Estes Park, Colorado

   I have really come to love fishing near Estes Park, Colorado. The town is great with lots of fun shops and great places to eat and stay. And there is so much great fly fishing within minutes. You can fish rivers, meadows, ponds and lakes. You will likely see plenty of wild life including bears, big horn sheep and elk which often can be seen in town. Rocky Mountain National Park is nearby and there are so many rivers and streams and little mountain lakes to try it might take me a lifetime to get to them all.

     I have already written about fishing the Big Thompson downstream of town. This time I took an early September trip above town into the park. I first stopped at Kirk's Fly Shop. They have everything you need including guided trips, supplies, maps, and suggestions on where to go. Check 'em out at www.kirksflyshop.com. Kirk set me up with some of the most recent flies and showed me a couple of rivers within RMNP.

       My first stop was at the Lawn Lake Trailhead. I intended to try the Roaring River. I had estimated a fairly steep climb and about a half hour hike to where the terrain flattens out. Kirk says the river is very small and you wouldn't think there is good fishing, but he says there are plenty of brookies and "greens". When I arrived, I double checked with a park ranger who told me I should plan at least an hour to reach that part of the river. I simply didn't have that much time so I opted for the nearby "Alluvial Fan" near the "Endovalley" picnic area.

      The Fall River flows through. It is a very slow, meandering river and is very, very clear. There are not a lot of boulders or logs so the fish settle in low spots in the center of the stream and can clearly be seen from the grassy banks. (in one photo you can see the trout in a pool). But these brookies are very wary and if they spot you they scoot to shelter under the banks. So, stealth is essential. I quickly learned to approach from behind (downstream) and crawl through the grass to the river bank. I also cast from my knees.

         You do not need waders here. In fact stay out of the water and you'll have much better luck. I only fished a couple of hours. I started with a BWO dry with an orange parachute, and a size 22 red copper john nymph dropper. I netted a nice brook along the far bank, but I noticed he hit the dry. 

        In the picture you can make out the orange parachute on the fly. So, I decided to just fish with a dry fly the rest of the day and cut the dropper. I didn't get much more action on that dry so I switched to the deer hair caddis dry. I caught two more real nice, colorful fish with that. And it was so fun to spot the fish cast to them and watch them attack my fly.

       The scenery is beautiful as well. But my time was up and I had to meet family in town for lunch. By the way I had a big juicy bacon cheese burger and fries! Yum.
      After lunch I simply went to one of the rivers that flow right through town. I tried the Glacier Creek just above where it merges with the Fall River. I did not feel like putting on waders so I just flipped my line from the sidewalk!

     There was a nice hatch of caddis and I saw nice trout actually leaping out of the water. I had two hits, but missed 'em and then the trout no longer seemed interested in my caddis dry.

     So, I walked upstream via the sidewalk a few yards and tried another good looking spot. I added a bead head nymph dropper that Kirk had suggested earlier in the day. From my vantage point I could see the trout chase my set-up and hit the nymph. It was really fun. But since I was on an elevated sidewalk with a railing - I could not net any of the trout I caught. They flipped off as I tried to lift 'em up. But I had several on and had a great time, right there in town. I got to play them a bit but the bad part was not seeing exactly what I caught. The trout had dark spots and a golden yellow color. I believe they may have been browns? Maybe a version of brookies?
       There are so many places left to fish in the area. Next time I hope to try the Moraine Meadows area or maybe one of the high country lakes. And I am still looking to see my first big horn sheep!