Yampa TailWaters Preserve

Details & Features

There are fabled fishing waters so abundant with trophy trout that they are often talked about with mysterious lore as if only existing in legends.  The 1.5+/- miles of Yampa TailWaters Preserve is such a fishery. The approximately 514-acre Preserve features storied water, teeming with voracious browns, acrobatic rainbows and eager cutthroat trout, all exceptionally large.

Very few sections of river exist with all of the conditions precisely in concert necessary to recruit and hold the extensive number and size of coldwater sport-fish as the Yampa TailWaters Preserve.  These waters are consistently flowing at an ideal temperature with an abundance of nutrient-rich aquatic insects steadily churning into and reproducing in the system.  The river does not have dams or structural impediments downstream for 128 miles to the confluence of the Green River and beyond, allowing the free flow of migratory fish until they reach Yampa TailWaters Preserve.  This equilibrium has resulted in one of the finest trout fisheries in the entire West; this legacy fishing paradise represents an opportunity to own a rich sporting sanctuary.

On the Yampa TailWaters Preserve, there is unquestionably premier trout fishing. The private fishing experience allows anglers to: site-cast to dry flies, go after trout sipping from spinner falls, and pull streamers through deep back eddys.  Additionally there is nymphing along seam lines and behind rocks.   Trout are recruited for the rich resources of this tailwater fishery from many miles to settle in and feast on the nutrient-packed water as it funnels out of the Catamount Dam.

There is an abundance of recreational pursuits within close proximity to the Yampa TailWaters Preserve. This pocket of Colorado is known for its fisheries, and there are many options within an hour-drive.  The Yampa River offers public fishing throughout the drainage, including 7 miles of stream access downstream through the town of Steamboat Springs.  Additionally, there are three other public access points within 40 miles of the ranch.  Another option for fishing is the upper Elk River, which provides the adventurous angler a small stream fishery in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area.  An elk hair caddis often does the trick to dupe the fiery trout in this stream. The Bear River is a tributary to the Yampa and provides pure dry fly fishing where one can catch rainbow, brown, brook and cutthroat trout. There are also many lakes in the Flat Tops Wilderness Area that provide quality stillwater fishing surrounded by exceptional rugged splendor and tranquility.

Hunting throughout the Yampa Valley is also a great outdoor recreational endeavor. Hunting for elk, deer and game birds is outstanding on the many wildlife areas surrounding the valley. An extensive elk population seeks refuge on the ranch year round, bedding down in the timbered hillsides by day while seeking water and forage grass in the meadows by night.

Yampa TailWaters Preserve, located at the base of Rabbit Ears Pass on the Continental Divide, offers some of the finest waterfowl hunting in the state.  With a resident elk herd on the property most of the year, elk hunting is also notable.

The key to a quality fishery is the bug life.  Tailwater fisheries by nature provide consistent, cool and fertile water that support insect life and big trout.  The Yampa River is one of the most biologically intact river systems in the West, flowing un-damned from the start of this spectacular property to the confluence with the Green River nearly 128 miles downstream.  The portion of river on Yampa TailWaters Preserve below Lake Catamount offers consistent flows of cool, aerated, nutrient-rich water keeping the river open year-round.  The extended season aids the growth of bugs and fish.

There are fine pieces of artwork and then there is the masterpiece; the Yampa TailWaters Preserve is as obvious a fishing masterpiece as there is available in the world today. In Colorado, the waters and the underlying stream beds are private, and Yampa TailWaters has over 1.5 miles of this private, wadeable water. With an incredible tailwater spilling cool, insect-rich, clear water for over 345 days a year, the river contains some of the largest concentrations of and largest browns and rainbows that we have ever seen. For 128 miles below Yampa TailWaters, fish migrate unimpeded up to this last 1.5 miles of refugia where they happily stay and feast. Fish restoration specialists at CFI Global Fisheries Management have studied this resource and say amazing as it already is, the river can be greatly enhanced with careful stewardship. It is a relatively private basin consisting of 514 acres full of elk, deer and waterfowl that is only 6 miles from one of the world’s best powder ski resorts in Steamboat Springs. There are significant financial benefits for the conservation buyer interested in donating a conservation easement. This property adjoins the unique and largely protected Catamount Club where memberships can be purchased for a wide variety of amenities. If you are interested in owning one of the world’s most extraordinary, private trout fishing masterpieces then this Colorado ranch for sale deserves a closer look.