Reply by: slinger420      Posted: 7/3/2012 2:11:59 PM     Points: 20    

Thanks for the update lake looks higher than i thought it would be. I'm going up tonight for this week.

 Reply by: Jim2007      Posted: 7/4/2012 1:16:44 PM     Points: 396    

Thanks for the update. JIm2007

 Reply by: skb2706      Posted: 7/4/2012 9:03:01 PM     Points: 20    

Spent most of the day today fishing Chambers with my wife on float tubes. Did fair, caught a few off the tip and some deep.
The canyon was actually better than I had thought it might be. We drove up last night but got to see the fire damage on the drive down this afternoon. The Narrows and Stevens Gulch were really bad.

 Reply by: milhouse74      Posted: 7/4/2012 11:09:14 PM     Points: 87    

Not sure what people were expecting, but I thought it was pretty bad. Are there still some living trees? Sure. But overall when you enter the canyon the damage is pretty bad. A lot of people probably didn't even notice it, but there used to be a house across the street from Picnic Rock day use area....well, it ain't there anymore and that was right next to the road. If you fish the river in that area you can see the damage to the river as well. The water is clear, but the substrate is black and it covers the rocks. I also saw quite a few fish that had lesions on them. Not sure if it's from the fire (water temp raising) or stress related. It's kind of sad. But with the fire comes renewal and it'll be greener than ever soon(you can already see green grasses coming back in). The trees will take longer to come back.

 Reply by: skb2706      Posted: 7/5/2012 8:26:56 AM     Points: 20    

Yes it is bad and it will never be the same in my lifetime that I remember it for the last 50 years. But having toured the Hayman, Buffalo Creek and Duckett fire areas which within their containment were burnt to virtual wasteland, the Poudre Canyon fared much better.

 Reply by: Deadduc      Posted: 7/5/2012 8:34:31 AM     Points: 0    

Alot of those trees are going to die. If you look at the base, there is fire damage all of the way around. In probably the next couple of years we will see the full after effect.

 Reply by: KingFisher13      Posted: 7/5/2012 2:36:14 PM     Points: 92    

Nice report, thanks

 Reply by: Lost Man Fishing      Posted: 7/5/2012 8:07:11 PM     Points: 20    

...most likely the lesions on the fish are due to the fire retardant... that stuff causes extreme spikes in ammonia levels "charcoal" or the black stuff in the river from the fire will cause a decrease in oxygen levels in the river too... All in all not looking good for the Poudre for a while...

 Reply by: Wolftever      Posted: 7/15/2012 10:01:03 AM     Points: 1    

I was at Chambers Lake just after the road opened after the fire was contained and just before the road was closed AGAIN due to the heavy rains and flash flooding. The initial drive from Ted's into the canyon was heartbreaking, as the Poudre watershed is one of my favorite places in the world. The fire left its mark, and we'll be feeling the impact for years to come.

I spent two days in the area, fishing the inlet and outlet areas at Chambers and spending a little time at Lost Lake (mostly to see the moose family). This was a last-minute trip just to check out the fire damage and scout for an upcoming camping trip in the Rawah. A friend of mine from Texas was along for the ride, and he had never tried fly fishing before so it was a great time.

We had lots of luck at both the inlet and outlet at Chambers. I was using an Elk Hair Caddis and he was using a white wooly bugger. We both caught tons of fish - mostly 12- to 14-inchers, lots of fun on the rigs we had. He was especially excited as he had never caught a fish on a fly rod before. (The accompanying picture is my friend with his very first fish on a fly rod.)

I'm heading back up next weekend for a couple of days, and will be taking a small flat bottom boat with a trolling motor. I love that Chambers is wakeless ... makes for a much more relaxing experience.

- Will Bynum
Denver, CO
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 Reply by: hunter creek      Posted: 7/15/2012 1:35:20 PM     Points: 276    

Wolftever -- Did you catch all stocker bows, or were there some lakers in your count?

 Reply by: Wolftever      Posted: 7/17/2012 11:43:29 AM     Points: 1    

They were all stocker bows.

 Reply by: skb2706      Posted: 7/17/2012 12:37:00 PM     Points: 20    

I believe my wife and I were there when you guys were there.

 Reply by: Sverak (N.Colorado)      Posted: 7/29/2012 12:42:31 PM     Points: 0    

I just moved up here and want to camp on Chambers lake with the boat. Could anyone tell me how I can reserve a spot on loop C? Any information would be grateful. Thank you.

 Reply by: skunkmaster      Posted: 7/30/2012 9:39:44 PM     Points: 103    

I don't see a "C" loop at this link but see if it's any help to you, assuming the link works:

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 Reply by: Sverak (N.Colorado)      Posted: 7/31/2012 6:20:04 PM     Points: 0    

Thank you very much.

 Reply by: Ol-Blu      Posted: 8/2/2012 9:15:42 AM     Points: 3    

Hey all - heading up to Chambers for our annual week long trip. Can't wait!

Any update to the conditions, patterns, locations would be greatly appreciated...

Kirk
Devil's Backbone