I will be in the area for 5 days of trout fishing in mid august. Can anyone tell me how it is fishing? And what flies I need to tie for the trip? Thanks
Steve,
What river/rivers will you be fishing? I assume the Roaring Fork at least? It is really hard to say this far ahead of time how the fishing will be; that’s part of the trouble fishing in Colorado - it isn’t always the same year-to-year. It will depend on weather, flows, and the sun/moon (really). We’ve had a lot more rain this spring so far, so the rivers are still high and off-color compared to recent years.
Here are a few fly shops in the area to check for reports. I can’t/won’t speak to their validity; sometimes I think a couple of the shops in specific “pad” their reports to get people up there.
Taylor Creek Fly Shop
Frying Pan Anglers
Roaring Fork Anglers
Also, here’s one in Carbondale to check out that I will vouch for. They’ve been pretty good to me over the years: Crystal Fly Shop They are a bit smaller and a LOT more friendly than the shops in Basalt on the Frying Pan!
Give me a shout closer to when you’ll be here and I’ll see if I can help you out. I’ll be up on the Frying Pan for about a week starting mid next week. :tieone:
Thanks for the leads on the shops. We are planning on fishing the Roaring Fork,Frying Pan and Crystal River.Good luck on your trip, post some pics, If they might get me even more wound up. The guy that I will be making the trip with was there 2 yrs ago, it will be my first. Thanks again.
The 'Pan consistently ranks as one of my favorite fishin spots! Part of that is there is a really nice campground that sits on the shore of Ruedi Reservoir just above the river that we always stay at. One is called Little Maud and the other is Mollie B. One takes reservations and the other is all first come, first served (I can never recall which is which though).
To whet your appetite, here is a report I did last year: Frying Pan 8/2008
Compare that report with last week’s flows which were near 600 cfs. The flow into Ruedi has finally slowed down (the lake was very near spilling last week; about a month earlier than usual) so they have been dropping the flow in 50 cfs increments. It is down to 336 cfs this morning, and I expect it will stay near that for awhile.
For your reference, here are gaging stations for the rivers in the area:
Frying Pan flow
Roaring Fork flow near Basalt (measured in Basalt about 1 mile below confluence w/ the 'Pan)
Roaring Fork flow near Aspen
Crystal flow near Carbondale
Crystal flow near Redstone
I still wish I knew where all the nice rainbows went though. I haven’t been up there this year at all, so I’m hoping the new Hofer stain they stocked last year have grown up. We shall see. :tieone:
I get 50-80 days of fishing on these rivers every year. My favorite area is the upper Roaring Fork. Fished the Pan for many years, lots of fish, but very cold water (dam controlled) so they just don’t put up much of a battle. Could be they have all been caught a few zillion times. The upper Fork, freestone, has warmer water and a 18" fish really takes off. Tie into one of the 25"+ ones and you really have a fight on your hands. But, as CO Angler pointed out, all is dependent on water flow.
Doug
WOW!!! I have never seen browns colored tht nice. Cant wait.
Hi Steve,
You will have green drake and caddis hatchs when you are here for sure.
The above link to Taylor creek fly shop has a very accurate report updated weekly! In august you cannot beat a yellow stimmy. You should have some rusty spinners, all forms of caddis life in tan & olive, same for pmd’s, bwo’s , mysis and midges for the pan. We recently had a mud slide on the upper fork, it is in not coloring the water to bad. Only after rain should be o.k. by aug. I may be able to hook up to fish, maybe show you some less crowded water if you would like. I live 20 minutes up valley from bonedale.
Sheldon
Y’all can drive over McClure and fish some hoppers and caddis on the Gunnison with me if you wish. Send me a PM as the time approaches. I stick with this side of the hill, though.
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