I'm sure a lot have already read a bit about day one and two. With photo bucket wasn't able to do much mbarker told me of another site and the test run worked. This was just hands down an amazing trip. The Ol rio grande lived up to its gold medal status day 1. Almost caught a grand slam day two in the same pool of a tiny creek in almost ten cast. I lost the rio right at the hand. Set on trying to get a single day slam again we went way up high for the afternoon. Found a rio cutthroat restoration project. About the third cast fly gets smashed. To my odd and pleasant surprise I pull up the biggest snake river cutthroat (fine spotted) I've ever caught. Finished up a slam for sure! I guess there was some mixup with the restoration. Looking around never saw a rio at all. Day three started off a bit slow the water was a bit off color from the rains and the bite from day one slowed substantially. I mean day one was just on fire with fish averaging. 14-18 inches. We tried to thing about what to do as it was still really early. That's when the thunder started we were in the side by side a great distance from the truck. We decided to turn and run from the rain and load up to find something else. We drive about ten yards after turning around stop again and said heck with it we are already this far back. So we turn around again lol hoping to find clearer water higher up on the big river. This was the best decision we could have ever made and we never got wet. There were no real hatches the first to days and a purple pheasant tail followed by a rainbow warrior or batis nymph had ruled the water. The high water we find was clear but looked like a creek full of small fish. I started off subsurface and was changing the bottom fly when the sun broke and I started seeing a few green drakes coming off. Then I hear a subtle splash looking up to see several rises. I quickly cut the nymphs off got splitshot and indicator off and tied on a green drake emerger. Waded out to the furthest fish down from the rises. It was a very complex current even mending while the cast was in the air I figured I'd get about three second of good drift. First cast I land two inches in front of the fish. It is pounded immediately I set the hook and was shocked as the fish started shaking and going down river it looked at least at the 20" mark as it changed directions the hook just pulled. After a stent of words I can't repeat I got set up again on the run. I wait to see a rise and two cast later the second the fly starts to drag I see a red flash and set the hook. A missle shoots out the water and does a double back flip and torpedoes again as soon as it lands a second time. By the time this happens in running behind the fish down two more pools tring to yell at my buddy around the bend to give me a hand. I thought I was blind but it looked like a cutthroat shaped like a steel head when I first saw it. I finally take control and beach the biggest rio I've ever seen period. I didn't have my tape as my bag was up river where I was changing flys. I knew it was over 20 for sure I marked my rod and cut a pc of tippet I had in my pocket. When we got back I measure both 21 3/4" I should have gotten the girth as well but was in a hurry to release I did get some good underwater shots in the pic I'm still holding the fish by the tail and you can't see my hand the middle finger wouldn't touch the thumb she was a real tank. She held in slow water for a bit then slid over into the current. Now that that's over my buddy shows up and ask if I had another emerger I had two more. I could have got a pretty penny for it I think haha. Now he steps up where they were rising and gets a take on one of the first few cast. We can tell it's another big fish. He had hooked into multiple really good fish so far this trip but suffered from break offs. He was determined to get this one in. We finally get the fish into slower water turns out being the biggest brown he had ever caught. A few pools later I get into a bow that looked to be around 19" and broke me off one emerger left. Bono fly hooked into two more before breaking off his. I got in four more fish all 16" plus before breakin off another big fish but decided it wasn't a small fish creek lol. After this start our last day was any good it would top off an epic trip! As Bono fly had had his struggles we went to my cutthroat stream. We couldn't take the side by side to it as it is foot traffic only. The walk to water almost killed him but the fish made up for it big time. It was any dry you wanted to throw and we caught fish in almost every pool going up and back down. This river was killed out of all other fish and pure rios reestablished they get big for the small creek and are brilliantly colored. The fish count on the last day was off the charts and we had an absolute blast. Sad part is we are on the road back now. As I'm trying a new pic posting platform I'm putting up the txt now so I don't lose it I'll start adding pics now I've got so many trying to figure out what to leave out and many are on video I'll have to deal with later.

Looks like a great trip Robert. Now you know why I stay up there from May- October, just awesome!

Day one where you can see it















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Wow, lucky you !! Thanks for sharing the Picts too ! Next time I go to Colorado I hope I'm able to do some fishing !

Cuttzilla was all I needed to post day three

I couldn't pass right by my favorite hole on the conejo and not make a cast or two. After a day full of rios I topped it off with a cookie cutter conejo brown on a big foam hopper. Amazing trip!!

Great pics, as they say, trout truly do live in beautiful places!

cutzilla no doubt. wow. what town was your home camp?

NICE! Looks like an amazing time! I'm heading up to the Conejos middle of August with my brothers and can't wait. This just added to the anxiety!

Had a couple of subscribers send me photos from the Rockies in the last couple of weeks! Nothing quite like a Rocky Mountain high, fly fishing high that is.

Yes, it is the leaving to come home that is so hard. How I miss the trips I used to take. Also love the write up. Thank You. I hope we do get the same from the Wyoming trip
Tio in Paradise on the Rio

Solid Post with solid fish. Good job Robert!

Good deal Robert! I need to get out and catch some trout soon!