Goodbye Montana, Hello Colorado

Sure, this post could be titled "Goodbye 3x, Hello 8x." As some Coloradans seem to bask in the "pleasure" of fishing diminutive tippets to not so diminutive fish. But, I am not here to make gross generalizations. Nor am I here (or anywhere) to fish anything smaller than 6x, 5x if I am grumpy.

The South Platte - photo courtesy of SchnitzerPHOTO

While I have been in Colorado since the beginning of October, I have avoided writing this post for a multitude of reasons, including my lack of writing ability and my internal denial that I ever moved away from land of the Big Sky. But, I can avoid it no longer. After a short 4 year stint in Montana, I have moved down to the a state filled with 14ers. And Colorado is no slouch in the world of physically attractive states.

A South Platte cutbow

Fly fishing for trout in Colorado certainly offers an elevated sense of self...as you are often fishing at 8,000 feet above sea level whilst throwing line. A stark difference from fishing at four to five thousand feet. The lungs feel it. Leisurely walks along the rivers more than a mile high catch the lungs off guard every so often. Fishing for trout in Colorado is truly in the mountains. With such elevation, you find yourself closer to source so to speak. As the snowpack from the headwaters seems to be right at your finger tips as opposed to far off in the distance as the big mountains were in the major river valleys of Montana.

Looking nice, Colorado.

No more turd and worm set-ups off of a 9 foot leader to 3x nylon tippet. It's fluorocarbon and tiny flies. The scale of water management is significant. The state of the front range's water supply is plain to see when you explore the landscape. Dams and their reservoirs litter the both sides of the divide in Colorado. The water management is out there for everyone to see. Some of the rivers take on the shape of water conveyance systems rather than free flowing freestones. Last year's low water is apparent. The reservoirs are down, the rivers are low. Major rivers flowing at 60 cfs or lower. Five to ten-fold smaller than the rivers of Montana.

A new species. Snake River Cutthroat from the Dream Stream.

I miss Montana and will continue to miss that state, it's rivers, it's fish, and my friends for the foreseeable and distant future. That being said, I am eager to learn and see as much as I can in Colorado. I am eager to become a better fisherman. I am eager to fish with new friends. I have already had the pleasure of sharing the water with the likes of Sanders and SchnitzerPHOTO and I look forward to more outings with them and others.

How am I feeling about the move to Colorado? Truth be told, I could just link you to a piece that Sanders wrote a couple weeks back. Without express written consent by the NFL, he peered into my brain and figured out what I was thinking as I explored the new-to-me waters of Colorado. I am trying to find the familiar. Colorado is familiar, to a degree. Let's be friends, Colorado.

Also, CARP.