We love Rocky Mountain National Park. If fly
fishing is a great Rocky Mountain Experience - and we believe it is - then the
Park is one of the finest examples of the experience that is possible.
The Park is high in elevation, so the fishing
season is relatively short. The ice does not go off some of the high lakes until
well into
July while streams are often fishable from late April through most of
October. In both cases - on lakes or streams - weather conditions dictate when
one may be able to fish. How the fish survive is a miracle!
The streams in the park are pretty small and
shallow, although there are areas where undercut banks and plunge pools create
good depth. Somehow the fish manage to not only survive, but thrive! And, they
are all wild! Within Park boundaries, an angler may hook rainbow, brown, brook
and cutthroat trout, including
Greenback Cutthroat Trout. (The story of the Greenback is pretty well documented now. For
my personal story, please read about it by clicking on Greenback Cutthroats. The
once thought-to-be-extinct fish is actually thriving in several areas around
Colorado, including
Rocky. If you want to see the Colorado State Fish, go to
Lilly Lake off route 7, just south of Estes Park. Walk the edges of the lake
after ice-out, and you will see beautiful specimens of this lovely fish.)
While many of the trout in the Park are on the
small size, there are spots where large fish of every species may be hooked. We
like fishing the Park with attractor dry flies, soft hackles and small streamer
patterns. There are good hatches of a variety of bugs, but they are usually not
as concentrated as you may be used to seeing on tail water fisheries. I can
recall a number of times when I've been humbled by a rising trout in a beaver
pond. Standing on an edge, watching the water to see what the little rascals are
eating, it dawns on me that every insect that floats by is different than the
one before, yet the fish will not eat what I am offering. Other times,
confidently casting an Elk Caddis or Royal Wulff will bring immediate success.
Such are the joys of the fly fishing experience!
Hiking along many streams in the Park to their
high lake source is fun. Find a map, select a blue line that ends in a blue
circle and
discover your own secret spot. Walk until most of the signs of human
impact are past, then begin fishing upstream with a dry fly. Pick pockets, fish
riffles and runs and observe where the fish are holding. When you arrive at the
lake, sit for a moment and observe the stunning beauty; listen to the symphony
of sounds and be properly awed. After a cool drink of water, tie on a lighter
tippet of about 6X and a small flying ant pattern. While you walk the edges,
watch for cruising or rising trout and cast the ant in front of them. Here, you
will usually find hungry trout that somehow know the feeding season is short,
and therefore become greedy and opportunistic. They can also be downright
snobbish, as any trout is want to be from time to time.
Keep your eyes peeled for feeding elk, playful
chipmunks - don't
feed them, though - and a variety of birds and lovely wild
flowers. Also, be prepared for an afternoon thunderstorm. (Read Park brochures
for warnings and how to handle inclement weather.)
One of the questions we often hear has to do with
where to go fish within Park boundaries. Our answer is always friendly, but may
seem a bit uppity, unfortunately, because we will not tell anyone where to go.
The reason? The Park's fishery is strong, but individual spots are very small.
The delicacy of these areas will not allow lots
of pressure, so we do our best
to spread the fishing out by inviting folks to follow the blue lines (see
above). A big part of fly fishing satisfaction, at least in our opinion, is
finding one's own spot. Discover is part of fly fishing delight. Also, if we
sent folks to one spot day in and day out, when a person arrived to fish, they
would find other anglers already there. Another part of fly fishing delight is
the solitude one finds: solitude without loneliness. Most of us at one time or
another bemoan the crowded conditions we find in the popular spots. We've done
all that we can during our years of business at the Estes Angler to keep from
"hot spotting" the Park, and that will continue to be our course.
Please come to Rocky Mountain National Park and
enjoy the treasure this area truly is. We'll do all we can to help you enjoy
your time fishing there by helping with gear, flies, techniques and so on, but
we won't tell you exactly where to go. Fair enough? We hope so.
July while streams are often fishable from late April through most of
October. In both cases - on lakes or streams - weather conditions dictate when
one may be able to fish. How the fish survive is a miracle!
Rocky. If you want to see the Colorado State Fish, go to
Lilly Lake off route 7, just south of Estes Park. Walk the edges of the lake
after ice-out, and you will see beautiful specimens of this lovely fish.)
I've been humbled by a rising trout in a beaver
pond. Standing on an edge, watching the water to see what the little rascals are
eating, it dawns on me that every insect that floats by is different than the
one before, yet the fish will not eat what I am offering. Other times,
confidently casting an Elk Caddis or Royal Wulff will bring immediate success.
Such are the joys of the fly fishing experience!
discover your own secret spot. Walk until most of the signs of human
impact are past, then begin fishing upstream with a dry fly. Pick pockets, fish
riffles and runs and observe where the fish are holding. When you arrive at the
lake, sit for a moment and observe the stunning beauty; listen to the symphony
of sounds and be properly awed. After a cool drink of water, tie on a lighter
tippet of about 6X and a small flying ant pattern. While you walk the edges,
watch for cruising or rising trout and cast the ant in front of them. Here, you
will usually find hungry trout that somehow know the feeding season is short,
and therefore become greedy and opportunistic. They can also be downright
snobbish, as any trout is want to be from time to time.
feed them, though - and a variety of birds and lovely wild
flowers. Also, be prepared for an afternoon thunderstorm. (Read Park brochures
for warnings and how to handle inclement weather.)
of pressure, so we do our best
to spread the fishing out by inviting folks to follow the blue lines (see
above). A big part of fly fishing satisfaction, at least in our opinion, is
finding one's own spot. Discover is part of fly fishing delight. Also, if we
sent folks to one spot day in and day out, when a person arrived to fish, they
would find other anglers already there. Another part of fly fishing delight is
the solitude one finds: solitude without loneliness. Most of us at one time or
another bemoan the crowded conditions we find in the popular spots. We've done
all that we can during our years of business at the Estes Angler to keep from
"hot spotting" the Park, and that will continue to be our course.
