The Yampa
The slab of trout was finning in less than 2 feet of water along a small island. My buddy and I were fishing the Yampa River below Stagecoach Reservoir, and I (wrongly) thought the trout would most likely take a small midge pupa imitation. The water was too skinny for a standard indicator rig, so I suspended a #22 Black Beauty on 6X tippet below a large hopper, eased into the water downstream of the trout, and made a short cast upstream toward the bank. I was peering into the water like an attentive angler should do, straining to see an indication of the trout taking the midge, when the hopper unexpectedly disappeared in a swirl. I’d love to say I set the hook, but the trout was already thrashing at the end of a tight line when I began to think of it. When I instinctively grabbed the reel handle, the trout ran downstream between my legs and broke the 3X tippet.
My first cast on the Yampa—those two seconds of surprise and regret—foreshadowed future days on a river with a never-ending supply of twists and turns. I’ve caught pike in the backwater oxbows and turned the corner and caught trout on the same streamer. I’ve seen the river light up during spring Baetis hatches and caught fat, 18- to 20-inch trout until someone flicked a switch and the river went dead. Sometimes you catch fish on every cast, and sometimes you feel as though you can’t buy one. The Yampa is one of those complex places you can never completely figure out, but that’s what keeps it interesting.
Steamboat Springs
The trout water downstream of Steamboat Springs runs through private property, but local outfitters have fishing leases with local ranchers. If you plan on hiring a guide, access isn’t a problem. The river here is a meandering valley stream 50 to 80 feet wide with bubbling gravel bars and boulder runs perfect for an indicator and double-nymph rig. It also has long glassy flats where trout suspend just below the surface and slurp Blue-winged Olives (BWO) or Trico spinners.
Because of the guided and guarded fishing, this section of river is de facto catch-and-release. As a result of naturally long lifespans and decent habitat, the trout get large. Most fishermen I’ve talked with agree that the trout downstream of Steamboat Springs average an honest 16 to 18 inches. Trout up to 20 inches are relatively common. Unlike the fish in some highly pressured public waters, these trout don’t count the tails on mayflies or require 6X tippet. However, the fishing is rewarding and rarely as easy as the phrase “private water” seems to indicate.
The Yampa River inside the municipality of Steamboat Springs includes 7 miles of public water that has been dramatically improved in recent years by the Yampa Valley Fly Fishers (YVFF, www.yvff.org)—a group of volunteers who have made extensive stream improvements. Where the river used to be wide, shallow, and silty, the YVFF has narrowed the river channel, stabilized stream banks, and introduced boulder gardens to improve the trout habitat. As a result of the YVFF’s efforts, the river has been transformed from a muddy ditch known for suckers, whitefish, and pike into a productive trout stream with heavy aquatic insect hatches. The intent of the YVFF has always been to create a self-sustaining wild-trout fishery, but over the years, local businesses, the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW), and the YVFF have stocked both large brood stock and fingerlings. As a result, the trout in this area are a mix of wild and stocked trout.
The public water is catch-and-release, flies and lures only from Walton Creek to James Brown Bridge. There is a walking/biking path along much of the river, and while fishing in town might sound urban, this is Steamboat Springs, not New York City. Parks and green space frequently border the tree-lined river. When you wade into one of the many riffles and begin probing the pockets with a nymph and indicator, you soon forget there is a pizza joint as well as a four-star restaurant nearby. Lincoln Park, Fetcher Park, and Rotary Park are good areas to try in town, as is the deep, fast water of the kayak course. Local fly shops offer free maps detailing these fishing areas.
The YVFF has now turned its attention to the Chuck Lewis State Wildlife Area (SWA) upstream of Steamboat Springs. During the summer of 2006 the group plans to remove rusted car bodies from the stream in anticipation of a series of improvement projects intended to turn the area into a vibrant trout fishery similar to the one downstream. The YVFF earns most of its habitat money from its annual Golf-Trout Tournament. The 2006 event is September 9 and 10, and the entry fee is $1,950 for a team of four. The fee includes a day of guided fishing on private stretches of the Yampa (Saturday) with a golf tournament at the Sheraton Steamboat golf course (Sunday). All proceeds go toward stream improvements in the Yampa Valley.
Bass and Pike
Downstream of the town of Hayden, public land along the river is more plentiful. There are many places to access the river between Hayden and Craig, most notably the Yampa River SWA and the Yampa River Maynard Gulch State Trust Land (STL). There are several floats on the Yampa in the Hayden and Craig areas and downstream. The 38-mile, one- or two-night trip from the Yampa Project pump station (Hayden), through the Little Yampa Canyon, and ending at the Duffy Mountain Bureau of Land Management (BLM) access is a Class I (easy) float with riverside camping on public land. For river access maps and more detailed float information, including access points for one-day trips, see www.co.blm.gov/lsra/rivers.htm or call the Yampa River State Park at (970) 276-2061.
The lower Yampa is a warmwater fishery known for its outstanding smallmouth bass and pike fishing, but anglers occasionally catch large brown or rainbow trout. Most of the smallmouth range between 12 and 15 inches, but bass up to 20 inches are common.
Pike flies for the Yampa should be colorful and large—8 inches minimum, up to about 12 inches or whatever you can cast. They should pop or audibly disturb the water to attract large pike in the murky water of the lower Yampa. Slow areas like sloughs, large oxbow bends, and slow shallow flats are favorite places for pike to hang out. Use wire tippet or 60-pound-test mono for a bite guard. Pike fishing is best in the Hayden/Craig area and downstream, but you can catch quite a few pike upstream all the way through Steamboat Springs.
For smallmouth, use weighted, 2- to 4-inch streamers on #2-6 hooks that imitate crayfish, leeches, and small minnows. Tan and black conehead Woolly Buggers, brown-and-white or olive-and-white Clouser Minnows, and weighted white Zonkers are good bets. Bucking Rainbow Outfitters owner John Duty says large Dahlberg Divers are good topwater flies—small poppers tend to attract too many small bass. Concentrate on the cobbled riffle areas or just below and around structure such as boulders and fallen logs.
The Yampa downstream of Craig has been designated critical habitat for endangered native humpback chub, Colorado pikeminnow, razorback sucker, and bonytail chub. Federal and state authorities have placed part of the blame on introduced species such as smallmouth bass and pike, and since 1999, biologists have been capturing pike and smallmouth bass and relocating the larger fish upstream to the Yampa River SWA or to nearby reservoirs such as Elkhead or Rio Blanco. In September 2005, Duty and several of his guides caught 150 smallmouth up to 24 inches (5 pounds) while on an overnight float trip in the Craig area. The fishing remains excellent, but plans to use nets to remove smallmouth could impact the future of this fishery.
Tailwater Trout
Upstream of Steamboat Springs is more than a half a mile of public water on the Yampa in the Stagecoach Reservoir State Recreation Area. The water below the reservoir outflow is small but the habitat is excellent. At times it seems as though every nook and cranny holds a trout or two. More than half a dozen cars in the parking lot is a crowd on this small water, so try this area during the week. If the outflow area is crowded, drive downstream to the 2 miles of public water in the Service Creek SWA, which has more room and diverse insect populations (midges, caddis, PMDs) that make the trout less selective.
The hatches at these two accesses are similar to what you find downriver, except that midges and scuds play a bigger role. Midge hatches are most intense during the early spring (March-April) and late fall (October-November), but trout feed on midges every day of the year. Midge pupae such as #20-24 Jujubee Midges, Black Beauties, Brassies, Blood Midges, Biot Midges (brown, tan, olive, and red), Disco Midges, and Miracle Nymphs are dependable patterns. When the trout are suspended just below the surface and feeding on adult or emerging midges, use #20-24 Jujubee Midge Adults, Palomino Midges, or Stuck-In-The-Shuck Emergers on 6X tippet.
Copyright © 2012 Intermedia Outdoors
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