Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Fly Fishing Guide to Colorado's Flat Tops Wilderness
    The Fly Fishing Guide to Colorado's Flat Tops Wilderness
    The Fly Fishing Guide to Colorado's Flat Tops Wilderness
    Ebook110 pages48 minutes

    The Fly Fishing Guide to Colorado's Flat Tops Wilderness

    By Al Marlowe and Karen Christopherson

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A complete fly fishing guide to Colorado's second largest wilderness area. Each chapter covers a section of the river and provides information on access, parking, seasons, hatches, recommended equipment, and fly patterns.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestWinds Press
    Release dateOct 1, 2013
    ISBN9780871089953
    The Fly Fishing Guide to Colorado's Flat Tops Wilderness
    Author

    Al Marlowe

    Al Marlowe, freelance writer and photographer for outdoor recreation publications, is a member of the Rocky Mountain Outdoor Writers and Photographers. He has been published in American Angler; American Survival Guide; Arkansas Outdoors; Backpacker; Bird Dog News; Colorado Dept. of Natural Resources; Colorado Outdoors; National Wildlife Federation; Rocky Mountain Game & Fish; Rocky Mountain Streamside; and Western Outdoors.

    Read more from Al Marlowe

    Related authors

    Related to The Fly Fishing Guide to Colorado's Flat Tops Wilderness

    Related ebooks

    Outdoors For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Euro Nymphing 101

      Apr 12, 2022

      Euro Nymphing 101
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Spot

      Jun 16, 2022

      The Spot
      7 min read

    • Article

      Happy Trout-tober

      Sep 8, 2020

      Happy Trout-tober
      4 min read

    • Article

      Red All Over

      Apr 19, 2022

      Red All Over
      7 min read

    • Article

      You’ve Got ONE Nymph…

      Nov 19, 2022

      You’ve Got ONE Nymph…
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Surfcaster’s Lament

      Dec 27, 2022

      A Surfcaster’s Lament
      5 min read

    • Article

      Renegade Rigging

      Oct 24, 2019

      Renegade Rigging
      9 min read

    • Article

      Wind-scoured Perfection

      Dec 27, 2022

      Wind-scoured Perfection
      10 min read

    • Article

      Carp Koan

      Jun 3, 2021

      Carp Koan
      3 min read

    • Article

      Float Fishing Rigs And Tips

      Sep 5, 2021

      Float Fishing Rigs And Tips
      3 min read

    • Article

      Streamer Fishin’

      Dec 28, 2021

      Streamer Fishin’
      6 min read

    • Article

      Hiram Lewis Leonard

      Apr 2, 2024

      Hiram Lewis Leonard
      4 min read

    • Article

      Bonefish On A Budget

      Nov 10, 2022

      Bonefish On A Budget
      6 min read

    • Article

      Permit Nerves

      Mar 31, 2022

      Permit Nerves
      2 min read

    • Article

      Abbie’s Army

      Jun 3, 2021

      Abbie’s Army
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Dependable Dozen

      Feb 7, 2023

      The Dependable Dozen
      6 min read

    • Article

      Clyde Pride

      Jun 16, 2022

      Clyde Pride
      3 min read

    • Article

      Striper Island

      Oct 5, 2021

      I’ve always had a thing for islands. I fished five islands in the North-east, by boat and from shore, for so many years that I consider them home waters. Most of the large stripers I’ve taken have come off four of those islands, which are swept daily

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Swing Of Things

      Sep 6, 2022

      The Swing Of Things
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Wild Cape

      Jul 12, 2022

      The Wild Cape
      9 min read

    • Article

      In The Land Of October Caddis

      Sep 7, 2021

      In The Land Of October Caddis
      6 min read

    • Article

      Dry Fly Guy

      Dec 28, 2021

      Dry Fly Guy
      3 min read

    • Article

      How To Tie The F-Fly

      Nov 18, 2021

      How To Tie The F-Fly
      3 min read

    • Article

      Bass On The Rocks

      Feb 1, 2021

      Bass On The Rocks
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Tide

      Jun 3, 2021

      The Tide
      3 min read

    • Article

      Art Of The Skunk

      Jul 12, 2022

      Art Of The Skunk
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Fly Fishing Guide to Colorado's Flat Tops Wilderness

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Fly Fishing Guide to Colorado's Flat Tops Wilderness - Al Marlowe

      1

      FISHING THE FLAT TOPS

      The Flat Tops, located in west-central Colorado, is a place unlike any other mountain range in the state. There are no tall spires, no fourteeners. Rather, it is a high plateau, appearing as a massive block of rock pushed upward by some giant’s hand, and planed level.

      On its surface, covering several hundred square miles, long extinct volcanic craters are filled with water. In other places, glaciers have gouged deep valleys and plowed debris into ridges, damming streams.

      Because of its location, the Flat Tops collects an abundance of precipitation. Water, collected by lakes and drained by streams, makes the region an angler’s paradise. Creeks with names like Derby, Grizzly, Sweetwater, Canyon, Doe, Fawn, Buck, and Spring pop up all over the map. There’s Star Lake, Wall, Keener, Oyster, Shepherd, and others, causing the angler to conjure visions of large, hungry trout.

      The Colorado River cutthroat is the native trout of Colorado’s West Slope. Trappers Lake has a reproducing population.

      There’s something for anglers of all persuasions. Fly casters have a choice of streams, from small creeks and beaver ponds to rivers hiding fish of surprising proportions. Lakes and ponds beckon to the spinner fisherman. Some have big surprises. If you should try the Mandall Lakes, hang on to your rod. That submerged log you thought you snagged just might be a 10-pound mackinaw.

      So where should one begin in a quest for angling adventure in this most magnificent wilderness? For starters, when traveling on Interstate 70, get off at Dotsero and follow the Colorado River upstream for a couple of miles to Deep Creek. The creek runs fast as it plunges and wends its way to the Colorado. For the first mile along the gravel road, the water is private. In another mile, the road departs the creek. It’s a small stream in a half-mile-deep canyon, but in the dozen miles below Deep Lake, it’s reported to have brooks, rainbows, and few fishermen.

      The rough gravel path continues on another 37 miles before ending beside the South Fork of the White River. On the way along the Coffee Pot Road, Deep Lake will tempt the angler to stop off early. Being an extinct volcanic crater, the lake lives up to its name. Its waters hold brook trout and mackinaws. In 1949, a state record mac was taken here—42 inches long and 36 pounds. The record held until 2007 when a larger mac was taken in Stagecoach Reservoir, just east of the Flat Tops and on the Yampa River drainage.

      After another 8 miles, you’ll come to The Meadows. The trailhead parking lot gives access to the upper part of the South Fork. It’s a small stream, having mostly brook trout. Except in late summer, anglers will find few rising fish, but drifting a No. 12 or 14 Humpy will attract strikes from ravenous trout.

      Downstream, the South Fork is larger and faster as it flows toward the South Fork Campground. In between, there’s more than a dozen miles of wilderness water. The cutthroats and rainbows are bigger than the brookies found upstream, but they’re just as impatient to take a fly.

      Along the north side of the Flat Tops, go east out of Meeker on Rio Blanco County Road 8. At Buford, the South and North forks blend their waters. Continuing east from Buford takes you along the North Fork of the White. Being easier to reach, it gets fished more than the South. By carefully studying your White River National Forest map, though, you’ll be able to find a few out-of-the-way stretches of public water that hold brookies, browns, rainbows, and cutthroats, all eager to take your fly.

      Continuing upstream along the North Fork takes you to Trappers, the best-known lake on the Flat Tops, home to naturally reproducing cutthroat trout. A mile to the east sits Little Trappers. This 30-acre lake can be easily fished from shore for 12-inch cutts.

      Then there are places like Mirror Lake, a few miles north of Trappers. Hordes of brookies can be seen in the lake’s clear water as they scour

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1