If you find yourself in the Cache la Poudre canyon area and you want to do something a little different, check out Joe Wright Creek and Joe Wright Reservoir for some grayling fishing. This past August I was fortunate enough to be in the area and I did just that. It was actually a big surprise. My fishing buddy and I had hiked into a back country lake to do some fishing for native Greenback Cuts (the bite was not on). I didn’t see a single fish, my friend managed one nice specimen though. However the trip yielded some fruit when another fisherman asked whether we had tried Joe Wright Creek and Joe Wright Reservoir for grayling yet. Well, we hadn’t. Needless to say we hiked it on down to Joe Wright Creek and, jackpot.
It was some fast and furious fishing. The grayling in the small stream rose to dries readily and you could pretty much expect a hit from every fish that you cast over. It was a lot of fun – and the novelty of catching grayling (which I had never done before) made it all that much more fun. We worked our way downstream to the reservoir and hooked up with some more fish at the inlet. There was even an occasional cut thrown in for good measure.
Joe Wright Creek flows into and out of Joe Wright Reservoir which is about 33 miles east of Walden, Colorado on CO-14. The stretch of the creek where we caught grayling is above the reservoir and it’s not very long. I wouldn’t go out of my way for the grayling, but if you’re in the area to fish the Poudre. It makes a nice little diversion.
Grayling…nice! What kind of fight do they put up on the end of a line? Would love to get our West and give those a go one of these days.
They put up a pretty decent fight – these weren’t huge fish, but pretty chunky for their length compared to many trout their size, all in all pretty fun to catch.
How sad that Grayling is practically next door, but we have to go to Colorado to catch one. But at least they’re not extinct everywhere. I would love to prick the lips of one of these mini-sailfish. I had no idea there were those brilliant sky blue spots on their sails. Gorgeous.
I hadn’t even thought about that – how much closer Grayling used to live to us Eastern anglers, it is sad. Those spots on the dorsal fins were just beautiful – they changed in the light, I certainly didn’t expect them either.
On my list this Summer!
well you’ll love the area – there’s enough fishing with the Poudre and branches, joe wright creek (lower section by the poudre is packed with browns) that you can fish for a week and still only explore but a fraction – have fun!