Blue River Silverthorne/Green Mountain
Flows 56 in town, 375 below GM
12:30 - 5:00 PM
Kirk from Arizona http://www.emptyflybox.com/ got in contact with me from my blog and some posts on some forums and said he wanted to fish the Blue! Even though I was out of town on business and I only had 1 afternoon to spare, I said what the heck and made the drive up the hill to meet him and fish the Blue.
My flight landed at 10:30 and I made the drive up the hill in record time! We were going to meet for lunch at Smashburger so I decided to scout the water from Chipotle down to the pavilion. I heard that there were some nice fish that aren't pressured like they are right below the dam.
With only about a half hour to spare, I quickly rigged up and made my way up and down looking for promising holes and dropping some flies to see if there were some hungry fish.
Unfortunately, the fish were few and far between. I could see some fish, but the low water and people on the pedestrian bridges spooked them. I was only able to hook up with 1 nice rainbow that took a blue poison tung.
So off I went to Smashburger and I met up with Kirk. Kirk had gotten out on the water early and managed a few fish at cable hole and mentioned that it was super busy. We wolfed down our burgers and over to the fly shop to pick up a few more flies before we hit the water.
We decided to fish cable hole a little before we headed up to fish below GM, and thankfully, there was only 1 guy there when we got there. Everybody must have taken a lunch break!
Kirk hooks up a few times, but comes unbuttoned, and I managed 3 hook ups, but only 1 fish landed...man, these guys are getting smart! This bow took a mysis.
So off we went to fish the private stretch below GM. We saw two other fisherman who said that the fishing has been tough. One of the guys who was nymphing caught nothing...this wasn't looking good...
But Kirk is no ordinary angler! I set him up on a point and had him tie on a stonefly and copper john. He set his casts and set it right at the head of the run. Bam! Fish on. A nice rainbow that put up a nice fight.
A couple casts later, and he hooks another that manages to take his whole rig.
So while he's re-tying, I jump in the hole and manage to catch my own brownie!
We keep fishing and I manage another!
After fishing this run for a little, we decided to explore a little more. We moved downstream to the end of the property line and fished some promising looking holes. Just as Kirk hooks up with a rainbow, the clouds decide to open up so we decide to make our way back. Too bad Kirk lost that rainbow too...it flashed on his flies and looked big! The clouds were looking ominous and black with potential for lightning...so it wasn't worth sticking around!
On the way back, we put a couple more casts in some fast riffles and I manage another nice brownie.
The rain starting coming down harder as we got back to our cars. I guess it was a sign that fishing time was over...the fishing was good, but not great. I wish I got Kirk on a few more fish before we had to leave, but the fish just weren't cooperating.
We found what the fish were munching on. Stoneflies were the ticket. 20 inchers, tung teasers, bigger copper johns and any thing buggy and stonefly like. I tried some drake patterns, but didn't get any hits. Weird since this is usually the start of the green drake season down here. Hopefully the low water isn't putting them off.
Overall a good day! Some nice fish, and it was awesome watching Kirk make some super long casts. His technique was impeccable and he was able to throw out some serious line. It was super easy to just point out a hole and he would put his flies there.
Kirk was sticking around to fish the Blue until Wednesday, I gave him some ideas on other places in the area to hit, so I can't wait to see what he comes back with!
Some good looking browns! Glad you had a good trip.
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