First off let me tell you I'm no trophy hunter.....a long ways from it. I like to fish where the people aren't. Usually that means tiny streams and alpine lakes. A big fish for me is 10-12 inches. In fact one of my favorite experiences is when I caught a 6" cutt from a stream that you could literally put one foot on each bank and not end up in the hospital with groin pull. It took me over 30 minutes to catch that fish from a 5' pool. He would spook every time I raised the rod up to present the fly....and I was laying on my gut behind a rock to cast. I'll post more about that trip later.



Colorado Opportunities for Trophy Trout was a clinic hosted by The Great Western Fly Fishing Company of Loveland Colorado on February 10th. It was put on by Colorado fishing guide Landon Mayer. A little about Landon from his website:

Landon Mayer is a native of Colorado who finds his passion in the sport of fly fishing through fun, teaching, learning, and sharing his knowledge with others. He has spent the past nine years guiding on his home waters of the South Platte River, as well as abroad.

I didn't go to this clinic to find out where the big boys are, but to pick up tips on how to fly fish more effectively. To my surprise this was, in fact, a good portion of the clinic. Landon presented the clinic in an organized format, starting with four main Colorado rivers (South Platte, Taylor, Yampa, and Frying Pan) for finding trophies, how to fish them, and techniques. I'm going to cover the water briefly and go over the techniques a little more in depth. This will be a multi-part post.



Next: Colorado Opportunities-Part 2-The South Platte River