Colorado Backpack Fishing

[Sherman]

After moving to Colorado a few years ago I finally have packs for my two oldest sons and myself dialed in and plan on spending lots of time in the Rockies backpacking and fishing. I won enough money betting the NCAA tournament to purchase three nice tenkara rods with all of the extras.

I have a few spots in mind that I want to hike to and fish, but was wondering if there are any places anyone could recommend. We would prefer under 10 mile hike in. We have hammock sleep systems, so trees are a must. If there are no trees at the fishing spot we don’t mind setting up camp where there are trees and hiking 4-5 more miles to get to it. We plan on doing a lot of scouting in the units we are interested in while we are out there as well, especially later in the summer.

Lakes? Streams? Rivers? Creeks? Beaver ponds?

I’m not looking for honey holes or sweet spots, keep those for yourselves. I’m just not familiar enough with the Colorado trail system and fishable waters, yet.

With that being said, if anyone wants to spend some time in the wilderness, whether you’re noobs like us trying to learn or seasoned, you’re more than welcome.

 

[cnelk]

I would suggest you download the Colorado Fishing Atlas App from the CPW.

All the info you need in the palm of your hand

 

[svivian]

I would also invest in light weight float tubes to pack in to some of the lakes. It can be a game changer now a days with the amount of fishing traffic some of these lakes are getting anymore. Just make sure you read the regs on what lakes allow what.

 

[Sherman]

I would suggest you download the Colorado Fishing Atlas App from the CPW.

All the info you need in the palm of your hand

I have looked at it extensively. That is where I have got the information to plan a few trips already.

 

[cmankingsley]

I would reconsider the tenkara rods. They are pretty limiting if you’re fishing lakes.


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[Wyobohunter]

Sorry I can’t help with CO specific questions, I stick to WY.

Same response on tenkara. You can keep the weight down by going minimalist on the other stuff. Also getting a very lightweight reel like the Hardy UCL. Get it a size smaller and cut down on how much backing you use and cut some of the running line off to get it to fit. It’s not quite as light as tenkara but it is way more versatile and much lighter than a standard fly reel setup. That’s what my backpacking setup is. All in my fishing kit is down to 15.5 ounces for a 4 wt with the ability to fish floating line and add a sink tip. That weight includes a pare of spare socks that I use to cushion the rod in the plastic tube I keep it in.

Tenkara will be very limiting. Especially on lakes where you will likely need to cast over 50 feet and present on or near the bottom. I believe you are limited to about your rod length with tenkara. That’d be fine on small streams but not much more.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Pick up some books on backpacking in Colorado. Most trail systems follow streams or lead to lakes that have fish.

 

[bowhuntrben]

PM sent

 

[CaseyNations]

Bailey lake out of meeker is about 5 miles in. Really good Brookies and a few tigers

 

[hunting1]

I had a blast in the Flat tops! Had lakes all to myself and caught fish all day. Some cool lakes in the San Juans as well.