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July 4th holidays are almost here, the water level has been dropping in the Fork now for 10 days and the drakes are coming off lower on the Fork. We are now in full swing for the season. The workings of the minds at the Bureau of Reclamation remain a mystery. After raising the level in the Pan for 3 days during the past week, they chose to raise it again on Saturday morning just as the fishermen were heading up the river. Perhaps there was a call on the water. But certainly no notification went out. So that put paid to good fishing on the Pan for Saturday. Saturday evening was a full moon, so Sunday morning was tough on several accounts on the Pan. This past week we had no rain again despite some predictions for thunderstorms. It is very dry at the moment and certainly a lot dryer than usual. Again the weatherman is calling for the possibility of some rain later in the week, but the probability remains low. We have a lot of visitors in town now and during the week it was certainly busy along the Frying Pan Road. With the Pan putting 320cfs into the Fork at Basalt the wading access is better above Basalt at the moment and there are plenty of places where a little walking will get you to great fishing without too much shoulder to shoulder activity. If you are in town, feel free to come into the shop and asks directions to the less populated parts of the river.
For those who might be interested in booking the Taylor Creek Cabins we advise that we a fully booked for July and August and only have a few days left for September. On his days off, Ed likes to fish. Here is an example - a large carp held for the photgraph by his assistant.
Actually, if you got tired of catching too many trout on a trip here, Ed would gladly take you for a day on the Colorado after these beauties on the fly. He won't promise to get you a fish like this though. Frying Pan Current Flow: below the Dam - 320cfs. (if you want more uptodate figures check out current readings on our "Links" page)
On 4 separate occasions the releases from Ruedi were increased during the week so that now the water is running at 320cfs. It is a good flow for the fish but it will be a little tough wading in the narrower parts of the river if one is a little unsteady on the legs. So do take care and tread warily. Take a wading staff if you think it is necessary. The higher levels will certainly afford the fish ample opportunity to spread out throughout the river and access plenty of cover along the banks and under the overhanging trees and bushes. There are now several hatches of PMD's a day midges morning afternoon and evening and BWO's in the shade. The increased flow put the fish down a little but by Sunday afternoon they were back in full swing.
A beautiful 17" brown taken on Sunday afternoon on a mighty sloan #18 when the fish started feeding again Recommended Flies: With PMD's coming off try emergers and dries. A barr's emerger or the FPA PMD emerger #18 work well. Try fishing them behind orange stimulators. If the activity is a little slow during the day, try some nymphs down deeper. For baetis try a small FPA sparkle baetis, a thorax sparkle baetis, the icebreaker or a pheasant tail before they start to rise. Try sizes #18 - #22. In addition, when the BWO's start coming off try RS2's and other emerger patterns behind a dry. It doesn't hurt to try the emergers behind the nymphs if the fish are staying down in the higher water. For dries, use parachute Adams, Matthews sparkle baetis, biot BWO, the extended body BWO and the grizzly Adams. Take sizes from #18 - #24. Midges come off during the day and in the evenings so try WD-40's #20 , red and black chironocones #20, brassie's #18 - #22, midge larva patterns #18 - #22, black polywings #18 - #22 and garcia's rojo midges # 18 - #22. Try the gray loopwing emergers #20 - #22, the special emergers both with and without the trailing shuck and gray RS2's #18 - #22. Also carry dry patterns such as the z-wing real midge, suspended midge and any similar dry black and gray patterns in sizes from #20 through to #26. There are caddis coming off on the lower Pan so try emergers and dries towards evening. Closer to town the fish are taking stone flies. Try the crawling caddis as well. Roaring Fork The flow continues to drop and now the water condition is excellent. With the Pan now pushing 320cfs into the Fork the flows are significantly lower above Basalt and Barry is reporting excellent wading there. After the extra release from Reudi on Saturday the water was a touch cloudy below Basalt but by Sunday it had cleared and the water was perfect. Ed, Mal, Travis and Harry have all reported good floating during the week. In the evenings the hatches are prolific. Ed reported an excellent evening drake hatch mid week and advocates using PMD's, Caddis and drakes. The drakes are now coming off higher as the water level drops and gets a little warmer. By next week the drakes will be reported above Basalt so whenever you get out on the river be prepared with some drake patterns.
Tony Musso caught this nice rainbow floating with Ed on a drake dry close to Glenwood in the evening. I think Tony is happier than the fish. Recommended Flies:With the drakes lower down the Fork use drake nymphs and emergers from mid-river down. When the drakes start coming off the surface and the fish are visibly taking them try dry patterns with an emerger dropper. However so far the best results are nymphing. In addition use PMD nymphs and emergers behind the drake patterns. Use plenty of weight in the fast running water and pick where the fish are a little protected behind structure or deeper down in the slower water. In the afternoons and evenings there are a myriad of bugs coming off or in the air, yet the fish are still keeping low most of the time. Use caddis pupa and emerger patterns as well as the caddis are prolific in the shade and towards evenings.
This 18" rainbow was taken on the Fork with a thorax bead PMD #18 between Catherine's store bridge and Carbondale on Sunday afternoon at 5pm. The fly was a dropper behind a split case drake nymph fished deep with a lot of lead. This was one of about 15 fish of similar size taken in a 100 yeard stretch of the river in 2 hours. Colorado River The Colorado has big water at the moment and plenty of rafters enjoying the conditions. The water conditions are now good with the Fork coming down so nicely. Cameron floated down midweek and reported the best fishing past 2 rivers. Ed reports excellent fishing in the evening on the Colorado indicating that yellow sallies are coming off well, although the drakes are abating. Recommended Flies: caddis dries and emergers, PMDs - nymphs emergers and dries; bwo's - nymphs emergers and dries; yellow sallies #16 - #18; 20 inchers size #10 - #14; streamers #6 and #8. Green drake emergers and dries. |
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