Post by golferjeff on Aug 4, 2014 11:02:33 GMT -6
I had to take a week or so between TAStockton's posts and mine..... he provided enough Colorado fish porn for a month or so. I did not have the opportunity for the larger fish or the larger rivers, but it was a fantastic trip regardless. I spent 5 days traveling out of Canon City, CO and fishing mostly mountain creeks. The arkansas river was high, muddy, and full of debris from a few very intense monsoon thunderstorms. I only got to fish it one day and caught about 10-12 decent Brown Trout. Nothing to report there.....
The tributaries to the Arkansas were the real gems of this trip. With the main drainage unfishable, lots of fish move up into lower, clearer feeder creeks. The average fish is smaller, but almost all of them are colorful, wild, and have rarely seen a fly. It is dry fly paradise. Everything from large grasshoppers to size 18 Adams parachutes fool these guys. In 3 days on the creeks, I caught almost 200 fish. It was a 3 day adventure that would make Peter Breeden proud (All wild fish). Lots of rock scrambling, beaver dam scaling, and meadow stomping. I think I covered about 14 miles of water. I am starting to really like this small creek/wild fish/dry fly stuff.
Cottonwood creek flows from the top of Cottonwood Pass just west of the town of Buena Vista, CO. It was flowing about 30CFS and is mostly about 10-20 feet wide, with several beaver ponds and side 'channels'. Most of it is within 1/4 mile of a forest road and pretty accessible. The good fishing starts at about 8500 feet elevation and continues up to about 10400 feet. Browns dominate up to about 9300, then Brookies and Cutts take over. Every day you have a mountain rain shower followed by a substantial mayfly hatch. I witnessed PMD's, Slate or Grey Drakes (Big), and some caddis and yellow sally stoneflies. the Gray Drakes are the hatch that sends the fish into a frenzy. Tiny 4-5 inch fish gorge on these size 8-12 bugs. I had several fish regurgitate after being landed. The stream bed is very red and orange colored, so these gray/green bugs stand out to both angler and fish. It was a perfect stream to fish - each riffle held a fish, each pocket held a fish, each pool usually held a larger fish, and the beaver dams pools usually held the most and biggest fish. Just toss a bug and watch...not very technical, but highly entertaining and rewarding. My new camera got quite a workout during 2 days fishing this stream. I caught several 'doubles' on double dry flies - mostly the Brookies. Oh, and did I mention the high temperature was 55 degrees up there? I loved it. It was hard to stop fishing each evening and head an hour back to town. On Monday, I managed a colorado slam. I caught several Browns, then several Brookies, and managed to find a single rainbow in a small isolated pool. Then I headed up to find the Cutts. I found a few willing to attack a fly and landed a nice 10+ inch specimen. That completed my daily slam but there was an even better story. When I looked at my pictures later that night, I recognized a unique spot pattern on the larger Cutt. After some examination of last year's pics, I concluded that I had caught the exact same fish 364 days prior in a pool about 20 yards away. It had grown about 1.5" and developed a more prominent slash. Pretty cool stuff when you consider the circumstances and odds. It was my first ever Cutt a year ago and it completed my slam this year. It is my personal 'Special' fish! Pics of Cottonwood will be posted below.
Grape Creek is a feeder creek in Westcliffe, CO. It is technically a tailwater, but fishes more like a high elevation creek. The stream flows from 7600 feet down to 6000 feet in town. It is absolutely loaded with Brown Trout from 8-14", with a few visitors going to 16-17". It also has a few rainbows and cutts, but the Browns are the ticket. Again, all dry flies (with a dropper if you like). It flows through a gorgeous meadow full of small grasshoppers. The stream bed is about 20-25 feet wide with riffles, pools, and a plethora of cutbanks for larger Browns. If you are accurate enough to plunk a grasshopper down within 2 feet of a bank, it was a guaranteed strike. I only got to spend 4 hours on this water, but I will be back for sure. I may have landed about 20-25 fish, all ranging from 8-16" (4 rainbows). On a 3wt, the larger browns put up a great fight. It was a pleasant hike, well off the beaten path, and we saw only two other people all day. Truly great scenery and very good fishing.
Headed up to the Eagle River (Vail) and Colorado River this weekend. Probably fish the Blue river in Silverthorne to try for a pig or two as well. Enjoy the pics!
The tributaries to the Arkansas were the real gems of this trip. With the main drainage unfishable, lots of fish move up into lower, clearer feeder creeks. The average fish is smaller, but almost all of them are colorful, wild, and have rarely seen a fly. It is dry fly paradise. Everything from large grasshoppers to size 18 Adams parachutes fool these guys. In 3 days on the creeks, I caught almost 200 fish. It was a 3 day adventure that would make Peter Breeden proud (All wild fish). Lots of rock scrambling, beaver dam scaling, and meadow stomping. I think I covered about 14 miles of water. I am starting to really like this small creek/wild fish/dry fly stuff.
Cottonwood creek flows from the top of Cottonwood Pass just west of the town of Buena Vista, CO. It was flowing about 30CFS and is mostly about 10-20 feet wide, with several beaver ponds and side 'channels'. Most of it is within 1/4 mile of a forest road and pretty accessible. The good fishing starts at about 8500 feet elevation and continues up to about 10400 feet. Browns dominate up to about 9300, then Brookies and Cutts take over. Every day you have a mountain rain shower followed by a substantial mayfly hatch. I witnessed PMD's, Slate or Grey Drakes (Big), and some caddis and yellow sally stoneflies. the Gray Drakes are the hatch that sends the fish into a frenzy. Tiny 4-5 inch fish gorge on these size 8-12 bugs. I had several fish regurgitate after being landed. The stream bed is very red and orange colored, so these gray/green bugs stand out to both angler and fish. It was a perfect stream to fish - each riffle held a fish, each pocket held a fish, each pool usually held a larger fish, and the beaver dams pools usually held the most and biggest fish. Just toss a bug and watch...not very technical, but highly entertaining and rewarding. My new camera got quite a workout during 2 days fishing this stream. I caught several 'doubles' on double dry flies - mostly the Brookies. Oh, and did I mention the high temperature was 55 degrees up there? I loved it. It was hard to stop fishing each evening and head an hour back to town. On Monday, I managed a colorado slam. I caught several Browns, then several Brookies, and managed to find a single rainbow in a small isolated pool. Then I headed up to find the Cutts. I found a few willing to attack a fly and landed a nice 10+ inch specimen. That completed my daily slam but there was an even better story. When I looked at my pictures later that night, I recognized a unique spot pattern on the larger Cutt. After some examination of last year's pics, I concluded that I had caught the exact same fish 364 days prior in a pool about 20 yards away. It had grown about 1.5" and developed a more prominent slash. Pretty cool stuff when you consider the circumstances and odds. It was my first ever Cutt a year ago and it completed my slam this year. It is my personal 'Special' fish! Pics of Cottonwood will be posted below.
Grape Creek is a feeder creek in Westcliffe, CO. It is technically a tailwater, but fishes more like a high elevation creek. The stream flows from 7600 feet down to 6000 feet in town. It is absolutely loaded with Brown Trout from 8-14", with a few visitors going to 16-17". It also has a few rainbows and cutts, but the Browns are the ticket. Again, all dry flies (with a dropper if you like). It flows through a gorgeous meadow full of small grasshoppers. The stream bed is about 20-25 feet wide with riffles, pools, and a plethora of cutbanks for larger Browns. If you are accurate enough to plunk a grasshopper down within 2 feet of a bank, it was a guaranteed strike. I only got to spend 4 hours on this water, but I will be back for sure. I may have landed about 20-25 fish, all ranging from 8-16" (4 rainbows). On a 3wt, the larger browns put up a great fight. It was a pleasant hike, well off the beaten path, and we saw only two other people all day. Truly great scenery and very good fishing.
Headed up to the Eagle River (Vail) and Colorado River this weekend. Probably fish the Blue river in Silverthorne to try for a pig or two as well. Enjoy the pics!
