Why Spanish explorer Juan Rivera named this The River of Sorrows (La Rio de las Dolores) is a mystery to me. Maybe he came to this canyon to take his mind off of the fact that he was half a world from home - thereby relieving his sorrows. This is an absolutely beautiful canyon!
My wife and I took a 4 day weekend trip up to Mesa Verde, and I managed to squeeze in a couple hours on the Dolores River on Sunday evening.
First off, it was an incredible experience to really sink my teeth into Mesa Verde. We explored the park for two full days, and I feel like we barely scratched the surface. It is an incredible experience.
OK - to the river. The Dolores tailwater flows out of McPhee Reservior about 30 road miles north of Cortez, CO. I didn't get much time to fish, but the first time I go to any river, it turns into more of a reconnaissance effort that anything else. We drove about 9 miles up the 12 mile canyon. The slick sandstone walls are dotted with caves - I wouldn't be surprised if there are some serious archeological sights in the walls and rim of this canyon.
I fished only about twenty yards or river. I didn't need to fish any more than that. There were plenty of rises, and as expected the fish were very picky. I had tied up a new pattern for this river because everything I had read said the fish were very selective. I tied on the CDCBWOCE (CDC Blue Winged Olive Cripple Emerger) and on about my tenth cast, watched a 16" cutbow gently come to the surface and suck in my fly with out hesitation. COOL! it worked. One of the benefits of tying is that you can tie patterns that the fish haven't seen before - definitely a plus on selective fish.
I caught a few smaller fish that were very fat, and in the waning evening light hooked into a monster. I had been fishing two locations from where I stood. There were several smaller fish (about 12") feeding on my side of the main current tongue upstream from me. Across the river, there was a scum line formed where the current peeled off a downed tree branch. The monster of the hole was sipping bugs in this scum line. I alternated between the smaller fish and taking a crack at the bigun'. I didn't want to take too many casts over his head for fear of putting him down. I would fish for the small ones until I saw him rise, indicating that he was still on the feed. Then I would give him a few seconds to get back to his lie before I cast. After about 15 minutes of this, he rose and slurped up the CDCBWOCE. After a brief tussle, he snapped my 5x tippet like it was 8x. Well, now there is something to come back for. I reeled in and called it a night.
What a beautiful river though. I could see myself living near and fishing this river regularly, except I'd have to buy a tractor and become a hay farmer. It seems that's all anyone in the area does.
