Colorado River Monsters (fishing)

Does anyone have any recommendations for streams/tail waters that are easily accessible and reasonably productive for intermediate fishermen?

My old man is visiting this weekend and normally I'd take him to Rocky Mountain National Park to fish Dream Lake but he can't do hikes like that anymore, so more accessible streams like Dream Stream would be more ideal.

Thanks in advance for the recommendations!

 

It gets tons of hate but you can park 3 feet from the river at Deckers, weekend will def be busy but if you can get there early it is a productive stretch

 

Got a little panfishing in this week...



...and finally picked up an affordable rotary vise, a Griffin Montana Mongoose. I find the tension adjustment rudimentary, but you get what you pay for. Broke it in by tying my first GFA Hopper, in size 16, which turned out ok.

 

That is a great vice. Careful how tight you clamp down on your hooks, you can jack up the jaws. Your fly looks good. It’s about the pattern the fish see and your presentation as it is floating.

 

Hit Deckers yesterday. Driven by it many times but first time fishing it. Missed two aggressive takes because they honestly came when I wasn't expecting them and I got one on the line accidentally when I was looking down and fiddling with something on my pack. Unfortunately lost that one when he spit the fly out. Elk hair caddis seemed to be the most productive.

 

how crowded was it?

 

Did my first hike-n-fish to an alpine lake this year today. Fishing sucked. But, I did manage to crack the code and land one. They were after these really tiny flies, so I put on a size 20 parachute dry with a size 24 dry trailing... and that was my first fish on a size 24 dry, which I happened to tie. It's tucked into the corner of the mouth in typical brook trout fashion...

 

Surprisingly not bad. Only saw 3 other fisherman throughout the day, but it was midday on a Friday.

 

Generally the alpine lake is super tiny fly dominate

 

Just a heads up, tried fishing Dream Lake in RMNP yesterday but the water is still too cold for productive fishing. The trout are extremely lethargic.

 

Poudre River trout population devastated by last year's Black Hollow flood, officials confirm

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/t...officials-confirm/ar-AAYuwPH?ocid=hplocalnews

“No fish, outside of a single brown trout that had migrated downstream between the dates of the debris flow event and sampling event, were captured during sampling within stations from one to 16 miles downstream of Black Hollow Creek confluence, suggesting a complete loss of the fishery within that reach,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife aquatic Biologist Kyle Battige said in the release. “It was not until the Stove Prairie station, 20 miles downstream, that trout were captured.”

 

Wow.

 

Got a little Tenkara action in yesterday.

 

I'm looking to change up my fishing bag setup. I'm currently running a Fishpond Waterdance lumbar pack and was looking for something lighter and smaller, similar to the Patagonia Stealth Workstation (Below). Does anyone have any recommendations for alternative small chest packs for wader fishing or throwing on a belt?

 

My first Sparkle Dun. Used Antron instead of Z-Lon since it's what I had. I trimmed the Antron down some after taking the pic, and used less on the future ones. Otherwise, by the book on a size 16 1x dry fly hook.

 

you got skills bro. i fly fish, but can't tie my own shit. Outstanding work

 

I went to brown town this weekend. I love catching fish while bald eagles soar above.

 

Buttery goodness right there.....



I had hesitation going fishing this year and now I don't feel like I missed anything on my local water.... I suppose I'll have to explore the Big T instead