The Colorado River is approximately 1450 miles in length and is joined by over 25 tributaries. As I planned this project, I knew that I would need to fish the Colorado in more than one spot in order to do it justice. This trip was my third and last (this year) visit to the Colorado.
We put our boat in on the river just north of State Bridge, a current live music venue. State Bridge is located about 15 miles north of Wolcott on the I-70 corridor. The town is rife with history having been an old stagecoach stop for pioneers and settlers. The first grant from the State of Colorado to build a bridge was granted in this area, thus the name. During Prohibition, State Bridge was known as a speakeasy and for illegal gambling.
Well, we didn’t have that kind of fun on our day on the river, but we did have an eventful day. First of all the weather decided to play with us a bit. We started with rain and wind and thus decided to fish with a triple nymph rig, hoping the fish would be interested sub-surface.
When it turned to hail, we decided that we should change over to streamers. My husband showed his skill with streamers catching several good sized rainbows. About 2:00 was when the real fun started.
We watched the sun trying to make its way through the thick cloud cover for about two hours and finally, although certainly not a blue sky day, we had some sun peaking through the clouds. It was just enough to initiate a mayfly hatch that the river is known for in the fall. Not only did the hatch occur, our boat happened to come upon a spot where the current was steady but light and the fish could literally slurp their meal.
This photo shows the foam line with the mayflies flying off the water. Although I didn’t catch a good photo, at one point, it looked like there were hundreds of small sailboats sitting on the water with dozens of fish rising to eat them. I have never experienced a hatch so beautiful and productive as this one and it made me feel connected to this river in a powerful way.
More about our guide in the guide column later this week, but Paul Killino of Colorado River Outfitters is one of a kind. This is my third trip with him, which should say a lot, and he truly loves what he is doing and it shows in everything he does with you on the river. Thanks for an amazing day on the Colorado.
