10/14/12 Arkansas Below Pueblo

10/14/12
Arkansas Below Pueblo
Flows 41
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Another day down in Pueblo!  My buddy Andy joined me today and I was looking for the fishing to improve compared to yesterday!  We started at Valco again and picked up a few fish at 3 rocks, and we made our way upstream to the gauging station shortly after.  The fishing was still pretty slow like yesterday, but we were getting consistent bites.  Not a fish every cast, but we could pass our rig through some fishy water and eventually pick up a fish.

I was rigged up with a red san juan and 2 midges.  Andy had a red san juan, a soft hackle hare's ear and a midge.

Andy managed this nice bow at the far run at the gauging station.

Later in the day, we moved over to the Water Treatment Plant and caught a few more small guys.  I was starting to get discouraged, and Andy had to leave to go back to Denver so we decided to head over to the dam to see if we could find anything bigger.  The water looked even skinnier here so we decided to call it day.  Andy made his drive back to Denver and I started heading back into town...but I just couldn't resist one more cast at Valco...

I'm glad I stopped!  I ended up finally catching a decent fish above the gauging station.  He took a beadhead olive emerger pattern.

He measured out to 19 in, so certainly not the biggest, but a nice fish when all you've been catching all day is 12 inchers.

Here he is swimming away...

On my way back to the car, I ran into this little fella.  Made me want to tie on a crayfish streamer and see what would happen!

I guess this proves that there's plenty to eat in this river for the big fish!

So...a good end to the day.  Fishing was ok, but not incredible like I've seen it before.  I'll attribute the poor fishing to the low flows and windy conditions rather than my fishing ability.  :)

If you're going to head down, stock up on midges, mayflies, bwo's and trico's.  We witnessed an amazing trico spinner fall at 11:00.  Fish were rising to them, but took our small black size 20 midges as well.  I imagine a drowned trico spinner would get lots of hits too.  I tried a z wing caddis, but had zero hits on it...looks like the caddis are pretty much done.  Moving into winter, bwo's and midges will be the go to flies.

08/19/12 Arkansas Below Pueblo

08/19/12
Arkansas Below Pueblo
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Flows 95

Sorry for the lateness is posting this report...life sometimes gets in the way of fishing!  I"m neck deep in my busy travel season right now and the wife is busy with fair season going on.  Lucky for me, this means that when the wife needs to work down in Pueblo, I get to tag along and do some fishing!

The flows have been very low all summer, allowing for easy wade fishing unlike previous years when the river is roaring at 1200.  This has been a blessing and a curse for the river...fishing has been good all summer, with great hatches going on, but fishing pressure has been extremely heavy and I'm seeing lots of people leaving the river with big fish stuck on a stringer.  I have nothing against taking some fish home for dinner, it's just sad to see these big fish, some that I'm sure I've caught and released being taken home.

I started the day at Valco, and I thought I was there early enough to beat the crowds...unfortunately, the parking lot was already full!  I rigged up my rods and made my way down to 3 rocks and was able to get into some fish right away!  There were 3 guys fishing the slack water below who immediately made their way up and tried fishing where I was when they saw I was catching fish.

I picked up a few more on a prince nymph and another that took a brown z wing caddis.

Instead of sticking around and trying to fish around the 3 guys that moved up, I decided to move on and see if the fishing was any good upstream.

I made my way past a few other fisherman fishing the hole just above the parking lot, and past another 2 that were fishing the gauging station.  The fast riffles and pocket water above didn't have anybody in there so I dropped in a picked up a couple smaller fish.

The brown z wing caddis took most fish, with a few taking the prince.  There were quite a few fish slurping the surface, but I was too lazy to change and besides, I was catching fish! 

Around noon, the fishing died down...the fish stopped slurping...and I was ready for a drink and on to some old familiar water!  I headed over to the water treatment plant played around in the riffles and pocket water.  all small fish, but it was nice to fish in an area not as crowded as Valco.

After about an hour or two, I started wondering if the city park spillway was fishing any good...so I hoofed it back to the car and headed on over. 

I didn't see anybody fishing!  I soon figured out why.

Although I caught some fish, all were small and it wasn't as productive as it's been in the past.  The low flows, the higher temps and people taking fish home most likely attributed to the poor fishing here.  Usually there's at least a couple bait dunkers trying to fill up a stringer.  I did find a pod of suckers and they proved to be fun for a little bit, but I decided to move on back to Valco to see if I could get into some bigger fish.

It was getting late, and my arm was getting tired...I haven't had a full day of fishing in a while and I was getting fatigued!  My casts were getting sloppy but I was determined to get a few more fish before I called it a day.

So after a few more fish, I decided to call it day.  I long day, filled with great fishing!  Some big, some small, but it was still fun feeling the tug of a fish.  No brownies this trip, but the rainbows put up a good fight!

I nymphed all day, being lazy, I never tied on a dry.  Even though there was a trico hatch, a midge hatch, and a small caddis hatch.  I mainly used a prince nymph, barr's emerger, a z wing caddis, and a micro mayfly.  5x tippet/leader, with a small split shot.  This rig can be fished about 90% of the time in Pueblo, even in the winter, and I'm actually looking forward to this winter when the fishing pressure will be off and some of the bigger fish will be out!

05/23/12 Blue River in Silverthorne

05/23/12
Blue River in Silverthorne
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Flows 77

Last day in the mountains so it's a quick stop on the Blue in Silverthorne.  Flows are still low, but there's rumors of a bump soon.  That will help get the fish dispersed and more food being flushed out of the reservoir and more bugs in the riffles.

All the brooders are still hanging out in cable hole with a few in the runs all the way up to rodeo hole.  The colder weather did put the fish off a little, but there were still plenty there willing to eat.

The resident fish were readily taking mysis while the brooders were keyed in on midges and nymphs.

I actually caught more resident fish than the brooders...a switch up from the norm, but I'd assume the colder temps turned them off while the resident fish are used to feeding year round and more keyed in on mysis.

Lots of fish to be had, but a tough day for some.  I saw quite a few people out not catching and even a guy bragging about all the 20 inchers he pulled out yesterday, only to catch the skunk today.  Again, the temps probably played heavily into it.  But if you drop down to 5x and 6x tippet and get a good drift, you'll get into some fish.  Also, consider using a heavier lead fly and running with no weight.  If you still aren't having much luck, take off the indicator and high stick nymph it.  Takes are super subtle and if you're running your indicator too long, you're going to miss takes all day long.

Hot flies were rainbow warriors, stalcup's mysis, craven's mysis, black midge larvae, miracle midges, tiny pheasant tails and rs2's.

Even with the crowds, fishing remains good.  Lots of fish, but they are getting weary of fisherman so change up your tactics and catch some fish!

05/22/12 Frying Pan

05/22/12
Frying Pan River
7:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Flows 111

With a day of in between work days in the mountains was the reason why I made the drive up to the Pan!  Normally I wouldn't fish the Pan in the Spring/Summer because of the crowds but I figured I'd give it a try.  I knew the fishing was going to be consistent at the toilet bowl and I thought if I got up there early, I would be able to fish the bowl and then spend some time on the flats and bend hole.

So I got up early and hit the road.  I got to the Pan around 7:00 and was dismayed to see a car already in the lot.  I made my way down to the bowl thinking that if it was packed, I would work the flats and the bend hole...but it was just 1 guy!

I got to talking and Bill from Frisco didn't mind having some company.  He had arrived at 5:30 and already had a good morning.

Second cast...

The rainbows are back!  Spawning is over and lots of the big bows are back in the bowl.  Lots of browns still there of course, but lots of bows that are willing to take mysis, bwo's, and midges!



Quite a few browns were on the prowl too...

While more people that fish the bowl, tie on a bunch of weight, I went with a different tactic to fish for the big guys that were feeding just sub surface and mid current.  No weight!  It was actually pretty fun to watch these fish open their mouths to inhale my flies and even see a few chase and refuse flies.

Next time you're up there...give that a shot.  Not only did it help improve my catch rate, I reduced my snag rate significantly!

Hot flies were stalcup's mysis, craven's mysis, soft hackle hare's ear, flashback rs2 in black and grey and various other midge patterns in black and grey.

Crowds were relatively light in the morning, but by noon, there were 15 cars in the lot and at least 2 cars in every pull out along the way.  The crowds also prevented me from fishing the bend hole...I should have gotten a picture of the 6 guys almost shoulder to shoulder fishing that run...

So if you want some great fishing, get out to the Pan, but get there early!

04/15/12 Blue River in Silverthorne

04/15/12
Blue River in Silverthorne
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Flows 75

The fishing is on fire!  DOW stocked the river with brooders about 10 days ago.  Lots of "dumb" fish eating everything drifting in front of them and lots of residents still around post spawn looking great!  Although local shop reports are saying that the fishing has slowed...the fishing is still excellent and now is your chance to get into some big fish without having to use 7x fluro and a perfect cast and drift.

Here are some hatchery tagged fish.

Pretty cool to see the tags that the DOW uses to mark them.

In addition to the tags, they also cut off the adipose fins on these brooders.

Fish were taking just about anything you had on.  I started my set up with a two bit hooker to bring the flies down and dropped a rs2 and a WD40 behind and caught fish on all flies.  I did start with 6x tippet, but after losing 2 flies to fish breaking me off, I switched to 5x and I didn't have any problem horsing in the fish after that.  Bead eggs also produced and fish really liked the smaller pink sparkle bead.

After breaking a few fish off and losing my flies, I switched up the droppers to some random midges in various colors that I tied up to give them a shot.  These "experimental" flies are crazy color combinations and styles that I like to try out on winter tailwaters to try to "bust the hatch".  Even though they caught lots of fish today, it's not a true test as to their effectiveness since these brooders are willing to eat just about anything.

But, I did have a resident fish take one of my multi-color midges so I'll be sure to tie up more of them for the Blue this winter!

 A great day on the Blue!  I was pretty excited to see that the DOW put some brooders in there.  The fishing this winter has been average to poor which could have been for lots of reasons.  (high fishing pressure, lower flows, weather conditions) But the fish survey that was done last year has shown a significant decline in fish population and size.  Hopefully these fish will add to the numbers there and help increase the quantity of resident fish in the river when they spawn next spring.

I wish I didn't have to leave since the fishing was so good, but 3 hours of fishing and over 20 fish to the net equals a good day.  I didn't want to end the day stuck in skier traffic so I left with a sore arm and memories of big fish peeling line off!

04/05/12 Blue River Below Green Mountain

04/05/12
Blue River Below Green Mountain
Temp 65
Flows 72
1:00 - 4:00 PM

I had to take care of some business up in Hot Sulphur Springs so I decided to bring the rod and see how the Blue Below Green Mountain was doing.

The flows have been reduced quite a bit from normal so I figured sight fishing and clear water would be the name of the game.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case...even though the flows are low and wading is easy, visibility isn't the greatest.  Not sure why, but I wasn't able to spot too many fish.  Hopefully it clears up a bit, but even still, the stained water didn't turn the fish off.

This bow took a size 20 grey WD40.

I tried to fish some bigger flies, but got no takers, so I switched back to flash back rs2's and other midge patterns.  Dark and tiny were on the menu...

I did get into quite a few browns that were feeding in the riffles.  Occasionally, one would rise and take emergers so a 3 rig of midges and rs2's with no weight fooled many fish.

Fish count for the day was 8 fish, all browns except for 1 rainbow caught in the diversion.  I did hook into quite a few more fish in the diversion, but they either spit the hook, or ran up into the waterfall creating slack in the line which caused the hook to fall out.  All the browns were caught in the riffles and were actively feeding.

Flies for the day definitely were rs2's in black, flash back, and regular as well as dark midge patterns in a size 18 - 22.

03/06/12 Arkansas Below Pueblo

03/06/12
Arkansas Below Pueblo
10:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Air Temp: 78

With Tuesday being forecasted as the nicest day of the week, Dave talked me into taking the day off. We decided to head to Pueblo since it was going to be a warm day and we expected lots of fish!

The wife and kid were even able to tag along!

Here is Kaycee meeting her 1st trout!



It was fun having the wife and kid around. Brenda hasn't been fishing since before Kaycee was born so this was our 1st family outing together. A friend of ours got us a Kelty backpack kid carrier which worked perfectly.

We decided to start the day at Valco and as soon as we pulled into the parking lot, we realized that a lot of people had the same idea as us to take the day off of work and do some fishing. The parking lot was packed!

We quickly geared up and headed down to the 3 rocks and there were already 2 guys fishing the run behind there. A quick hello and we started fishing just above them. Brenda immediately hooked up by being out of practice, she lost the 1st 5 fish that she hooked up with. A few of them were quite big as well!

I was able to hook into quite a few fishing behind the 3 rocks while Brenda continued to fish the side run.





No monsters, but decent fish. It was fun having Kaycee on my back and to hear her squeal as I was catching fish.

After a couple of hours, Brenda and Kaycee were getting hungry so they took off to get some lunch. Dave and I continued to fish and we moved up to our #2 spot down from the gauging station.

The fishing here was a little slower, but Dave was able to hook into a few larger fish. Unfortunately they would come unbuttoned before he could get them in the net.





This was the biggest of the day, a nice 17 incher.



At around 2, the bite started to die. Maybe it was all the pressure...there was a ton of people out there. When we left, we counted at least 15 cars in the parking lot. So to end the day, we decided to run to the spillway and see how that was fishing.

Dave set up below the bridge and proceeded to catch a few, and I set up in the runs below the spillway and picked up quite a few stockers.





Overall, a great fishing day! It was crowded, but we were able to find the fish. Flies for the day were midge patterns. Jujubee Midges, Zebra Midges with a chartreuse wrap, WD40's and Flashback Black Beauties. Mayfly patterns like two bit hookers and prince nymphs also worked great as a lead fly. I even picked up quite a few fish at the spillway with a red micro san juan.

A lot of the rainbows were also starting to get colored up for the spawn. I would suspect egg patterns will start working again so have a few in your arsenal if you plan on heading down there. Flows should be jumping up pretty soon to so keep your eye on the flows before you head down there.