Took an extended weekend to visit my fiancée's sister and her partner down in Southern Colorado. They used to do some guiding and have a bigger raft so the 4 of us and their dog headed to the Rio for the first two days of our trip to try and hit the salmon fly hatch. We originally were hoping to hit the upper Rio but the water was too high with runoff so we did some lower sections and made the most of it. We stopped at Wolfe Creek Anglers to talk to the shop owner there, great guy named Rick, and decided to pitch some big streamers towards the bank for two days instead. We called quite a few shops and Wolfe Creek was the most friendly and helpful, I'd recommend them for any tips if you end up that way at some point. We did end up seeing quite a bit of salmon flies on the second day but streamer fishing was so good we didn't feel like switching it up and no fish were rising. We didn't catch anything super big but we got a lot of decent sized browns. Didn't take many photos on this portion of our trip.
Meadows, canyons, peaks, and aesthetically pleasing homes lined the banks of the Rio.
My first brown trout took a cream Sex Dungeon. This was my first time fishing heavy articulated streamers and a heavy sink tip line on a 7wt. Watching the browns slam the streamers from the raft after a quick pop and jig was addicting. We lost way more than we landed, probably 1 landed for every 4 hits. Though the brown trout were fun to catch, it was sad at the same time to see how little cutthroat if any are in the mainstem river. We caught mainly browns, one brook trout, and the biggest fish of the trip was a sucker of course. Next time I'm in Colorado, next June, we will go into the headwaters for Rio Grande Cutthroat.
We really splurged on our accommodations and ended up staying at the Four Seasons in South Fork. I'd also recommend Rachel’s Keep On Keepin On and Crow Bar in South Fork for food if you visit the area.
The next two days, we headed back to Durango where family lives. I did some research before the trip and scoped out a somewhat back country creek that has native Colorado River Cutthroat. These trout are the most spooked trout I've yet to encounter so had to be extremely stealthy approaching each likely spot that may hold cutthroat. The water was crystal clear and the cutthroat could see you approaching from quite a ways away. I will definitely be paying more attention moving forward when I approach runs here in Washington even if I don't think they can see me.
Idyllic setting in the lower meadow portion.
Native Colorado River Cutthroat. The largest trout was 14 inches or so but most were around 8-10 inches all caught on single dries. Small PMD's and Adams worked well.
Lots of slow meandering bends, cutbanks, and aspen in the upper meadow portion.
Stalking some spooky cutthroat above a little pool. Each fishy looking spot held fish but we were lucky to get one or two out of each run.
Crap photo but the upper meadow cutthroat were all colored up and larger than most of the cutthroat caught downstream.
Breaking in my new 3wt Orvis Superfine Glass on this trip.
Lunch on a rock.
More meadow streams.
Our favorite lunch/dinner spot in Durango is at James Ranch. We've visited Durango 3 times now in the last year and always go here one or two times. The best farm to table experience you will find. A few other good spots are Lola's for dinner and Bread for coffee, pastries, and sandwiches.
Meadows, canyons, peaks, and aesthetically pleasing homes lined the banks of the Rio.
My first brown trout took a cream Sex Dungeon. This was my first time fishing heavy articulated streamers and a heavy sink tip line on a 7wt. Watching the browns slam the streamers from the raft after a quick pop and jig was addicting. We lost way more than we landed, probably 1 landed for every 4 hits. Though the brown trout were fun to catch, it was sad at the same time to see how little cutthroat if any are in the mainstem river. We caught mainly browns, one brook trout, and the biggest fish of the trip was a sucker of course. Next time I'm in Colorado, next June, we will go into the headwaters for Rio Grande Cutthroat.
We really splurged on our accommodations and ended up staying at the Four Seasons in South Fork. I'd also recommend Rachel’s Keep On Keepin On and Crow Bar in South Fork for food if you visit the area.
The next two days, we headed back to Durango where family lives. I did some research before the trip and scoped out a somewhat back country creek that has native Colorado River Cutthroat. These trout are the most spooked trout I've yet to encounter so had to be extremely stealthy approaching each likely spot that may hold cutthroat. The water was crystal clear and the cutthroat could see you approaching from quite a ways away. I will definitely be paying more attention moving forward when I approach runs here in Washington even if I don't think they can see me.
Idyllic setting in the lower meadow portion.
Native Colorado River Cutthroat. The largest trout was 14 inches or so but most were around 8-10 inches all caught on single dries. Small PMD's and Adams worked well.
Lots of slow meandering bends, cutbanks, and aspen in the upper meadow portion.
Stalking some spooky cutthroat above a little pool. Each fishy looking spot held fish but we were lucky to get one or two out of each run.
Crap photo but the upper meadow cutthroat were all colored up and larger than most of the cutthroat caught downstream.
Breaking in my new 3wt Orvis Superfine Glass on this trip.
Lunch on a rock.
More meadow streams.
Our favorite lunch/dinner spot in Durango is at James Ranch. We've visited Durango 3 times now in the last year and always go here one or two times. The best farm to table experience you will find. A few other good spots are Lola's for dinner and Bread for coffee, pastries, and sandwiches.
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