Colorado Mountain Creek (2/3)

On our second day of fishing in Colorado this week, we spent the morning on the big river in the valley. I was able to net a nice brown trout there and was feeling very lucky with that catch...there wasn't any hatch going on and it was work getting a fish to rise to my dry fly. For the record, I only fished dry flies this week and hoppers were the only flies I used that would fool a trout.

After fishing a few hours, we had a snack/beer at the truck, then decided to go up to a high altitude creek in the area. Steve had been there during the weekend and caught several brownies, so we decided to give it a try since the fishing was slow down in the valley.

Above is a photo looking down to the creek from a one-lane rocky road...can you see it? That's the one we fished which was over 10,000 feet in elevation...and the access site we found required lots of bush wacking.  For three old guys, that's a tough stream to work...the vegetation was dense and the steep grade of the creek made for fast water. We were there a little over an hour as a result. However, I got a bit lucky and pulled two trout out of the same deep run. The colors I saw below the surface as the trout was darting around trying to shake my hook was pretty exciting. I was surprised with my first hook set to see a Rio Grande Cutthroat at the end of a tight-line fight. When I got him into the net, I was blown away! He was beautiful...very dark, rich colors, and about 13 inches in size. Very healthy fish! After resting that fast run in this creek's section for a good while, I went back and caught a nice brookie. That brookie was my last catch and made for a satisfying day...three species in one day.

I must say...that tent cot, after the evening dinner Robert treated us to, was a very welcome site. I fell asleep fast with a smile on my face...