The Colorado river runs though spectacular Glenwood Canyon.
A 1/16 oz. black and gold panther martin was the key to success on Bear Creek.
By Brandon Rowan
I won’t lie, I was pretty excited to catch these tiny mountain brown trout. I can see why many are enthralled by these small beauties. There was something magical about being tucked away in the mountains on a cold water creek, the air thick with fly hatches and the sun illuminating the water as it glimmered past the trees.
In late May, my wife Meagan and I flew to Denver and stayed with our friends Emily and Darryl Parsons, who gave us a proper Colorado experience. Emily showed us the challenging hiking and natural splendor of Hanging Lake and Glenwood Canyon.
The next morning, Darryl and I snuck away to the Front Range and chased after brown trout in Bear Creek. Feeling out of place, it took me some trial and error to pattern these fish. I eventually found a great spot and hooked into several feisty little brown trout using a size 2 gold and black Panther Martin.
The “big one” got away; a brown trout of 12-14 inches assaulted my spinner from behind a rock but threw the hook after a few moments.
It wasn’t the same rush of chasing redfish in the marsh or catching yellowfin tuna offshore, but it was a nice change of pace catching these brilliantly colored little trout amongst even more spectacular scenery.
A brook trout cruises the shallows of Hanging Lake in Colorado.
Dead Horse Creek
