ߣÏÈÉú

Beaver ponds are found throughout the Colorado High Country. Toss a lightweight fly rod in your vehicle and hit some High Country roads. Any short hike along a mountain stream will lead to a beaver pond at some point. Most roads inevitably parallel the course of a small watershed. Keep your eyes open. When you see the trickle of water pan out beyond the stream banks, you’ve found one.

The fish I have found in beaver ponds are surprising. Brook trout are the most commonly associated with beaver ponds, but rainbow, cutthroat and brown trout can be found, too. I have only caught two tiger trout, a brook trout and brown trout hybrid, but one of them came from a high altitude beaver pond.

Shallow beaver ponds are found in meadows where small streams are dammed, creating a pocket of water. Depending on the dam, the water can get deep, but that’s not usually the case. Long beaver ponds occur in bigger streams where the main channel is obstructed. The stoppage creates a body of water that pushes back up the stream channel and broadens the watershed. Long beaver ponds are deep and provide critical winter holding water for fish and beavers. This type of beaver pond will have ledges where the original stream channel existed before the inundation from beaver activity.

Beaver ponds are an extension of wetlands. Other animals, like ducks and geese, benefit from beaver ponds. Nesting waterfowl need cover, water and prevalent food, all of which are found in the beaver pond habitat. Deer, elk and especially moose feed on the abundant growth in and around beaver ponds. Small mammals like marmots, bobcats and coyotes drink from beaver ponds. And of course beavers thrive in the ponds they create.

When fly fishing a beaver pond, it is best to approach from below the dam or downstream. Target any current or trickle of water flowing through or over the dam. Bubbles obscure your approach and mask your presence. They also trap insects; thus, trout are already looking in these areas for food. Make a good cast and be prepared for a strike.

Support Local Journalism

Donate

From below the dam wading anglers can cast over and into the deep water the dam holds back. Present your dry flies along the willows growing on the edges or straight down the pool. The season of opportunity for feeding on bugs can be a short one for beaver pond trout. Any dry fly cast with finesse has a high probability for success.

I like to fish a subsurface fly from below the dam to target the larger brook trout that hold in the deepest water or after casting dry flies. A lot of beaver ponds hold clear water, making it an easier-to-fish structure visually.

Appropriate gear is tailored to the fish. Most beaver ponds hold trout that are on a smaller scale compared to river trout. Brookies and cutts in beaver ponds are examples of rewarding small fish. Rods in the 3-weight size excel in beaver pond fly fishing. On a recent beaver pond outing, I used an Echo 3-weight Riverglass and Galvin 2.5 reel. Fiberglass enhances the connection to the fish while placing an emphasis on casting. Short rods help to present technical casts in tight places where an abundance of obstacles exist tempting to snag your flies.

Brookies can slime a dry fly after a few fish to the point where it drowns. Change it up. Brookies jump on dry flies from plain jane parachute patterns to little hoppers and even unnatural, attractor patterns like a rubberlegs stimulator, old school Royal Wulff or any color of humpy.

In deep water, slide a leech pattern along slowly or short strip a damsel nymph. Cutthroat trout will give chase to the enticing action an unweighted leech fly presents. Beadhead buggers can sink too much and have a tendency for snagging small sticks underwater.

Beaver ponds are a place for getting in tune with nature. They represent a special piece of Colorado that is more about where you are fly fishing than the size of your trophies. Soak in the extras like the scenery, wild flowers and butterflies. Slow down. Let the sunshine warm your skin. Smell the pines. Go sit by a beaver pond and dine on a simple sandwich and crack a cold beer. It is summertime in the Colorado Rocky Mountains — it doesn’t get any better.

Michael Salomone has lived in the Eagle River Valley since 1992. He started his professional guiding career in 2002 and currently guides for Vail Valley Anglers. He lives on the bank of the Eagle River with his wife, Lori, his youngest daughter, Ella, and a yellow Labrador named Poppy. His published writing has appeared in Southwest Fly Fishing, Fly Rod & Reel, Eastern Fly Fishing, On the Fly, FlyLords, the Pointing Dog Journal, Upland Almanac, TROUT, American Fly Fishing, USA Today Hunt & Fish and Fly Fisherman magazines.