It's July and Time for Hoppers

Inspired by Ed Schroeder, this hopper fly is a nice break from the many foam-based grasshopper patterns that fill my fly box.  It’s late July in Colorado making hoppers a great option on nearly any river in the state.  Drop a nice beaded pheasant tail or stone fly under this guy and you should be in business. 

Fly Fishing Rocky Mountain National Park

Fly fishing Rocky Mountain National Park may not produce any trophy trout, but it’s hard to argue with the scenery and the feeling that you are on top of the world.  Alyssa and I ventured out during the July 4^th weekend for one purpose in mind; we wanted to catch a few cutthroat trout.  I find it surprising that for as long as I have been fly fishing, I have failed to hook up with any of these guys no matter where in this state I have cast a line.  Well, the hunt is over.  We entered the park early Sunday morning and hiked the Fern Lake trail.  This is a pretty popular trail, but at 7:00am, we had the path all to ourselves. 

After arriving at the lake, the back drop was spectacular and the trout were on the surface feeding, just what I was looking for!  It didn’t take long to entice one of the cutts to take my parachute adams and at that moment, a goal came to mind.  On the way up to Fern Lake, I managed to snag a brook isolated in a small pool no doubt attempting to avoid the runoff that was barreling down the canon…  Could today be the day that I actually hit a grand slam? 

Once I realized this prospect, Alyssa and I took off back down the path in order to find some water more likely to hold a few nice browns and rainbows.  As expected, Lake Estes did not disappoint us.  It wasn’t long until I hooked a small rainbow and then a really nice 17 inch brown.  The grand slam was complete!