Estes Park and RMNP fishing and family vacation
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My family and I just got back from Estes Park CO from a family vacation and fishing trip. Good trip overall although the weather was kind of lousy. It was unseasonably cold and rainy the past week.
Still the fishing was pretty good. The 2nd day there we (my wife, myself and our 14 yr old son) took a guided trip in the RMNP. We fished the big Thompson pretty far up between Moraine Park and the Fern lake trailhead. The fishing was completely different from what I was used to. But all 3 of us caught fish. The guide spent most of the time with Ryker and I was on my own after a short tutorial by the guide. I took 8 or 9 fish for the day one being a fairly decent brown. The rest mixed browns and brookies. It was ROUGH going. He took us through some serious brush and it was tough going upriver for approx 5 hours. Still a good day. The best fly was a black foam beetle.
On another day I fished the canyon area of the big Thompson below town. Again I did fairly well taking 7 or 8 fish with one pretty good bow and one good brown. No pics from this day. It was raining HARD off and on. Couldn’t get a take on top. Tried several things subsurface. The best fly was a good old MO pattern mohair leech.
My last day of fishing and our last day in the park was also my best. I was in the Moraine Park meadow area in RMNP on the big Thompson. Beautiful area. I had been warned not to fish it by the guide and by a guy in an Orvis shop in Boulder. They said the trout were too finicky and the area was fished too hard. But on this last day I caught probably 20 fish all browns. All on the black beetle. Just a lot of fun.
One observation. I have not caught a lot of wild trout. A few in MO. But this was my first experience fly fishing for trout out west. I loved it but the trout certainly didn’t seem much different than our stocked MO trout. Comparatively speaking fish of similar size I would have to say I’ve caught MO browns and rainbows that fought harder (especially Taneycomo fish) and were just as beautiful.
The pics were too large to attach. So here is a link to the online fishing pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/glm3864/COFishing2009#
And if anyone is interested here is the link to the family vacation photos (with a lot of beautiful scenery of the area):
http://picasaweb.google.com/glm3864/COVacation2009#
Thanks,
Greg
Gregg,
Great report! I have been wanting to get to RMNP for many years now, and I may have the wife convinced that this is where we need to go next summer. That area certainly looks beautiful.Do you know if the part of the Big Thompson you fished is frozen in December? I ask b/c I will be spending Christmas in Silverthorne, and I guess I could make the drive if the fishing was worth it. Any guides you recommend to use or avoid?
D.
Do you know if the part of the Big Thompson you fished is frozen in December? I ask b/c I will be spending Christmas in Silverthorne, and I guess I could make the drive if the fishing was worth it. Any guides you recommend to use or avoid?
D.Dusty…
None of the streams in the park are fishable at Christmas. (The snowshoeing and cross country skiing can be great though!)
Thanks for the advice Trigg. Am I looking at only ‘Bows and Browns, or is there any chance of Cutts or Brookies?
D.
Thanks for the advice Trigg. Am I looking at only ‘Bows and Browns, or is there any chance of Cutts or Brookies?
D.Wrt RMNP, plenty of cutts and brookies (more than plenty brookies).
Dusty – I’m not an expert on RMNP as I’ve only been there this one time. But the owner of my local fly shop was just telling me today that there are parts of it that are fishable in the winter. He said he’s been there in the dead of winter several times and done really well. I’m just repeating what he told me.
Thanks for the kind words. It was a great trip. It took some convincing to get MY wife there. She’s more the beach type (LOL).
Greg
Thanks Greg. I have wanted to go there for years, and now I will get my chance, but during winter. I did find some info. yesterday on The Pan, and I may try to drive the two hours or so for a day trip if my brother is willing. The dilemma, though, is the decision to fish or shoot. I will only have one day to do either. I want to catch the fish there, but I also want to bring back a few dozen gigs of images. May have to go back in the summer!
I hear ya about the wife; mine has been trying to get me to some resort since we married six yrs. ago.
Who is your guide, Greg?
D.
Thanks Mike. I know I will fish the Blus often that week. May even get a guide from Cutthroat Anglers. But after reading some stuff on the Pan I do not mind driving over. Does the Blue produce the size and numbers of the Pan?
Sorry for the Highjack, Greg.
D.Thanks Greg. I have wanted to go there for years, and now I will get my chance, but during winter. I did find some info. yesterday on The Pan, and I may try to drive the two hours or so for a day trip if my brother is willing. The dilemma, though, is the decision to fish or shoot. I will only have one day to do either. I want to catch the fish there, but I also want to bring back a few dozen gigs of images. May have to go back in the summer!
I hear ya about the wife; mine has been trying to get me to some resort since we married six yrs. ago.
Who is your guide, Greg?
D.
We used Estes Anglers. The guide’s name was Mike. Very nice young guy. My 14 year old son was having a tough time getting onto fish at first and Mike really spent a lot of time and was very patient with him.
Greg
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