FATC members Tim Graham and Pete Drochelman fished together July 22 and 23rd in Colorado. Pete arrived in Northern Colorado on the morning of the 22nd. After getting Pete settled at our home in Windsor and catching up over breakfast we travelled through downtown Fort Collins up U.S. Highway 287 which follows the route of the historic Overland Trail north into Wyoming. Our destination was the Canyon stretch of the Cache la Poudre which is known locally as the “Poudre”. Pete had not visited the river before, and I was anxious to show it to him.
The Poudre and most of our rivers in Colorado are running very high this year due to heavy spring snowfall. Typically the Poudre is fishable along most of its length through the Canyon by late July, but not this year. The high flows have been very popular with whitewater rafters and kayakers this summer, but fisherman, not so much. We travelled 37 miles up the Canyon on U.S. Highway 14 from Teds Place (a local landmark) to scout the river for fishable water. From experience I knew that we would need to cover this distance to find fishable water, or at least water that we felt comfortable fishing (two rafters drowned on the Poudre in separate incidents less than a week prior to our trip). Wading and even walking along the riverbank can be very dangerous.
After driving a little more than an hour from Teds Place we arrived at the area just below the State Fish Hatchery. The gradient is gentle, and the river spreads out, providing us an opportunity to wade and fish. I have seen many large trout in this area before and was hopeful to help Pete catch one. See Landon Mayer’s book “Colorado’s Best Fly Fishing” on his chapter featuring the Poudre for a photo of a large rainbow he caught from these waters.
After sitting in the vehicle to wait out an afternoon thunderstorm the sun came out and we fished just below the hatchery outflow (nutrient rich) and had the river to ourselves. This section of the river fishes like a spring creek with gentle meanders and silt-covered bottoms and extremely clear water. Some anglers use 14 foot leaders tapered to 6X. All should fish this area very carefully to avoid spooking fish. I have crawled into position to cast on more than one occasion.
We fished at this location for the remainder of the afternoon and tried one spot on the way down which yielded a brook trout but could not coax any other fish to our fly’s. The fishing was very good, but the catching, not so much. Nonetheless we had a very enjoyable time. The drive through the rugged Poudre Canyon as it snakes its way up from an elevation of about 5,000 at the Canyon mouth to about 7,700 feet at the hatchery is one of the most scenic drives in Colorado. U.S. Highway 14 crosses the continental divide at Cameron Pass about 20 miles further. We returned home about 9 pm for a late dinner and to get some much needed rest, particularly for Pete who took the early flight from STL to Denver so that we would have a full day together.
In terms of access to the river it is hard to beat the Poudre. U.S. Highway 14 is along the river for more than 40 miles and all of this distance is within the Roosevelt National Forest with public access. There are only a few sections of the river with private in-holdings. The Poudre River is the only river in the state which has been designated Wild and Scenic by Congress. Several areas are also designated trophy trout waters. I believe that it fishes best from early April through mid-June, and typically (runoff dependent) from late July through mid-November. We returned home about 10 pm for a late dinner and to get some much needed rest, particularly for Pete who took the early flight from STL to Denver so that we would have a full day together.
The next morning we had a big breakfast at home and after weighing our options we decided that our best choice would be travelling west through nearby Loveland, CO up the Big Thompson Canyon and through the town of Estes Park to enter Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). This is an easy one hour trip from home. We have an annual entrance pass for the park which allows us quick entry through a lane with a card reader. Our destination was the Big Thompson River, not too far from its headwaters, in Moraine Park. A “Park” in the mountains is a large valley/open area and Moraine Park is aptly named as it occupies a huge valley. We were at our destination within less than an hour and half and ready to fish.
We took a very low key, minimalist approach to fishing this day, wet wading with minimal gear and light rods. I chose my favorite 8’ 3 weight Winston rod with a small #1 Lamson reel, while Pete opted for his favorite Tenkara rod with no reel. Pete later switched to a rod with a reel.
The Big Thompson at this location is a beautiful meandering meadow stream which is a pleasure to walk and fish. We fished the Big T below the Cub Lake Trailhead. Despite the popularity of RMNP (4.5 million visitors in 2018…more visitors then Yellowstone), fishing in the park is seldom crowded in my experience. We walked and fished about 2 ½ miles and seen only a couple of other anglers at a distance.
The Big Thompson river measures about 15 to 20 feet across; many of its banks are deeply undercut. I thought of probing the bottom but knew that my 8’ rod would not reach. Flows from snow melt and tributaries are high even here in the meadow. Several large sections of grassy riverbank had recently fallen into the river. Apart from the grasses, streamside vegetation is very thin. The river holds brookies, browns, cuts, and rainbows. Brookies are most common here and this was our quarry for the day.
Pete and I spread out about an 1/8th of a mile or more, moving upstream and attempting to be stealthy, fishing off the bank, keeping the sun in our face and our shadow off the water and staying low when we could. We avoided wadding except to cross the river to get the best angle or fish the best bank. We caught numerous brookies over the course of about 4 hours before leaving at the appointed 3 o’clock hour so that we could travel to Old Town Fort Collins with Pete and my family for dinner later in the evening.
The most memorable event of the day, at least from my viewpoint, was when I was swinging a softhackle fly downstream with about 35 feet of line out and caught a brook trout which measured about 7 or 8”. After hooking the fish I decided to walk downstream along the bank to reel in line as I walked and avoid stressing the fish by dragging it upstream to me for no particular reason. While doing this the brookie swam out of sight under a deeply cut bank.
I walked to the spot where it went back under the bank I was standing on and felt a significant weight on my line. I flexed the 3 weight and lifted and there was no give. I assumed that my line was wrapped around roots or something else under the bank…then lo and behold out swims a trout which I estimate measured 14” to 16”. This trout was now on the end of my line and the brookie had disappeared. I played this fish for minute or so before he opened his mouth and the brookie came out. I landed the brookie and released it unharmed, then noticed the larger trout sitting on a shallow gravel bar in front of me, apparently as stunned as I was to what had just occurred. I initially thought it may have been a brookie but after reflection I think it was too large to be a brook trout and was likely a brown. It was a very pleasant day. No lunkers were caught but a number of brookies were brought to hand on light rods in a beautiful spot with little equipment to deal with. Sometimes it is just fun to relax, cast and catch brookies while walking the bank and observing the stream and the wildlife.
