Frying Pan and Roaring Fork

[Mato Kuwapi]

I hope to be pitching my tent July 1 near the RuediReservoir and fishing the Frying Pan & Roaring Fork for a few days. I tied up a couple dozen Mysis shrimp (CCravens). Looking for more suggestions...also any helpful info about the area. (where to toss flies...where not to) Will be sipping beers in Woody Creek, but don't know much else about the area. My uncle is a Woody Creek local...but he doesn't know much about fly fishing.

[DUB]

Do yourself a gigantic favor. Stop in at Taylor Creek Fly shop in Basalt, or Roaring Fork Anglers in Glenwood Springs. Purchase one bonified "Fishing the Roaring Fork and Frying Pan Rivers" map for $10.00. It will show you, in detail, where 90% of the public access is for both rivers.

Mysis? Charlies is an awesome pattern, but dont limit yourself to just one. Try the pattern here on FAOL's Fly of the week. I have it on pretty good authority that it works well on the Pan. Try ribbing it with red Krystal Flash aswell. Try sizes 20 to 14 for both patterns.

For nymphing both rivers I use an egg pattern as an attractor year round. For the Pan below the dam I trail Mysis, small RS2's and midge larva/emergers behind the egg.

The lower Pan and Roaring Fork I use an egg but trail Soft Hackles and larger Baetis Nymphs (18-14's) behind it most of the time.

I dont fish drys unless I absolutely have to (preferance), so you are on your own there.

Frying Pan Bow a couple weeks ago


Huge Roaring Fork White Fish

Typical Roaring Fork Brown


Average Roaring Fork Rainbow

I usually catch 3 or 4 big Whities like that a year. If I had them officially weighed, they would be State records.

[Mato Kuwapi]

Thanks Dub! That's exactly the kind of info I'm looking for. Will definitely hit the shops and grab the map for sure and tie up some more flies. That was just my first batch.
What size and color egg patterns. I'm a Great Lakes steelheader so I have boxes and boxes of the things. Do you use shot to get the flies down or is the river shallow enough to not worry about weighting them. Also do you use an indicator rig? I've never seen it so I don't know what I'm looking at. Nymphing is how I fish most of the time...but if I see risers...I like to play with them. I think by the time I get there...it will be running pretty low. I have options...not sure whether to go for a camp site around the upper FP or stay at the ones down at the dam area...or does it matter. Not sure what distances / drive times are. Fish mostly below Reudi or above in the Upper?
The colors of those fish are pretty cool. Different than here for sure. NICE Whitie!! I wonder if Mt. White Fish taste as good as Lake WF. LOL ...no worries...I throw everything back anyway.

When you say small rs2's and midge patterns, how small? I have hooks that go all the way to #32 and will tie them if I have to. But usually just tie to 26 for most of my small flies.
How about san juans...should I have some of those and what size?

[DUB]

Send me a PM with your mailing address and I will send you some samples..eggs, rs2 etc....22 is as small as I will go.

[Mato Kuwapi]

PM sent...

[Joel D. Popham]

Deb,

If you are in that area, I strongly recommend that you try the "Hog Trough" just under the dam on the Taylor Reservoir. Most of the record sized trout in CO have been taken there. The fish all have "PhD's" and have seen every fly known to man. I caught a couple of little ones there last August that were 28" and probably around 5#. The record sized ones are near 30#. Have a great trip and Best Regards.....

[Mato Kuwapi]

Thanks! That looks like a nice spot too. Will throw that into the itinerary. From that area...we'll be moving up towards your direction. Jackson, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone... fishin' fishin' fishin'.

[Dblackman]

just up the road from the res. in between there and tin cup in a nice little stream with some nice fish in there. also there is a nice pool just next to the road accross from a mail box i think. It had some monsters in it last year. Keep on that road through Tin Cup to Mirroe lake (up the mountain about 10mins) nice fish in there. If i remember right the spot just below the damn was catch and release only. It was shoulder to shoulder when I was there, but there were some monsters in there. Take pictures. i love that place. I cried when I teared up when I left and ive thought about every day since then. good luck, be safe, and catch lots of fish.
Dsavid

[sheldon]

Hi Deb,
I live with in a stones throw of Woody Creek. July is going to be a very good time to be fishing the area! Allong with what DUB suggested you will want to have some Green Drakes 10-12, P M D 18-14 Golden Stones 10-12 maybe some Hopper patterns. DUB is right about the map.I could let you use mine and maybe show you some nice spots. P M me and I may be able to answer questions
Sheldon

[castell]

Mato,

The Mysis are great on the Pan from the base of the dam (the toilet bowl) down to the bend pool. By that point they have mostly been plucked out by the big pigs. I will sometimes get eats as far down as baetis bridge, but that tends to be in higher flows. The map is handy to have when you are new to the area. Between Ruedi and Basalt there is about 14 miles of water on the Pan, about 7 mile is public & the other 7 is private.

Typically in early July you will see the last of the spring BWOs, with the summer PMD hatch kicking off and, as always on the Pan, lots of midges. The green drakes should be starting on the lower Fork but the river near Jaffe will fish similarly to the Pan in terms of flies. The Drakes typically don't start on the Pan until mid to late July. BE CAREFUL if you wade the Fork. Big, slimy rocks and strong flows at that time of year.

I prefer light tippet, 6x and smaller, on the Pan, and love it for the dry fly fishing, though they can be selective, so be willing to change flies if you are getting refusals.

Another shop in the area is Frying Pan Anglers, which has one of the best fly selections of any shop I have been in and also carries the FP & RF map. They also have historical fishing reports on there website for the past five years. You can click here to see those reports.