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Back From the High Country Part 2 #12820253 07/08/18 02:57 PM
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Ignoring Pass Creek is a really bad idea because it is absolutely loaded with brook trout. These are sort of like the bluegills of the trout family since they always bite and you can always catch a bunch of them but they never seem to get really big. An 11 inch fish of either species is a really good fish. They are also really pretty. I use a 00 MEPPS spinner in silver for creeks like this and it always works. All in all I took more than 150 brookies while I was there all out of that little stream.



In addition to being really pretty, brookies are also great to eat. Since they also are prone to overpopulating and then becoming stunted I never have an issue with keeping some. As a matter of fact the state of CO allows anglers to keep a bonus limit of brookies under 8 inches in length in addition to the regular trout limit. So these have a date with the frying pan:



It was very dry in CO this year and the state had 14 forest fires burning while I was there but none were near me. I was pretty happy to see some storm clouds move in because we needed some rain. These made for a very wet afternoon.


I spent several days fishing a lake called Monarch. Actually I didn't fish the lake itself but there is a nice creek flowing out of it and the beavers dammed it up below Monarch and made a huge pond. The creek continues down to Granby Reservoir and it is the beaver pond I always fish.


This pond has a really good population of several trout species and is always really good to me. I fished it several days and ended up with a total of 17 good rainbows, the biggest about 3 lbs.


A also got into a fair number of browns (10 or so) up to 2 lbs or so. The browns in this pond are pretty good looking fish and the biggest one I have ever taken there weight 7 1/2 pounds but I didn't get anything nearly that big this time.


I took one nice Colorado River Cutthroat from the pond as well. Cutts are getting hard to find in CO so I always handled them gently and get them back in the water. Notice the red along the gills and under the chin. That is where the name cutthroat comes from.


A also took a couple nice brookies and several lake trout of about 3 lbs from the beaver pond but for some unknown reason I never too photos of them. Dummy!

When I was headed home I drove past these good looking dudes. All 3 were bucks in velvet with one being a really good buck. They are on public land less than 50 yards from the road. I saw a lot of deer and moose on this trip but never did see an elk in the high country which was unusual since I was in good elk country and normally see them.



So that is what I have been doing. Cheers Y'all!





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Re: Back From the High Country Part 2 [Re: Flags] #12820265 07/08/18 03:12 PM
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bow_down FANTASTIC POST PART TWO! bow_down You Flags are living the dream! Looks like you had one SUPER TIME! Thanks for sharing your trip with us! thumb




Side Note: What is the best time of year for the trout bite? noidea


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Re: Back From the High Country Part 2 [Re: Flags] #12820272 07/08/18 03:29 PM
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cool

Re: Back From the High Country Part 2 [Re: banker-always fishing] #12820275 07/08/18 03:34 PM
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Originally Posted By: banker-always fishing
bow_down FANTASTIC POST PART TWO! bow_down You Flags are living the dream! Looks like you had one SUPER TIME! Thanks for sharing your trip with us! thumb




Side Note: What is the best time of year for the trout bite? noidea


Thank you Sir. It was a pleasure sharing. I actually had a bunch more photos taken including some of some bigger rainbows and browns but my digital camera ended up in the water and I lost a bunch. What survived is what I posted. My brother got a really good male rainbow over 4 lbs with a hooked jaw and that photo was lost. It happens.

As to your question on the trout bite there, well you can get them year round. We even used to ice fish for them after cutting through 2-3 ft of ice. You have to use different techniques and lures (I don't use bait for trout in CO anymore) but if you know what you're doing you can get them. But right now would be prime time which is why I go back this time of year.


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Re: Back From the High Country Part 2 [Re: Flags] #12820376 07/08/18 05:44 PM
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Thanks Flags! Hope to get up there soon! thumb


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Re: Back From the High Country Part 2 [Re: Flags] #12820540 07/08/18 08:24 PM
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Looks like an Awesome trip


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and squeeze the water out of rocks when he was thirsty"
Re: Back From the High Country Part 2 [Re: Flags] #12820883 07/09/18 01:56 AM
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Fantastic trip. Thanks for sharing.

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Re: Back From the High Country Part 2 [Re: Flags] #12820938 07/09/18 02:39 AM
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Wow, what an incredible trip. I would have loved to follow you around with my fly rod. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Back From the High Country Part 2 [Re: Flags] #12821241 07/09/18 02:22 PM
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Awesome pics, thanks for sharing! thumb


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Re: Back From the High Country Part 2 [Re: Flags] #12821251 07/09/18 02:31 PM
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WOW! Now that is living the dream. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Back From the High Country Part 2 [Re: Flags] #12822218 07/10/18 01:55 AM
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A anglers "DREAM VACATION"! Great post and coolphotos Flags. Awesome job. woot





Side Note: What is the cost of an out of state of fishing license? Also what are the bag limits on the various trout? hmmm

Re: Back From the High Country Part 2 [Re: Laker One] #12822333 07/10/18 03:15 AM
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Originally Posted By: Laker One
Side Note: What is the cost of an out of state of fishing license? Also what are the bag limits on the various trout? hmmm


I don't know what a full year non-res fishing license is but I know you can buy a one day license for $9 and add additional days for $5 a day. If you are going to fish a week or longer it would probably be cheaper to buy the full year license. I normally get a deer tag every year so i can hunt with my brother and the fishing license comes with the deer tag.

As to limits, the normal daily creel limit is 4 trout for most the state but you can take a bunch of brookies less than 8 inches long in addition to the 4. There are some areas that are catch and release and some that have a limit of 2 instead of 4 and the fishing regulations spell out where these areas are. The trout limit is an aggregate limit so the 4 fish can be any species of trout. Grayling are lumped in with the trout. So when I hot Joe Wright I could have kept either 2 more grayling or 2 trout to make my limit of 4 fish. But 2 was all I needed so that was all I kept.

CO has some really good trout fishing. I have taken rainbows up to 7 lbs, browns up to 12 lbs, cutts up to 5 lbs, brookies up to 3 lbs and lakers up to 28 lbs in CO. Here is a 7 1/2 lb brown I got 2 years ago:


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Re: Back From the High Country Part 2 [Re: Flags] #12822541 07/10/18 01:09 PM
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Thanks Flags for the information! One more question. Would any of those places be a good place to fish from a kayak?

Re: Back From the High Country Part 2 [Re: Laker One] #12822834 07/10/18 04:58 PM
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Originally Posted By: Laker One
Thanks Flags for the information! One more question. Would any of those places be a good place to fish from a kayak?


All but Pass Creek since it is so narrow and I don't think you would want to pack a kayak into Zimmerman on your back. I used a float tube on Joe Wright and just waded to big beaver pond but you could sure put a kayak on it if you wanted to.


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Re: Back From the High Country Part 2 [Re: Flags] #12822931 07/10/18 05:59 PM
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Thanks Flags. Sounds like a great trip! Your posts are helpful to me since I am going on a family vacation next week in Colorado. We will be staying near Golden. There are so many places to fish around there and I have limited time. I hope to find a good spot. If you are willing to share any suggestions I would be very grateful smile

FYI: I purchased a CO non-resident 5-day fishing license online, and the grand total was 31.00.


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