St. Vrain Angler

Stories, Pictures & Testimonials

Hey Mike and Frank,

We had a great time as well!  I think I'm addicted. 
The ability to come into the shop and get a welcome like we were all close friends was one of the best parts of the whole two days. Very refreshing!  A Great Start!  As you know, the pressures and hustle and bustle of today can be extremely tiresome.  I just felt very relaxed when I came in.  It was awesome.  Also, the class was very informative.  To be able to pick up a fly rod and start casting and tying knots came really easy.  I have to give you the credit.  I guess I could take a little myself ;D. 
Both days of fishing were excellent.  In fact, I had to get suited back up later that evening, on the first day, and fish a little on my own- and caught a Brookie.  But, the Hike up the Mountain, the scenery, and the excitement of catching fish can be said without a doubt to be "THE BEST" two days of vacation time I have had over the past two years.  The next day walking the river at a lower elevation and hiking the stream was just as awesome and presented a great challenge.  That days fish were harder to catch but we caught up in the afternoon.  What a great ending.

Guys, while I was driving into work today I started brainstorming my next fishing trip here in CA.  I am going to shoot for a 4 day weekend by the end of the month.  Mike, going to have to take you up on your offer about equipment.  I will have to deck myself out with an ensemble.  I'm going to hunt down some maps and pack my Garmin that's all I need for navigation. Guess I have some planning to do.  With a little luck I'll get some decent maps.

Guys we enjoyed it.  I will definitely be back to Colorado since my family lives there now and I don't see them moving far from their current locations.  Ill keep in touch and let you know how the fishing is in CA.  Ill send pictures.  And next time IM out that way we'll hook up.  No pun intended.  BOB lives there and I'm sure you will hear from him.

Please use any of the above for recommendation.  I already let "whoever" was working the cash register on the second day know that you guys were the best!  If you need more I can write all day.

Take Care,

7/2/05

Dale,

Yesterday, I spent the day in Rocky Mountain National Park with one of your Guides (Ben). I knew I was lined up with a good guide when he asked me what I wanted to get out of the day before we even left the shop in Estes. I told him I wanted to "learn how to fish the Park", that I'd prefer hiking to get away from the crowds, that I was looking to get some pictures of beautiful trout, that I'd rather catch 5 fish on dry flies than 20 fish on nymphs, and that I didn't want to be taken to Lily Lake (been there, done that). We started out on Glacier Creek and Ben gave me lots of good information about fishing pocket water and picking out the likely areas that the trout might be in. I caught some beautiful rainbows, brookies and browns in that creek. It was so enjoyable seeing the incredible patterns of spots and colors on these little guys. To top it off on the creek, I landed a 14-15 inch brown - especially surprised to pull that size of fish out of the creek!

Steve H.             (great pictures to follow! DD)     Top Of Page

Hi Dale,

Just an update on the guided trip I did on Saturday. Despite the high water (a good thing) the park is fishing really well right now. I guided Jeremy on Sat and we had a great time catching and releasing fish all day. Jeremy's from Brighton but had never fished the park before. I mean we started the day with a fish on the first cast and finished the day with a beautiful greenback in a beautiful setting on Jeremy's last cast. We hiked in about 2 miles (uphill both ways) and it was worth the work. Recently I enjoy and look forward to the walk in to fish a spot that is not just drive up fishing. A number of my clients have also mentioned that they like the walk in. They said it added to the experience and enjoyment of the time they set aside to go fly fishing. Maybe it's the anticipation of where we'll end up or reflecting on where and what happened while we were fishing.

We fished a dry and dropper all day. Most fish came on the dropper but we did get a few on the dry including one of the greenbacks. Jeremy's a good caster and was getting good drifts. On a couple of spots he hooked so many fish we just had to decide to move on to the next spot and give some of the other greenbacks a chance to come out and play. Jeremy's 9 foot rod worked well because of the reach advantage it has. Fishing no more 3 feet of fly line with a dry tied to a 5 ft leader and then a 2 ft dropper off the dry was close to a perfect setup for the day. Having most, if not all, of the leader off the water with only the dry fly on the surface worked the best.

Dry fly was a yellow Frank's EZ Mac (shown here, Dale) and the dropper will remain undisclosed. But last week I seined a creature just like the dropper we had tied on out of a creek in the park so I am imitating a natural trout food. Who cares - the thing catches fish!

By the end of the day we were both tired but a good tired. Can't wait to do it all again.

See you later in the week.

I can't say enough about how well my guided trip experience with Estes
Anglers went. Dale and his daughter Rachael were exceedingly helpful
setting the trip up, and contacted me to find out exactly what I would
like to get out of my trip. Since I'm a somewhat experienced angler,
they were able to tailor my trip accordingly. My guide, Frank, was by far
the most experienced, friendly, and knowledgeable fisherman I've ever had the pleasure of fishing with. He was patient, calm, educational, and most importantly always ready with the net, which we needed often!

I'm sure it is not the norm, but in one single day we managed to net 25+
fish of all species and sizes. If you are a beginner looking to get into
the sport, or an experienced angler looking to sharpen your skills or
find some new water, I highly recommend taking a trip with the people at
Estes Angler, I know I will be back for more in the future!

Hope you are well,