Photo of the Day: A Gorgeous Brown from the “Land of OZ”. . .in Colorado

Written by: Shannon Branham

Nick Speer landed this ridiculous brown trout on one of the spring creeks at Colorado’s K-T Ranch.
Photo courtesy Shannon Branham

Nick Speer, a great friend and long-time fishing buddy, helped me with a K-T Ranch co-sponsored youth team (12- to 13-year-old kids), for the annual whitefish tournament held on Colorado’s White River. We had great kids to work with, and Nick was a huge help in expediting a win for the Kteam, in which all four boys won Orvis Mirage reels for their efforts.

After the tourney, I repaid Nick for his help by taking him to a special little piece of the K-T Ranch called Pearce’s Spring Creek. This particular spring creek is broken into three beats: OZ, Jurassic Park, and The Stream of Broken Dreams, all of which are named appropriately due to the large wild brown trout that live in these ever-changing, slow-moving waters, riddled with beaver ponds. The fish Nick is holding was caught in the OZ beat on a very small Trash Can Streamer.

Shannon Branham owner of Rip-N-Lips Fly Fishing (970-261-5572) in Clifton, Colorado.