Hiking to Fish

[WestKyHunt]

Anyone have reccomendations for lakes/ponds that require a hike to get back into?
The closer to Colorado Springs the better, but I know I'll have to drive a ways to get into the good places.

The (running) plan is to get away from roads and trails to spend a couple nights next to some water that holds a few fish. Be my first "dry-fire" at hiking in and camping. Figured it'd be best to work out the kinks without the added pressure of hunting.

 

[Beignet]

I've haven't done much outdoor recreating in Colorado, but up here the local fisheries biologist was happy to send me a few pdf reports of past fish inventories they'd done at alpine lakes in the area I asked about. This strategy also worked out pretty well for me on some brook trout "ponds" and overlooked small streams in the Adirondacks. Might be a good lead to find yourself a new honey-hole that holds solitude and good fish. I imagine that they get a lot less calls than the big game bios do, and seemed pretty happy to chat.

 

[ZMT588]

I’d imagine Co be similar to Mt in the fact that any lake 5-8 miles in will be fantastic fishing. I’d look at Co’s fish and game website. I’m sure there’s some intel on there on what lakes have what fish, size, lake depth, etc.

 

[WestKyHunt]

I've haven't done much outdoor recreating in Colorado, but up here the local fisheries biologist was happy to send me a few pdf reports of past fish inventories they'd done at alpine lakes in the area I asked about. This strategy also worked out pretty well for me on some brook trout "ponds" and overlooked small streams in the Adirondacks. Might be a good lead to find yourself a new honey-hole that holds solitude and good fish. I imagine that they get a lot less calls than the big game bios do, and seemed pretty happy to ch

No sarcasm intended

 

[WestKyHunt]

If anyone wants to add in with tips, tricks or stories related to the title, feel free to chime in!

 

[Southern Elk]

Get yourself some Panther Martin spinners and go catch some fish.

 

[Southern Elk]

 

[Beignet]

Some of them wilderness areas in CO look pretty lake-y.

If you’re totally unfamiliar with fishing alpine lakes, the inlets and outlets are your friend.

If you insist on fly fishing, crane fly larva stripped slow are good. Spin gear is the way to go on those lakes though.

They usually stay cold well into summer and will keep your beer at a nice temp.

Certainly holler at a bio though. Some alpine lakes will have zero fish life while the one 1/2 mile away will be teeming with them.

 

[ccc23454]

We always traveled light and had tinfoil, butter or oil, seasoning, beverges. Tackle was mostly spinners, always had some plain hooks for local insects or small fake grubs, 2 piece rod makes packing easy. If dinner depends on it i leave flyrod at home.

 

[np307]

So a few years back I decided I wanted to head up into the area around Linville Gorge to scout for deer season. This was during the summer and that area has some wild trout streams so I loaded up my pack and went out for an overnight trip. Things were going great until about an hour into my hike. I started to descend toward the stream I wanted to fish and it was starting to get steep. I looked at the topo again and the brush wasn't too thick so I decided to keep going. About halfway down I knew I had screwed up. I started to get into the laurels and it was too steep to just turn around. I continued descending, half stepping and half baseball sliding down, convinced I was going to fall into a rattlesnake pit with each cave I passed. I finally made it to the stream where I realized that my fishing rod had gotten caught on something on the way down and broken. Didnt matter because the stream wasn't fishable where I was at. I did, however, have a very nice rock to sit on and dangle my feet in the water, trying to avoid what I knew was going to be an utterly miserable climb up the other side. My only hope was that the laurels weren't that bad. Well...they were worse than what I descended through. I inched my way up the opposing hillside, sometimes on all fours. Suddenly, the laurels gave way and I found myself in a berry patch. I was soon begging for the laurels again as I literally had to pull my leg out with my arms for each step through this tangled mess. Step by step I climbed until I finally cleared the brush and the woods were open again. At the top of the ridge was a trail and I made it up just in time to make camp and eat supper in the last bit of daylight. I checked my GPS track and over the course of 8+ hours I had covered around 3 miles. Never went up there during deer season.

 

[WestKyHunt]

I checked my GPS track and over the course of 8+ hours I had covered around 3 miles. Never went up there during deer season.

I can't say I blame you!

 

[mdeerjunkie]

From a elk scouting trip last summer.