{Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: Rocky Mountain National Park -- need advice

Excellent -- thank you Dalton.  That "pack in the bag" trick is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about.  We keep in good condition jogging and hiking, but I recall the elevation ^^ the heart rate when I was running up there one day (2007).  I was about 15 pounds thinner back then though. I'll get back into running 3 miles after work to prepare for it as best as possible, though that cuts into my fishing time somewhat ;).   

It looks like we may be over in Estes Park to sleep, but no biggie.  I may just sleep in the rental car.  I remember sleeping in the open air in August 2007 -- no bugs!  

I saw that same book with a couple of others -- I'll pick up it.  

Gene

On Thursday, June 4, 2015 at 11:13:07 AM UTC-4, Dalton Terrell wrote:

Gene,

Check out our trip report from three years ago: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/tidal-potomac-fly-rodders/aHjknpBgCQU/9SpH-TjhgKoJ 

We bought Steve Schweitzer's book on fishing RMNP, which was invaluable. The book contains info on all of the fishable waters, including pictures, info on the species that are present and hiking distances (you'll want to by a separate National Geographic hiking map though). Go ahead and order this book.

For flights, look into Frontier Airlines; they will nickel and dime you for everything (including the coke and pretzels) but they have cheap direct flights to Denver often and checked bag fees are minimal. If you are backpacking, put your pack in a large duffle bag (like $20-30 from REI) to keep them from damaging your pack--if they do it becomes contents that they are liable to replace. 

If you want to backpack, camping locations are very limited. We planned the trip in February/March and called in the two week window in early Spring that they allow call-ins to make back country camping reservations. Unlike SNP, you have to camp in designated sites and must have a permit. This call in period has passed, but to give you sense of how difficult this was, I called about 100 times and Trent called over 200 times before getting through to someone on the opening day; even then our top spots were taken. They do allow you to show up in person at the back country office and get the available permits at any time--no clue what will be available though. There are plenty of regular campgrounds in this area outside of the park if you want to car camp.

But on to the fishing, you will find the streams fish much like SNP but better in general. I don't think it matters much where you are, the streams will probably fish well and use the same bushy dries you use here or even bigger stuff. For the high mountain lakes, some have finicky fish and others seem to have suicidal fish that will hit anything. In general, you want longer leaders and smaller tippets on the lakes as well as smaller flies. I'd pack a bunch of ants and bring some wet and dry midges in a variety of sizes/colors. You'll probably want your 5wt for the lakes as the winds are howling above the trees and you may want to cast 50-60ft. I really like to hit the high lakes out there because we don't have anything like them in this area, but I'll admit the streams are more productive typically.

On to fitness/altitude, you probably aren't used to hiking at 9,000+ ft above sea level and this gets me every time. I'd suggest adding a day or two buffer into the trip before you start doing crazy hikes to fishing spots. Go to Denver, Boulder or wherever and check out some breweries, maybe do a mile or two hike, or fish a stream close to the road for the first couple days to get acclimated. Also, I'd suggest putting in some time running, on the stair master or your cardio of choice before going out. The terrain is steeper and longer than most of SNP, being in a little better shape will make your trip more enjoyable.

Have fun.

Dalton

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