Colorado Trip so far

[westernmas]

I ended up making a last minute decision to tag along on the lady's work trip.  I landed in CO last Thursday with my carry-on loaded w fly gear and a folding knife that I clearly forgot to take out.  Surprisingly the TSA agent let me dig through my gear to remove it but its theirs now.  Friday we did some exploring, took a trip out to Breckenridge and attempted to do a bit of fishing on the Blue River but it was much to high.  The views alone up there made up for the limited fishing opportunities.

Saturday we ended up getting tickets to the Rockies-Padres game so there was no fishing.  2nd row tickets cost about as much as parking at Fenway.  Sunday we fished Bear Creek with a guide who just graduated high school.  We fished hopper-dropper rigs for browns and bows.  We landed a bunch of parr browns and one that was like 10".  They were all beautiful specimens.  The fishing was tough as the water was high, it was close quarters which made for some tangles for the guide to deal with.  I left the guide to coach my girlfriend and deal with her tangles which was a blessing.  I made him earn his keep by keeping me loaded up with floatant.

Monday, I didn't have to work so I took the opportunity to do some exploring.  I went up to the Big Thompson River which brought me up into the Roosevelt Nat'l Forest and into Estes Park.  I fished for about an hour and returned to get my girlfriend as the sights up there can't be described with words.  We returned at 4 and fished for a few hours.  We each started off with a couple of parr browns and then Kelly landed slightly larger brown.  I was able to pull in a small wild rainbow (could be a cut bow but its hard to tell in the juveniles) on a small caddis nymph I tied for the west branch of the westfield.  I followed that up with a brown on a good sized streamer.  There seemed to be much more life on the Big Thompson as there was a BWO hatch that I could not seem to match with fish rising consistently the whole time.  The water was still extremely high in most parts but we caught them on dries, nymphs and streamers.

I have to "work from home" the next few days so I think this might be last of my fishing out here but hopefully I can share another update.  Outside of fishing we saw a bald eagle scoop up a dead bunny right on the highway and saw about 20 elk and 10 Mule deer while up in Roosevelt Nat'l Forest.

[stripernut]

Some great country out there! Let me know if you are going to be heading out to the Pagosa Springs area, I will hook you up with my son that guides out there or at least get you on some awesome water...

[westernmas]

Some great country out there! Let me know if you are going to be heading out to the Pagosa Springs area, I will hook you up with my son that guides out there or at least get you on some awesome water...

Thanks Alan.  I dont think we will have time to make it down there but I appreciate the offer.

[Bartman44]

Sweet, nice photos. If you're still out there, Estes has a great little place that sells breakfast rolls called "Cinnamon's Bakery" They sell out fast. Good stuff.

In Breckenridge, we liked the Broken Compass Brewery. 

Last time we were out there it was in the fall so the water was lower and easier to fish. I assume there's still a pile of snowpack.

 
Have fun! 

[lowaccord66]

Smart to tag along Pat, looks like you had a blast! 

Ive also been to Estes Park and agree, the sights are amazing.  I didnt get a chance to fish but have the Gunnison in my sights for a future trip.

[Dirt23]

Sounds like awesome trip good call on going. If you're flying out of Colorado springs on way back down check out eleven mile canyon shouldn't disappoint

[iceman260]

Looks like a great trip.

[Steve H.]

Sweet!  Great pics.  I've been to Silverthorne a couple times when out skiing Breck and Copper.  Saw some very nice Blue River trout in town by the outlets.  Great view of holding fish from the pedestrian bridge there with quite a few people fishing for them in Jan and Feb. 

[westernmas]

Thanks guys.  Its been a great time.  We unfortunately head out tomorrow.  Thanks for all of the suggestions.  I should have made a post prior to the trip.  I foresee a return trip sometime in our future.

[manitron]

Glad to see that you took advantage of the oppurtunity and had a great time. Congrats!