Hey All- First post here. I had previously fished South Platte just downstream from Happy Meadows Campground and Sportsmen's Paradise, in Fall 2020. That was very nice and reasonably good fishing, not great. Around that time I read a thread from 2014 about Wildcat Canyon and was intrigued that it sounded more remote than the above area. As I understand, actual Wildcat Canyon is about 2-2.5 miles downstream from the Sportsmen's Paradise fence. They are only about 2 miles apart from eachother, but what a difference in fish population and size, and the sense of solitude. Almost cathartically, I had to post about my experience of going to Wildcat Canyon. Headline- "I did it, I will never do it again, go to WC Canyon via Sportsmen's Paradise". On a map it looked like a shorter walk going in from FR 210 off of Hwy 77 as it goes up to Tarryall. It was shorter, but so much harder. It was way too much for a day, for me, and one should never do it alone. The final descent down to the S. Platte was a little slippery but not really dangerous, and no sliding down rocks or ledges needed. You just have to stay on the Trail. The trail is a little obscure at times, but always visible. The big problem is under estimating how hard getting back up is going to be, and how long it takes, and slipping and injuring an ankle, etc. when you are exhausted. 30% grade for about 1/3 mile coming out. As day hikes go, it’s a very secluded area, and having to spend a night there could be fatal. I only saw one other fisherman all day. Caught some amazing trout, all browns, about 7, between 16 and 10 inches. I caught 1-2 in every pool, but I stopped early to be sure to get out. I spin fish and they were hitting small Rapala's and Rooster Tails. They are sneaky in there, very hard to keep on with barb's flattened. I will never go back there again without friends and a whole full day to do it. River access was exhausting also, having to climb about 50-100 very difficult yards down from the trail to each spot to fish. Very beautiful. High population of Mountain Lion. Don't go there without friends, and be in shape. I posted this as much like a journal entry for my own processing. Thanks for listening.
