This is the Grand Mesa

Exploring this mountain has been one of my favorite parts of living in western Colorado.  It’s simply a beautiful place with fishy water in abundance.  A couple recent visits have been very productive for me.

My first trip was in search of the allusive grayling.  Throughout most of the year I am very lucky to find these guys.  However, if you learn when and where to look, you can increase your chances.  There aren’t a lot of grayling on the mountain so I appreciate tight lips.

My second trip was spent exploring some new brook trout lakes.  Brookies always seem to put a smile on my face.  I’m searching the mountain for the jumbo brooks that I hear rumors about.  I haven’t found them yet, but I have a couple more hunches.  The standard marabou jigs seemed to do a wonder on these guys.

For my last trip I brought the tube along and was set on floating a hike in lake I had never been to.  I geared up and made the hike.  It was just over a mile.  I arrived and sat on the shore waiting for any sign of life…none came. I walked around the small lake, casting as I went, but nothing happened.  The only life I could see was a small frog.  Bummer…it looked so promising too. 

Not wanting to call it a day yet, I set my sites on a cutthroat lake.  Many of the cuts were still doing the dance in the inlet, but I decided to get in the tube anyways.  There were several other fisherman, which really bummed me out, but there was not a lot of catching going on.  A little brook came first.

Finally I dialed in on the presentation and color they wanted.  They were small, but fun.

I finally found one with a little heft and fight.  An awfully cute cuttie too.

That was a great fish to top off the trip.  I'm positive there'll be many more stops on the Grand Mesa this summer.

Life tends to be short, live it well.