Fly-Fishing Adventures · Southern Colorado
“Where Even Your Mother-in-Law Catches Something.”
Rio Grande · San Juan River · Gunnison Gorge · Private Waters, Southern Colorado
A Different Kind of Day on the Water
There are guides who know the river. There are guides who know how to teach. And then there’s Pikie, who somehow manages to do both while keeping you entertained enough that you don’t notice how much you’re learning until you’re driving home replaying the casts that worked.
He has been guiding on southern Colorado water for more years than he’ll confirm in writing. Before that he did things in places that don’t come up in conversation, which is his business and not yours. What matters on the river is that he is completely unflappable, reads moving water the way other people read a newspaper, and has the particular gift of knowing exactly when to talk and exactly when to shut up so you can make the cast.
He supplies the flies, the cold beer, the commentary, and the silence. The silence is worth more than you’d think going in.
“Buddy, if you can cast half as good as you can brag, we’re gonna need a bigger net.”
— Pikie, standard response to pre-trip client confidence
The Guide
J. Pickering — nobody uses the J — grew up around water and around people who knew how to handle themselves when things went sideways. He came to guiding the long way around, through work he doesn’t elaborate on, and arrived with a set of skills that transfer surprisingly well to a wading staff and a 5-weight. Calm under pressure. Good with his hands. Comfortable in bad weather and bad situations. Finds the funny in both.
He is licensed, experienced, and carries a medical background he mentions only when relevant. On the river, that’s almost never. Off it, it matters more than you might expect. What he brings to a guided day is the ability to fix your cast without embarrassing you, find fish in water that looks empty, and keep the energy up through a slow afternoon without faking it. He does not fake anything.
He still carries the same pair of shears on every trip. He will tell you they’re for cutting leader material. They are also that.
For the Discerning Few
Private Medical Readiness Instruction · By Referral Only
Pikie’s background runs deeper than the river. For a carefully selected clientele, he makes available something that doesn’t appear on the public rate sheet.
These are private instruction sessions — by referral or by conversation — for individuals who understand that there are situations where help is not coming, and who have decided they would rather be the person in the room who knows what to do.
Not everyone qualifies. That is by design. The people who have taken these sessions tend not to talk about them, which is also by design.
Topics are tailored to the client. Locations are quiet. Group size is small by choice, not circumstance. The curriculum is practical, not theoretical — built for the real world. The moment before the ambulance arrives. The hour when communications are down. The situation that does not wait for the right conditions.
If you are the kind of person for whom this reads as an answer to a question you’ve had for a while — reach out when you book. Pikie will take it from there.
Inquiries accepted through direct booking contact only · No public scheduling · Not available to all clients
Home Waters
Three rivers and a small portfolio of private water. Each one is different. Pikie knows all of them in all seasons, which is the only way to actually know a river.
Rio Grande — Upper Sections
Full & half day · From $425 / person · Brown & rainbow trout · Walk-wade · Dry fly & nymph · All skill levels · Year-round.
The home water. The upper Rio Grande above Creede holds serious brown trout in public water that rewards a good presentation and punishes a sloppy one. Pocket water, long flat runs, fish that have opinions about your fly pattern. Where beginners find their first fish and experienced anglers get schooled by a trout they could see clearly from thirty feet. Both outcomes are considered a full success.
San Juan River — Tailwater
Full day · From $475 / person · Trophy rainbow trout · Walk-wade · Midge & dry fly · Intermediate to advanced · Year-round
One of the finest tailwater fisheries in the West. The fish are large, the water is clear, and the trout have inspected every fly pattern on the market. What works is an honest presentation and a drag-free drift, delivered to the right lane at the right depth. If your casting is solid and your patience holds, this river will give you something worth the drive.
Gunnison Gorge
Full day · Rafted access · From $550 / person · Wild rainbow & brown trout · Raft-assisted wade · Spring through fall · Intermediate to advanced.
No road access. You get there by raft and wade the canyon sections. Most people aren’t willing to do what it takes to get in, which is the best thing that ever happened to the fishing. Wild trout, no pressure, and the kind of scenery that makes clients bring up the trip years later. The float out at the end of the day is unhurried and worth savoring.
Private Ranch Water — Sangre de Cristo
Full day · By arrangement · Contact for rates · Exclusive access · Wild brown trout · No other parties · Spring-creek habitat · Seasonal
A small number of days per season on private water in the Sangre de Cristo area. One party. No public pressure. Wild brown trout on spring-creek habitat that sees a handful of rods per year. The fish are not easy and the approach requires some finesse, but the setting makes a difficult day feel like a good one. Allocated to returning clients first. New clients should ask when booking. Availability is genuinely limited.
What to Expect
- The beer is included. Cold, in the wader bag, available when the fishing earns a pause. Pikie decides when that is.
- The instruction is real. He will fix your cast as many times as it takes. He has brought complete beginners to their first fish on the first day, and disassembled the ingrained bad habits of anglers who’ve been fishing for twenty years. Both take patience. He has it.
- The sarcasm is also included. Free of charge. If you hook yourself, the story will be told. This is not a threat — it is a promise. Returning clients consider it part of the experience.
- The silence is included too. When the fish is working and you need quiet, he goes quiet. The transition is fast enough to be slightly unnerving the first time. By the third time you understand why it matters.
- What to bring: a Colorado fishing license, layers, sunscreen, and footwear you can wade in. He provides all terminal tackle, leaders, and flies. Bring your own rod if you have a preference — loaners are available.
“He kept me in fish for six hours and laughing for eight. I didn’t realize until the drive home that I’d gotten the best casting lesson of my life somewhere in the middle of it.”
— Returning client, third seasonBooking & Rates
Direct booking only — no third-party platforms. Deposit required to hold dates. For medical instruction inquiries, mention it at time of booking.
Rio Grande · San Juan · Gunnison · Private Waters, Southern Colorado
“Where Even Your Mother-in-Law Catches Something.”
This is a fictional company profile created for The Continuity Chronicles by Nick Meacher · fortunefavorstheprepared.com