Fishing gear - The Colorado Trail

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#1

Anyone fish on the CT? What gear do you recommend? Thx

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#2

My buddy and I brought our rods along in 2013 and never used them. I still bring a small spool of braided line (like fire-wire or dacron) along with a few size 16 dry-fly hooks (for a live leach or something) and a clear bobber just in case I come across a nice place to fish after I have all my miles in for the day. I have a smart water bottle that I could use to hold the line. What I have found is that I have no desire to fish after walking 15-20 miles in a day. That, and I don’t want to carry all the necessary accoutrements to cook and clean the fish I do catch. That being said, you could probably get an ultralite stowaway 6 travel fly-rod from Cabelas and a small fly-box if you want to spend the money. There are some nice spots to wet a line though, especially in the high reaches where the drivers don’t want to walk. Sage makes the little one in a 2 oz set-up that is about the lightest I have in my arsenal. It breaks into 4 pieces and the tube is a little more than 2 feet long. The line and reel are the heaviest part of the set-up, but that is a pretty decent investment if you are not a big angler. I don’t personally fish on the trail, but if I see you I might try to beg you into letting me throw a cast or two. As a side note, buy a fishing license and the CORSAR endorsement. If something happens and you have to get pulled off the trail, the CORSAR card (Colorado Search and Rescue fund) decreases your financial liability (to pay for the rescue team.) (I hope this response is understandable as I typed it up on the iphone.) HYOH! Happy trails!

Stephen

#3

First off, I am primarily a hiker, not a fisherman. However, I’ve hiked the CT end to end twice, and I must say that I do not remember there being too many days when there would have been good fishing opportunities.

In the first 100 miles or so, there’s the South Platte River, but it never struck me as being teeming with fish. Then there would be the climb up from Copper Mountain where you would have a creek large enough to fish, but I don’t remember ever seeing anyone fishing there. There was the creek just south of highway 60, which looked like it might have fish. Then there would be the Cochetope Creek, where I did actually see a number of fishermen. And then there was the last stretch before Molas Pass (the Animus River and one other river) where there might have been a good prospect of finding fish.

So I guess I’d say that I recall perhaps a half-dozen days where there was good opportunities to fish. Over the course of a 30-day hike, it seems to me that you’d spend a fair bit of time carrying your fishing gear and not very much time actually using it.

Loup

#4

Many thanks, guys. I think I’ll forego the fishing, but I will get a CORSAR card.
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