Frying Pan Anglers, guided fly fishing trips, fly fishing equipment, Frying Pan and Roaring Fork Fly Fishing Reports

Friday 31st Update - As predicted yesterday, a little rain in the afternoon but the fishing again was excellent. Mike and Cameron reported excellent fishing on the Pan with the drakes and PMD's coming off close to the dam. Mike actually had a lot of success on midges figuring that the fish are starting to see a lot of drake flies and the theory worked well. Dan fished into the evening and enjoyed a great hatch of midges, pmd's and a few drakes mid-river. Tomorrow is predicted to be clear with the prospect of more thundery weather into next week. All predictions remain good. We'll see how the upper stretch of the Fork fishes on a float in the morning.

The Pan continues to run at 182cfs but the Fork has lifted a little overnight to 685cfs as a result of some very welcome and much predicted rain. This afternoon the clouds gather once more and a light rain is falling. With the forecast for thunderstorms over the next week, perhaps the prediction will be a little more accurate than last week and afford us a cooler spell after the very hot weather.

There are some days that just stick in the memory. Yesterday was one of those days. Ordinarily I am not given to too much description because it tends to get in the way of useful information. But yesterday’s story needs to be set down before it fades a little. Gary and I started out in the morning intending to float to the lower woody creek bridge and then pick up Jay to complete the journey.

We had decided to fish with old well known patterns which just don’t seem to get much attention nowadays. The first choice was a gray wulff #10. 3 big browns nosed it and then the action started - less than 100 yards from the put-in. After 4 fish on the gray wulff we tried a trude #14 which also worked well. Then the Adams #10 and finally the Irresistible Adams #10 and #12.

We estimated that in the first hour we spent more time eddying out to net fish and retie flies than actually floating down the Fork. There were a few drakes coming off as well as some caddis and a good midge hatch.

Gary hooked a fish. This was a nice one. He played it for a while as the raft tumbled its way through the turbulent water and around the revealed boulders. I don't recall what it was in particular which did it, but all I remember is that one minute he had the fish under control and the next minute the reel had come apart with the spool at his feet and he was frantically gathering in the line to regain control. Eventually he landed a very nice brown and put his reel back together again.

Regaining his composure he recommenced fishing. Gary then caught a small fish which promptly broke his rod. It is the 4th time it has broken and he has now given up on Scott. He sat down in disgust as we arrived at the lower Woody Creek bridge.

We met up with Jay, had lunch and proceeded to fish on down. Almost immediately the fish started in on the Irresistible Adams #10. Fish after fish. It was silly. Then we hit a low hanging bridge. I sat down and promptly broke Gary’s net.

Our next task was to find somewhere to pull over to make a running repair on the net. Before we found a spot Jay caught 3 more fish. The third was a beauty and is pictured. We found somewhere we could pull in and unbelievably Jay managed to land it with the broken net. It was a spectacular fish.

At that point a change blew in and brought a touch of rain. Nothing much really. But it turned off the best of the fishing for the rest of the journey. But that’s OK. There are days and there are days. This was a spectacular day. Despite a broken rod and a broken net it is definitely one for the books. For old guys and old flies, the consensus was that as far as dry fly fishing goes, it couldn't get much better. Enjoy some of the photos.

With the flows remaining at 182cfs the fishing has been excellent. The drakes are coming off quite nicely both in the afternoon and just before dark. So now we have midges, PMD’s and some red quills in the morning, drakes from midday to mid-afternoon, midges and caddis in the evening and then PMD’s and drakes from dusk into dark.

On the hottest days last week, mid afternoon things tended to slow down a little. But it was just a matter of having an hour or two off in the shade, grab a moments rest and then back out onto the river.

The forecast for the coming week is for cooler possibly thundery weather and showers. If that comes to pass, the weather will be ideal for all hatches including some BWOs.

Recommended Flies: For the drakes try dries with emergers as droppers. The fish will get such a lot of pressure now that the drakes are coming off. Consequently, it is wise to carry a range in the hope that you will be able to present something which is a little different. Try the gray wulff #10 - #12, the Irresistible Adams #10 - #12, the Adams and Adams Female #10 - #14.

For drake nymph droppers try the muskrat nymph, the BH anatomical and the split-case nymphs all in #10-#12.

For the PMD's try Lawsons no-hackles #14 - #16 gray/yellow and also the pink no-hackles #14 - 16. Try comparadun patterns #16 and #18 as well as Barr's emergers and the FPA special PMD emerger.

In the morning try red quills #14 - #18 and spinners.

In addition try larger adams patterns, sulphur's #14 - #18 as well as other mayfly patterns as evening falls.

The midges will come off during the day, particularly if it is sunny. So try WD-40's #20, red and black chironocones #20, brassie's #18 - #22, midge larva patterns #18 - #22, copper johns #18 - #22, black polywings #18 - #22 and garcia's rojo midges # 18 - #22.

As they come off try the gray loopwing emergers #20 - #22, the FPA special emergers, biot emergers both with and without the trailing shuck and gray RS2's #18 - #22. In addition try 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, loopwing emergers #20 - #22 and FPA special emergers #20 - #26.

For baetis try the FPA sparkle baetis #20-#22, FPA emerging baetis #22 - #26 and small pheasant tails #20 - #24. When they get up on to the surface use Parachute Adams, gray special emergers, olive body dries and winger baetis patterns.

As the season progresses and the fishing pressure intensifies, particularly with clear skies, the tippet will be most important. So be prepared for the fish to become more particular on presentation and anything else which might alert them to any risk. At this time of year, particularly in the slower water 7x is the minimum and 8 - 9x should be considered if the fish are particularly wary.

Roaring Fork

Current Flow: near Emma - 685cfs (if you want more uptodate figures check out current readings on our "Links" page).

The flow in the Fork has continued to fall however over the last 24 hours with a cool change coming through and some rain overnight the flow has settled and moved back up a little. If the cooler weather persists and there is some accompanying rain, the level should hold or possibly move a little higher depending on the amount of rain.

The fishing has been exceptional up high this past week. The predominant hatch is caddis with some drakes, PMDs, midges and BWO when it is cloudy. The flies which worked particularly well were Adams #10-#12, Irresistible Adams #10 - #12, Grey Wulff’s #10-#12 and caddis patterns such as the FPA special hare’s ear emerger, the trude and generally the Royal Coachman, the H & L Variant and the Wulff drake patterns.

Lower down the fishing was also strong but tended to slow down a little mid afternoon. As we move into August and the level falls further, on hot days, in particular, the fishing will slow down mid afternoon before picking up into the evenings. The cloudy cooler days will provide the best fishing at this time. Lower down the most effecive fishing is nymphing although the evenings do afford good dry fly activity.

The float traffic has spread out more along the river over the past week, but it is still light given the quality of the fishing mid-week. Ed, Harry, Dan, Mike and Cameron all reported excellent trips with the full range of hatches depending how long one was on the water. From drakes, to yellow sallies, pmd’s, bwo’s when it was cloudy, a lot of midges in the mornings and evenings and caddis in the evenings. When it was bright during the day the best results were from nymphing. The fish started to move on the surface as evening fell. But given the amount of feed about now, the most productive fishing is from nymphing using a hopper dropper combination.

Recommended Flies: Try drakes higher up, caddis emergers and dries, baetis and pmd nymphs, emergers and dries, stone fly nymphs such as Mckee's and Pat's rubblerlegs and yellow sally patterns.

PMD's are now in abundance as well as yellow sallies. Try PMD nymphs and emergers such as Barrs emergers #16-#20, the FPA biot PMD shuck trailer emerger #16 - #18, the Bubbleback and dries such as the comparadun, Lawson's no-hackle gray/yellow and pink as well as sulpher's in the evening.

For yellow sallies try the small nymph patterns like Kyle's yellow sally as well dries such as chuck's yellow trude, Flint's Yellow stone #16 and the Glasstail little yellow sally #16.

The drakes are also quite prevalent on a cloudy day and more prolific in the evenings up as far as Aspen now. Tey Irresistible Adams #10 - #12, Adams and Female Adams #10 - #14 and gray wulffs #10 - #12. In addition try drake emergers such as the straw wings and dries. If the drakesa re coming off, the fish might key in on the nymphs rising in the water so try the anatomical, fpa and muskrat patterns.

The bwos also come off when it is cloudy so try baetis nymphs and emergers such as rs2's behind the larger drake and PMD nymphs.

When floating try a dry/dropper combination of orange stimulators and large dry stone flies with a smaller caddis dropper, PMD emergers or drakes nymphs and emergers. As evening progresses if it cloudy and the drakes are coming off try drake dries. In addition there are a lot of golden stones coming off in the evenings and night so try golden stone nymphs and dry patterns if floating late.

Colorado River

The Colorado is fishing well now and has very good visibility. On bright days, the fish go deeper so during the day it is a matter of nymphing or using streamers. However in the evenings, the fish come up to the surface and offer some excellent dry fly activity in a slower sections. The fish are taking soft hackle PMD patterns as well as PMD and yellow sally nymphs during the day. In the evening they will take caddis, drakes, PMD's and terrestrials such as crane flies.

Walking along the grass along the Colorado, there are a lot of hoppers moving about. So don't overlook terrestrials such as hoppers during the day, particularly when it is hot.

Recommended Flies: green drake dries and emergers. Try the Adams and Adams Female, the gray wulff and the Irresistible Adams #10 - #12. Try yellow sallies. Try PMD nymphs emergers and dries such as the Lawson no-hackle pink and gray/yellow patterns #14 - #16. Try BWOs when it is cloudy. Try the adams as well as rs2s. In addition caddis are in abundance. Also try hopper patterns against the banks.