Trip Report - Blue, Colorado, S. Platter Rivers 2002

Okay, I admit it. I have a problem. For as long as I can remember, I always plan wwwaaayyyy to much to do, in the allotted time, when traveling. Maybe it's because I don't get out to new places too often, so when I do, I want to see everything. Yeah, that's it. It's the Explorer in me. Problem with that is that it tends to make for a hectic, tiring vacation, where you're constantly on the go, trying to cram everything in at the same time.

Test casting at the 2002 FFR World Trade Expo (40)

In September of 2002, I traveled to Denver for the Fly Fishing Retailer World Trade Expo (there's a title, eh?) to talk with various manufacturers and run some custom rod building ideas by them. Since I was going to Denver and had never been to Colorado before, I figured I'd take an extra couple days and do some fishing in the area. With some Internet searching, I decided I'd stay in the Silverthorne area, some 90 minutes west of Denver.

You may not have heard of Silverthorne, but you're probably familiar with its next door neighbor, Breckenridge, which is just a few miles south. This put me in the immediate area of fishing both the Upper and Lower Blue River (which runs through Breckenridge and Silverthorne during its trip north to the Colorado River), approximately 2 hours from the South Platte River, and about 1.5 hours from the Colorado River. Seemed to me that that should be enough to fill 2.5 days worth of daylight hours. Evenings would be spent critiquing the liquids at the Dillon Dam Brewery and the Breckenridge Brewery.

Heading north towards the Colorado River from Silverthorne (34K)

The Upper Blue River, near Breckenridge. (38K)

I made one serious mistake on this trip - using a disposable camera. I would like to find whoever invented such an abomination and hurt them. I came up with the ill-fated logic of not wanting to jeopardize my digital camera around the rivers and was too lazy to haul along my full sized 35mm. As a result, what few pictures I did manage to get are abhorrent. And I apologize for that. If nothing else, it gives me an excuse to head back there. Over time, I've found that my digital works quite fine around water, so long as you exercise some simple caution. I've also gotten a waterproof case for it by a company called AquaPac that you can still use the camera and take pictures, though it is somewhat awkward. However, it's still better than those #$%@@$$ disposable cameras.

At any rate, here's a run-down of those coupla days:

Upper Blue River - Day 1

I had arranged for a half-day guided trip through a shop in Silverdale known as Cutthroat Anglers. Upon meeting the guide the first morning, he gave me a couple of options for the day - stay local and get into some browns with dry flies, or drive up to the Colorado and learn some nymphing techniques on bigger water. I hadn't had much dry fly opportunity, and liked the idea of getting more time on the water with the guide, so we went that route.

Tossing dries on the Upper Blue River. (44K)

We drove a few miles south to the "outskirts" of Breckenridge and set up our gear. The Blue River flows right through town, with bike paths and jogging trails on either side in places. The highway also fronts the river on one side. While this wasn't the "wild Colorado" setting I had imagined, it worked out pretty well. It was convenient to get to, easy to fish, and there were a lot of browns swimming about, ranging from about 8" to 16" or so. It was a frosty morning and there was as small Dun hatch going off. The fish were pretty cooperative in taking dries. In fact, the day I flew back, I raced over to the same spot, got in about 45 minutes of fishing in another early morning Dun hatch, got a couple fish off the top, then headed back to Denver to fly out. I wish I could say I had something that convenient here in Arizona. Being new to fly fishing at the time, it was a great confidence booster and a lot of fun.

Colorado River - Day 1

After the half-day on the Upper Blue was over, I asked the Guide about other opportunities in the area. He recommended the Colorado near Kremmling and described a spot that I could hike into about a mile or so and fish the river. It would only be about an hour drive north, which should give me plenty of time to get the evening bite on. The directions he provided were good and I arrived at a small parking spot and trailhead off a dusty dirt road about 2 hours later. I grabbed my backpack and headed off on the trail. In no time, I found myself at the Colorado!

View from the trailhead near Kremmling. The river is at the base of the far ridge. (41K)

The Colorado, upstream from where the trail ends. (41K)

There was a light breeze and the river was flowing fast and deep. I changed into my wading gear then made my way upstream along the bank towards riffles that I figured would get me into a good casting position. There were a lot of huge, old-growth cottonwoods lining the river banks, making for mostly diagonal or upstream/downstream casts. I flailed around a bit, having no success, other than the occasional green goo glob on my nymph, or the errant piece of cottonwood tree attached to my hook.

I took a look around, and decided to work my way downstream a bit towards a small side channel that was re-entering the river below me. The current was pushing pretty hard as I crossed, reminding me that a wading staff or walking stick might not be a bad idea in the future. I made it across and watched a deep pool that an eddy was circling food into from the main current. And what did I see? Two really big fish holding in the back-current, working over the bits that circled around to them. I struck gold!

The river splits and a nice pool is holding fish. (36K)

I must've spent 30 minutes swinging various patterns through there. The drift was a no-brainer, appeared to me to be completely neutral and natural. But the fish ignored me every time. Necessity is the Mother of Invention and I quickly determined that with my net and a good diving plunge from the bank, I would be able to scoop up at least one of those monsters that was mocking me.

However, having no change of clothes with me, I opted to give it another try. I dug around in my fly box and came up with something I had just recently created, the Grizwald Nymph. While I'm sure it's not a particularly original pattern, it was new to me and it had been catching fish in Arizona. So, I figured what-the-heck and tied it on. I watched it drift down through the pool, get caught by the eddy for a moment, then lost sight of it. Right about that time, I felt a peck, gave a gentle hook set and a fish was on. Of course, it wasn't one of the hogs, it was a little brown who'd been hanging on the downside of the pool picking up the leftovers. But, hey, I'll take it. It was the biggest water I'd fly fished, really had no clue what I was doing, in an area that was unfamiliar to me. Chalk one up for the little guys...

My "monstrous" Colorado River brown trout. (55K)

By then the day was about over, the wind had died down and I began to hear a sound you don't get too much of in the Valley of the Fireball (Phoenix). It's that very high-pitched whine with a slight up/down variation in tone. It's the sound of.... MOSQUITOES! The wind had died down and they were on me like piranhas on a water buffalo! I think I made record time wading back downstream to the trailhead. I didn't even change my clothes - I basically ran out of there in my waders and boots. Hell, it was only a mile. And I did it in record time. By the time I got back to the car, they'd given up the pursuit, but had still managed to work over my arms pretty well. So, as an aside, don't forget your DEET when you go.

Continue on to Day 2...

Additional Resources

Colorado Division of Wildlife

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