Buy River Ranches in the Rockies for the Zen of Fly Fishing
We can get you as close to Rocky Mountain waters as you would like to be. Ponder the beautiful river ranches in Colorado and Wyoming, or Utah or New Mexico. River ranches tend to invoke the inner angler. Who was it that called fly fishing “the contemplative man’s recreation”? Oh, yes, author writer and fishing aspirant, Izaak Walton. Quiet patience may be required but each angler makes fly-fishing what he likes.
The Fly-fisher’s Entomology
Rocking Bar Ranch
It was the work and writings of Alfred Ronalds that drew people from all professions to fantasize about fly fishing. He wrote “The Fly-fisher’s Entomology.” Published in 1836, the book spurred on the growing number of fly fishing clubs in Britain. Authors had written about tying flies and techniques.
But it was Ronalds that turned it into a sport. He fished the Trent, Blythe, and Dove rivers near Creswell Green and set up a fish observatory on the river banks. Outdoor serenity, right? This exercise moved him to experiment with lures. To top it off, Alfred brought out his real-life skills as a printer and engraver to create color plates.
The Fly-fisher’s Entomology describes in detail trout and their behaviors as well as the methods and techniques used to catch them. Duplicated in full color, Ronalds illustrated artificial counterparts of those mayflies, caddisflies, and stoneflies that trout and grayling so readily feed on. He gave them names, standardizing the angler names for artificial flies. At this time in the mid-1800s, fly fishing went on to become a popular recreational activity and contemplative sport.
Bringing Fly-Fishing Home to the USA
Paint Rock Canyon Ranch
Acquiring a taste for this gentleman’s sport, where in the USA would you imagine your river ranch? Where would you like to spend the hours of contemplation, rod in hand? Here are some of the big fly fishing rivers in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Utah—our four territories. Have you waded into any of them?
- Colorado Rivers: Animas River, Arkansas River, Fryingpan River, Gunnison River, North Platte River, Rio Grande, Roaring Fork River, San Juan River
- Wyoming Rivers: Slough Creek, Bighorn River, Yellowstone National Park’s Firehole, Gibbon, and Lamar rivers
- New Mexico Rivers: Rio de Los Pinos, San Juan River, The Pecos River, Valles Caldera National Preserve, Jemez River, Costilla Creek, Cimarron River.
- Utah Rivers: San Juan River, Provo River
Own a Ranch with Fly Fishing Streams
Here are some of our Featured ranches. They may interest you. In Wyoming, miles of blue ribbon trout streams grace the Paint Rock Canyon Ranch and a couple miles of Greybull River flow through Rocking Bar Ranch. In New Mexico, over a mile of the 40-foot wide Chama River flows through Canones Creek Ranch. Colorado ranches in North Park, Middle Park, and at the Grand Mesa offer splendid trout ponds, streams and rivers—all surrounded by magnificent beauty and natural resources.
Real Estate Agents –Western River Ranches
We spend a fair share of time in the waters ourselves. Let us help you sort through the options for fly fishing properties. Contact Dave Harrigan or Hunter Harrigan at Harrigan Land Company at (800) 524-1818. Specializing in large ranch and recreational properties in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Utah.
