly Fishing and Landscape open edition Photography prints.
http://grainfarmer.vsco.co/ iPhone photos
http://instagram.com/chad_simcox Instagram
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