A little local help

[normmcclean]

A little local help granby area

Going to be in colorado in july for 5 days and hope to fish 3 of those. I was wondering if anyone can point me in the general direction to small water cutthoat. Will be staying in Granby so right now plan to fish the park for a day. Im not looking for sweet spots i know how hard earned hood water is. I dont care much about size just want to get good shot at 8-12” fish and hopefully numbers of them. I would consider myself an intermediate to advanced fly angler i just dont have luxury of time to do much real scouting. Im a blue collar guy so guided trip is way out of my realm. Thinking vazquez creek or maybe hiking into betty lake. Im a lowlander so im not sure i will handle long hike without enough time to adjust to elevation and i prefer live water. Im beinging a 2 and 3wt so smaller water rigged. Thanks for the help and if i hear crickets in resopnse i totally understand. Im not stoked about internet scout but 8hrs of research online has had mixed reslults trying to narrow down cutthroat as target

 

[mcnerney]

One thought seeing how you will be in Granby is to head up hwy 34 (Trail Ridge Rd) into the park and the headwaters of the Colorado River, its a small stream up there and a beautiful section to fish.

Edit: One other thought is to go up over the top on Trail Ridge Road down past Estes Park and fish the Big Thompson, lots of access along hwy 34.

 

[normmcclean]

Thanks for the comeback i was giving the colorado headwaters a real hard look especially where you have to hike a ways in and hopefully dodge some of the crowds. I fished estes 4 years ago and park was packed had to check back cast often. Should i go up to real skinny parts of colorado to get into cuts more than the brooks

 

[scotty macfly]

On the Northwestern side of the Park, on the Colorado River, you'll find the cutthroats around the 9,000ft. Getting to the river is easiest from the La Poudre Pass Trail and working upstream through the Lulu City area and through the canyon. There is a little bit of a hike as you fish going upstream, so take your time and bring water. Better yet, bring a filtration water bottle or one of those Life straws you can get at Wal-Mart for $20 in the camping area.

One of my favorite areas for cutthroat is in the Wild Basin on the South side of the Park. Thing is, you'll have to leave Estes Park on HWY 7 heading to Allens Park. You'll see a BIG sign that says Wild Basin, so turn on that road and enter into the Park again. And again you'll have to pay, unless this stupid shut down is still happening. But drive in all the way till you hit the last parking lot, it's as far as you can drive, so you can't miss it. The St. Vrain is right there, and it's not that wide, but it's fast in some spots. But if you wade upstream you'll come to some beautiful little pools that hold cutties.

Between the bridges, and the first bridge is just upstream from the large(ish) parking lot, and there's lots of parking on that road, you'll find brookies, browns and a few cutties as well. But the better chances for cutties are beyond the last parking lot.

A 2 or 3wt rod is perfect for these waters, and bring dry flies......lot's of dry flies.

Adams
Renegades
Griffith's Gnats
Winged Ants,
Caddis

All these flies in sizes 14 to 18, 16 being the best, will be all you need.

Bug spray. For the love of everything that's good, don't forget the bug spray.

 

[normmcclean]

Thanks for the great info. I pack my picaridin with me everywhere now. I fished mosquito lagoon last year for redfish and they almost carried me away. I really love the small little streams couple miles in. Would rather catch less but have a quieter time in. The church of nature

 

[scotty macfly]

Thanks for the great info. I pack my picaridin with me everywhere now. I fished mosquito lagoon last year for redfish and they almost carried me away. I really love the small little streams couple miles in. Would rather catch less but have a quieter time in. The church of nature

All you'll hear is the water singing hyms.

 

[mcgov303]

You could hit up the section of the Williams Fork below the dam and above the confluence with the Colorado River, if you're going to be in Granby it's literally minutes up the road, head up hwy40 NW out of Granby to Parshall.

 

[joe_strummer]

Out of Granby you can find cutts if you hike up out of the Monarch Lake area at the far east end of Lake Granby.