Ranch/Lodge and Ponds, Sangre de Cristo, Ute and Trophy Ponds After 25 years of guiding on the magnificent Ranch (formerly Forbes Ranch) we finally got a deal that will allow Members of the SAC access to a great deal of the fishing opportunities available on the ranch. There are some restrictions and limitations, of course but it will open up many miles of superb dry fly fishing to club members. Restrictions 1. Sangre de Cristo - Members will have dayuse access to several miles on 5 sections of Sangre de Cristo and no guide required the first time. Make reservations as usual by calling Solitary Angler @ 1-866-502-1700 2. & Ute - Members must stay at the lodge to access Ute and or have a guide from The Solitary Angler. 3. All Members must have a guide the first time they go to Ute or. Members will get a 20% discount on the guide fee. After that, no guide is required as long as you are staying at the ranch. Call me personally for details. 4. Leave gates the way you find them. 5. A key, issued by the Ranch Management upon your arrival, is required to get into and Ute. Ranch has a short season and starts fishing well just after run-off, usually about mid-june and continues to fish well through about mid to late September. Ranch management restricts when and where we can fish on Ute and s after the end of August due to elk hunting on the ranch. Sangre de Cristo has no restrictions and does stay open to members until it gets too cold to fish, usually by the end of October. There s no need for droppers here! All three streams (Ute, Sangre de Cristo and ) offer great dry fly fishing using medium to large-sized attractors like hoppers, madam x s and stimulators. All provide lots of action for trout 6 to 12 inches. There are cuts, cutbows, browns and brookies and an occasional larger fish up to 18 inches. This is wild trout fishing at its best! It s like having 180,000 acres of wilderness all to yourself except that you have roads to provide you with great access to over 30 miles of streams and 3 ponds with bigger fish. Ranch Lodge This will provide Members a first rate alternative to lodging in Taos or San Luis and it s only 25 minutes from the lodge to the Culebra. In fact, the lodge is the ideal clubhouse for SAC Members fishing any of our waters in southern Colorado. Only Members of the SAC (and the ranch s grandfathered and personal guests) can fish the ranch waters without a guide and no rod fees. This is lodging at its best!! The lodge has deluxe 5-star accommodations and exquisite fine dining (all inclusive) in a mountain setting with views in all four directions that will blow you away!! The laid back atmosphere will make you feel like it s yours, yet the service is outstanding and the dry fly fishing is simply superb. The main stream, runs along on one side of the lodge and there is a small pond on the other side so you can fish early and late and still not miss your meals. Compare to other high end lodges and you ll agree this is a bargain! Lodging per person per night (includes all meals)...$250.00 *Wine served with dinner, otherwise you must bring your own spirits Detailed directions to Lodge & Headquarters are on map. Trophy Ponds 15 Monte Vista 17 150 Ute Sangre de Cristo 15 Alamosa Alamosa ational Wildlife Refuge Blanca Fort Garland Lodge
Fort Garland Ranch Road Lodge & Headquarters T o get to Ranch Headquarters, Lodge and from Taos, M take MSR 522 north to Colorado where it turns to COSR and keep going past San Luis to Fort Garland. Turn right on US east and go 1.7 miles (just past mile marker 260) to the archway and entrance to Ranch on your right. Follow the paved road 4.7 miles to the entrance to the headquarters and the Lodge. Mountain Home Resevoir Ranch Road orth SECTIO T1 PODS Lodge SECTIO T2 OFF LIMITS SECTIO T3 O ver 8 miles and 2 ponds. Guide required first time. 20% off guide service. After the first time with a guide, members must stay at Lodge in order to fish without a guide. The Ranch management will issue you a key upon checking in. Follow the road on the north side of the creek to access the and the ponds. was reestablished with pure cutthroats in the upper reaches and has not yet fully recovered but is improving every year. ow there are brookies as well and some larger browns and cutbows in the lower part of the creek. The ranch is rebuilding the lower part of the river to offset previous channelizing of the creek bed and when complete, it will offer a chance at some larger trout coming upstream from Mountain Home Reservoir. The air is cool, the scenery is magnificent and the fishing is spectacular! SECTIO T4 BRIDGE
Sangre de Cristo Five sections on over 5 miles. Day use OK. o guide required. From Fort Garland go east about 7.7 miles on US toward La Veta until you first see Sangre de Cristo on the right. Start looking for a green gate on the right. Pull in and park on the right for Section S-1 and on the left for section S-2. Sections S-3, S-4 & S-5 are on the left hand side of the road going upstream. Sangre de Cristo has pure and hybrid Rio Grande Cutthroats that average 8 to 12 inches, some to 16 inches and some wild brookies. The creek has suffered from a forest fire followed by hard rains in recent years. Despite this, there remains a viable, healthy population of native fish. It will undoubtedly improve to its former excellent staus. DO OT FISH BEYOD FISH BARRIER (O FISH) DO OT FISH (PRIVATE PROPERTY) mile 13 (boundary) mile 12.2 SECTIO S5 mile 12.9 (boundary) SECTIO S4 upper boundary mile 14 mile 11 SECTIO S3 mile 10.1 mile 10.7 mile 9.1 SECTIO S2 lower boundary mile 7.7 SECTIO S1
Ute Over 8 miles. Guide required first time. 20% off guide service. After the first time with a guide, members must stay at Lodge in order to fish without a guide. The Ranch management will issue you a key upon checking in. From Ft. Garland go west on US towards Alamosa for about.8 mile and look for the archway entrance to Blanca Ranch on your right. Follow the road past the farm houses and through the gate and on through the sagebrush hillside overlooking some hayfields to where the main road makes a hard right. Follow it to the right as it heads toward Ute. The fishing starts where the road crosses the creek and goes upstream for over 8 miles. Just before the road crosses the creek there is a primitive side road on the left. Turn here to follow Ute upstream. Ute offers some of the best dry fly fishing anywhere for rainbows & cutbows that average 8 to 12 inches with many to 16 inches and an occasional larger fish. There are also brookies 6 to 10 inches, some larger and the occasional Cutthroat. Match the hatches early in the year and use attractors late in the year. Do not go near the cabins or the pond at the top end as they are reserved for the owner and his father! UPPER BOUDARY UTE CREEK DO OT FISH THIS LAKE STAY AWAY FROM CABI SECTIO U3 SECTIO U4 SECTIO U2 SECTIO U1 Gate Fort Garland
PARKIG PIKE POD STAY AWAY FROM HOUSE PARKIG TROUT POD GRAI SILOS I Trophy Ponds ear Monte Vista, Colorado Guide required the first time recently secured two fabulous trophy ponds just a few miles northwest of Monte Vista Colorado. One pond has gigantic trout up to 15 pounds and some bigger, believe it or not! The other has huge, toothy northern pike that are very willing to take a fly. The ponds are about 45 minutes from the lodge at Ranch or about an hour and a half from Taos. It s about a half hour from the ponds to San Luis so it s very easy to plan an extended trip that includes any combination of Culebra, Ranch, San Luis and the Trophy Ponds. The owner absolutely requires all members to have a guide the first time they come here, no exceptions. I only have them for a 1-year trial period and if there are any problems such as dead fish or people getting lost and driving where they shouldn t he will not renew the lease next year. To get to the Trophy Ponds from Alamosa, Colorado take US north to Monte Vista. In Monte Vista turn right, staying on US. Just after leaving town you will cross the. Immediately past the Rio Grande bridge look for a turn on your left where you will see several grain silos paralleling the highway. Pull in past the silos and there will be a road going right just past the silos that takes you to the pike pond and the parking sign. Going straight for a little ways will take you to the first left that takes you to the hatchery and on to the trophy trout pond and the parking sign. There is a drift boat at the trophy trout pond for members to use. Please keep boat clean and clean up after you use it for the next person. Monte Vista