Colorado TroutWatch Video

About three months ago my father mentioned a business convention in Phoenix, AZ that we should attend, I agreed and began to scheme a way to make it a fishing trip. Little did I know he had the same thing in mind. We bounced ideas off each other for the next couple weeks and once the itinerary came both of us were satisfied. The trip started with a six day fishing journey through the Colorado Rockies that will be etched in my memory forever. We fished 7 different rivers and put over 1000 miles on our rental. Over mountain passes and down river canyons we left all our worries behind focusing solely on the trout that we caught, lost, and fell in love with.

Upon arrival we entered the local fly shop gearing up with a vast array of nymphs and dry flies. Size 22 and 24 BWO’s, Midges, and PMD’s started us off on the right foot as we all hooked feisty 14-18” rainbows that afternoon. Relaxing in the thin mountain air we planned our route for the morning trip to where we would spend the next 4 days of our outing. We climbed up to 10,886 feet passed through Leadville and fished our way to Cottonwood Pass where we crossed the Continental Divide. With breathtaking views and death grips on the door handles we snaked our way down the other side of the mountains anxiously waiting what was on the other side. We arrived to find the weather was cooler, the fish were bigger, and the fish were much bigger.

Making a riverside cabin our head quarters we fished 3 different rivers with 3 different species. Six X tippet and size 24 patterns was the game in these waters, there were a lot of break offs and many flies lost but we managed to bring Sockeye Salmon, Rainbow, and Brown Trout all to the net many of which were all 20+ inches. The battles were fought in the surroundings of jagged mountain faces littered with the bright yellow colors of the peaking Aspen Trees. Life was good. We checked out of our room, said goodbye to new friends and fished our way back to N. West Colorado. With each view more spectacular then the other we meandered our way through the Rocky Mountains telling stories of recent victories won. Stopping at a couple more rivers before departure we took in all we could and held on until life dragged us all back to reality. It is now that I sit here with a smile on my face reminiscing about our trip; the laughs, the views, the aching muscles, the fish, and the company. Thank you so much Dad and Paul for making this a great fishing memory.