Casting Colorado: Great fly-fishing destinations
Summertime in the Rockies: The daylight lingers, the snowpack shrinks and the fish start to rise. The trout living in Colorado’s stunning snow-fed streams and alpine lakes are hungry this time of year, and the hatches ofmayflies, stoneflies and other bugs can practically send them into a frenzy. Now’s the time to grab your rod and head for thewater. The fish arewaiting.
Gunnison Gorge
There’s no easyway down to the river that cut the jagged Gunnison Gorge. Perhaps that’s why the reward can be so great: The Goldmedal waters are home to between 5,000 and 10,000 trout over 6 inches long— browns and rainbows— per mile, according to a state survey.
Four steep trails will lead you down to the river inside the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area located southeast of Delta, but the best way to fish the river may well be from a raft. Any number of local outfitters provide one- to three-day float trips; expect to pay upward of $500 per person per day.
Flat Tops Wilderness
Fish for native Colorado River cutthroats at 9,600 feet in Trappers Lake, a sublime alpine angling spot tucked just inside the boundary of the Flat Topswilderness betweenmeeker and Yampa. Native cutthroats— under threat across the state— are thriving in this remote lake, due in part to special fishing restrictions, which include returning all cutthroats longer than 11 inches immediately to the water. (Brookies are fair game, no matter the size.)
You can stay in one of the four nearby forest service campsites, but only one, Shepherd’s Rim, can be reserved in advance (at recreation.gov). For a grander adventure, head deep into the Flat Tops for a several-night backpacking trip. The fishing— on both streams and lakes— only gets better the farther in you go. In any case, don’t leave home without bug spray or a head net, or both.