Tim Mosier / Estes Park Trail-Gazette
Visitors and local residents enjoy fishing at Lake Estes.
Fish your fill in Estes Park The Big Thompson River below Lake Estes is a closer stes Park and Rocky option, and contains some of Mountain National the best fly fishing in the area, Park sit in some of Col- with its first 8 miles all catch orado’s prime fly fishing terri- and release. Moraine Park in tory. Journey to the area for Rocky Mountain National some of the best angling Park is a favorite among waters in the state. anglers, with easy accessibiliEstes Park is nestled among ty, plentiful hungry trout and a the majestic mountains of beautiful setting. Rocky Mountain National The Roaring River, Glacier Park, and is often referred to Creek and the Upper Big as the Gateway to this scenic Thompson are also very popuand breathtaking place. lar destinations. Although With over 350 miles of trails they do require a short hike, to roam and covering over they award the angler with a 265,000 acres, Rocky Mounless populated setting and tain National Park offers excellent fishing. numerous fishing opportuniHigh mountain lakes are ties for the casual angler to also a rewarding spot for the most seasoned. anglers and can either be Several rivers, numerous fished by spotting cruisers small streams and over one along the banks or by wading hundred high mountain lakes or belly boating out into the abound with healthy, hungry deeper waters. Lily Lake, a trout. The parks waters conbeautiful, drive-to lake, contain all wild trout, with a great tains all greenback cutthroat chance of catching the prized trout and has great dry fly Colorado grand slam: brook, action in the summers early rainbow, brown, and cutthroat evenings. Sprague Lake, trout, including the native another drive-to lake, contains greenback cutthroat, once beautiful brook trout and an thought to be extinct but now occasional trophysized brown thriving in its natural habitat. trout, and is a great spot for By Trail-Gazette Staff
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10 • 2020 Estes Park Trail-Gazette Vacation Edition
kids. Lake Estes and Marys Lake are also popular, drive to lakes and are good for not only fly fishing, but spin fishing as well. For the more adventurous angler, there are many destinations that require an arduous trek or even bush whack. Rocky Mountain National Park is home to many high mountain lakes thriving with fish and within a days hike.Your best bet is to contact a local fly shop for lake locations, fishing conditions and seasonal weather.Since regulations vary from one body of water to the next, or even on one stretch of the same river to the next, it is important to know the rules that are in effect where you plan to fish.Some prime fishing locations include: Lake Estes: Want to fish bait or keep fish? Lakes Estes is the place for you. Stocked annually with thousands of catchable-sized rainbow trout by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the big impoundment on the Big Thompson River also holds wild brown trout, yellow
perch, walleyes and a very few tiger muskies hanging on from earlier attempts to establish them by stocking (one was caught last summer). The best way to consistently catch fish at Lake Estes i s by casting a streamer such as a Woolly Bugger (with a fly rod, or behind a casting bubble), or a small spinner with lightweight spinning gear. Both of the long shorelines on the north and south sides of the lake, accessible from the Lake Estes Trail, can be productive when fished this way. Big Thompson Canyon: There are more than 20 miles of public water on the Big Thompson between Estes Park and Loveland, with the heart of it being about 10 miles of catch-and-release water from Olympus Dam down to the Waltonia Bridge, a stretch of water that has come to be known as one of the premier fisheries on the Front Range, and the closest thing to a year-round stream fishery anywhere in the immediate area. Areas of these fisheries were damaged See Fishing, pg. 12
