Looking To Beat The Heat? Head To Rocky Mountain National Park

It has been a superb Summer for fishing Rocky Mountain National Park. While most of the state has been suffering with low, hot waters through the Summer as a result of poor WY2021 snowpack- the RMNP area hit almost 130% of snowpack this Spring and water levels have been superb. Many high elevation lakes that tend to open up late May to Early June, did not ice off until the second or third week in June this year. While it made the wait for those special days at high elevation hard, it sure is a good thing for the fish!

Here’s a great Park lake in the first week of June (we caught a couple out of the inlet!)

While the wait for iceoff was longer than usual, it has certainly translated to perfect conditions in the back half of Summer. For the last month, fish have been active, hungry and easy to get to. If you head up to Rocky in the coming months, all you’ll need to be successful on most days is an Elk Hair Caddis and a terrestrial (I favor a black beetle with peacock dubbing underbody). The fish are actively feeding in all the streams, Cutthroat are cruising the shelves looking up, and in the Brookie waters they are behaving like ravenous river rats should this time of year.

One of the added bonuses of a good water year is the wildflowers have been glorious this year (and are still near peak above 10,500’).

As we get deeper into Summer and things stay hot for a while at lower elevations, the Park is a great way to target happy fish that have cold water, see some of the most beautiful terrain in the country, and chase a variety of different species that include the Colorado State Fish, the Greenback Cutthroat Trout. Fishing is good everywhere in Rocky this time of year, but the further you are willing to hike, the more solitude you will find and the easier the fish become.

If you’re looking to learn more about fishing RMNP, feel free to drop me a note at comms@rmftu.org or check out the authoritative book on fishing the Park, A Fly Fishing Guide To Rocky Mountain National Park (grab it at your local fly shop, all in Northern Colorado carry it). Some of the best waters in the country are just out our back door, so don’t neglect exploring them this time of year (remember to plan for the timed entry system)! The fishing is superb and the scenery can’t be beat.