Fishing in Colorado <>< <>< <><

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nyker
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Fishing in Colorado <>< <>< <><

Post by nyker »

For those fisherman/fisherwomen out there, where are your favorite rivers for trout in particular and best locations? Mountain lakes might work too. I'll be fishing from shore.

I am not averse to catching other gamefish in lakes/reservoirs but figure on average without a boat, opportunities are fewer and you're not at as much of a disadvantage trout fishing (wading or from shore) as other species that are more likely out in deeper water (largemouth, smallmouth, pike, landlocked stripers, etc.) but if I am wrong and there are good spots from shore in some places would love to hear that. If not, I'll probably be sticking to fly fishing. I've only fished the Frying Pan on one trip when I happened to bring a flyrod and managed to get a few Rainbows.
I have a packable 5wt outfit, assume that should be decent to bring out for most of the fishing?

Feel free to convey any "fish stories" too. Thanks in advance!
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prairiechicken
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Re: Fishing in Colorado <>< <>< <><

Post by prairiechicken »

A great many alpine lakes have decent fishing, usually for cutthroat or brookies. Hard to go wrong there when they're always so scenic.
Of course, there are a few exceptions that are fishless.
Almost any lake on the east side of the Indian Peaks or the James Peak area holds decent cutthroat and a few have brook trout. Lakes on the east side of the Sangres also generally have lots of cutthroat.
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MyFeetHurt
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Re: Fishing in Colorado <>< <>< <><

Post by MyFeetHurt »

Living on Glenwood Springs, I fish about 4-5 days a week pretty often, and all year. Colorado, Crystal, Roaring Fork, Frying Pan, and Eagle... all good. 5wt is good, sometimes smaller is better on the smaller rivers like the Pan.
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Re: Fishing in Colorado <>< <>< <><

Post by dwoodward13 »

I prefer fishing lakes near treeline the best. Any lake further than about 5 miles from a TH is going to have pretty low pressure and will usually have cutthroats and brookies. There are some barren lakes, usually those that are too high up there, or have some sort of mineral issue. With the short ice free season, a lot of times the fish just go for anything on the water. I've had days were I actually got bored because you'd be catching a fish every cast. For these lakes, its usually counterproductive to try and cast far out. Usually the fish "cruise" within 10 feet or less of the shoreline waiting for various bugs to fall off trees/grass or get blown in. A 5wt should be fine; most of the time I use my rod as a glorified cane pole as I'm not really casting for the cruisers. I prefer dry fly fishing so elk haired caddis, parachute adams, and ants on the smaller size I find work well.

Good luck!
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Re: Fishing in Colorado <>< <>< <><

Post by cottonmountaineering »

dwoodward13 wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 8:01 am I prefer fishing lakes near treeline the best. Any lake further than about 5 miles from a TH is going to have pretty low pressure and will usually have cutthroats and brookies. There are some barren lakes, usually those that are too high up there, or have some sort of mineral issue. With the short ice free season, a lot of times the fish just go for anything on the water. I've had days were I actually got bored because you'd be catching a fish every cast. For these lakes, its usually counterproductive to try and cast far out. Usually the fish "cruise" within 10 feet or less of the shoreline waiting for various bugs to fall off trees/grass or get blown in. A 5wt should be fine; most of the time I use my rod as a glorified cane pole as I'm not really casting for the cruisers. I prefer dry fly fishing so elk haired caddis, parachute adams, and ants on the smaller size I find work well.

Good luck!
pretty much my experience

if you get into 13ers you'll find a lot of lakes with spectacular fishing on the way, if the lake does not have a trail to it even better. most stuff in the front range is overfished but there are a few gems you'll have to find yourself
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highpilgrim
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Re: Fishing in Colorado <>< <>< <><

Post by highpilgrim »

I found beaver ponds fun to fish. You start at the outlet stream and work upriver, hitting each pond as you go. You'll likely catch a couple of fish a pond, but that's it because once you upset the pond the fish get skittish and you move on the next one.

You gotta like a little bushwhacking tho. :-D
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SkaredShtles
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Re: Fishing in Colorado <>< <>< <><

Post by SkaredShtles »

Dude...

Image
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SkaredShtles
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Re: Fishing in Colorado <>< <>< <><

Post by SkaredShtles »

highpilgrim wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 8:09 am I found beaver ponds fun to fish. You start at the outlet stream and work upriver, hitting each pond as you go. You'll likely catch a couple of fish a pond, but that's it because once you upset the pond the fish get skittish and you move on the next one.

You gotta like a little bushwhacking tho. :-D
Man... biggest brookie I've ever caught was using this technique. The beaver pond dam had partially failed, leaving some "mud flats" and some very shallow water around a *very* deep channel through the center. Pulled a 15"er out of there. I didn't even know brookies go that big. :shock:

And, no, I'm not going to tell any of you where this happened. :mrgreen:
AndrewLyonsGeibel
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Re: Fishing in Colorado <>< <>< <><

Post by AndrewLyonsGeibel »

There are definitely some good spots around the state. You’ll probably have trouble getting anyone to talk about exactly where they fish though. I build custom fishing rods as a sort of hobby. So if anyone wants one ... I know I can’t advertise on here so I’m sorry Bill. I will edit this if need be.
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two lunches
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Re: Fishing in Colorado <>< <>< <><

Post by two lunches »

cottonmountaineering wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 8:07 am
dwoodward13 wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 8:01 am I prefer fishing lakes near treeline the best. Any lake further than about 5 miles from a TH is going to have pretty low pressure and will usually have cutthroats and brookies. There are some barren lakes, usually those that are too high up there, or have some sort of mineral issue. With the short ice free season, a lot of times the fish just go for anything on the water. I've had days were I actually got bored because you'd be catching a fish every cast. For these lakes, its usually counterproductive to try and cast far out. Usually the fish "cruise" within 10 feet or less of the shoreline waiting for various bugs to fall off trees/grass or get blown in. A 5wt should be fine; most of the time I use my rod as a glorified cane pole as I'm not really casting for the cruisers. I prefer dry fly fishing so elk haired caddis, parachute adams, and ants on the smaller size I find work well.

Good luck!
pretty much my experience

if you get into 13ers you'll find a lot of lakes with spectacular fishing on the way, if the lake does not have a trail to it even better. most stuff in the front range is overfished but there are a few gems you'll have to find yourself
^^^ in my experience, i can look at a map for a 13er, ID an off-trail lake, and generally find a report via quick Google search for what other people have caught in the lakes. happiness is only a short bushwhack away
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dango8602
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Re: Fishing in Colorado <>< <>< <><

Post by dango8602 »

This year isnt looking the greatest for river fishing through the end of the summer but stillwater should be great. On that note you would probably have a better chance of me letting you spend the night with my girlfriend than you would have getting me to tell you specific alpine lakes! But seriously I had this question when I first started fly fishing Co and the best advice I can give you is to not worry about the destination so much as the journey. Ive hiked miles into the backcountry to lakes that looked like prime targets on google earth only to find them barren, and found lakes right off the CT that were full of 20in greenbacks. Look for lakes with large drainages first. You can research for days on the internet but nothing beats packing the fly rod in and finding out for yourself. Also look at investing in a packraft, it can change your whole perspective on alpine lakes when you get to fish them from the middle instead of the banks. Good luck!
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nyker
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Re: Fishing in Colorado <>< <>< <><

Post by nyker »

I appreciate everyone's responses including the very funny ones; I am very aware of my ask being construed as asking for that secret fishing hole :-$ , having been asked that same question locally, but generalities are great.
Good to hear of the size potential. I was looking at CPW page for stocking information and it seems stocking takes place almost year-round - is it fair (or not) to assume the more remote mountain lakes are more wild fish and the stocking is more concentrated in the more heavily fished rivers/reservoirs? Do you feel there is a good combination of wild/holdover fish as well as recent stockers? NY state just changed their stocking protocol quite a bit and really only stocks in warmer weather, though the wild fish are always preferred as you imagine.
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