For the past eight days my girlfriend and I have been amongst the mountains in central Colorado. Surrounded by skiers and boarders we made our way to a local fly shop to see how the fly fishing has been. The cold nights and low daytime temps had filled some of the rivers with slush making them difficult to fish until later in the day. We made plans to fish a small creek about 10 min away the following afternoon. Upon arrival we glanced over a walking bridge and could see trout through the crystal clear water. They were moving effortlessly side to side in the current. We marveled at them for a few minutes and got rigged up. It didn’t take Amy long to dial in; she made a short cast and watched her indicators as they moved slowly past her. I gave her a shout to set the hook and she had her first trout ever on the line. We netted a small native Brown Trout, took a photo and life was good. Little did I know that fish would change the whole outcome of our trip. Instead of fly fishing just a couple days we fly fished four days and had a great time. The weather warmed up and so did the fishing. One day in particular turned out to be one of the best days of our vacation. I was out here this past summer and had the privilege to fish a few tail waters, so I decided to make a trip to one of them and try to hook some big rainbows. Amy was all for it and we were on our way west in the morning. The car ride brought us through two beautiful red canyons thriving with big horn sheep and elk. Upon arrival the sun crept over the surrounding mountains and warmed us as we waded through the river. A bend in the river 100yds away from the car had our name written all over it, a deep pool with slow moving water. I set up both fly rods with nymph rigs. One with a #20 mysis shrimp followed by a #22 black midge and the other with a #20 egg pattern followed by a #22 red midge. After an hour or so we each had caught a few browns in the 14-16 inch range. Nothing of great size but their colors were brilliant, deep gold with bright brown and black spots and intense red fins. The day continued with more brown trout action but no rainbows. I switched out the mysis shrimp with an orange egg of the same size hoping for the legendary Frying Pan Rainbow Trout we had come for. After a few casts my wish was granted. A hesitation of my indicator brought my rod tip up and “there he is” was shouted. I could see the beauty racing through the water his bright red stripe left no question in my mind of what kind of trout it was. I gave Amy a shout and she came down to help me net the fish. I brought the fish closer to shore and Amy netted the beast like a pro, one quick swipe and our Rainbow Trout was under our belt. We photographed his majesty and watched as he swam back into the depths of the pool. Both of us were all smiles and couldn’t stop talking about what we had just witnessed. A beautiful trout in an even more beautiful surrounding. I fished with a guy that once said “trout are beautiful fish and they live in beautiful places” I guess he was right.