WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ESTES ANGLER
Many of my custom bamboo rod clients come from all over the world to visit my shop, and many request guide services for our area during their visit. I have recommend Estes Angler with great confidence as the clients have always returned with glowing reports about the Estes Angler Pro Staff.
—Michael D. Clark
Rod Maker, South Creek Ltd.
Lyons, CO
My family and I have been coming to Estes Park for annual vacations since 1998. I still can clearly recall our first real fly fishing experience in July of that year. I contacted Estes Angler and we were teamed up with “Bob, the best small-stream fly fishermen I know,” as quoted by Ed Engle. The trip was incredible and the fishing was awesome. The staff at Estes Angler had helped make lasting memories, and our passion for what we experienced, it is still as strong today.
Since then I have come to trust their professional advice on everything from fly selection to fishing etiquette. Grant and the Estes Angler have sold us most of what we own; fly rods, waders, vests, etc. and stood behind every piece of it. They helped match the equipment to our skill level and budget.
My boys are young men now, 25 and 22 years old, and the pictures from that first trip, well, they’re priceless. They are reminders of our time together and expectations of our time to come. And yes, the next trip will most certainly start with a call to Estes Angler, where I will hear an enthusiastic, “Estes Angler, this is Grant, how may I help you?”
—Randy Clark
Sherman, TX
Thanks for taking care of me when I was in Estes Park last week. I appreciated your hospitality, quality of your shop, and pointing me in the right direction of some great streams. Your guide Frank did a great job for me Friday evening too. He’s a good guide and a good guy. Walking through the snow at 9,000 feet to get to a stream is just something we don’t do on the East Coast. Between Thursday and Friday evenings on the streams in the Park, and Saturday on the Big Thompson, I caught Greenback Cutthroats, Colorado River Cutthroats, Brook Trout, Rainbows, and Brown Trout. Not sure if that’s all the species of trout you have in Colorado, but it must be close. I’ll be back, you can count on that! Thanks again.
—Phil Bangert
Having never fished for trout, and learning what I know about fly fishing from reading and the warm water experience I’ve gleaned with very modest equipment, I was a bit anxious at being placed in the hands of a professional guide for my first attempt at trout.
I needn’t have been concerned. From our first encounter, Mike Oatley put me completely at ease. He asked me what I expected, and after determining what I needed, he selected the necessary flies, and we were off!
Grant and his staff are knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. Their prices are reasonable, they won’t sell you what you don’t need, they’ll put you onto fish, AND teach you how to catch them. They won’t laugh when you defoliate the willows, and they won’t turn up their noses at the label on your rod! Perhaps it is fitting that my first trout ever was a Greenback, but more importantly, what I learned from that single outing with Mike enabled me to score an unassisted “grand slam” before the week was out.
Would I recommend Estes Angler? Yes for anyone, of any skill level, for any species in the Estes Park Area. I wouldn’t look anywhere else!
—Curt Sullenberger
Damon, TX