craigfalk
07-27-2009, 05:14 PM
I spent last week in Colorado with my family enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery, visiting family, and getting in some fishing.
We stayed in Winter Park for four nights where I fished the Colorado River, and the Fraser River. Along with numerous 8” to 13” Browns and Rainbows, I managed one 17” brown and one 17” rainbow on the Colorado and this 18” Brown on the Fraser. The bigger fish all came on streamers.
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/craigfalk/FraserriverBrown.jpg
We also spent some time in Fort Collins and from there I fished the Poudre River. I landed ten trout in about four hours of fishing mostly on a grasshopper and a copper john dropper. 80% of all the fish caught were Browns.
It was a fun trip, but it also reminded me to be grateful for what we have right here in California. For one thing, I had not seen so many fishermen since last summer in Yellowstone. California is a very crowded state, but even when fishing the Truckee or Yuba I don’t see as many fishermen. It could be because there is so much private water in Colorado. At least 50% of the Colorado and Fraser were private. Colorado also has a less favorable (to fishermen!) law regarding access to navigable waters. In California, we are allowed access to the high water mark. In Colorado, the property ownership rights extend to the river bottom. You can float through private property, but you can’t anchor or step out of the boat.
I know there’s a lot to complain about (especially right now) in California, but I’m very grateful for the public access we have to beautiful and productive rivers.
We stayed in Winter Park for four nights where I fished the Colorado River, and the Fraser River. Along with numerous 8” to 13” Browns and Rainbows, I managed one 17” brown and one 17” rainbow on the Colorado and this 18” Brown on the Fraser. The bigger fish all came on streamers.
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/craigfalk/FraserriverBrown.jpg
We also spent some time in Fort Collins and from there I fished the Poudre River. I landed ten trout in about four hours of fishing mostly on a grasshopper and a copper john dropper. 80% of all the fish caught were Browns.
It was a fun trip, but it also reminded me to be grateful for what we have right here in California. For one thing, I had not seen so many fishermen since last summer in Yellowstone. California is a very crowded state, but even when fishing the Truckee or Yuba I don’t see as many fishermen. It could be because there is so much private water in Colorado. At least 50% of the Colorado and Fraser were private. Colorado also has a less favorable (to fishermen!) law regarding access to navigable waters. In California, we are allowed access to the high water mark. In Colorado, the property ownership rights extend to the river bottom. You can float through private property, but you can’t anchor or step out of the boat.
I know there’s a lot to complain about (especially right now) in California, but I’m very grateful for the public access we have to beautiful and productive rivers.