Headed West for some Trout

[WildBoose]

My wife and I are expecting our first in December, so week long hunting trips are on standstill for the next year or two. I am looking at camping and trying my hand at some high mtn Colorado fishing next summer. I am from KY and while I'm an avid bass angler, trout...especially of the mountain variety are not in my wheelhouse. Where do I start? I am looking to camp for 2-3 days and fish.

 

[RickH]

A good place to start is to figure out which part of the state you want to go. The western side of the state (from I-25 west) is the mountains. There are hundreds of high country lakes and streams that hold trout. If you backpack into a wilderness area you'll find less fished areas and easier to catch fish. Pick a national forest (San Juan, Gunnison, San Isabel, Roosevelt, etc.), order a forest map and go from there. There are some bigger rivers such as the Arkansas and Colorado which are great fishing too and closer to towns. There are a lot of smaller rivers like the Poudre, San Miguel, Uncompaghre, etc.. that are also good fishing. Most towns on the western side of the state have a flyshop and most of the time you can get a pretty accurate fishing report from them on all their area waters. Take a look at some of their websites. For the bigger rivers it would be an advantage to get a guide but on the high country stuff you don't need one to catch plenty of fish. Good luck!

 

[Clarkdale17]

Yup figure out what area you want to go to and then take a look at the fishing atlas to narrow down bodies of water and types of fish in them. Lots of places that hold fish that aren't shown on the atlas though so don't limit yourself to just these locations

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Atlas

ndismaps.nrel.colostate.edu

 

[Dos Perros]

You could do a permitted backcountry camping & fishing trip in Rocky Mountain National Park. Get in there deep and guaranteed to be beautiful, not too many folks, and willing trout.

 

[Rich M]

Learn how to read flowing water.

 

[wytx]

Come to Wyoming and see fewer folks.

 

[Mturney]

We just fished along the Arkansas on our way out of Colorado. It was an awesome time throwing rooster tails with spinning rods at every pull off.