Frying Pan Anglers – a full service fly fishing shop and outfitter based in Basalt Colorado which provides guided fly fishing trips on the frying pan river, roaring fork river, Colorado river and other rivers in the Basalt area. Frying Pan Anglers carries fly fishing equipment, with Hardy fly fishing equipment, and fly fishing supplies. It provides regular fishing reports and fly fishing reports for the frying pan river, the roaring fork river and Colorado river in our area. Frying Pan Anglers is the premier fly fishing and guided fly fishing outfitter for the best quality guides and fly fishing equipment. Frying Pan Anglers provides a range of fly fishing equipment including orvis, hardy, greys, lamson, ross, galvan, and bauer fly fishing reels. In addition it carries orvis helios fly rods, hardy, greys, GL Loomis, mystic echo and St Croix fly rods. It is your one stop fly fishing shop and fly fishing outfitter in the frying pan river area for guided float and wade fishing trips and tours. It hosts excellent fly fishing guides and fly fishing tours on the frying pan river and other local waters. The guides will provide excellent teaching and coaching for clients of Frying Pan Anglers.Frying Pan Anglers – a full service fly fishing shop and outfitter based in Basalt Colorado which provides guided fly fishing trips on the frying pan river, roaring fork river, Colorado river and other rivers in the Basalt area. Frying Pan Anglers carries fly fishing equipment, with Hardy fly fishing equipment, and fly fishing supplies. It provides regular fishing reports and fly fishing reports for the frying pan river, the roaring fork river and Colorado river in our area. Frying Pan Anglers is the premier fly fishing and guided fly fishing outfitter for the best quality guides and fly fishing equipment. Frying Pan Anglers provides a range of fly fishing equipment including orvis, hardy, greys, lamson, ross, galvan, and bauer fly fishing reels. In addition it carries orvis helios fly rods, hardy, greys, GL Loomis, mystic echo and St Croix fly rods. It is your one stop fly fishing shop and fly fishing outfitter in the frying pan river area for guided float and wade fishing trips and tours. It hosts excellent fly fishing guides and fly fishing tours on the frying pan river and other local waters. The guides will provide excellent teaching and coaching for clients of Frying Pan Anglers.


Aspen Fly fishing Guided Trips

cabins on the Frying Pan River

river flow report for the frying pan roaring fork and colorado rivers

Frying Pan River Roaring Fork River and Colorado River guided fishing trips

book a guided frying pan river guided fishing trip

frying pan river trout flies

photos of the frying pan river, roaring fork river and colorado rivers

topics and discussions of the frying pan roaring fork and colorado rivers

fishing equipment and supplies for colorado fishing

frying pan anglers


 
 
 
     


Fishing Report

For the Week ending 12th August 2007


With the commercial paper including CDO liquidity problems hitting the headlines and the stock market this past week, we had our own liquidity problems – too much rain all at once. Last Sunday evening and Monday morning, continuous rain caused a massive mud-slide at the seven Castles creek which shift the entire Frying Pan River 50 yards to the right. We posted some photos of the slide on Monday and you can view them in our archives.

The slide deposited so much material in the river that the Frying Pan has remained dirty for the last week and that has colored up the Fork all the way to Glenwood. The problem was also compounded a little by a wash out in the Taylor Creek catchment which kept Taylor creek colored until this weekend. However the Pan cleared below Taylor Creek within a day of the wash out so it has had a negligible effect. The problem with the Pan though persisted through the week because so much material was deposited as continues to clear. The Bureau also increased the flow in the Pan on Friday by 40cfs so that increased the material being washed into the Fork. Presumably the increased releases had nothing to do with the washout and were just in response to a call on the water. However the increased flows are a two-edged sword. On the one hand the greater flow will clear material a little faster. But on the other hand it has increased the material in the river at the moment.

A further issue will be the extent of the fish kill and the question of how long it will take to regenerate the Pan in the vicinity below the washout. Of course it is all part of the natural process and in the longer term will benefit that section of the river where it appears to have widened it out and cleared out an old tree which had been confining the width of the flow in the past.

So as I write, the Pan below the 4 mile marker is not worth trying to fish, and the Fork is highly questionable all the way to Glenwood. Currently the Crystal is clear and so it is dissipating the color a little below the confluence at Carbondale, but it is not enough at this point to be significant.

The Fork above Basalt is fine although it is getting hard to float in a raft. So walk wading is the best option there. And of course above the 4 mile marker, the Pan is perfect with the added flow making it just a little harder to wade than it was at 260cfs.

All in all, an earth-moving week on the Pan. The other factor to note is that more rain is in the offing, although the probability remains low. But given the uncertainty of predicting the weather in the mountains, there is always the possibility of another downpour, just to keep things interesting. Still, on the bright side, unlike a lot of rivers further north, at least we have plenty of running water.

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. October is also starting to get busy.

Frying Pan

Current Flow: below the Dam - 300cfs. (if you want more uptodate figures check out current readings on our "Links" page)

Below the 4 mile marker it is not worth trying to fish given the current condition of the water. Furthermore, given the amount of material which has been deposited in the river by the washout, the bug life will have been materially affected apart from the fish kill which would have occurred. So for the present, it is not worth even stopping there except to take a few photos of a river being remade by Mother Nature.

The additional release by the Bureau on Friday put the fish off for a day or so as the new flow settled down. However with cloudy skies threatening to return and a little rain in the offing, the fishing on the remainder of the lower Pan should be good in the coming week. Unfortunately, the fishing pressure will increase on the river as a lot of good public water existed in the lower 4 miles of the Pan. In addition the increase of the flow to 300cfs on Friday last, will make wading even more problematic in some of the narrower stretches for those who are unsure on their legs.

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 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: 

For drakes try the dries, cripples emergers and the nymphs. Over the next month or so, there will be so many drake patterns 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 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 - 550cfs (if you want more uptodate figures check out current readings on our "Links" page).

The Fork at the moment is not worth fishing below Basalt but is excellent above the confluence with the Frying Pan. However the level has fallen to the point where floating from higher up than Basalt is not a workable proposition unless you are on your own. So essentially at the moment the best fishing currently on the Fork is walk wading. It is just a matter of time before it clears bellow Basalt. At the moment the best proposition is to ring the shop and get an indication of the quality of the water below Basalt. It is clearing but is taking longer than many thought because so much material was washed inot the Pan and is now in the Fork.

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 to get away from the close in combat fishing on the Pan and find untrafficked areas on the Fork. It really is worth one's while to get a map and some directions if one is unsure. Come by the shop and we will gladly point you in any number of directions.

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.

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

The drakes are finished higher up but the fish will still remember them. Also if floating try streamers for variety.

Colorado River

With the water quality from the Fork down at the moment, the Colorado below Glenwood is also colored.

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.

 
 

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