Our final “out of state” trip this year has been completed. We headed to Colorado for the third time this year. But this time we fished the I-70 corridor of rivers. Jim Craig and Kenny Klimes joined up with Ron Fiala (from Chicago) in Denver on Saturday and drove over the mountains to Beaver Creek. We were greeted with a snow storm and freezing temperatures as we pulled into our luxurious headquarters for the week. We met up with Greg Krochta (lead of the Denver fellowship) on Sunday to fish the Eagle river just outside of Beaver Creek. We hit a different spot each day which made the trip interesting and a little tougher. The majority of rivers we fished had many rocks and boulders making it difficult to wade and slippery! Most of us had a time or two in the drink – so to say. On Monday we hit the famous Frying Pan river and caught some of the most beautiful brown trout I have ever seen. The upper portion of the “pan” has mysis shrimp which give the fish their brilliant colors. Tuesday we fished the Colorado river near the “pump house” and met up with our other guest Mark Terry, another member of the Denver fellowship. Wednesday found us back on the Eagle river but in different location than Sunday. Tim Graham (yes, our own St Louis Tim who moved to Colorado) joined us on Wednesday and we had everyone together – all six of us for at least one day. Thursday was another long drive up to the Aspen area to fish the Roaring Fork river, another rocky river bottom which was at times tough to walk. Greg took us to a beautiful spot where we were the only ones fishing the river. Our last stop on Friday was the Middle Fork of the South Platte in the Tomahawk SWA. This was a relief for us since this meandering stream had very few rocks and boulders to make us slip and slide.
It was an awesome trip with many beautiful trout caught (and yes, one huge, mountain whitefish by Tim – which is in the trout family!!). We used an eclectic group of flies from nymphs, soft hackles, san juan worms, egg/bead patterns to dries. Greg schooled us in Czech nymphing and did very well using his heavy nymph patterns. In the middle of the week the fishing got tough as a cold front moved through – even the fly shops said that the guides were finding the fishing difficult. But we managed to catch fish each day – but we had to work hard for them.
It was another great trip and the lodging was unbelievable (see the pictures). Thanks to Greg and Mark for joining us and all their help with the fishing locations of Colorado. And as always, it was great to see Tim again. On Saturday morning we said goodbye to “Bonnie and the guys”, and Ron, Jim and Kenny headed to the Denver airport to fly home.
