Frying Pan Anglers - Colorado Fly Fishing Report 18th June

Finally a little cooler weather accompanied by some rain arrived later in the week. The rain was not general. A downpour blew out the Crystal so that floating below Carbondale on Friday was not an option. Another downpour colored up Taylor creek on Thursday evening, but that was gone by the next morning. Further rain made the Fork a little colored on Saturday and again on Sunday morning. But the rain was pleasant and good for the parched ground. We are indeed fortunate this year relative to some other watersheds. With reports that a number of rivers in Montana have been closed to fishing for the rest of the season we should indeed count our blessings.

The coming week promises more of the same tropical weather with thunderstorms coming in the afternoon. So if you are on the river whether floating or wading it is mandatory to carry a shell or raincoat of some description just in case. The wet weather has also raised the Fork relative to a week ago, so for the moment the flow is actually increasing. On Sunday morning it was flowing at 755cfs a good 200 cfs higher than a week ago, but by Sunday evening it had droppped to 661cfs.

The Pan has been stable for a week now at 182cfs. It is only a matter of time before there is a call on the water and the Pan will be up again. That will push up the Fork below Basalt as well. Although Ruedi is full, it takes a lot of rain to push it higher and cause it to run over the top, so the latest rain will have minimal effect in that regard.

All in all the conditions are excellent at the moment, and even if there is a little color in the water from the rain, it is just a matter of fishing higher up the Fork or waiting until the afternoons or evenings and it will clear.

With many fishermen on the Pan now and for the rest of the summer, the key, if one has a mind to do so, will be to explore the Fork a little and be prepared to walk in to some spots. There are many excellent places to fish on the Fork which are ignored by walk/wade fishermen and accessed only by rafts. As the flow levels drop, less rafts will be on the water so eventually they will be left only to those willing to put in a little work. If you are coming for a few days, do a little research or come by the shop and we will gladly point you to areas along the river where excellent fishing beckons. Another way to access it of course is to take a raft or hire a guide with a raft. Talk to the guide the day before plan the timing of the trip. We prefer rafts at the moment in order to try and avoid the flotilla which generally commences at Carbondale and proceeds down to Glenwood on many mornings.

At this time of year with the heavy fishing pressure and the occasional tropical downpour, check with the shop to get the latest updates on fishing conditions.

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.

The Pan has been steady for a week now at 182cfs. However it is just a matter of time before there is a call down river which will cause the release of more water. The fishing has been excellent this past week with the larger drakes now coming off mid-river. The fish are still preferring to take the emergers rather than the adults. The fishing pressure is now heavy, particularly on the weeks ends with several cars parked at most pull-offs.

The coming week promises some great dry fly fishing if the afternoon thunderstorms roll in and some rain falls. Sunday was an ideal example. The mid afternoon rain brought on hatches of BWO's, PMD's and drakes. The fish took mercury rs2's #20 and Adams #20.

Now we are in full swing on the Pan with the drakes as well as two hatches of PMD's a day. In addition, midges are coming off morning afternoon and evenings while BWO's will come off if there is any cloud cover, or on the bright days, in the shade. They will also come off in the evenings. There are caddis as well, particularly in the evenings but they are not as dominant on the Pan as the Fork.

So now the Pan offers a full range of hatches throughout the day and into the evening. With the water level on the marginally lower side making wading to most spots quite easy, cloudy skies in the afternoon and a little rain, this is as good as it gets on the Pan. Just be well prepared for the range of possible weather and be prepared to fish through any rain.

Recommended Flies:

For drakes try the dries, cripples emergers and the nymphs. Over the next month or so, there will be so many drakes offered to the fish on the Pan that they will become very selective. The solution will be a combination of good presentation and perhaps a pattern with a touch variation from the norm.

With PMD's coming off try emergers and dries. A barr's emerger or the FPA PMD emerger #18 work well. Also try the hunch back #18 and the #18 special emerger. Try fishing them behind orange stimulators. If the activity is a little slow during the day, try some nymphs down deeper.

For baetis t ry 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 some caddis coming off on the Pan so try emergers and dries towards evening. In the evenings or in the shade, the caddis will be coming down to the surface. Try the crawling caddis as well. During the heat of the day, try terrestrials such as hoppers close to the banks where they are undercut.

Roaring Fork

Current Flow: near Emma -661cfs (if you want more uptodate figures check out current readings on our "Links" page).

With the rains over the past week the flow in the Fork has picked up and intermittently has collected a little color, particularly lower down. After the rains on Thursday the Fork below the confluence with the Crystal at Carbondale was not fishable on Friday morning. However it does clear quite quickly as the day progresses. However the better fishing in these circumstances, is always higher up. So if you are at Glenwood and don't like the color of the water, just come further up the Roaring Fork Valley and the water conditions generally improve markedly. It is just a matter of driving past the confluence with each river or creek and try and identify where the color is coming from – the Crystal, the Pan (very rare), Snowmass creek etc. Call the shop and we will give you the latest information we have in that respect.

The other thing to note, is that even though the Fork might be colored up in the mornings, it will clear by the afternoon. Saturday was a good example of this. Though colored at Basalt in the morning, the plan was to fish between Catherine's store bridge and Carbondale in the late afternoon. The water conditions were clearing and quite good and the fish were not fussed by the little color or the thunderstorm which was occurring at the same time. It was a matter of fishing deep in the deeper holes as they were not feeding on the surface at that time.

18 inch rainbow - Saturday evening on the Fork #20 mercury rs2.

19 inch brown - Saturday evening on the Fork - #18 bubble back PMD.

Ed, Tim, Cameron and Harry have all reported good floating during the week. The drakes are higher up towards Aspen. In the evenings the hatches are prolific although in the cooler stormy evenings the hatches slowed down a little. Mid-river and lower down, it is predominantly caddis, PMD's and BWO's.

Recommended Flies:

Overall the best results on the Fork are from nymphing.

During the day use PMD and BWO nymphs and emergers behind hopper or stimulator patterns. If you are nymphing deep down, 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 addition use caddis emergers as well. For variety put on a stone fly or a drake nymph during the day fished deep if things slow down.

In the afternoons and evenings there is a myriad of bugs coming off or in the air, yet the fish are still keeping low most of the time. So continue to use PMD and BWO nymphs and emergers. Use caddis pupa and emerger patterns as well as the caddis are prolific in the shade and towards evenings.

With the drakes coming off higher up the Fork use drake nymphs and emergers in the afternoons and evenings.

Colorado River

The Colorado will be dark when the Fork colors up, so with the threat of thunderstorms in our watershed bear that in mind. If it does color up, just come further up the Roaring Fork Valley. The higher you come the better the water conditions will get.

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.