Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park

[Trevor K]

My wife and I are considering going on a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park in September. Has anybody on here ever fished it? If so, do you have any advice as far as what to use during that time of year? I was hoping to fish without a guide, but if anybody has any recommendations for a guide service that would be appreciated too. We don't need to catch a ton of fish, but it would be nice if we didn't get skunked.

[Tangled Bill]

I've lived in Colorado more than anywhere else. I've never seen them mentioned around here but Pistol Pete's get a LOT of action out there. Like a propellered wooly bugger.

Go, man... bee-YOO-ti-ful country.

[wendell]

If you fish inside the RMNP you can lots of Brookie's on drys. Your bigger trout will come from the Big Thompson in the canyon and also below the lake in Estes Park.

[Scott C]

i fished just outside the west edge of the park in the headwaters of the colorado river (West of the Cont divide). Used a guide out of Cutthroat Anglers in Silverthorne, fished in a blizzard in February and caught easily over 50 fish that day including some 20+ in rainbows. Was by far the best day of fishing i have every had. Basically just drug nymphs all day. The guide was great wish i could remember his name, after a couple of hours of fishing I told him that i was fine that he didn't need to baby sit me and to go ahead and start fishing with me. We had a blast, he wouldn't accept me giving a tip because he said the fact that I let him fish as well was tip enough for him. All in all a blast.

Plus the fact that i was wading a river in the mountains during a blizzard made me feel like i was in a Coors commercial.

I know in Idaho springs there are some guides out of there that focus more on the front range but not sure how fishing Clear Creek and some of those other areas are in the fall.

If your wanting to go on your own I would just go across the divide and go to silverthorne and talk to the guys at Cutthroat, they can tell you where to go and what to use on the blue river below the dillon dam area. I have done that a couple of times and have always had good luck.

Most shops and guide services out there are more than willing to share secrets with ya.

[Trevor K]

Thanks for the advice. I figure even if we don't catch a bunch of trout there will be plenty of things to see and keep us entertained. I've been browsing the internet looking for places to stay and guides if we decide to go that route. Like I said before, we're not to picky about size or numbers. It's nice to catch a few though.

[Scott C]

Thanks for the advice. I figure even if we don't catch a bunch of trout there will be plenty of things to see and keep us entertained. I've been browsing the internet looking for places to stay and guides if we decide to go that route. Like I said before, we're not to picky about size or numbers. It's nice to catch a few though.

That's why I like the Blue River through silverthorne, I can go fishing and my wife can go shopping at the outlet malls right there. One of the biggest rainbows I have ever caught was caught right in the outlet mall below the bridge. Plus that area has great bars etc. Tons of things to do around there.

Here is a link to Cutthroats fishing reports as well, I check them off and on throughout the year to see if it is worth making a trip out sometime.

http://www.fishcolorado.com/reports

I am taking the family skiing to Breck and Keystone in March and may try to fit in a day of fishing while there.

[Tangled Bill]

RMNP to Summit County is over a hundred miles. More driving, less fishing.

[Paola Cat]

I've stayed in the Estes Park area and fished in the east part of the park and the Big Thompson canyon many times. September is a great time to go. Fewer crowds and lower (more stable) water. Smaller dries, nymphs, and midge patterns work well. That time of year a hopper/dropper can be good also. In the park you can catch brookies, rainbows, cutts, and browns. If you're on the other side of the park or staying anywhere near Dillon or just looking for some potentially larger fish .... Scott C. is right on re: the Blue River in Silverthorne. It's kind of weird fishing at the outlet malls but there's some nice fish in there below the Dillon Dam ... the Blue fishes well outside of town also. The Colorado River and Williams Fork both near Parshall are great choices also. A fellow OAF angler turned me on to those streams. Small midge patterns (RS-2s, JuJus .... etc.) and small nymphs (PTs) were the ticket for me. PC

[Scott C]

I've stayed in the Estes Park area and fished in the east part of the park and the Big Thompson canyon many times. September is a great time to go. Fewer crowds and lower (more stable) water. Smaller dries, nymphs, and midge patterns work well. That time of year a hopper/dropper can be good also. In the park you can catch brookies, rainbows, cutts, and browns. If you're on the other side of the park or staying anywhere near Dillon or just looking for some potentially larger fish .... Scott C. is right on re: the Blue River in Silverthorne. It's kind of weird fishing at the outlet malls but there's some nice fish in there below the Dillon Dam ... the Blue fishes well outside of town also. The Colorado River and Williams Fork both near Parshall are great choices also. A fellow OAF angler turned me on to those streams. Small midge patterns (RS-2s, JuJus .... etc.) and small nymphs (PTs) were the ticket for me. PC

Parshall is the name of the town I was thinking of that I fished nearby on the Colorado, we spent alot of time on a place they call the hole. It was ridiculous how many fish we caught without having to move 50 yards. Apparently we were lucky to have it to ourselves. You could tell how much pressure it gets due to the amount of leaders hanging from the power lines that were literally only 15 feet off the water.

Also I guess if your not stuck on sticking around RMNP i would look into a float trip down the Arkansas. Wife and I did a one day white water rafting trip on it followed by a one day float fishing trip on it and loved it. That was the definition of fly fishing big western water. It was well worth it.

[Aaron J Scott]

I fished RMNP a few years ago. I hired a guy from Estes Angler to show me around. We hiked a little ways up the Lawn Lake trail and high-sticked it in Roaring River for half the day and I was just filthy with native greenback cutthroats (see attached). After lunch, we headed south an hit Glacier Creek for some dry-dropper action and caught a few brookies.

My guide from Estes was a great guy (we still keep in touch) and I'd recommend him again, but he's over near Steamboat now, guiding on the Yampa and Frying Pan. I had never fished outside of the Ozarks prior to that, so I hired him to show me the ropes. If you've fished mountain streams or lakes and know how to approach them, I bet you'd be fine without a guide. If it's new territory, you might enjoy, in the very least, a half-day with a guide to learn a new stream.