Estes Park Co Fishing (and Family Vacation)

[Greg]

My family and I just got back from Estes Park CO from a family vacation and fishing trip. Good trip overall although the weather was kind of lousy. It was unseasonably cold and rainy the past week.

Still the fishing was pretty good. The 2nd day there we (my wife, myself and our 14 yr old son) took a guided trip in the RMNP. We fished the big Thompson pretty far up between Moraine Park and the Fern lake trailhead. The fishing was completely different from what I was used to. But all 3 of us caught fish. The guide spent most of the time with Ryker and I was on my own after a short tutorial by the guide. I took 8 or 9 fish for the day one being a fairly decent brown. The rest mixed browns and brookies. It was ROUGH going. He took us through some serious brush and it was tough going upriver for approx 5 hours. Still a good day. The best fly was a black foam beetle.

On another day I fished the canyon area of the big Thompson below town. Again I did fairly well taking 7 or 8 fish with one pretty good bow and one good brown. No pics from this day. It was raining HARD off and on. Couldn't get a take on top. Tried several things subsurface. The best fly was a good old MO pattern mohair leech.

My last day of fishing and our last day in the park was also my best. I was in the Moraine Park meadow area in RMNP on the big Thompson. Beautiful area. I had been warned not to fish it by the guide and by a guy in an Orvis shop in Boulder. They said the trout were too finicky and the area was fished too hard. But on this last day I caught probably 20 fish all browns. All on the black beetle. Just a lot of fun.

One observation. I have not caught a lot of wild trout. A few in MO. But this was my first experience fly fishing for trout out west. I loved it but the trout certainly didn't seem much different than our stocked MO trout. Comparatively speaking fish of similar size I would have to say I've caught MO browns and rainbows that fought harder (especially Taneycomo fish) and were just as beautiful.

It was Michael from BCO that suggested this was a good place for a family vacation and he was right. My thanks to him.

The pics were too large to attach. So here is a link to the online fishing pics:

http://picasaweb.google.com/glm3864/COFishing2009#

And if anyone is interested here is the link to the family vacation photos (with a lot of beautiful scenery of the area):

http://picasaweb.google.com/glm3864/COVacation2009#

Thanks,

Greg

[Danoinark]

Stellar report Greg. Thanks for sharing. Dano

[Paola Cat]

Greg .... awesome report from an absolutely great place to fish. I've fished those areas many times and you did well. Moraine meadow can be tough. I have never had a day like that in Moraine. 20 fish ..... you are the man!!!! I'm headed to Dillon in a couple of weeks to fish the Blue and Colorado. I hope I do as well as you. PC

[ness]

Nice report, Greg. I love CO, Estes and RMNP.

I'm trying to figure out where you camped -- was it over at Mary's Lake?

[Greg]

Thanks for the kind words Dano and PC. Ness we stayed at Elk meadows RV resort and campground. It was really close (0.5 miles) to the entrance to RMNP and about a mile from Estes park. Really nice place with a lot of history to it.

The trip would have been absolutely perfect if the weather had been a little better. I definitely want to explore more of CO in the coming years.

Greg

[Danoinark]

Fellows....that place is now on my to do list. Greg what a trip. Took a look at all the pictures.

You know we should think about an OAF trip out west one of these days...vans, campgrounds, etc

sharing expenses etc. Just a thought.

[BKB]

I Love Estes Park!

Been fishing with a guide twice in Big Thompson Canyon....probably my two favorite fishing trips ever!

[ness]

Greg,

I had to look the place up, but I know about where you were. We've stayed in cabins just down the road from there a couple times -- near the YMCA.

That's a great area for a family vacation, and I'd put RMNP up against about any other national park. Gorgeous place, absolutely huge -- you couldn't hike it all in a lifetime. Plenty of small stream, alpine lake and even tailwater fishing in the area. Two species of native cutthroats (one on each side of the divide). Go-carts.

We try to get out there every couple years -- and this is the off year. Here's me on my first trip to Estes, near the end of the last millenium:

[Greg]

Greg,

I had to look the place up, but I know about where you were. We've stayed in cabins just down the road from there a couple times -- near the YMCA.

That's a great area for a family vacation, and I'd put RMNP up against about any other national park. Gorgeous place, absolutely huge -- you couldn't hike it all in a lifetime. Plenty of small stream, alpine lake and even tailwater fishing in the area. Two species of native cutthroats (one on each side of the divide). Go-carts.

We try to get out there every couple years -- and this is the off year. Here's me on my first trip to Estes, near the end of the last millenium:

That's a great picture. So you've obviously been horseback riding in the area too. I booked a horseback riding trip for us some time ago mostly because my son had never been on a horse and wanted to try it. I really wasn't looking forward to it. But we all 3 had a great time. We took a breakfast ride at sombero stables. I was expecting a nice little trail ride. Wasn't expecting to go way up into the mountains! We climbed to over 8,000 ft on some pretty intense and steep trails. And the horses were great but they (especially mine) needed a lot more guidance than I expected.

Next time you are there if you are interested you might make a quick stop at the elk meadows campground. If you go in the general store there is a lot of history of the place posted. The bar dates from the 1800's complete with bullet holes supposedly made by calamity Jane. The office building was originally a brothel at another town in CO in the 1800's. Interesting and cool stuff.

I wish I would have had time to hike up to some of the alpine lakes and fish for the native cutthroats. But time and the weather didn't allow for that. Maybe next trip. I notice you are from KS. So you are a lot closer to RMNP than I am. Lucky you!

Greg

[ness]

I'll have to check that out next time. Sounds interesting.

Yep, we're about 10-1/2 hours door to door. Very doable in a day -- sometimes wonder why I don't do it more. That's a little more than two trips to the Current for me.

I love fishing for the natives, and got my boys excited about it a couple years ago too.

Here's my boy with a Greenback cutt:

and a much better picture of a Greenback, held by a friend's son:

and here's the only Colorado River cutt I ever caught:

and where he lived:

I worked my butt off for the CO River one, but I feel like it was worth it. The Greenbacks are in a few places that are pretty accessible (Lily Lake, for one) so they're not as much work. Bear Lake is a sanctuary for them (they're listed as 'Threatened') and therefore is off-limits for fishing.