I like to stay at Ridgway State Park and use it for a base. Fishing is usually good in the lake and in the feeder streams coming into it. For better fishing go west, over Dallas Divide, to where the highway crosses the San Miguel River, north of Telluride. Much of it is catch and release and is considered "trophy" waters. Or from Ridgway SP go east over Owl Creek road to fish the steams and lakes around Silver Jack Reservoir. I also enjoy fishing the Taylor River and that area north east of Montrose. The Taylor has some of the finest trout fishing in the state and often not too crowded. For lake fishing for trout, I like to go on west a bit more toward Norwood, then south a few miles to Lake Miramonte. Some of the fattest trout I have ever seen. It has a large supply of fresh water crawdads, big ones somewhat orange in color. The trout become real porkers from eating these guys as a main food source. It may be a gone fishery by this time though as I read somewhere that the Colorado Fist and Game Dept. was considering a total fish kill program there to clean out some invasive fish species, such as small mouth bass or something. Didn't seem to be a good idea to me, but they didn't ask me either.
Most of the streams and lakes between Gunnison and Montrose, south toward Ouray and north/south out of Gunnison are real prime trout fishing in Colorado.
Anywhere you are fishing in western Colorado, keep a close watch out for rattle snakes. The area north of the bridge on the San Miguel is a place to be especially watchful, but worth it. I always wear a pair of loose fitting hit boots for that reason. I was told when I moved to Colorado, that rattle snakes don't live above 8,000 ft of altitude, but there is one big snake, that lives over by Silver Jack, that never heard that story.
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joe b.
Stuart Florida
Formerly of Colorado and Alaska
2016 Fleetwood Flair 31 B Class A w/bunks
www.picturetrail.com/jbpacooper
Alaska-Colorado and other Trips posted
"Without challenge, adventure is impossible".
