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

Thursday 6th August: A little more changeable weather today, but the Pan fished well with dries for a good part of the day. The day started off bright but mid afternoon saw some clouds and a little rain.

The Fork rished reasonably well but mid river was a little tougher with the fish holding deep down. The took Barr's emergers, FPA sparkle baetis and the FPA PMD emerger. The photo is a shot of a 21" rainbow I took around 6.30pm on the Fork. It took an FPA PMD emerger #18.

The Colorado has cleared nicely and the fishing is excellent particularly on small nymphs.

During the week the Bureau increased the flow in the Pan by about 100cfs so that it is now running at 276cfs. As a consequence the Fork at Basalt has lifted and now is running around 700cfs although it fluctuates during the day. The increased flow has improved the floating marginally from Basalt although few people seem to be taking advantage of it. The weather has cleared very nicely and is getting hotter again with clear skies. However the current prediction is that it won’t last for more than a few days before the afternoon thunderstorms roll in again.

During the past week we endured quite a storm on Wednesday which caused several mudslides along Frying Pan Road towards town. Luckily however, very little material found its way into the river although a massive boulder was dislodged and it forced a car over the edge and into the water.

The rains colored up the Crystal for a few days and the Colorado is still very murky and preferably avoided at the moment given the excellent quality of the water near Basalt in the Pan and the Fork.

We are at the height of the season and the fishing has been excellent with the cloudy days and rain. The drakes have now moved right up the Pan closer to the dam so the hatches of drakes and PMDs on the cloudy days have been prolific.

There are a lot of fishermen in town over the weekend, but during the week the numbers are a little muted making for some excellent opportunities to get out onto the river alone. Quite remarkable for the Pan. Early in the week when it was a little cooler in the morning and we had had some rain overnight Cam said that the flats were practically empty until 11am. The BWO hatches were excellent and Cam and his client enjoyed an excellent time until other fishermen turned up. Cam left and went to other spots where no-one was fishing.

So despite the reputation of the Pan being overly busy at the height of the season, we are seeing quite a lot of opportunities for some uninterrupted fishing during the day.

The Fork continues to fall although the increased releases from the Pan have augmented the flows below Basalt. There will not be a great deal of time left to float above Basalt at the rate at which the flow is falling. In fact, now a raft with 3 people probably would have to do more walking and pulling than it would be worth. But below Basalt the water level remains excellent for floating and is preferable to the armada that sets sail from Carbondale. Why anyone floating from Carbondale down would want to be any lower than the 3rd or 4th boat on the water is beyond me – unless you are putting on later in the day. Strange, but a lot of people seem to be doing it. Maybe there is an unconscious attempt underway to dwarf the Spanish armada. Or maybe they are just sightseeing. Our guides, though, try and avoid the crowds. Cam got onto the lower Fork before anyone else during the week and it paid great dividends for his client as you can see here.

in any case, you don’t have to feel that you are part of the opening gates at Disneyland if you don’t want to. There are plenty of great opportunities to get out onto the water and see very few other fishermen. If you are new to the area, drop by the shop and chat to Art and the guides. We would love to point you to places which are readily accessible and essentially untrafficked.

The bureau put the flows up by about 100cfs during the week so that the Pan is currently running at 276cfs. The fishing has been excellent with drakes and PMD’s having given great dry fly action earlier in the week when the cloudy weather was about. The evening hatches of midges have been excellent followed by caddis and PMD’s mid-river. There are a lot of crane flies flitting across the surface in the evenings as well.

There were a number of excellent reports from guide trips all week. Ed and Cam reported excellent fishing up near the dam while Mike, Jake and Dan all reported excellent evening trips into dark.

A range of flies worked from midges, red quills, BWO’s, PMD’s caddis and drakes. The wet weather brings on the best hatches and this past week was an excellent example. The prediction is for a day or so of clear weather and then some more thundery weather coming in which will provide more cloud cover.

So for the coming week if it is hot and clear, try and get out early and fish till mid-afternoon, take a rest and then fish till dark. If the weather turns cloudy with some rain, then take your rain jacket along and just stay out as long as you can.

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 and the Klinkhammer #14. In addition talk to the guides in the shop. We are trying to have at least one guide on hand in the shop each day during the season.

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 Lawson's 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, brassies #18 - #22, midge larva patterns #18 - #22, copper johns #18 - #22, black polywings #18 - #22 and garcia's rojo midges # 18 - #22. Mike reported great success this week on smaller black midges such as the miracle midge.

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 - 700cfs (if you want more uptodate figures check out current readings on our "Links" page).

Although the natural fall in the flow of the Fork continued during the week, the increased releases into the Pan augmented the flows from Basalt down making rafting a lot easier than would have been the case 100cfs less. However the flows above Basalt have continued to fall so that there is probably not much more than a week or so of floating left if you have a light craft and not too heavy a cargo. The drake hatches have abated higher up so that now it is more small flies like PMDs and BWO’s. The completion of the drake cycle marks the closing of a great food for the fish and indicates that we are moving through the season quickly – a sobering thought. There are however a lot of golden stone shucks on the rocks lower down indicating that the next hatch in the cycle is underway.

The floating on Saturday from Basalt was very quiet until midday. The rains seemed to have cooled the water a little and put the fish down. But by the time the sun had a chance to warm the water, a few PMDs and then BWO started coming off. By early afternoon the fishing was excellent on small baetis nymphs like the flashback pheasant tail, the gray rs2 and the bubbleback. But the fly of the day was the FPA sparkle baetis #20 which continued to do its job all the way to Carbondale. There was very little activity on top even though there were bugs coming off all day from the very strong midge hatch in the morning to the caddis in the evening. So it seems that generally the Fork is returning to form and the best results will be from nymphing under a hopper or large stone fly attractor.

Ed, Harry, Gary, Mike and Cam all reported good trips during the week but the consensus was that nymphing was the most productive way to go. From stoneflies, to pmd, caddis and baetis nymphs and emergers to attractors like prince nymphs. With the water level lower now it is possible to fish the structures now so concentrate in those areas and below riffles and aeration.

Recommended Flies: Try drakes higher up as the fish will remember them, 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 and there are a few yellow sallies still about. Try PMD nymphs and emergers such as Barr's 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 sulphurs 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.

Although the drakes are nearing the end of their cycle, try 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. Put a smaller fly behind the drake like a PMD or a BWO.

The bwos also come off, particularly when it is cloudy so try baetis nymphs and emergers such as rs2's , FPA sparkle baetis #20 - #22 and the FPA emerging baetis #22 - #24.

The golden stones are now coming off at night so try stonefly nymphs with smaller nymphs.

When floating try a dry/dropper combination of orange stimulators and large dry stone flies or hopper patterns, with a smaller caddis dropper, PMD nymphs and emergers or baetis nymphs and emergers. As evening progresses try double dries.

Colorado River

The Colorado really blew out during with week with the rain and hasn't cleared very well to date. So for the moment just turn up Highway 82 and come up to Basalt where the float traffic is minimal and wade traffic is not too heavy on the Pan and almost non-existent on the Fork.

Recommended Flies: If you are going to try the Colorado, 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.