The Rocky Mountain Way

[redneck_billcollector]

Man. Wow. I want to say a lot, but this about leaves me speechless.
I have never been out west, and will probably never get the chance to before I croak, but I want to so bad, seeing stuff like this. I have to live vicariously through y'all. That is absolutely amazing. Absolutely beautiful fish, and beautiful country. If I died on that trip, I would die happy.

It ain't that hard to do. I try to get out there every year, and if not every year, every other year. Get you one of those roof top tents you hate and put it on a true 4x4 like a jeep and you would be surprised at how many pristine trout streams and lakes you can have to yourself. They interesting thing is if it is a cutthroat stream they encourage you to keep every brook trout (rainbow and brown too in most places, but brook trout are what you find the most of) you catch so fresh trout over a campfire is a thing out there.

 

[NCHillbilly]

It ain't that hard to do. I try to get out there every year, and if not every year, every other year. Get you one of those roof top tents you hate and put it on a true 4x4 like a jeep and you would be surprised at how many pristine trout streams and lakes you can have to yourself. They interesting thing is if it is a cutthroat stream they encourage you to keep every brook trout (rainbow and brown too in most places, but brook trout are what you find the most of) you catch so fresh trout over a campfire is a thing out there.

Fresh trout over a campfire is a thing here, too. A regular thing.

 

[redneck_billcollector]

As often as I can, which turns out to be not near enough, I try to plan a trip to the west. When I was younger and held fewer responsibilities, these trips came more frequently. Fortunately, my wife loves it as much as I do and we want to take our kids for as long as they are still willing. So about the time the summer heat was arriving here in Georgia, we pointed the truck towards the Rockies and headed out for an excursion that would end up covering 5000 miles and 12 states.

Since this is the Fly Fishing Forum, I won't bore you with our visit to the Black Hills and our amazing hike up Black Elk Peak, the highest point east of the Rockies. I won't tell you about standing atop the hill upon which Custer and the 7th cavalry made their last stand. And I won't tell you about our hike up into a local area known as the Blue Castles, shining white cliffs streaked with bright blues and greens, results from the oxidation of the minerals in the rocks.

I'll just tell you about the fish.

There's a quite large alpine lake in northern Colorado that holds a very pure strain of Colorado River cutthroat. I've visited it a half dozen times over the years and I've now taken my children twice. The lake itself offers pretty good spin fishing opportunities and if the sun and wind are right, excellent flyfishing as big cutthroat cruise the shallows sipping mayflies.

View attachment 1240949

For the uninitiated, they get their name from the bright red slash under their jaw.

View attachment 1240950

I've fished the lake enough to know that when the fishing is slow in the main lake, it's probably better up in the creeks. That's not always the case, but it was this time. There have been 2 fires here in the last 30 years and after a severe wind storm a few years back, many of the widowmakers that have been standing dead for decades have finally come down. But that makes the fishing a little more challenging for anyone who ventures up the creek.

View attachment 1240951
View attachment 1240952

Higher than average snowfall had every single stream rushing with whitewater. High, fast water combined with numerous deadfalls and logjams made fishing with a dry fly an exercise in frustration. I don't like being frustrated, especially when I'm fishing. So I tied on a big flashy olive streamer and the fish responded.

This is what I came for.

View attachment 1240953View attachment 1240954View attachment 1240956View attachment 1240957View attachment 1240958

After a hard morning bushwhacking overland to find fishable runs, I relaxed for a lunch break overlooking this gem. Not a bad spot to relax and recharge.

View attachment 1240964

To be continued....

I take it you are keeping the non-native trout. I know a stream I fished on out there once had a 50 brook trout a day limit, it was the Colorado River headwaters up in Rocky Mountain National Park. My son and myself camped on those headwaters for a week, to this day he won't eat fresh trout because we ate them every way imaginable. They were trying to establish the Greenback Cutthroat at the time and wanted every brook trout gone. I noticed when I fished some cutthroat streams last time I was out there they wanted you to keep every brook trout you caught. I read somewhere that in some of those streams you are not supposed to release a non-native trout if you catch one.

 

[redneck_billcollector]

Fresh trout over a campfire is a thing here, too. A regular thing.

There ain't no guilt out there, some of the outfitters, at least according to what I hear, guilt you into keeping all non-native trout. Heaven help you if you keep a native cutthroat though, they are wanting those to be THE fish in the appropriate stream.

 

[NCHillbilly]

There ain't no guilt out there, some of the outfitters, at least according to what I hear, guilt you into keeping all non-native trout. Heaven help you if you keep a native cutthroat though, they are wanting those to be THE fish in the appropriate stream.

I feel absolutely no guilt at all about knocking a mess of trout in the head and eating them anywhere it's legal. Which is 95% of the places I fish. I also turn loose probably thousands a year. Some of the creeks around here would greatly benefit from folks keeping a few million small rainbows. They're like farm ponds full of stunted bluegills. Study after study here in the national park shows that angler pressure or creeling fish pretty much has 0% effect on the trout population. It's all floods and droughts. That's why they opened up the regulations to include native brook trout several years ago.

 

[redneck_billcollector]

I feel absolutely no guilt at all about knocking a mess of trout in the head and eating them anywhere it's legal. Which is 95% of the places I fish. I also turn loose probably thousands a year. Some of the creeks around here would greatly benefit from folks keeping a few million small rainbows. They're like farm ponds full of stunted bluegills. Study after study here in the national park shows that angler pressure or creeling fish pretty much has 0% effect on the trout population. It's all floods and droughts. That's why they opened up the regulations to include native brook trout several years ago.

Yeah, but you get some people on the stream that look at you like you just kidnapped a 10-year-old girl if they see you keeping trout.

 

[Concrete Pete]

Is it fair to say that the fish in the pics are ‘average’ for out there in terms of size?

 

[northgeorgiasportsman]

Is it fair to say that the fish in the pics are ‘average’ for out there in terms of size?

Of all the things Appalachian fisherman see when they go out west to fish, the most shocking thing is the average fish size in western streams. I don't measure fish other than eyeballing them, but if I went up an above average southern Appalachian wild water trout stream, I would expect to catch a bunch of 8-10" trout. A 12" or two wouldn't surprise me. A 14-16" would be real trophy and only comes rarely here. A 20" wild trout would, for many Appalachian anglers, be a trophy worth mounting.
Now, if I went in an above average western stream, (the creek we fished on our last day for example) I might have caught 1 fish under 12". The average trout was easily 14" with several 16-18" fish coming from the same pools. I didn't catch any over 20, but I sent a man and his sons to fish a run I had already fished. The man caught a 24" brown out of it only a short while after I had waded through the run. Keep in mind, this isn't a special regulations stream. It's just a wild trout stream with a good flow of water

I've got a grill basket I like to grill trout over the coals with. 8-10" trout are the perfect size for grilling. We decided one afternoon, we were going to keep some non-native rainbows for supper. We didn't catch any under 12" and a few were 14". We had to cut heads and tails off so they would fit the grill better.

 

[Tight Lines]

Of all the things Appalachian fisherman see when they go out west to fish, the most shocking thing is the average fish size in western streams. I don't measure fish other than eyeballing them, but if I went up an above average southern Appalachian wild water trout stream, I would expect to catch a bunch of 8-10" trout. A 12" or two wouldn't surprise me. A 14-16" would be real trophy and only comes rarely here. A 20" wild trout would, for many Appalachian anglers, be a trophy worth mounting.
Now, if I went in an above average western stream, (the creek we fished on our last day for example) I might have caught 1 fish under 12". The average trout was easily 14" with several 16-18" fish coming from the same pools. I didn't catch any over 20, but I sent a man and his sons to fish a run I had already fished. The man caught a 24" brown out of it only a short while after I had waded through the run. Keep in mind, this isn't a special regulations stream. It's just a wild trout stream with a good flow of water

I've got a grill basket I like to grill trout over the coals with. 8-10" trout are the perfect size for grilling. We decided one afternoon, we were going to keep some non-native rainbows for supper. We didn't catch any under 12" and a few were 14". We had to cut heads and tails off so they would fit the grill better.

What's also funny to many is that even though the trout are bigger, the flies are often much smaller...my flies from Cheeseman Canyon and the San Juan were all 22-26 midges, and 18-22 dries...and typically on 7X tippet...

 

[northgeorgiasportsman]

What's also funny to many is that even though the trout are bigger, the flies are often much smaller...my flies from Cheeseman Canyon and the San Juan were all 22-26 midges, and 18-22 dries...and typically on 7X tippet...

7x tippet cost me a trout of a lifetime just outside Yellowstone once. I don't recall where we had been, but it had required 7x and long leaders. On a whim, we pulled over to fish Grayling creek, just north of West Yellowstone. Too lazy to swap leaders and tippet, I tied on a stimulator and entered the creek. Leapfrogging holes with my brother in law, I came to a 90° bend and stopped to assess the situation. My BIL stood on the bank behind me to watch. In the "V" formed by a fallen log, I could see an enormous shadow slowly waving in the current. Far too big to be a trout in such a small stream, I asked him if he could see it. He said yes, but it must be a clump of moss or something, too big to be a trout.
Well, curiosity got the best of me. It took about 3 casts to land my fly right on its nose. You guessed it, it was an enormous rainbow that came up and gulped it down. When I set the hook, it did what rainbows do, and promptly broke me off after his second jump and subsequent dive. I was left watching my pathetically inadequate 7x tippet floating in the breeze.

 

[Tight Lines]

7x tippet cost me a trout of a lifetime just outside Yellowstone once. I don't recall where we had been, but it had required 7x and long leaders. On a whim, we pulled over to fish Grayling creek, just north of West Yellowstone. Too lazy to swap leaders and tippet, I tied on a stimulator and entered the creek. Leapfrogging holes with my brother in law, I came to a 90° bend and stopped to assess the situation. My BIL stood on the bank behind me to watch. In the "V" formed by a fallen log, I could see an enormous shadow slowly waving in the current. Far too big to be a trout in such a small stream, I asked him if he could see it. He said yes, but it must be a clump of moss or something, too big to be a trout.
Well, curiosity got the best of me. It took about 3 casts to land my fly right on its nose. You guessed it, it was an enormous rainbow that came up and gulped it down. When I set the hook, it did what rainbows do, and promptly broke me off after his second jump and subsequent dive. I was left watching my pathetically inadequate 7x tippet floating in the breeze.

Oh man! That's what keeps you going back though! I've never had that happen specifically, but I have had them break it off at the strike when they are hammering dries...go to set, and as you say, just a wisp of line coming off the water...

 

[Concrete Pete]

Of all the things Appalachian fisherman see when they go out west to fish, the most shocking thing is the average fish size in western streams. I don't measure fish other than eyeballing them, but if I went up an above average southern Appalachian wild water trout stream, I would expect to catch a bunch of 8-10" trout. A 12" or two wouldn't surprise me. A 14-16" would be real trophy and only comes rarely here. A 20" wild trout would, for many Appalachian anglers, be a trophy worth mounting.
Now, if I went in an above average western stream, (the creek we fished on our last day for example) I might have caught 1 fish under 12". The average trout was easily 14" with several 16-18" fish coming from the same pools. I didn't catch any over 20, but I sent a man and his sons to fish a run I had already fished. The man caught a 24" brown out of it only a short while after I had waded through the run. Keep in mind, this isn't a special regulations stream. It's just a wild trout stream with a good flow of water

I've got a grill basket I like to grill trout over the coals with. 8-10" trout are the perfect size for grilling. We decided one afternoon, we were going to keep some non-native rainbows for supper. We didn't catch any under 12" and a few were 14". We had to cut heads and tails off so they would fit the grill better.

Cool. I need to go see it for myself. Thank you.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Yeah, but you get some people on the stream that look at you like you just kidnapped a 10-year-old girl if they see you keeping trout.

Thy can kiss my big hairy red *chin. Suburban wannabe Tenkara hippies who learned to fish from the internet. I been fishing these creeks for half a century.

 

[NCHillbilly]

What's also funny to many is that even though the trout are bigger, the flies are often much smaller...my flies from Cheeseman Canyon and the San Juan were all 22-26 midges, and 18-22 dries...and typically on 7X tippet...

I have never tied or fished a fly smaller than a #16, nor will I. Me and @whitetailfreak were lifting fish like crazy last weekend on # 10 Stimulators.

 

[Tight Lines]

As often as I can, which turns out to be not near enough, I try to plan a trip to the west. When I was younger and held fewer responsibilities, these trips came more frequently. Fortunately, my wife loves it as much as I do and we want to take our kids for as long as they are still willing. So about the time the summer heat was arriving here in Georgia, we pointed the truck towards the Rockies and headed out for an excursion that would end up covering 5000 miles and 12 states.

Since this is the Fly Fishing Forum, I won't bore you with our visit to the Black Hills and our amazing hike up Black Elk Peak, the highest point east of the Rockies. I won't tell you about standing atop the hill upon which Custer and the 7th cavalry made their last stand. And I won't tell you about our hike up into a local area known as the Blue Castles, shining white cliffs streaked with bright blues and greens, results from the oxidation of the minerals in the rocks.

I'll just tell you about the fish.

There's a quite large alpine lake in northern Colorado that holds a very pure strain of Colorado River cutthroat. I've visited it a half dozen times over the years and I've now taken my children twice. The lake itself offers pretty good spin fishing opportunities and if the sun and wind are right, excellent flyfishing as big cutthroat cruise the shallows sipping mayflies.

View attachment 1240949

For the uninitiated, they get their name from the bright red slash under their jaw.

View attachment 1240950

I've fished the lake enough to know that when the fishing is slow in the main lake, it's probably better up in the creeks. That's not always the case, but it was this time. There have been 2 fires here in the last 30 years and after a severe wind storm a few years back, many of the widowmakers that have been standing dead for decades have finally come down. But that makes the fishing a little more challenging for anyone who ventures up the creek.

View attachment 1240951
View attachment 1240952

Higher than average snowfall had every single stream rushing with whitewater. High, fast water combined with numerous deadfalls and logjams made fishing with a dry fly an exercise in frustration. I don't like being frustrated, especially when I'm fishing. So I tied on a big flashy olive streamer and the fish responded.

This is what I came for.

View attachment 1240953View attachment 1240954View attachment 1240956View attachment 1240957View attachment 1240958

After a hard morning bushwhacking overland to find fishable runs, I relaxed for a lunch break overlooking this gem. Not a bad spot to relax and recharge.

View attachment 1240964

To be continued....

That's a beautiful area, and luckily far enough off the beaten path that it doesn't get a lot of traffic...I may have camped right there, and waded those same creeks! We used to make a big 4-5 day loop fishing our way up there, camping a couple of nights, and then fishing our way back home. Summertime up there is amazing...thanks for posting! Good memories!

 

[cowhornedspike]

I have never tied or fished a fly smaller than a #16, nor will I. Me and @whitetailfreak were lifting fish like crazy last weekend on # 10 Stimulators.

Those fish out west, with a few tailwater exceptions, will eat the same size and color flies as you already use. They are trout and even though they are larger, small stream trout eat what comes by and have to make a quick decision to eat or pass...so they eat.

 

[antharper]

Man what a trip ! Thanks for sharing and congrats on all the beautiful fish

 

[Big7]

Of all the things Appalachian fisherman see when they go out west to fish, the most shocking thing is the average fish size in western streams. I don't measure fish other than eyeballing them, but if I went up an above average southern Appalachian wild water trout stream, I would expect to catch a bunch of 8-10" trout. A 12" or two wouldn't surprise me. A 14-16" would be real trophy and only comes rarely here. A 20" wild trout would, for many Appalachian anglers, be a trophy worth mounting.
Now, if I went in an above average western stream, (the creek we fished on our last day for example) I might have caught 1 fish under 12". The average trout was easily 14" with several 16-18" fish coming from the same pools. I didn't catch any over 20, but I sent a man and his sons to fish a run I had already fished. The man caught a 24" brown out of it only a short while after I had waded through the run. Keep in mind, this isn't a special regulations stream. It's just a wild trout stream with a good flow of water

I've got a grill basket I like to grill trout over the coals with. 8-10" trout are the perfect size for grilling. We decided one afternoon, we were going to keep some non-native rainbows for supper. We didn't catch any under 12" and a few were 14". We had to cut heads and tails off so they would fit the grill better.

Good Story Right There !!

 

[northgeorgiasportsman]

I have never tied or fished a fly smaller than a #16, nor will I. Me and @whitetailfreak were lifting fish like crazy last weekend on # 10 Stimulators.

Yeah, it's been extremely rare that I've encountered fish that were so picky I've had to play the micro game.

The morning we absolutely tore them up, I started out with a big bushy Stimmy, #10 or maybe even #8 with a dropper. (Steve, you know the dropper I'm talking about) When they started attacking the Stimmy more than the dropper, I clipped it off and went straight dry fly. Just like here, #12 or #14 in a generic attractor pattern will generally wear them out.

 

[Dustin Pate]

That is absolutely fantastic. That's bucket list stuff right there and really gets the wheels spinning in my head to head west.