Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park

[ness]

They're very easy to miss because they strike soooo fast. You gotta recalibrate your strike timing because a slow, steady one won't cut it most times. It always takes me a little bit to adjust.

[Geoff]

oh i dont have a slow strike. its very quick and violent. prolley too much. i was just not on that trip...besides iforgot my lucky fishing hat at home...that was the real burn of the trip. just gives me an excuse to go back honestly

[Orbearider]

I've been going to Estes Park for years and I love it. We always go in Sept. and stay in Estes so I've only fished on the eastern slope. I definatley recommend Kirk's Fly Shop, their first rate I won't even consider another fly shop there. I've never used thier guide service but I'm sure they'd do a great job. My first year there I went in, told them I needed help with fly selection. Kirk asked me where I was planning on fishing then suggested I fish other area's besides where I had selected because the fishing was better or easier. Then he selected a dozen fly's or so and told me where and how to fish each one. He was super friendly and helpful. Now I go in every year ask for a couple dozen flys tell them where I'll be fishing and the trip is always a success.

If you happen to fish on the eastern side of the continental divide, for greenback cutthrouts I would try Roaring River it's about a mile and a half hike in but there's a ton of fish. The Big Thompson above Moraine Park is good for mainly brookies, maybe a few browns (not so much) and some cutthroats, I wouldn't fish Moraine Park personaly because it's windy and the fish are easily spooked because the water runs slower and there's not much to hide behind. The Big Thompson below Estes Lake has mainly rainbows and browns I believe and pretty technical, the fish see more pressure hence harder to catch (for me) but you'll catch larger fish, the fish up in RMNP are smaller because of the short growing season. Fall river has mainly browns and brookies, Horseshoe Park is harder to fish for the same reason as Moraine Park. And North St. Verain Creek in the Wild Basin is good for brookies, cutthroats and maybe some rainbows. You'll be able to catch rainbows in all the streams at lower elevations.

Definately buy "Fly Fishing Rocky Mountain National Park" by Todd Hossman. It will tell you about every place you can fishing inside the park. You can get it on Amazon.com.

And if you're in Estes Park Kirk's Fly Shop is the best.

Good luck you'll love it in the Park.

[Njardar]

Kirk took me on the Big Thompson below Estes Park, he guaranteed fish and he delivered. We hit five or six spots in four hours, if there was no action we moved on. The last place was a little known public piece of river between private land. That place was incredible... if only I remembered where it was.

- Charlie

[Gilly]

My mom just sold her place in Grand Lake a couple of years ago. We actually caught trout shore fishing on the lake right downtown. My step-dad use to take the grandkids to some trout ponds (private) right there along side the highway by downtown Grand Lake.

I heard they sold the place and built some fancy apartments or cabins but the ponds should be there still I would think.

Note: if you're in town on a Sunday get reservations for breakfast on Sunday at the Lodge....mmmmmm good.

[jscheetz]

Hey Trev -

RMNP is an awesome place. It depends if you want to do stream/river fishing or lake stuff. There are some really good lakes where you can catch a ton of fish - Fern, the Loch, Lawn - done really well everytime I have been to any of those. Just have to hike to them. If you go to Lawn you can do Roaring River on the way up. - btw Roaring River is usually neither Roaring or much of a River - it is kind of a small trickle down the mountain in the fall. But each little pool holds fish so it is pretty fun fishing. For me, the Thompson gets so over fished that I usually don't have as much luck there, although there are bigger fish there - just might not get as many. But Fall River up towards the top of it is really pretty cool. And Ouzel creek is a fun time too. And if you hit it right in Sept you will have Golden Aspens and Bugling Elk - so really you might find the quality of fishing to be not nearly as important!

The last time I was there in the fall there was some hatch of little red bugs - and in Fern, or Spruce lakes ANYTHING that had red would catch a fish every cast - no red = no fish - didn't matter the size or style of fly - just had to be red.

JS

[Trevor K]

I'd prefer to do some stream fishing, but I'm not opposed at fishing some of the lakes at all if the fish are biting in them. I don't really care to much about size. My wife is just getting started into fly fishing, so the main thing I'm interested in is her getting a few fish. It doesn't have to be a lot of fish, just enough to keep her interested and get her confidence up.

What type of fly rods to you guys use when you are fishing some of these streams? Are they fairly open or is it really brushy around them?

[ness]

I'd prefer to do some stream fishing, but I'm not opposed at fishing some of the lakes at all if the fish are biting in them. I don't really care to much about size. My wife is just getting started into fly fishing, so the main thing I'm interested in is her getting a few fish. It doesn't have to be a lot of fish, just enough to keep her interested and get her confidence up.

What type of fly rods to you guys use when you are fishing some of these streams? Are they fairly open or is it really brushy around them?

Hey Trevor,

RMNP is a pretty good place to catch fish and build confidence. There are a lot of streams in the park that are just brimming with brookies (stupid brookies, but you don't need to tell your wife that), also rainbows, browns and even cutthroats. They're all opportunistic feeders and will hammer about anything you throw out there, if you go it about right.

My first bit of advice would be to hire a guide. But, if that's not in the budget, there are a lot of opportunities where beginners can do well. First off -- all the streams (all!) have fish in them. The lower elevation, slow-moving streams will have the largest and most wary fish. The farther up you go, the skinnier the water, the more desperate the fish and the better chances for lots of action. Put a bushy dry fly into any still pocket of water you see in a rocky, fast-moving stream, and a fish will see it. To get him to strike, you'll need a fairly fine tippet (5X or less), and keep the line and most of the tippet off the water. It helps if you're not standing in the pocket too This means a lot of stiff-armed reaches with just the fly on the water -- not your long, beautiful, 'River Runs Through It' casts.

It's also helpful to have a nymph dropper -- about 8-18 inches below the dry (depending on water depth).

A pretty sure thing is a #10 Stimulator with a #16 Hare's ear or Pheasant Tail dropper. It's not so much about matching the hatch, or picking the right fly, as it is presenting it right. These fish have just survived winter and runoff, and they're gonna eat anything close. You just can't spook them and expect them to eat. Keep the top fly dry and floating high with Gink and an occasional dry-shake and you'll have them busting it. Let it get wet and you'll miss strikes -- which, by the way, will be lightening quick -- much faster than you're used to in MO.

A good general-purpose rod would be an 8-1/2 foot 4 weight. That would be long enough to clear streamside vegetation if you fish lower elevation meadows, or give you plenty of reach if you're stretching and hitting pocket water higher up.

I have a great guide to recommend -- PM me if you're interested. It would be money-well-spent to get your wife off on the right foot, and no matter what your level he would teach you something -- he's a master at fishing the small creeks and an excellent teacher.