CoWWBoyz Crush The Colorado River Basin ~ It's Haine-aRADo Time 17May26-22May26

The Front Range CoWWBoyz blew off the So Platte as the drain of Antero troubled our vibe and my  campsite in 11 Mile Canyon. I canceled my rez for modest return. We went up-mountain and never rested at the Nest. These 5 days of Haine-a-RADo had many moments and bad decisions.

Day 1 [17May26)] Arriving In Summit & Blue In Town ~ Not Much Now 17May26... I grabbed RH in The Crusher  from DIA and we ripped out I70 to Clear Ck where we donned gear in significant hail. Uh - Tommynocker instead. Then we ripped the tunnel to Summit (ahhh) later and ventured the Blue in town... most fish are gone! I landed a couple of 6" browns instead of greater truths. Uh, let's go local @ Angry James then grab the next CoWWBoy at ORB - Yoho! We sucked fishing but rested well @ alpine, after some tunes and brews.

Day 2 [18May26] Arkansas Headwaters ~ Decent Fish & Big Snow... Greg caught up with us at Kobe. We outfitted for rain and took on 30 min of heavy snow instead. Fine. We all caught a bunch of German browns and a few 'bows on the headwaters of the mighty Arkansas. We headed back to Summit for pizza & pasta dinner at Sauce, capped by an evening of competitive tunes on the Nest Music Theater. 

Day 3 [19May26] Colorado @ Pumphouse ~ There's Something In The Water... We dined well at Mtn Lion before being rerouted through Heeney due to a tractor trailer crash on 9. We finally headed out Trough Rd to the Pumphouse section of the Colorado River on a variable weather day. We headed upstream from Pumphouse to the tail end of the Gore Canyon to begin. Unfortunately I'd forgotten my net and had to hike back down to the car ~ I did not hike back up but went downstream to fish along the campgrounds and boat ramps. Mostly I hiked alone this day as a result of my eff-up. We all caught and lost some nice browns around structures; the best was actually right around the boat ramps. Stones, caddis larva, and BWO nymphs all worked but best were the mayflies. Mr Haine was a particularly adept fisherman on the Colorado and Greg scored with streamers as well. 

Day 4 [20May26] Gore Ck @ Mouth & Dog Pk ~  Some Doubles... After a good Sunshine Cafe breakfast we jumped Vail Pass into Eagle Co to fish the Gore. We also said goodby to Yoho, who left in the AM for a golf match. We started at the mouth with the Eagle River and fished upstream for 3/4 mile. 160cfs flows were high on the Gore for fishing and the willows & wind were a further issue, but we got it done. I did catch a number of fish, including a double on this pass, most on the BHDCEZWD40 ~ everybody caught some. Since we were in the area, we stopped at VBC for a beer a bit of pizza. 

After VBC we headed upstream a bit to the dog park. There were lots of dogs and fishing slowed a bit but still yielded fish. Another good day on the water. But also another day without bigger fish. We hit ORB and ordered take-out from Summit Thai on the way back to the Nest. We said 'see ya' to Greg as he was heading home in the AM. 

Day 5 [21May26] Blue River @ Jurassic Pk & N Of Town ~ The Blue Sucked... We knew it was weak in town at low flows but the same stable 70cfs below Green Mtn Rez dam should be decent. I didn't verify the flows before we left however. Unfortunately water authorities took this day to really ramp flows out of Green Mtn rez, which is already down 40 ft from full. Grrr... the Blue tailwater sucked this day and was gusty and cool. I caught one medium brown on the Perdigon and the descent to the river was tough.

We hiked back to the car to try another section of the Blue north of town... it was not any better there. We had decent nosh back in Silverthorne at the Eclectic. 

Day 6 [22May26] Arkansas River @ Pueblo Tailwater ~ Bigs In The Bag... With the balance of decent fishing spots in Summit Co flowing very low or very high, we packed up early and headed to Pueblo to fish the PT. We simply grabbed Subway breakfast on the way to Nature Center. We were looking too for some bigger fish to fight ~ I found them and caught a 17.5"er, an 19"er, and a 20"er among my bounty. The Perdigon and squirmy worm were most effective. It was much nicer weather than we withstood recently.

This whole week was a great outing with great friends.

Colorado River Outing 03Sep19

Well it sure isn't fall yet - it's still really hot even in the mountains. Standing in the cooler water of the Colorado River was better - especially when it comes with catching nice brown trout. I caught a number of fish between the Pumphouse put in and Gore Canyon... most were ~15" and on mayfly imitations and the 20" fish was caught during an afternoon BWO hatch where #22 Destiny's Child (Dave's FOD) did the most damage. The Colorado is wadeable even at 1200cfs in this section - but it is still very big water.

Dancing @ Pumphouse On The Colorado 24Aug18

I'd not yet hit the big water this year so I took out of the Nest for the Pumphouse section of the Colorado River. I should've looked at the flows as this section was running full on at 1500 cfs and wading was dancing and was sparse. Too much water but I headed up the Gore Trail ~1/2 mile anyway to check out "Disney World" where a bunch of rocks create a perfect playground (this is an area for trout , which I believe Greg went to on his first visit to the CO out this way). It was too high even here to do well so after catching one really beat up 22" rainbow (no pics in deference to his family) at a nice tongue I headed back to the Pumphouse ramps. I was pretty frustrated with rigs and trees and lack of fish but put in one last time and caught several browns including a decent 18"er. No top action and best bug was a cobalt bead silver surfer - I am beginning to see evidence of the fall (psuedo baetis = smaller) BWO mayflies and with the higher and a bit dirtier water, I went silver and rainbow warrior (which also nabbed a brown).

River Basins' Snowpack Update 27Feb18

As to our season's snowpack buildup... while we've gotten a few storms through the northern part of the state recently, the southern counties are still struggling mightily. Now, while this isn't good for skiing or long term health of river systems, sometimes it's not bad for fishing in the given year. I recall fondly 2012's modest snowpack and associated runoff making fishing on the Ark outstanding and wadable almost all year. In the graphs below I show the Ark now and in 2012 as well. Still, all things being considered, one hopes for good snowpack, rational runoff, and enough water for skiing, fishing and children for generations. We are currently well below median snowpack buildup for February in all major river systems though the So Platte is in decent shape. Summit County feeds the Colorado. RMNP has received decent snow and feeds mainly the So Platte. Forecast for achieving the peak is anybody's guess as we still get a lot of snow in March and April - but the early March forecast is not epic.