Fishing the South Fork of the Rio Grande

Yesterday broke smokey and hazy due to the forest fires in the area and it just hung around all day. We were invited to a house party at my dear friend Susan's house. The picture below shows the view off her back deck and the evening turned out perfect. Everyone showed up with their favorite drink and snack and we had great fellowship around the tables out back.

My friend Phillip picked up one of Susan's rods and started fishing and I watched him for awhile but he had no luck. There was a 2.5 inch rainbow trout color rapala on the pole and I did see some fish follow the lure. When he put the rod down I could not help myself and immediately got the rod and started casting.

The water is extremely low for this time of year and I could see the fish chase the lure in the calmer waters but they would not hit it. Pulling out a trick used in the past, I began a rapid retrieve with a pause then a hard jerk to make it seem like the minnow was escaping. This brought about jolting strikes and often if not hooked the first time they hit, the fish would come and hit it again on the same retrieve. This shows the importance of changing your tactics if you are not connecting on fish on a certain day. I walked up the bank along her property and in about a half block length of river, I caught 14 brown and 1 rainbow trout. The biggest was 16 inches and the smallest 10 inches. It only took me about 30 minutes to catch and release these fish so they were really biting. I think the low numbers of fisherman here at the present time has helped the fishing as there is leas pressure on the fish now.

The water is warm and so care must be taken when releasing fish to get them back in the water as fast as you can.

Some buddies also reported fishing one of the lakes here this week and 10 guys got their limit in about one hour. NOW THAT is some fishing fun. These are stockers for the most part and put in those lakes for that purpose.

Don't let a little smoke get in your way of fishing this summer. There are some great deals on cabins and motels and other activities here now and still 1.81 million acres of forest to enjoy. And that's just in the Rio Grande National Forest. This was an excellent place to fish as I could stand on the grassy bank and not have any uneven surfaces to navigate. I always keep that in mind when I want to fish and its a great example of access for anyone. The rains have begun and I think that will only help the fishing with a little color added to the streams and rivers and lakes. Come on out and let the fun begin.

South Fork of the Rio Grande, South Fork, Colorado.