Rio Grande Dry Fly Fishing

As any experienced fisherman will tell you, fly rod fishing is the finest method of any to hook, play, and land a fish. The following story tells how my dad and I used our fly rods for catching Brown Trout on the Rio Grande River near South Fork, Colorado.

Rio Grande Dry Fly Fishing

 

When we vacationed in South Fork, Colorado, we would run the Rio Grande River by raft and fish catching a lot of trout. After we finished the raft runs for the day, we would get out the waders, nets, and fly rods and head for the flat ripple  water just down stream from the Rio Grande National Forest entry bridge about a mile from my Dads cabin. Along about 6 PM until dark, the Brown Trout would start rising to the surface sucking in mosquitos and flys. We would tie on as small a mosquito fly as we could find or a very small humpy fly with a 10 foot 4 pound leader and start working upstream with my Dad on one side of the river and me on the other. The Rio Grande was about sixty feet wide there and had a maximum depth of 1 1/2 feet deep in that area. We would throw the fly lines up stream towards the center of the ripple and let the dry flys drift downstream floating on the surface while keeping the slack pulled out of our fly lines. When the fish were surfacing, we both would catch a limit of 8 nice Brown Trout before dark. There is nothing like watching a fish suck your fly in and feeling that fly line start to zip out with a large trout on. The real mosquitos were awful down there in that area and they would eat you up if you forgot the bug repellant. On one occasion my Dad caught a 4 pound Brown Trout on a fly hook so small you could hardly see it.

 

With all the fish we were catching, it was illegal to have more than one limit on hand per fisherman, so we started canning the trout in jars and carrying them home with us. We would bring home about four cases of canned trout and they were better than Salmon. When you pressure cook them, the bones all disappear. To prepare them, we just cut the heads, fins, and tails off, peeled the skins off, and packed them in pint jars with a little salt and a teaspoon of thousand island dressing.  The trout paddies fixed like salmon paddies were excellent. Four cases would last us about a year.

 

My Dad would also hang a bunch of Trout over an open camp fire and smoke up a bunch of them. These were very good also. We always loved our summer trips to South Fork, but it seemed like they were over before we hardly got started.

 

The mighty Rio Grande River near South Fork ready for the fly fisherman to bag a limit.

Bill heading for the Rio Grande for some evening dry fly fishing for Brown Trout

The brown trout prize we caught from the Rio Grande River near South Fork.

My Dad and his dog Ralph sitting on the front porch of his Cabin at South Fork.

Thanks for reading Rio Grande Dry Fly Fishing,

Hawg Jaw Bill