The Colorado Angler Fishing Report – June 13, 2015
June 13th, 2015
The Colorado Angler Fly Fishing Report
Plan your next fishing trip knowing you’ll arrive without any surprises. Our professional fishing reports are updated weekly with stream and river flows, recommended flies, equipment, and special fishing tips for the most important fly-fishing destinations in Colorado. To see a detailed fishing report for a specific river, simply scroll below to read more specific information on a particular stretch of river. Make sure to check those out for your river of interest, as they will be able to answer questions pertaining to hatches and flies. Understanding how fisheries change during the year, as well as how to approach them is key to growing an angler’s skill set. We hope you use this invaluable information to your advantage. Please feel free to call us at The Colorado Angler, at any time to discuss any questions and concerns you may have about the current conditions. Or stop by and see us in the Summit Place shopping center in Silverthorne, next to Blue Moon Bakery, Exit 205 on I-70, then south 1 block. Call: Toll Free 855-CO TROUT (268-7688) Spring Hours: Monday – Saturday 7 am – 6 pm, Sunday 8 am – 5 pm
Recent Update: June 13, 2015
Run-off conditions persist around the high country this weekend. A combination of some warm temperatures early in the week along with a heavy rain late Thursday, have slowed what was looking like the beginning of the recovery from peak flows. That now may still be a week away yet. After a short reprieve on the Blue, flows from both dams are back up to 1500 cfs. This will further limit the available soft water but, skilled anglers are still hooking fish where they can find those sheltering lies. Other tailwater options out there continue to run high, including the Williams Fork, Dream Stream and 11 Mile Canyon but, there are still opportunities on all for finding fish. However, there are a couple that have seen a dramatic drop in flows the past week, the Frying Pan and Muddy Creek. Both appear to be the exception to current conditions and we can’t say if those trends will last so, make hay while the sun shines. As for the Salmonflies, most activity from Pumphouse downstream has pretty much wrapped up. There are still some reports of action in the upper reaches of Gore Canyon, if you are commited to undertaking the rigors of that hike. While up stream at the bottom of Beyer’s Canyon we are still seeing some numbers of exuvia in the willows and flying adults late in the day. It’s a great time of year to head into the high country and fish those beautiful alpine lakes and streams where flows are not too high and temperatures not too low. Keep in mind that not all higher lakes will be open yet, as there is still a good deal of snow from treeline on up. These fish have been waiting to grub after a long winter, and you should make an effort to be there to help them satisfy their fierce, hibernation hunger. Dark Wooly Buggers stripped in slowly have been productive in lakes, while streams can be very temperature dependent — if cold, stick to midges and worms. If it warms up and bugs start popping’, match the hatch and be ready to make quick changes. Watch out for spring weather rolling in quick while up high, it can get nasty quick. If you safely can, stick around for some good fishing action after the weather rolls through. Detailed reports below will give more specific information on a particular stretch of river. Make sure to check those out for your river of interest, as they will be able to answer questions pertaining to hatches and flies. |
Blue River Below Dillon Reservoir |
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| Flow: 1500 cfs. | |
| Conditions: Flows are up again this week and are currently running at a very sporty level. While this will intimidate most anglers, there are still a few good holding lies to fish and feeding trout to hook into. We say hook, versus catch because, at this level once that hooked fish hits the main current there may be no turning it back into the quieter water along the banks. The entirety of this release is bottom feeding so, clarity in town is very good — more importantly, this is a very Mysis positive situation. With flows this high, there should be a very steady stream of shrimp flowing through the dam into the Blue. As well, those shrimp should drift further down through town, providing additional action farther from the dam than normal. At this rate, make sure to bump up your weight substantially. We would start with at least 2 to 3 AAA and add from there as needed. Make sure to increase your tippet size, as well. The minimum we would recommend at this time is 3X but, 2X may be needed in many spots. Look for the quiet water along seams and edges to be collecting fish that are looking for a break from the heavier flows in the main channel. Angler traffic can vary from day-to-day, and there have been some crowds, but with the county now in “Mud Season” many locals have headed out of town and some days are relatively quiet, at least for the Blue. However, another consequence of these flows are fewer of those “soft spots” so, even with less traffic it will still seem busy as there will be a competition for available water. As conditions elsewhere turn off color, we will expect an increase in traffic on this and other tailwaters. With that in mind try to consider your fellow anglers out there and give a courteous amount of space if you aren’t the first one on the water. The benefit to all this extra water is that it is moving fish into places that may not have been holding many trout previous to the spike. Take this opportunity to maybe look at some new spots that you may not have in the past. There isn’t just one or two good holes on the Blue. Who knows you may just find a better spot than your usual one with the different water levels. Action has been good not only on the Mysis patterns but, also a good mix of Midge pupa and larva in red or black, along with Egg patterns, Mayfly and searching nymphs. On those warmer days where there is some melting snow affecting clarity, San Juan Worm patterns have been fairly productive as well. Good luck.
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Blue River Below Green Mountain |
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| Flow: 1520 cfs. | |
| Conditions: Another jump in flows over the past week. With Dillon increasing releases again this week, it looks like Green Mtn will pass through a certain amount of added water. This is getting to a tough endeavor for finding available spots down here to wade safely and find fish. It is not entirely unfish-able but,it will be limited to say the least. If you go your best bet will probably be a tandem nymph rig with a mix of larger Stonefly patterns, beaded searching nymphs, large Mayfly imitations and San Juan Worms. There had been a good Baetis emergence prior to the big flush but, our guess is that may be done for now. Typical of heavy flows, make sure to bump up your tippet size and the amount of weight on your rig. Look for any soft edge water or eddy seams that may offer a sheltered lie for trout with access to a food stream. Obviously there will be plenty of water for boaters but, we’re not sure if this is too much water to allow for clearance underneath downstream bridges. Know before you go.
Flies: Big bead heads: Tungsten Split Case Green Drake, Hare’s Ear, Tungteaser, Pheasant Tail, Stubby Stone, Twenty Incher, Rubberlegs, Psycho Prince, Mr Peacock Ice, Flossy Worm. The Smaller Stuff: Split Case BWO, Barr’s BWO, Juju Baetis, Zebra Midge, Poison Tung, Winter Baetis, Black Beauty, Rojo Midge, Otter Egg. Streamers: Silver Bullet, Slumpbuster, Sculpzilla, Tungsten Thin Mint. Dries: Winger Parachute BWO, CDC Baetis Parachute Dun, Mole Fly, Sparkle Baetis, No Hackle Slate Gray. Floaters should note: The river volume on this stretch of water can change on an infrequent schedule and often. It is important to know the flow before you launch and make an honest assessment of your ability and watercraft capability. Please respect private property rights along the river. At 1,500 cfs the bridges are impassable. |
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Colorado River Above Kremmling (Parshall)
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| Flow: 4370 cfs. @ Parshall | |
| Conditions: As we have been cautioning, this continues to be a very robust amount of water for this time of year as upstream releases, combining with melting snow have pushed this river up to a level that will give most anglers pause. At this rate it may be best for most to look elsewhere for their Spring fishing. (Say just upstream from the Breeze unit to the Williams Fork tailwater.) If you do give it a go here, tandem nymph rigs with plenty of weight or streamers will be the best way to search for feeding fish. Larger Stonefly nymphs, beaded searching patterns, as well as Eggs and San Juan Worm patterns. Concentrate on the quieter lies along the banks and inside of riffles. There will be days of better clarity at times, but we don’t think that will be as limiting as the flows. The positive will be the complete lack of competition. All of that being said, the area above Parshal (and the Williams Fork) still has a very localized Salmonfly hatch. As of Friday, there were still a decent amount of exuvia in the bushes as well as adult bugs flying in the afternoon. Be careful wading if you are trying to take advantage of the last gasps of what has been a very inconsistent hatch this year due to conditions. Yes, the flows there are big at the moment but, clarity is very positive for fishing. Be careful where you walk and how far you get from the safety of the bank. Nymph rigs using large stones and beaded searching patterns and San Juan Worms will be best until later in the day when greater numbers of adults start to get airborne. After that switch up to dry-dropper set-ups with a large adult Salmonfly on top trailing a nymph of the same.
Flies: Pat’s Rubber Legs, Kaufman Stonefly Nymph, Half-Cocked, Fuzzy Wuzzy Orange, B-1 Bomber, Beaded Pheasant Tail, Beaded Prince, Twenty Incher, Two Bit Hooker Red or Olive, Tung Split Case BWO, BLM, Buckskin Caddis, San Juan Worm Patterns, Juju Baetis Red or Purple, Small Eggs, Pat’s Rubber Legs |
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Colorado River Pumphouse to Dotsero |
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| Flow: 6200 cfs. @ Pumphouse | |
| Conditions: After a brief downward trend, flows have risen over the past couple of days and continue to spill out of the banks in most places. Clarity continues to fluctuate but, remains solid for fishing the current conditions. What will be the bigger issue will be finding the structure with all this extra water. As the river spill out of it’s banks it not only covers the normal channel and structure, causing trout to shift to new favorable lies for feeding and sheltering but, it also covers all kinds of bank side vegetation that now becomes a minefield of snags as anglers drift nymphs searching for trout in this “new” water. Fortunately you should be fishing a heavier tippet size and will be able to retrieve most of your snags. While not ideal conditions, there are fish to be found even at these higher flows. Focus on the softer edge water where trout will look for shelter from the current. Nymphing will constitute the majority of feeding, and typical summer patterns have been productive: larger Stones, beaded searching patterns San Juan worms etc. Water temperatures have been on a mostly steady climb and have even reached 60 this week below State Bridge, spurring a nice little PMD hatch for the afternoon. That isn’t consistent yet, but should improve as flows level and start to drop, which will allow for those temps to stabilize. The Salmonflies have all but finished up from Pumphouse down but, there are still the last remnants of the hatch in the higher reaches of Gore Canyon. Be prepared for a long hike, potentially in the dark as you hike back out late in the day. Although conditions look prime for streamers, that bite remains slow at the moment. There have been some days with moderate success but, we have had far more consistency on the bugs lately.
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Colorado Below Glenwood Springs |
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| Flow: 16,200 cfs. | |
| Conditions: Big and dirty. It’s a shame, Spring fishing had been so good and the Caddis were thick. Probably going to be out of the rotation for some time. Check back late June to mid July.
Flies: Mr Peacock Ice, Pat’s Rubber Legs, Tungteaser, Bead Prince, Hot Wire Prince, Twenty Incher, Tungsten Pheasant Tail, Bead Hares Ear, San Juan Worm patterns. |
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Arkansas River Above Buena Vista |
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| Flow: 1550 cfs. @ Granite. 2690 cfs. @ Nathrop | |
| Conditions: Very large and fairly off color. BUT, not totally out of play. If you stay above the confluence with Lake Creek, where Twin Lakes dumps in, you can still find some water to fish. Just this week we had some success on a couple of guide trips in the Hayden Meadows stretch. It is still very high for that area but, there are enough braids and bends and soft spots to hook a few fish. You’ll have to cover some ground to move from soft water spot to soft water spot. That will be as big of a factor to your success as what you throw for flies. The sheltering water that is out there right now are generally small spots, that might only hold a couple of fish and then you will have to move to another spot to find the next couple of fish. Larger beaded searching nymphs, mid-sized Stones and Caddis imitations along with San Juan Worms have been productive. It looks like peak should happen in the next few days, then hopefully a steady drop to summer flows.
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Arkansas River Salida Area
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| Flow: 4000 cfs. @ Salida | |
| Conditions: Big, Dirty and getting Bigger. Pretty much done for the time being. Run-off is in full swing and has come with a vengeance. Still just a little too dirty to hit any of the limited soft water out there. As it comes down we’ll let you know when that will be worth a look.
Flies: Beadhead Pheasant Tail, Beadhead Prince, Beadhead Hare’s Ear, Red or Chartreuse Copper John, Hot Wire Prince, Tungteaser, Tungstone, Biot Epoxyback Stone, Iron Sally, Psycho Prince, Barr’s Emerger BWO, Juju Baetis, Loop Wing Emerger, Split Case BWO, Tungsten Psycho BWO, Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulator, Foam Caddis, Spotlight Caddis, Hippie Stomper, Parachute Mayfly imitations, Chubby Chernobyl, Fuzzy Wuzzy, Foamulator |
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Roaring Fork River at Glenwood Springs |
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| Flow: 4070 cfs. | |
| Conditions: Big and Dirty! At least below Carbondale, above there it’s just big and stained. If you are in the area and feel the urge to fish it, consider it from Basalt to Aspen, and even then it will be limited. Stoneflies, beaded searching patterns and Myafly nymphs for the Drakes and PMDs with a good amount of weight in what ever soft water you can find.
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South Platte River, Middle Fork |
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| Flow: 560 +/- cfs. | |
| Conditions: Big and rolling. Off color. Run-off is peaking in South Park and conditions are sub-prime to say the least. Not totally out of the question for finding a fish BUT, a very low percentage opportunity. The river will be out of it’s banks in many places, making it difficult to locate the true bank. As with all high water situations target the available soft water. Tomahawk State Wildlife Area will have a good amount of that type of water in some of the big bends that produce a back eddy. Nymph rigs and streamers may be the higher percentage approach but, high water also washes terrestrials into the river and can produce some limited dry fly fishing. Our advice would be to fish your way upstream with bugs, then when you turn around to head back to the car cover that same water with that streamer set-up.
Flies: Chartreuse Copper John, Rainbow Warrior, Egg Patterns, Hot Wire Prince, Beaded Flash Prince, Tungteaser, Tung Psycho May, Zebra Midge, Poison Tung, Rainbow Warrior, Autumn Splendor, Slumpbuster, Sparkle Bugger, Silver Bullet |
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South Platte, Dream Stream |
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| Flow: 732 cfs. | |
| Conditions: Very large but, very clean. A South Platte experience so far from the norm that everybody should at least go check it out. Sure it’s not ideal conditions, but there are fish to be had and enough soft water edges to find them on. Sight fishing will be less than ideal in most places, which may limit your productivity as this place is best fished when you are targeting fish that you can see. However, where you can’t spot em, concentrate on those soft water edges with a mix of nymphs including Caddis Larva, PMDs, Scuds and San Juan Worms. Step up your tippet from the typical minute diameters required here to at least 4x and bump up the weight as well. The most overlooked adjustment to be made will be the amount of weight added to the line. This is often the single largest determination between success and the skunk. Don’t be shy with your split shot. This is where sight nymphing can really help illustrate how much weight it takes to get your flies down to holding/feeding fish. Keep an eye on the target fish as your rig drifts into his feeding lane and see how the fish reacts. Often times no reaction can mean the fish didn’t even see the fly. Whereas even a refusal to your offering at least meant the fish has seen it and just didn’t like it for one reason or another.
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Williams Fork River Below Dam |
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| Flow: 487 cfs. | |
| Conditions: Flows are holding steady this week, as releases from the dam are making room for snow melt in the upper basin. This is a good flow for experienced anglers on this small tail-water but, it is a technical proposition that may intimidate some. As with all above average flow situations, adjust your strategy as much as you adjust your set-up. First, with regards to your set-up, increase both your tippet size and the amount of weight added to your line. Look for those sheltered lies and quiet water along the edges to find fish holding out of the heavier current that might still be a shock to them after the prolonged low winter flows. A wide range of patterns should work for the time being as the large flows will carry more food, as well. San Juan Worm, small Stonefly nymphs, Caddis and Mayfly imitations should all produce some action. As the flow stabilizes, look for fish to move into a wider range of water types and be widely distributed throughout the river. This is still a much better option in this valley than just below its confluence with the Colorado River. With that popular piece of water currently out of it’s banks in spots, a lot of the usual angler pressure that will frequent it at this time of year will now move up onto the Willie’s. So, be prepared to find above average traffic at times.
Flies: Poxy Biot Nymph, Buckskin, Flossy Worm, Little Brown Bug, Two Bit Hooker, Flash Back Pheasant Tail, Split Case BWO, Big Bear Baetis, Tungsten Psycho May BWO, Pure Midge Larva, Rainbow Warrior, Rojo Midge, Biot mayfly Emerger, #20-22 Green Copper John, Zebra Midge, RS2’s, 5-0 Midge, UV Emerger |
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Antero Reservoir |
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| Conditions: Closed for Remodeling
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Spinney Mountain Reservoir |
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| Conditions: Open for the season and results have been solid. Action has been reported on a wide range of nymphs including insect and spawn patterns.
Flies: Jumbo Juju, Yankee Buzzer, Skinny Nelson, Chartreuse Copper John, Hare’s Ear, Egg Patterns
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Delaney Buttes Lakes |
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| Conditions: North has slowed but, East and South continue to produce decent results on Chironomid and Calibaetis patterns. Flies: Jumbo Juju, Rojo Grande, Yankee Buzzer, Tak’s Chironomid, Poxy Back Calibaetis, Hares Ear, Chartreuse Copper John, Pheasant Tail, Bead Prince. |
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