Fishing
Deer Valley Ranch offers a variety of fishing options from instruction for the kids in the stocked ranch lake, to fly fishing the Arkansas, South Platte, and mountain streams. We offer a hike to a timberline lake every week with Brock where you can fish for Native Cutthroats or Brook Trout. Chalk Creek runs through the bottom of the ranch and has Rainbows, Brooks, and Brown trout.
Several of us at Deer Valley Ranch, including John, Brock, and Jay are serious fly fishermen and we will share our knowledge of the local conditions, the best fly patterns, and our favorite locations…if you take us along. From time to time we take a trip over Independence Pass to the Frying Pan or Roaring Fork, or down south to Saguache Creek, a mountain gem. The Arkansas River is six miles away and offers a “graduate degree” in fly fishing with great success for those who figure it out.We suggest you consider Arkansas River Anglers in Salida or Buena Vista as your headquarters for float trips, guided walk-ins, and fishing supplies. Check out their website at www.arkanglers.com. Another website you should visit is the Colorado Division of Wildlife where you will find all the special regulations, licensing information (we suggest you buy that online before you arrive at the ranch), and maps.
We will give you some basic fishing orientation when you arrive, more on Sunday morning, and then again on Monday at Deer Valley Ranch’s lake. While we have some equipment to loan out, we suggest you bring your own if fishing is a big part of your plan.
Though the Arkansas River is famous for the caddis hatch during the middle of May, the melting snow runoff makes it tough fishing for much of June. During that time, we fish in the ranch lake (we usually use a spinning rod with a water bubble and a fly), or various river tailwaters. We have caught some large rainbows below Antero Reservoir or Spinney Mountain Dams on the Platte using streamers and egg patterns.
By late June the rivers and streams have normally slowed to a point where we can begin to wade and fly fish. Generally speaking we have the best success with “Hopper-dropper” rigs, using a large floating attractor pattern like a Stimulator with a beadhead Copper John or Prince Nymph trailing 18-30” behind. John likes a double beadhead rig with a #12 Prince about two feet below his indicator and a #16 Copper John another three feet below the Prince. If you want a different kind of action try a beadhead Wooly Bugger. They also work well in our classic meadow streams on cattle ranches.
| There are literally hundreds of small streams in our region... |
It is fun to fish with dry flies on Chalk Creek. Adams, Rio Grande Kings, Humpies, and other fuzzy attractors will fool the trout in our mountain streams. There are literally hundreds of miles of small streams in our region and we are still discovering places where no one else fishes.
The high lakes are a different story and require a different set of strategies. For one, you need to get up early, and hike to the best water. Secondly, you need to understand that the fish in high lakes are moody, sometimes feeding little or not at all for hours at a time, only to “come alive” for feeding frenzies that can last from ten minutes to an hour. So…you need to be there, to be continually casting, and to deal with all kinds of weather conditions as it is often when the wind and rain moves in that the fish feed the best. A fly rod can be a detriment on a high lake as the fish often feed just off a drop-off that is just out of casting range. A spinning rig with a water bubble and four to six pound test line and a #16 Orange Asher, Black Ant, or Bloody Butcher works well. Retrieves are steady and quick. Fish sizes in the high lakes of this region can vary from 6” Brookies to 25” Cuts. (We actually don’t know where those Cuts are from, but we have seen pictures...and we have caught them up to 20”).
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