August 10th to the 13th, 2021 – Colorado River (The Holzwarth Ranch) and Grand Lake (river inlet)
Flows: No measurement available.
Water Temp: DNM.
Water clarity: Crystal clear.
Air Temp: Mid-50s to mid-70s.
Hatches: Sporadic midge in the morning and a caddis here and there throughout the day.
Flies: #10 Chubby Chernobyl, #16 Red Quill, #16 Parachute Red Quill, #20 Sparkle Wing PMD, #20 Elk Hair Caddis, #20 BWO, #20 Parachute PMD.
Top producers: Red Quill and Elk Hair Caddis.
Carlos and Roman with the Never Summer Range in the background and the Kawuneeche Valley below.
August 10th. We had a family vacation in Grand Lake, Colorado last week. Grand Lake is located on the western side of the Rocky Mountain National Park and as is customary for our trips to Grand Lake – we entered the park on the east side and drove over Trail Ridge Road to get to it. It was me and Keeny with our two oldest grandsons – Carlos (11) and Roman (8) - in tow.
We always drive up Old Fall River Road. It follows Fall River as it cascades down the side of the mountain. It’s scenic and rugged and was the original road constructed in 1920 that traversed through the park from Estes Park, on the east side to Grand Lake, on the west. Most of it is a dirt track that switchbacks it’s way to the highest point on the roadway in the park where it meets the new road and descends down the other side. The new road is Trail Ridge Road and it’s highest point is 12,249’ above sea level. (according to my Jeep Off Road app) It’s said that it is the highest, continuous road in America.
Peaks along Trail Ridge Road.
Carlos and Roman had said they wanted to fish during our vacation so I did some research on spots along Trail Ridge that we could hit. I picked Fall River on the east side and the Colorado River on the west as possible spots. Fall River holds Greenback Cutthroats, brownies, and brookies while the Colorado holds Colorado Cutthroats, brownies and brookies with an occasional rainbow. The spots I picked were said to be good places for beginners casting fly rods – which was our plan.
I think everyone was too excited as we entered the park and no one wanted to stop and fish Fall River. So we headed up Old Fall River Road toward the peak and to the other side of the park. As you descend into the western side of the park the Never Summer Range looms to the west with the Kawuneeche Valley below. There you will find the headwaters of the Colorado River. A lot of places – such as the Kawuneeche Valley –trails, and picnic areas in the park were named by the Arapahoe Indians and are still used today.
Kawuneeche is Arapahoe for Valley of the Coyote.
Looking at the Kawuneeche Valley with the Never Summer Range in the background.
Our plan was to fish the Colorado River in the Kawuneeche Valley. It’s a very small river – more like a stream – here at it’s headwaters and there are a lot of places where you can park and hike in to the river. We picked the Holzwarth Ranch to start. The Holzwarth Ranch was settled by German immigrants John and Sofia Holzwarth in 1917. The ranch ran into some hard times and they soon converted it to a dude ranch offering hunting and fishing. It later became an historical site in the Rocky Mountain National Park where you can still visit and see the buildings of the old ranch.
I’ve never fished this part of the river before and was happy to find it accessible with a lot of open fishing spots. By open I mean places where you can cast to fishy spots without worrying too much about getting caught up in streamside vegetation. Both Carlos and Roman have used fly rods before but this time I wanted them to do all the work – that is, cast, drift the flies, and hook up fish on their own!
It was about 3:30p when we got to the river and tied on the flies. Carlos was using the 4-weight which was rigged with a Parachute Red Quill leading and a Sparkle Wing PMD following. Roman had the 3-weight with a Chubby Chernobyl leading and a Red Quill following.
To my surprise Carlos ran out of steam really quickly and wasn’t too interested in fishing after about only a half hour. Roman on the other hand was eager to fish. So as Carlos explored the area with Keeny – Roman and I headed further upstream to see what we could find.
A view upstream from the Holzwarth Ranch in the Valley of the Coyote.
The river meanders through the valley snake like, with twists and turns. At each turn you will find a pool cutting into the bank and then a tailout. And along the straights in between the turns you will find pools, riffles, and runs created by various types of structures in the water. The water isn’t too deep and crystal clear. To my surprise we couldn’t spot any fish. We did what we normally do in that case – we fished the spots that looked like they would hold fish.
Holzwarth Ranch gets a lot of tourist traffic walking along the path that leads from the parking lot to the river and to the ranch. But after only a short hike up river the from the closest entry point you’ll find yourself in seclusion with thick forest along the river. It’s a place where you wouldn’t be surprised to walk up on a deer, elk, or moose – or some other wildlife. I was actually leery of walking up on a bear!
We didn’t have waders on – only hiking boots – so we had to find spots that we could fish either mid-stream or along the opposite bank and walk by the ones on our side of the river. It was a little limiting – but we found a bunch of good places that were fishy and there were no other fishermen to contend with.
The headwaters of the Colorado River snaking through the forest.
Roman listened very well and followed my instructions. Within no time he was casting to spots – and hitting them – and drifting the flies drag free. He had some hits but the fish were small and very quick. Thinking Roman wasn’t that accurate yet - I would take the rod when we targeted areas close to the other bank or if there was some obstruction near where we wanted to land and drift the flies.
Our check-in to the cabin was at 4p and before we new it – it was 4:45p. We had fished for a little over an hour and had 3 brookies in the net and missed 3 others. The ones we caught were between 5” and 8” and very beautiful! They all hit the Red Quill and came out of nowhere with lightning fast strikes which made it exciting – and they were game fighters for their size.
Another river view with one of the Never Summer peaks in the background.
After netting the first fish – I got my camera out to take a picture but it wouldn’t work. Wondering what was wrong, I opened the battery compartment and found that there was no battery! Someone that I won’t name – Roman! – was charging the battery in the car and forgot to put it back in the camera when we got out! Oh well – there would be more fish on this trip.
Keeny and Carlos were calling for us – so we headed out to meet them. It was a great start to what would be many days of fishing.
August 11th. Roman was up early, dressed and ready to fish! He had on his fishing vest – a Christmas gift from his Nona (Keeny) – and his fishing hat. He followed me everywhere I went in the cabin until we left. Carlos wasn’t interested in fishing. Instead he was going into town with Nona.
A view of the Never Summer Range as you enter the park at the Grand Lake entrance. (The trees in the foreground were damaged by the East Troublesome fire in 2020.)
I had an entry pass that would get us into the park between 9a and 11a. It was about 10:30a by the time we got situated and ready to leave. We had packed a lunch and water. Our destination was the Holzwarth Ranch. We caught fish or had strikes in almost every hole we hit the previous day – and it’s in a beautiful setting. Can’t ask for more than that.
We got to the river at about 11a and started out at the same place – a fishy looking pool fed by faster, riffled water. It’s close to the path and a lot of people meander down to the river to take a look. I think they inadvertently spook the fish because we didn’t get any lookers or strikes on either day. But it looks so good we couldn’t pass it up.
Roman fishing one of our favorite holes.
After covering the hole with no action, we headed upstream and stopped at each of the places we did the day before. The action was much slower. There was only a minimal hatch of midges and a few caddis – as there was the day before – but the fishing was off. The mid-day lull.
It was about noon when we decided to take a break to eat our lunch. We had no fish in the net so far and missed a few. We ate streamside looking over the Kawuneeche Valley with the Never Summer Range towering over us.
This was the view from our lunch spot. Roman with the Never Summer Range as a backdrop.
What a beautiful setting!
Not long after we finished lunch, I was casting into the soft water on the opposite bank – a hole of only about 2’ in circumference – when a small 5” brownie smacked the Red Quill. It was our first fish of the day. A bit later Roman had a couple of strikes but missed them. Then he started to get a little antsy and we decided to head back to the car.
Our 1st brownie of the day.
Roman Polce
As we headed back we fished the various riffles, runs, pools, and tailouts along the way and we were able to entice another brownie – this one about 6” – to take the Red Quill. Definitely the hot fly for the past 2 days. I let Roman reel this one in.
We departed the river about 2p. Even though it was a quick trip – it was definitely worthwhile. I didn’t want to keep Roman out any longer than he wanted to – otherwise he may lose his enthusiasm.
Our 2nd catch of the day.
Roman Polce
For me – it was a fantastic day even if the fishing was slow. I spent the day on the water with my grandson teaching him to fly fish. And we got to enjoy another day in the Valley of the Coyote.
August 12th. Sometime last year I decided to clean up all my spin casting reels, and gave them and rods to Carlos and Roman, and their younger brother Tomas. I also gave them my tackle box. They were just sitting around collecting dust and I thought the boys could get some use out of them.
Roman had his when we picked they guys up the other day. For some reason, Carlos had the one I gave to Tomas. Anyway, they were ready to catch some fish on this trip.
Roman - Grand Lake in the background.
After fishing the river for the past two days, Roman wanted to fish in the lake. There are three lakes in close proximity to the town of Grand Lake. Well really only one lake and two reservoirs. The lake is Grand Lake which boarders the town of Grand Lake and is the largest natural body of water in Colorado. And it’s deep – about 400” deep. Everyone calls the reservoirs - Shadow Mountain and Granby – lakes. Together they’re known as the Great Lakes of the Rockies.
We had an earlier start – leaving the cabin at about 9a. I haven’t fished in Grand Lake for more than several years so we stopped at Kirk’s Fly Shop to see if we could get some intel on the hot fishing spots. We also needed to get some bait. The guy we spoke to in the fly shop was very helpful and directed us to the river between Grand Lake and Shadow Mountain Reservoir. It’s sort of like the Dream Stream, which is a river that connects Spinney Mountain Reservoir with 11 Mile Reservoir – but not nearly as renown. If fact I’m not sure it’s renown at all!
But like many rivers that connect reservoirs it attracts a lot of fish. They come in from the lake to feed on smaller fish like minnows, sculpins, etc and various aquatic insects. The guy in the fly shop recommended using nightcrawlers as bait.
Roman's 1st fish - caught it all on his own!
We started out just below the bridge that spans the river at the Grand Lake inlet. I looked for structure along the bank – where the depth of the water changed from shallow to deeper. This is usually a good place to find fish. We were about 200 yards into the river from the bridge and I had Roman set up with a bobber. The depth from bobber to bait was about 6’ and I had Roman cast to the drop off.
There was a lot of activity on the river. Boats of various sizes – pontoon boats, speedboats, rowboats, etc – and other crafts like canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards. It seemed that as many people who were going out to the lake where coming in from it. This amount of traffic didn’t seem conducive to fishing. But we tried a few spots as we headed toward the bridge and the inlet to the lake.
We finally settled on fishing right at the inlet. The water was coming out of the river and I had Roman cast toward the bridge so that his line would drift into the lake. The water seemed to be pretty deep and I changed up the rig accordingly by removing the bobber. This would get the bait to the bottom where I thought the fish would be.
Another look at Roman's 1st fish. A 12" rainbow.
This type of fishing requires a lot of patience. You cast your line out and wait. I usually like to give it 10 to 15 minutes before reeling in to recast. Like most young fishermen, Roman had a hard time getting used to waiting but after a bit he settled down and left the line in the water. I reminded him – that’s where the fish are!
The setting on the lake is beautiful in it’s own right. Along the south shore the mountain side meet the lake and here are cabins along it that sit right up against the lake with boathouses and docks. And the mountains form a box-canyon. And of course you have the glistening water.
Roman was doing all the work. Except for putting the night crawlers on the hook that is. He didn’t like touching them at first. But after awhile I convinced him to at least get one out of the box and hand it to me when we needed to reload. But he casted the line and set up a bobber between two eyelets on his rod. If it moved it would indicate a fish was on.
Roman with another 12" rainbow.
After about an half hour the bobber was pulled up tight against Roman’s rod. He was distracted by something at the time – and I called out to him “you have a fish on”. He ran to his rod but by that time the fish was gone. Ugh!
After that I had him practice setting the hook a couple of times. And we were back to waiting for another fish. When the next one hit, Roman was ready. He set the hook and proceeded to horse the fish in. As he did he ordered me to “get the net”!! Which I did.
With that Roman had caught his first fish on his own – a 12” rainbow. He was very happy and I was a proud granddad!
After about another 15 minutes I had just reloaded a night crawler for Roman and I walked over to a place where I could wash my hands in the lake. As I was washing them Roman called out that he had another one on. Yep – I had to quickly grab the net. And was happy to do so.
Roman now had his 2nd fish that he caught all on his own - another 12” rainbow. More happiness and an even more proud granddad!
It was now about 12N or so and we didn’t bring a lunch and I was getting hungry. Roman protested when I told him that we would have to leave shortly. He was having way too much fun - and of course – he wanted to stay.
It was 12:30p when I was finally able to convince him that we had to get some lunch.
For me – and Roman too - another special fishing experience.
August 13. Friday was to be our last fishing day of our vacation. Carlos was still not interested but my son Nick and his step-son Taj wanted to join Roman and I. We had an entrance pass that would get us into the park between 1p and 3p and we had a boat ride on Grand Lake scheduled for 4p that afternoon.
Me and Roman near the Colorado River in the Kawuneeche Valley.
Nick Polce
We didn’t have a lot of time to fish and left the cabin a little early to see if we could get into the park a bit before 1p. We pulled up to the park ranger station at 12:45p and the ranger was nice enough to let us in early. The ranger could have been a ball buster and said no – but he didn’t and that was helpful.
There are definitely other places to fish in the Kawuneeche Valley but we were familiar with the Holzwarth Ranch area and didn’t have a lot of time to explore. And I wanted everyone to have a chance of catching at least one of those beautiful brookies. So we went back to our spot – or spots as it was.
One of the larger brookies - ~8" - caught on the Red Quill Parachute
Roman started out with the 3-weight and I brought along the 4-weight as a backup. If he got tangled or snagged up and lost his flies, he could use the 4-weight while I got the 3-weight back in order. Both rods were rigged the same as before. The 3-weight had a Parachute Red Quill leading and a Elk Hair Caddis following. The 4-weight was rigged with a Chubby Chernobyl leading followed by a Red Quill.
Earlier I had helped Nick and Taj get rigged up. Taj had a Parachute Adams leading followed by a BWO. I rigged Nick up with a Chubby Chernobyl leading followed by a Red Quill.
We split up when we got to the river. Nick and Taj went a bit downstream, and me and Roman hit the pool near the path.
Nick and Taj working a run.
Again we couldn’t pass up the pool by the path and again we had no luck in in it. So we moved on. With the limited amount of time we had I didn’t want to spend too much time in one place without any action. Nick and Taj soon followed.
Roman and I hit a pool upstream where we had caught a couple on our prior trips. Roman was casting the 3-weight and didn’t get any action even though he was casting to the spots and getting in a good drift.
I decided to give a tiny pocket of slack water on the opposite bank a shot. It was only about 2’ in circumference (like the one the other day) and had tall grass all around it. I wasn’t sure if Roman could hit it. As I casted to the spot I had got into the tall grass a couple of times but was able to free my flies without any issues. Then I got a good cast and hit the middle of the tiny pocket and BAM! An 8” brookie took what else – the Parachute Red Quill.
Roman holding our 2nd of the day.
Nick and Taj were now upstream from us but there were still some holes open and Roman and I moved up into one of them. We fished a couple of the holes and finally made it to where Nick was. Just before we got there he had landed a small 4” brookie on a Parachute PMD. He got it in a tailout that Roman and I fished the other day. We had some hits there also but couldn’t get the fish hooked up.
I now had Roman setup just downstream of Nick casting to a cutout on the opposite side of the river. His casting technique and execution was getting better every day and he was hitting the spots very accurately. He was also mending his line quite well. The only thing I had to coach him on was completing his drift.
Nick working a run in a forested area of the river.
The first time he did complete his drift he had a fish hit. He missed it. He didn’t even see the fish hit – said he lost track of his flies. We kept at it and he had a couple more hits – but missed them. He saw these ones though and got excited. I did too. Something about a fish hitting dries!
We had moved downstream just a bit where there was a clump of grass pushing the water to either side of it. Just below the clump was a downed tree trunk. Again I didn’t want Roman to get caught up in the structure so I took a shot, casting upstream of the clump and letting my flies drift in front of it. I’m not sure what Roman was doing at the time and I turned to find out. The next thing I new there was a fish on my line fighting to get lose! It was a 5” brookie that took the Elk Hair Caddis.
Roman with a brookie taken out of the Colorado River. The 1st fish he caught on his own on a fly rod.
We had to be back at 3:20p to board the boat and it was getting close to time to leave. So we all started to head back downstream toward the car. We were going to hit some holes along the way. Roman and I stopped at spot we fished and spotted a few earlier.
The way the water flowed into the pool made getting a good drift tricky. If your flies were too close to the nearside bank they would miss the drift into the pool. If they were too far to the other bank they would miss it the other way. I coached Roman on where to cast to begin his drift and we talked about where we thought the fish would be and where his flies should end up.
Another brookie hit the Red Quill.
Roman Polce
Then I let him go. As I walked over to a place where I could set down the 4-weight Roman called out that he had one on! He brought the fish to the shore where I netted him – a 5” brookie. Roman’s 1st fish caught on a fly rod all by himself. That is quite an accomplishment for an 8 year old! He got him on the Red Quill.
Before he had caught this fish I was prepared to tell him that he was doing everything correctly and that he just needed to keep it up and sooner or later he would get one. And he did before I was able to tell him.
Roman was now pumped and I was very proud of him!
Roman with the 2nd fish he caught on a fly rod. Another brookie.
After releasing the fish Roman was back at it and after a few casts he got his flies tangled up. I gave him the 4-weight and told him to use it while I tried to untangle the flies. As I began to work on the tangle Roman called out that he had another one!
As I looked up he had already brought it to shore - another 5” brookie. This one took the Red Quill too. Roman’s 2nd fish caught on a fly rod all by himself! That's quite a day and something Roman will remember for quite sometime. Me too!
Nick caught this one on an Elk Hair Caddis.
By this time we had to walk to the car. As we headed downstream we ran into Nick who had just landed another brookie. This one was in the 3” range - and took an Elk Hair Caddis. That was the last one of the day as it was now time to head back.
Six fish between us – not a bad day. Not a bad day at all!
The fish aren’t big in this part of the river but they’re fun to catch. And it’s the perfect setting for a beginner to learn the craft.
It’s not every day that I get a chance to fly fish with one of my sons and a grandson at the same time. It fact that was the first time!
The Kawuneeche Valley and the Never Summer Range. (It never grows old!).
What a great day (days) spent in the Valley of the Coyote!
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