August 2023 - Trip of the Month -Fly Fishing Colorado

On August 8th, 2023 — “I had the best day EVER in my entire life - fly fishing on the water - netting 30 Lunker Trout”

When my brother George invited me to join him and some of his friends on a trip to Colorado, I was trilled to be able to say, “yes”.

I had no idea of what to expect since it had many years since I fished with him on the Frying Pan and the Colorado River outside Snowmass Colorado. He informed me that “it was outside Hayden Colorado and it was the Yampa River and the fishing was amazing”. So I began my research on fishing the Yampa River in August… Flies / Water Flow / Water Temperature / Stream Size etc.. I had done as much homework as possible and tied my personal flies in preparation of what I was anticipating to be an exciting trip of a lifetime. All the prep work was well utilized and when I arrived, there were no surprises on the water flow / what flies we were to use / air temperature and (Colorado Fishing in general). Also, the scenery and the wildlife did not disappoint and presented like some show on “wildlife America” with the osprey / humming birds / mule deer / huge chipmunks / bats / hawks / warblers along with the stars in the night sky!! Breathtaking really… all of it.

What I was not prepared for was fly fishing a stream far beyond my dreams with the quality and number of huge, beautiful, healthy lunker trout.

The water was stained when we got there. We had about 24” of clarity. By the book, as fly fishing goes, you would adjust and use larger darker flies under these conditions and the dry fly fishing was therefore limited (but not out of the question). I was assigned a guide named Will Berman (pictured below) and we hit it off just fine. He allowed me to “be myself” and try some of my own fly patterns along with suggesting the “tried and true flies in his fly box”. Will and I would simply evaluate each section of the stream we were going to fish next, discuss our thoughts of what flies to throw and where to cast them and… go for it!!! We worked very well together. I invited him to critique my fishing to improve my presentations and hookset since everyone can use some help from time to time. He helped my on both topics as he deemed fit and I was very grateful for his insight. We started fishing together as strangers and we ended like brothers.

There were MANY other fish released which are not shown here. This was a trip of a lifetime.