Each year Matt McClure and I (Kenny Klimes) take a trip to Colorado to do some spring fishing. We book Landon Mayer (one of the top guides in the country) for two days and then fish the rest of the week in rivers that are in the area.  This year Matt and I picked Buena Vista , Colorado as our base camp. We stayed in a cabin at the Vista Court Cabins and Lodge in Buena Vista. We also switched up our trip this year to fish in mid-April vice March like we go every year due to the last two years in March being way too cold.  So, picking an April trip we would definitely have much warmer weather -NOT!

We arrived in Colorado by Southwest airlines and headed first to visit with Greg Krochta ( the Denver FITR fellowship lead). Although a short visit it was great to see Greg and his family again. After about an hour visit Matt and I drove through the mountains to Buena Vista. You can see from our first pictures that this was NO warm April. Maybe it is us – if we came out in July, I am sure there would be a snowstorm. Oh well, we are here, and a little snow and cold temperatures will not stop us. I do not think.

Day One: The cabin was nice, and we set out the first day to plan out our week. We decided that there was no reason to get on the water early because of the cold temperatures so each day we did not really start until after 10 am.  Day one Matt and I hit the Arkansas river just below Salida, CO. The local fly shop, Ark Anglers, said the water would be warmer there and we may get a nice BWO hatch.  We fished several spots but did the best in the Brown’s Canyon area. Several browns and rainbows came to the net. And yes, a crazy BWO hatch started about 2pm and ended around 4pm. We needed more BWO patterns for sure.

Day Two: We met up with our guide and friend, Landon Mayer. Landon said we were going to have to change things up for the two days with him because of the cold. “No river fishing”, he said, “ the water is too cold”. Darn, we changed the month of our trip just to get the BIG fish coming up the Dream Stream. He said we will do some “reservoir” fishing this time. Interesting considering the reservoirs were FROZEN!! But Landon, the “Osprey” as we call him, has lived in this area all his life, and has a sixth sense about the area (and I think he knows the fish by name). So, we headed to Antero reservoir to catch the “cruising” trout. When we arrived Matt and I were very skeptical of this approach that Landon was going to have us do.  The ice was, albeit thin about 10 -15 feet out, was solid from shoreline to shoreline. Landon said all we need is some wind and we might be in for an awesome day. Of course, Matt and I looked at each other wondering if Landon had been “drinking” before he arrived. But we followed and hoped for the best. Landon went into the ice-cold waters and cleared some ice away so we could attempt to fish. Then like magic the wind picked up, the ice along the shoreline started to go away and we saw BIG fish cruising the shoreline (in no more than 2 feet of water). Game ON!! Landon directed our casts from above as we stayed low along the shoreline. I do not need to say more than look at the pictures. Matt caught his personal best trout – EVER!! Forgot to say that we were the ONLY ones fishing the reservoir!!

Day Three: We were with Landon again and why go away from a good plan. We headed back to Antero reservoir (remember the rivers were still too cold – it was our only chance) and this time the ice had pulled even further from the shoreline, this time about 30 yards. Perfect but we needed some wind to hide us from the fish. As luck would have it, we did not get any – any! Landon said that Colorado has maybe 3 days all year with no wind and we have to get one of them on our trip. This day the fishing was tough, but Landon did get us on to fish. We probably missed more than we netted (and some were BIG) but on this day we learned a lot about hunting and catching big fish.  As always Landon “hunts” for fish and I think we put on at least 14 miles of walking in the two days with Landon.  If you ever get the opportunity to fish with one of the top guides in the country – do it!

Day Four:  Landon recommended to fish Eleven Mile Canyon during the afternoon BWO hatch so that is what we did. We arrived in the canyon around 11am and fished until about 5pm when we just got too cold. The BWO hatch was so good it drove Matt and I crazy as the trout were popping up everywhere except for our flies. I guess when the fish have hundreds of bugs floating downstream finding our one fly can be difficult. But we caught a few nice browns and had an awesome day.

Day Five: I took Matt to the Taylor river north of Almont, Colorado. It was a long drive (2 ½ hours) through the mountains and passes to get to one of the most prolific rivers with big fish in Colorado. The fish were everywhere – now the challenge was to catch them. The fish here eat Mysis shrimp that come from the Taylor reservoir and  grow huge with beautiful colors (from the protein of the Mysis shrimp). We targeted fish all afternoon and it was not easy pickings. It seemed the smaller fly the better (20-22s) and you had to be ready because they would spit them out in a heartbeat. We caught some beautiful fish here see the pictures. And again, we got caught in a snowstorm AND had our license checked by the warden. Good guy and of course, we “teased” him a little with our Missouri humor. Not sure if he was impressed.

Day Six: Our last fishing day was a “God” thing as they say. Eating breakfast at the Roosters Crow Café Kenny was approached by a young, bearded man who asked, “excuse me aren’t you, Kenny?”. Ha, to our surprise it was Nathan Flowers a member of the Altar Fly Fishing team who I met at the Denver Fly Fishing show. We invited him to have breakfast with us and after a long talk he asked if he could join us fishing – well, yeah! He is a guide in the Buena Vista area and took us to a “private” location to fish on the Arkansas. We caught browns and a few rainbows all in a short four-hour period, of course, until another snowstorm hit. It was an awesome (cold) day of fishing and some great fellowship with Nathan.

Day Seven: We packed up and headed for the airport but not before Matt had to stop at – yeah, you guessed it, Sierra Trading Post in Denver.  The flight home was uneventful but a great way to end an awesome trip.

Other trip stuff: Well, if you’re still reading this report there is more to the story. I was asked to write more on this separately so you will have to wait for the “finer” details. But on day three we almost burned our cabin down. Matt totally ruined his Korker boots and had to buy new boots at the fly shop in Salida, CO. Kenny (and Matt) wanted Jan’s Favorite Meatloaf so bad one night that they paid for it for two days. We found out Jan is dead, and it must have been from eating her Favorite Meatloaf. So, ask us about the extracurricular activities of the trip for some funny stories.  And check out our “Fly Shop Blog” for the story of “The Glowing Chair!”