myt1
Well-known member
The ultimate destination on my trip was to hike and fish the upper section of the North Platte.
Then on the way home to Phoenix I wanted to fish the Conejos River in southwestern Colorado.
Things were about to pick up, kinda sorta, after a rather lackluster middle section of my trip.
Destination:
Miracle Mile, WY.
Only at the last minute did I decide to detour to the Miracle Mile, boy am I glad I did.
Nothing fancy needed here, just a normal double nymph setup, I used pheasant tails an RS2 and an indicator. I had my best luck up stream by the dam in moderately deep water, but not the really deep stuff. I landed a 20 inch Rainbow on my second day and I hooked but couldn’t land even bigger fish.
The fish are all in the middle of the river and it is imperative that you wade as deep as possible before making the best cast you can to the middle of the river. The problem is sometimes the casts are so long, particularly after letting it drift, that it is hard to set the hook. It is just too hard to get an upward set.
Also, I found a wading staff to be imperative. Access to the river is easy, but the river itself is nothing but slime covered bowling ball sized rocks. The first afternoon I was on the river I fell a couple of times trying to wade without a staff.
There were numerous campgrounds, but only a few had shade, and the only facilities were outhouses. You have to bring all your own water. There were definitely other anglers, but it was nowhere near crowded.
I left the Miracle Mile after only two half days and one full day of fishing. I didn’t realize how good I had it. I wish I would’ve stayed longer. By the way, the flows were in the 500 cfs range, which I believe is considered ideal
This is definitely a destination I would recommend to anyone.
Mountain Goats playing on the hillside across from where I was fishing on the Miracle Mile.
The 20 incher I caught on the Miracle Mile. I hooked bigger ones though.
Six Mile Gap, WY.
This was to be my primary destination on the North Platte. As it turned out it was a complete bust and I didn’t even wet a line; although I think if I wanted to beat my head against the wall I might have managed a few fish in extremely low water.
I will be back, I hope, but it will be during a year with more normal water flows. Speaking of that, I have to get better at checking the water flow using apps available online before heading off to a lot of these remote areas.
At least I had a pretty campsite at Six Mile Gap.
Conejos River, CO.
I first heard about this river during a trip I made to this general area during the summer. At that time I was told to fish up stream.
Again, due to low water flow, the upstream reaches were not much more than a trickle. I ended up fishing quite a ways downstream near one of the campgrounds along Route 17.
A dry dropper was the way to go and of the eight fish I caught I split them equally between the nymph and dry fly.
Also, it is absolutely true what you read about fish hiding behind large rocks in even the most barren sections of the river. I lost several fish when I gratuitously tossed a line behind a rock and was then shocked when a fish hit my fly, missing the fish in the process.
As with several other rivers I visited on this trip, I hope to return when there is more friggin’ water.
The aspen trees were in all their glory at my campsite on the upper reaches of the Conejos. I fished downstream of here though.
So that about raps up my trip. I’ll spare the details of driving home in a rain storm, the only rain I saw the entire trip, and then spending the night in the back of my truck in a run down truck stop outside Gallup, New Mexico. It was ugly and noisy.
I enjoyed living on the road, but I also enjoyed returning home and sleeping in an actual bed.
Thanks so much for reading.
Then on the way home to Phoenix I wanted to fish the Conejos River in southwestern Colorado.
Things were about to pick up, kinda sorta, after a rather lackluster middle section of my trip.
Destination:
Miracle Mile, WY.
Only at the last minute did I decide to detour to the Miracle Mile, boy am I glad I did.
Nothing fancy needed here, just a normal double nymph setup, I used pheasant tails an RS2 and an indicator. I had my best luck up stream by the dam in moderately deep water, but not the really deep stuff. I landed a 20 inch Rainbow on my second day and I hooked but couldn’t land even bigger fish.
The fish are all in the middle of the river and it is imperative that you wade as deep as possible before making the best cast you can to the middle of the river. The problem is sometimes the casts are so long, particularly after letting it drift, that it is hard to set the hook. It is just too hard to get an upward set.
Also, I found a wading staff to be imperative. Access to the river is easy, but the river itself is nothing but slime covered bowling ball sized rocks. The first afternoon I was on the river I fell a couple of times trying to wade without a staff.
There were numerous campgrounds, but only a few had shade, and the only facilities were outhouses. You have to bring all your own water. There were definitely other anglers, but it was nowhere near crowded.
I left the Miracle Mile after only two half days and one full day of fishing. I didn’t realize how good I had it. I wish I would’ve stayed longer. By the way, the flows were in the 500 cfs range, which I believe is considered ideal
This is definitely a destination I would recommend to anyone.
Mountain Goats playing on the hillside across from where I was fishing on the Miracle Mile.
The 20 incher I caught on the Miracle Mile. I hooked bigger ones though.
Six Mile Gap, WY.
This was to be my primary destination on the North Platte. As it turned out it was a complete bust and I didn’t even wet a line; although I think if I wanted to beat my head against the wall I might have managed a few fish in extremely low water.
I will be back, I hope, but it will be during a year with more normal water flows. Speaking of that, I have to get better at checking the water flow using apps available online before heading off to a lot of these remote areas.
At least I had a pretty campsite at Six Mile Gap.
Conejos River, CO.
I first heard about this river during a trip I made to this general area during the summer. At that time I was told to fish up stream.
Again, due to low water flow, the upstream reaches were not much more than a trickle. I ended up fishing quite a ways downstream near one of the campgrounds along Route 17.
A dry dropper was the way to go and of the eight fish I caught I split them equally between the nymph and dry fly.
Also, it is absolutely true what you read about fish hiding behind large rocks in even the most barren sections of the river. I lost several fish when I gratuitously tossed a line behind a rock and was then shocked when a fish hit my fly, missing the fish in the process.
As with several other rivers I visited on this trip, I hope to return when there is more friggin’ water.
The aspen trees were in all their glory at my campsite on the upper reaches of the Conejos. I fished downstream of here though.
So that about raps up my trip. I’ll spare the details of driving home in a rain storm, the only rain I saw the entire trip, and then spending the night in the back of my truck in a run down truck stop outside Gallup, New Mexico. It was ugly and noisy.
I enjoyed living on the road, but I also enjoyed returning home and sleeping in an actual bed.
Thanks so much for reading.
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