St. Vrain Angler

What happens when you take a guided trip?

When you register for a guided trip with us, we'll find out what you'd like to accomplish. Many folks just want to experience a day of fly fishing while others want to improve their fly fishing skills. Either way, we promise an enjoyable day.

Our professional fly fishing guides are trained and very friendly. They love sharing fly fishing delight with their new friends, and will all they can to fulfill your fly fishing dreams for the day you spend together. Multi-day trips are enjoyable as well and offer more time on the water, learning about fish, bugs, flies and putting it all together.

A guided trip begins at one of our shops. We'll be sure you have the proper gear for the day you'll spend on the water, as well as flies, accessories and clothing that will be required for fun, comfort and safety. Oh yeah, and to fool fish!

Many trips begin with some casting in order to prepare folks for the time they'll be fishing. Casting has to be done before fishing. No one needs to be an expert caster in order to fly fish. As a matter of fact, about ten minutes of casting instruction will usually about do it for folks heading out for the day. When a group of friends are going out for the day, more than one guide will instruct the casting session.

After a quick trip to the bathroom and a final check we head to the water. After a short drive into the Park we're ready to go. We'll put on waders and rig up for the hike we plan.

If we've decided to spend the day close-in we'll walk to the stream and begin fishing. Look at the water. What is going on? Are any bugs emerging? Are they on the water? Are the fish feeding on them? Are any fish rising to the surface? Do we see fish holding in the current, waiting for something to eat?

After a quick, but thorough, inventory of what's going on we'll rig the leader with the proper tippet and tie on a fly that should work. (We never know about fish, as hard as we try!) The guide will talk about how to put the fly in the right spot, and help you understand why we'll put the fly in that spot! How is one thing; why is better because we'll understand how to fish better on our own in the future.

If we do see bugs emerging, we'll do our level best to get the right fly tied on for the job at hand - fooling fish! Sometimes we fish with two flies in order to find the area in which fish are feeding. Once we figure it out - solving this puzzle is a big part of the fun and challenge of fly fishing! - we might hook a few more fish. If we really figure it out we might make a switch to see if our casting a fly presentation skill are up to the challenge at hand with another fly pattern.

We'll move around a bit, and continue studying the water, the fish, the bugs and how all of them are interacting. The guide will get us in the right spot and help with how to hold the rod and so on.

We might like a position that is a bit higher in order to see into the water, or to mend our line across currents to get the fly in the slow water on the other side.

Now, we're getting into the groove, enjoying the fresh air, beautiful scenery and the wildflowers that blanket the valley floor. However, we're not so distracted by the loveliness that we miss the fish!

Fish on! Keep the line tight! Give him his head; now, move the rod upstream a bit so we can land this beauty.

Instead of a short, quick trip to close-in streams we've decided to take a hike to a high lake. We enjoy walking in the mountains and a bit of time on the trail will allow us to get to know one another. The guide will share info about the critters we might see along the way as well as the flowers and trees. Did you see all of that lovely moss on the rocks? Isn't it amazing how the Park teems with life? Wow!

When we turn the final corner and see the lake below we'll probably lose what breath we have left from the hike. Wow is not too strong a term to describe how we feel about this. Standing and gawking for a moment or two is in order. When the rings on the surface of the lake let us know trout are feeding, we're on our way to the lake's banks to try our luck.

After selecting a fly to fish and rigging our gear we're ready to go. We usually wear hiking boots and fish from the bank, so we find a spot where a good roll cast will work and set out.

A rock outcropping is a good place to stand. We'll be careful not to spook fish lying close to the bank, waiting for something to fall into the water for lunch, then continue moving closer to the lies we think hold fish.

Short, delicate casts are in order. We watch for cruising fish and put the fly in front of their position, hoping they'll keep moving in the same direction and take our offering.

Inlets and outlets are good places to fish a high lake, so we'll head around to find these spots. Along the way, we continue watching for fish while watching our step. Falling into the water is bad form up here, and the water is really cold! We're glad our guide asked us to bring a change of clothes, just in case!

When we hook a fish we keep the line tight and put pressure on the fish in order to wear it down and land it. After a quick picture we let it go, watching it swim off and hoping to hook another.

The colors of the native Greenback Cutthroat were stunning in their brightness and beauty! We'll never forget this moment.

On the hike out, we pass a small stream with a big line of foam against a pile of logs. How did those get there, anyway? As we stop to observe and ask a question the guide tells us a fish is rising on the other bank. Is a cast in order?

Maybe. Maybe not. The smile on our faces is still there, and the bright fish linger in our mind. Do we need another fish? Maybe we'll only pass this way once. What the heck.

Even though they are not native to the Rockies, a bright brook trout is a thing of beauty, too.

What a day.

Let's go fishing soon!