Mark D. Williams

They (meaning anglers other than you) choose the path of least resistance, opting to drop a line in water closest to the road, the trail, the campground or parking lot.

Even the more industrious anglers don't walk far enough away from public access points, giving up to the lure of the water after only ten minutes of walking. This gives you your first few identifiers for a secret trout hot spot.

	Spot Finding 101

If you want to get away from the crowds and find your own secret spots, all you need to do is combine a bit of studying with a willingness to do a bit of exploring. It all begins with maps.

So get out a national forest map and a topo map, spread them on the table, and get ready to discover your own secret trout spot.

Mapping the Water

I can't tell you how many hours I've pored over national forest maps, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) maps, DeLorme atlases and topographic maps in search of that one stretch of river that most anglers perceive is either too high up or inaccessible.

Hiking to the trout

That chore is made easier nowadays since topo maps for any section of the United States are now on CD-ROM.

When you see a blue line (a river) flowing through a tight group of brown lines, the river is moving through a canyon. Study closely. Do the lines open up along the way? Do the brown lines go from a straight pattern to a wavy pattern, leaving a greater distance between the contour lines?

If so, this could mean the river slows up enough to have some good holding water. Oftentimes, even if the meadow is smallish, the beavers can build some amazing dams.

Blue lines can be running through V-shape brown contour lines, and if the lines are fairly close, be assured the water is running swiftly down the mountain. So look for where the V's widen out a bit, where the contour lines are a bit farther apart. That can mean a flatter section.

Looking for Lost Lakes

Many lakes are off the trail, with no established trail leading to them. Look hard at the topo map (or CD-ROM). Often, glacially formed lakes will be in groupings of several lakes. Most likely, only two or three of them will be large enough and popular enough to demand regular stocking, but at some time the past, I promise, all those little lakes had fish planted in them.

Secret lake in Colorado

And many of them will be stocked every so many years. A tiny alpine tarn can hold some nice fish, especially if the lake is lightly fished. Most anglers would rather toil away at the big-name, bigger lake than hike a few hundred yards or one mile to a lesser-fished lake.

Even fast-flowing streams have sections that hit level ground where the river slows and widens. Fast-flowing streams can be slowed by beaver ponds. Beaver ponds can hold big fish even if the impounded stream is tiny. Even if a tiny stream rushes down the mountain, if the beavers have made their homes, the water is deep and fat enough to hold some nice fish.

Government agencies often stock a lake one year and not the next. If the lake didn't endure winterkill, the holdover trout may have grown to braggin' sizes. Contact the agency to see if they stocked the lake in question. Most agencies provide booklets that list all the available trout water in their state.

You'll be amazed to find streams listed that you never knew existed. Those are prime candidates for exploration. I found the Dry Cimarron River in New Mexico (a sweet spring creek) and Lake Dorothey in Colorado this way.

Four-Wheel Fishing

Four-wheel-drive nuts like to drive their vehicles. For them, it's usually all about the four-wheelin' and few take the time to fish while they are in these hard-to-access locales.

I found another southern Colorado stream this summer, let's call it MyNewFavorite Stream. The only access points were downstream, where the stream hurried down the mountain like it was being poured out of a spout.

The hike up was murderous, and upstream, the only way in was on hairy, turnpin, narrow logging roads fit only for a small Jeep. No guidebooks ever mention this stream as a viable fishery. Too quick, too little, not enough fish. Few locals even knew about MyNewFavorite Stream.

A friend of mine had been studying the map and we got together when he found that this quick little creek hit a long meadow somewhere in the middle of its downstream course. The Jeep ride took an hour and it was bumpy, but when we reached the meadow we knew we had struck the mother lode.

We caught three species of cutthroat. The trout average 12 inches but we each caught fish bigger than that. And the one that got away was — well, you know the story.

Secret Spot Finding 101 Don't always believe what you read or hear about a river or lake. Fisheries have a way of changing over the years. Beaver ponds can be added, river courses altered, fish populations can increase, people lie (yep, it happens), sections of a river can lie unfished for a long time. Look for water where the access is by way of lesser-used trails, old logging roads and four-wheel drive only roads. And don't forget that you can always ride horseback on certain trails to make a long trek a lot more endurable. This is a hit-or-miss science. Sometimes a prospective stretch of stream that has a poor reputation lives up to the reputation. But when you do your homework and you find a secret spot so rich that you won't share the location with anyone but your spouse or your pastor, then it makes the effort all worthwhile. Look for where the trail or road leaves the river. Often, a hike in of only fifteen or twenty minutes will put you water that hasn't seen an angler all season. Where is the river difficult to access because of the lay of the land? Are those canyon walls as steep as they look from the road? Sometimes a little legwork will show you another way into those tough spots. Tough-to-reach water means that the fish haven't been bothered, poached and should be bigger and less-spooky. Don't always assume that heavy hiking pressure means heavy fishing pressure. Even on heavily-fished streams, there are sections where the public fishes less. Find spike trails off the loop trails leading to lakes and streams. Look for waterfalls. Waterfalls have pools that hold big fish. Waterfalls also often mean that the water above is difficult to reach. Concentrate on streams flowing into and out of lakes. Many anglers fish lakes and ignore the productive water of the creeks. Look for unnamed lakes (but check with a government agency to see if it has been stocked during the season). Look at the headwaters and feeder streams. Look for contour lines that open up into a meadow. Look for springs and incoming streams. The river gets more water and can increase in size and have better water quality. Inaccessible places aren't always. Canyons can usually be accessed at some point. Non-traditional trails, like a livestock driveway, can lead to good water. Bushwhacking where there no trail exists can lead to surprise trout water.

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