Frying Pan Anglers - Colorado Fly Fishing Report 18th June

With just a little rain and some cooler weather this week and the fishing has been good with great dry fly fishing on the Pan and good streamer fishing on the Fork. The drakes continue to come off the Pan up near the Dam as we approach Autumn.

The latest report on the water flow from Ruedi is that there will be no increase to flush out the sediment from the washout as the consensus seems at this point to be that the prefereable course is to leave well enough alone and wait until next spring for nature to assist in the process.

There are not many fishermen about at the moment as we get into some of the best fishing of the year. We are looking forward to some excellent days on the river as the weather continues to cool and the fish make the most of the bugs prior to the onset of winter.

The flow in the Fork, augmented by a little rain, is still sufficient to permit a raft from Basalt but preferably only a single or at best 2 people. Three will require a lot of work over some of the shallower sections.

For those who might be interested in booking the Taylor Creek Cabins we advise that September is full and October is filling as well.

Above the 4 mile mark the Pan continues to fish exceptionally well with reports of good dry fly activity all the way down. The flow has settled nicely at 249cfs and the level has not forced the fish to move much. With a little rain during the week and some cloud cover, there were excellent hatches of BWO's and a few PMDs early in the afternoon. On Sunday with the clouds and cooler conditions, Barry reported a great trip near and Dam with drakes coming off quite nicely. Expect more of the same in the coming week.

We are still in full swing on the Pan with the drakes (near the dam) 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 with a full range of hatches throughout the day and into the evening, just be well stocked with flies and be prepared for the range of possible weather you might encounter.

Recommended Flies:

The drakes are nearing the end of their cycle but a few stragglers will still be in evidence at the Dam. Try the dries, cripples emergers and the nymphs. The fish have seen so many drakes by now that they are 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, the bubbleback #16 and #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 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 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 - 457cfs (if you want more uptodate figures check out current readings on our "Links" page).

A little rain last week has pushed up the flow in the Fork in the past few days. It was ideal rain as it did not affect the quality of the water a great deal despite the increased volume. There are reports of good fishing along the full length of the Fork. On the bright days last week the fishing was best along the banks in the shade or in the deeper sections. The water flow above Basalt is too low for all except the hardiest souls to try and float. There is excellent walk wading access available along the Fork above Basalt and at this time of year it is ideal for those who are willing to put in a little effort.

Mid river below Basalt the fishing has been good both floating and wading. Travis advises that he has been having good luck wading and throwing streamers. Similarly floating using streamers, PMDs and BWO's has also been productive. Mal had success during the week with a hopper streamer combination against the edges in the shade.

Most of the float traffic now commences at Carbondale, so the Fork is still busy down from Carbondale. Ideally, therefore one should be a little judicious in choosing a time to start a float with the amount of traffic on the river if you want to float that lower section.

Recommended Flies:

Overall the best results on the Fork are from nymphing although streamers have been doing quite well of late.

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.

If you are willing to fish into the dark, the spinner fall will be worth the wait. So try rusty spinner patterns.

Colorado River

The water in the Colorado has dirtied up a lot in the past week. Rains in the upper reaches together with increased releases have made the Colorado very murky for the moment.

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.