09/28/12 Blue River in Silverthorne and Below Green Mountain

09/28/12
Blue River in Silverthorne
Flow 52
8:30 AM - 10:30 AM

Blue River below Green Mountain
Flows 250
12:00 - 4:00 PM

My buddy who always told me that he has a terrible time on the Blue was finally done with me hounding him about how great it is...

Unfortunately, with all my bragging about how good the fishing is, I managed to jinx myself and we didn't have a great morning...

We started in town at Cable hole and fished our way up to Rodeo hole and back.  We managed 5 fish between us, but nothing of size.  The biggest was a nice little 16 incher that took an epoxy back mysis.

None of the big boys were out and about, and it was pretty weird not seeing a lot of fish in the water unlike earlier in the summer.  There's still fish there, but they have become very weary of weights, lines and flies and will generally move out of the way of your perfect drift.

I'm hoping that the fishing will improve once winter hits.  The cold keeps people off the water and allows the fish a chance to move back into the feeding lanes and feed a little more instead of hiding.

Since I couldn't show my buddy a bad time, we decided to head up to fish below Green Mountain to see if we could get into some more and bigger fish.

We tied on some stonefly patterns and soft hackles and were rewarded with fish right away!

A good mix of browns and rainbows holding in the usual spots.  The flows were dropped about a week ago which made wading easy, but it wasn't high enough to float.  I think with flows right around 250, it was perfect for wading, plenty of moving water putting food in the water, but not so high that fish were hugging banks and undercuts avoiding the faster water.

I did manage my biggest fish in the private stretch which made it a stellar day for me!  My buddy was shocked to see that this piece of water held such big fish.  I'd heard reports of people catching some of these pigs, but I was glad to see that we did have some in this stretch.  I think the high flows allowed for some of the big guys to make it up which is great for wade fishing here until the snow makes the road hard to drive down.  A good incentive to make the drive up, especially since the fishing in town is getting tough.

This 25 incher took a 20 incher.  Stoneflies were the hot ticket as well as the soft hackles.  It was nice being able to fish bigger patterns!

Soft hackle pheasant tails, and hare's ears also caught a few fish.  We managed to land about 8 fish, with plenty of bigger fish getting off before making it to the net.  Overall a great day on the upper stretch.

Don't forget, even though we were fishing the private stretch, the same flies and tactics apply for fishing just below the dam.  Upsize and think stoneflies.  Browns and gold in sizes 12-16. 

06/08/12 Blue River in Silverthorne

06/08/12
Blue River in Silverthorne
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Flows:  75

A quick trip up to the mountains for some work and play!  My 1st stop was the Blue in Silverthorne, and it was a zoo!

I had planned on getting up there much earlier, but ended up getting on the water at 10:00.  There were already 5 cars in the little pull out at cable hole and 3 guys were already fishing.  I walked to the tail end of the cable hole and promptly proceeded to pick up a few nice fish!

Same old brooders, but they are starting to wise up a little to flies and presentations.  A fly that usually does very well here netted zero (zebra midge) and most fish are taking smaller and more "natural" looking flies.  Basic black midge larvae, cream midges, and emergers were consistently taking fish.

I even had quite a few take a size 20 stalcup's mysis and a size 18 craven's mysis.

I always run a 3 fly rig through here with a mayfly pattern, a midge, and then a mysis.

As cable hole got more and more crowded, I decided to head down river and explore a bit. 

My next stop was I-70 hole and you could easily see a few brooders hanging out in the tail out.

I pulled 2 fish out of here and kept moving downstream...

The hole just below wildernest rd. also had a few stacked in it as well and even a few were feeding in the riffles.

After working the riffles and catching 3 dinks, I moved down to the foot bridge and the 7-11 hole.  There were 3 guys down by 7-11 hole and another 2 above so I settled in below the footbridge. 

With a large crowd of people watching, I managed to hook into a nice fish and was playing it well, until it took a turn a jumped the waterfall and then spit the hook...a collective "awwww" from the crowd was my consolation prize!

Another great day on the Blue...the fishing might seem like it has slowed down, but the fish are just getting a little smarter and the fishing pressure is up.  I didn't see another person between cable hole and the footbridge so walk a little and find some solitude.  The brooders are all over this stretch and you won't need to fish shoulder to shoulder with some.

Hot flies for the day were mysis and midges.  Dorsey's Top Secret in a size 20, and a black thread midge with midge tubing were two flies that I didn't change and were consistently catching fish.  Use a 5x leader, and drop 6x after your 1st fly.  I still run fluro, but I don't think it's necessary...but with the low flows and clear water, fluro might help you catch a few more fish.

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!

03/25/12 Frying Pan

03/25/12
Frying Pan
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Flows 91

My brother was in town to ski and after a terrible day at Vail on Saturday, he decided he wanted to do some fishing!

Since we were already up in the mountains, what better place to head to than the Frying Pan for him to get into some big fish.

My buddy Josh was also tagging along, as well as the wives and kiddos so our day didn't start out as planned.

We were up at 4:00 AM getting ready to leave so that we could be the 1st ones there.  The idea was to plop my brother and wife at the toilet bowl while Josh and I worked the flats and bend hole.

Unfortunately as it goes with babies, we didn't get out the door until 5:30, and even then we had to make a stop at Walmart for supplies.

We ended up on the water at 8:00 AM and of course there was already a group of guys at the toilet bowl.

But lucky for us, they said that they weren't staying long and left at around 10:00 AM.

So I got my brother and his wife rigged up, Josh was already slaying the fish on the flats, so I was excited to see my brother get into some big fish.

I rigged up an egg and mysis for them and my brother's 1st fish of the day was a nice brownie.

Since they seemed to getting into the fish, I decided to meet Josh out on the flats and see if I could get into some out there. 

I picked up a few browns and spotted lots of big bows on their redds.  No need to fish to the redds, there were plenty of fish all over the flats that are eager to eat!

I decided to check back with my brother at the toilet bowl to see how he was doing.  He caught a few more and decided to let my wife give it a shot.

She ended up picking up this beautiful brownie, her biggest for the day.

In between helping them untangle their lines and tie on new flies, I was able to get into a few fish as well.  Although it would have been fun stalking more fish on the flats, I had a great time watching everybody pick up fish in the toilet bowl.

Fishing was pretty much good all day long.  The toilet bowl is consistent with fish taking mysis and egg patterns eagerly.

I ended the day losing a huge rainbow that wouldn't fit into my net so with 1 more cast I caught another bow...much smaller but it's at least a decent fish.

Forgive the blatant stiff arming in the picture...he ended up being a good 20 incher.

After that fish, I decided to go find Josh and let him know that the rest of the fam was getting hungry and ready to leave.  I found him at the Bend hole fishing with his new best friend.  Andy Kim was fishing there with 2 of his buddies.  If you don't know who Andy Kim is, then you've probably never fished the San Juan.  Here's his website. http://www.fly-fish.com/  If you are heading down there, check him out.  An overall great guy who loves getting people on fish.  His flies are unique and just catch fish.  I've used the Yong Special numerous times to fool picky fish.  Andy and his buddies were catching fish left and right above the bend hole...no doubt using his "secret" flies.

Josh was doing great on dries in the bend hole with a size 22 parachute adams.  Lots of risers and fish were very active.

I wish I spent more time fishing the flats and the bend hole, but it was still a very fun day.  Lots of fish, and some big guys that impressed the family.  It's a long drive, and it was a long day, but everybody had a good time.

01/30/12 Blue River in Silverthorne

01/30/12
Blue River in Silverthorne
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

A friend of mine who was skiing in Breckenridge called to see how the Blue was fishing...

I told her it was fishing well, super pressured, but you can find the fish. I told her that I was heading to Breck that night for a meeting and I would meet her on the water and show her around.

I got up there around 2:00 and got my gear on and saw lots of people on the water. 5 guys were trying to fish cable hole and a few other fisherman were moving up and down the river. I dropped in and found my friend tying on some flies. She mentioned that she caught a minnow and was broken off by a big fish. I congratulated her on at least hooking up! Half the battle is finding the fish and getting them to eat!

While she was re-rigging, I cast into a run above cable hole and managed to hook into a nice fish right away. She was super excited to see me catch a fish after a quick picture, we both kept moving upstream, making our way to rodeo hole.



She picked up another dink and hooked up with another bigger fish, but was broken off again...
As we made our way, we talked to a fisherman moving downstream who said that he didn't see a single fish in rodeo hole...not a good sign, we continued to fish our way up and another fisherman coming down said the same thing. We decided to not make the hike all the way, even though it was really just around the bend, it wasn't worth fishing if you couldn't even see a fish in there...

So we made our way back to cable hole, and were surprised to see that everybody but one person had left. We moved downstream of him and started fishing along the trees with a few more hook ups, but none to the net. As the last fisherman was leaving, he said, "Try my spot...I can't seem to catch anything here even though I can see the damn fish!"

And try it we did. We ended up catching another 2 fish with another 2 minnows. (For some reason that place is loaded with fingerlings!)



A quick two hour trip and plenty of fish to the net made my afternoon!

Hot flies were mysis. Stalcups and Craven's were the ticket. Avoid the epoxy and clear style of mysis right now. There isn't a lot of mysis flowing through the dam, and the ones getting through are dead and white. When the flows go up in the spring, the fish will start keying in on the live looking mysis again. Also, a top secret midges brought a fish the net, as well as a tungsten bead head zebra midge.

Considering all the people out on the river, I was expecting a skunk, but I'm happy to report that it was a great quick trip!

01/18/12 Frying Pan River

01/18/12
6:30 AM - 1:00 PM

The wind was howling in Vail. I set my alarm for 5:00 AM and tried to get some sleep. I could hear the wind all through the night and it wasn't looking good for my plans to run up to the Pan.

I didn't even wait for my alarm to go off, I was out the door by 4:30. The gusts on I-70 were getting bad, 70 mph winds. I stopped to get gas and coffee in Avon and almost turned around to go home. But I thought, "I already made it this far...".

It's dark, and quiet. No cars in the parking lot of course, but plenty of tire tracks. Looks like the Pan was fished pretty hard yesterday.

I get out of my car to put on my waders, what happened to the wind? There were no gusts, no rustling in the trees.



It was calm, very calm...very unlike the Pan.

I get back in the car and start re-rigging my rod. I put on a 4x leader with a bead egg up top and a size 16 Craven's Mysis. A few more sips of coffee and I can see light trying to break through the clouds.

I can't wait any longer...I hop out and head to the flats. I can see an occasional swirl and a few splashes in the distance, the fish are feeding!





A few smaller browns, a rainbow or two, but nothing of size...looks like the bigger fish were chased off the flats.

It's light out now, but no sun in sight. The clouds are thick, but still no wind...

I want to feel a big bend in my rod, so I head over to the toilet bowl.

The bead egg worked well on the flats, so I decided to keep my rig the same and see what I could come up with. Plenty of brownies! But no football rainbows! I'm not complaining...the fishing was good, but I think the pressure from previous days has really turned off some of the bigger fish.







I was contemplating changing up my rig, most of the browns hit the bead egg and I was wondering if I rigged up a mysis/midge combo, I might be able to coax out a big bow. But before I do that...one more drift...



This skinny beast of a brownie took my bead egg hard! This skinny thing measured out to 20 inches...I thought all the fish in the Pan were supposed to be fat!?!?

I re-rigged, Mysis on top and a thread midge on the bottom.

1st fish on the midge, and wouldn't you know it...a bow.



It's looking good! Not a football, but still a nice fish. A size 20 black thread midge with a copper wire wrap was on the menu. I managed a few more browns and bows, with fish taking both the mysis and midge.

It's almost 10:30 now, and people are showing up. Fishing conditions have been great all morning, no wind, slightly overcast skies. 2 guys show up and I see them walking down towards me. They set up at the riffles and respect the fact that I'm fishing the bowl. An older gentleman shows up and doesn't show me the same courtesy...he stands behind with 2 rods in hand waiting...he gets impatient and tries to fish downstream a little. He snags a rock, breaks off his rig and trudges back up behind me to tie on again. I can feel him staring me down as he continues to try to fish downstream of the bowl without catching a single fish...eventually he leaves, but not without mumbling under his breath something about how I should let others fish the bowl...great idea!

I call the two guys over and say you are welcome to come fish the tail end if they would like. One of the guys says, "are you sure? I don't want to encroach." I say it's no problem. Besides, I had to leave soon, so they might as well stake the hole. After talking to them for a bit, I learned they were from Fort Collins and that one of them was studying fisheries biology at CSU. A fellow Rammie!

They each start hooking up with some fish and I continue to do well. The bite did die off around noon, but a change in flies brought more fish to the net.





I was worried that the weather on I-70 was going to get worse, so I decided to take a few more casts and then head home.

On my last cast, I caught this beauty. I haven't caught a lot of Cutthroats, so I was super excited to catch such a pretty one. A diet of mysis will do this I guess!



Overall, another great trip to the Pan. I didn't get into the big legendary rainbows of the pan, but plenty of good fish made it a worthwhile day. And best of all! No wind! I guess you just can't trust the weatherman...

Flies that did well this trip were bead eggs, mysis patterns (cravens and epoxy), midge patterns and even chocolate emergers in a size 20. As I was leaving the two guys from Fort Collins mentioned that they were here a couple of weeks ago and the streamer bite was great...next time I come up, I'll definitely have to stick around at dusk to strip some streamers through the bowl.

01/11/12 Frying Pan River

01/11/12
7:30 - 3:30
Forecast was a high of 29, with some blowing snow.

I couldn't sleep. I dreamed of footballs. Big rainbow footballs. I hit the road at 5:30, I had to be the 1st person on the parking lot.

I was.

I ate my pop tarts and drank my gas station coffee as the sun came up. I expected other cars, but nobody was as dumb as me. Why would you get up early in the winter to fish? It'll be too cold...the fish won't be biting...

I was on the water at 7:30, my 1st fish at 7:31.



I continued to sight fish on the flats, keeping an eye out for cars, but none showed up. A few more fish to the net...and then a car shows up at the lower lot. I decided to make my way to the toilet bowl and get a few casts in before it became a zoo.

I warmed up in the car, as I changed out my leader from a 6x to a 4x. I tied on a Craven's mysis and an epoxy mysis hoping to see what they would key in on, and switch the lower fly to a baetis or midge. A red truck pulls up next to my car...no more thinking about what the fish are hungry for...time to move!

I jumped out of my car and hoofed it to the toilet bowl. My footprints were the only tracks there. I cast into the whirlpool, and let the current take my rig a little downstream. My indicator pauses and then suddenly dives. Fish on! It's been a long time since I felt a fish pull so hard and it almost ran me into my backing, but I managed to wrestle him to the net! He took a couple runs, but it wasn't a long battle with 4x tied on. I heard a "Nice fish!" over my shoulder, and I see an indicator land right where I was fishing...ugh...



Thankfully, as soon as I snapped the picture and released the fish, the guy literally fishing over me decided to move. Two more cars pulled into the lot, it was 9:00 AM. Most people would rush over to see if anybody was fishing in the bowl, and then they resigned themselves to fishing in the flats. Honestly, the flats was fishing well. But the pigs were sitting in the toilet bowl.



I managed a few more fish, a few browns, a few bows, and a few cutts!



Catching a true cutt was rare for me, since I mostly catch cutbows in most of the rivers I fish.

I continue to fish, pulling out "dink" browns and a few smaller bows.







By now, the wind is howling. It's blowing snow and continually putting my hand in the water to release fish is killing my hands...I decide to take a break and warm up in the car. I count 8 cars in the parking lot, not including mine. Everybody was out on the flats, their back turned into the wind. Every once in a while, you would see someone's rod shoot up and bend with a fish being played on the other end.

I was honestly getting bored with fishing the toilet bowl and was contemplating heading down to the bend pool or trying my luck in the flats again...but with all the fisherman on the flats, the fish had to be getting spooky. Oh well...I guess I will try my hand at more footballs!

I walk back to the bowl, half expecting to see someone there already, but there isn't. Just my tracks in the snow and my spot on a rock that is clear of snow. A few more fish to the net, nothing impressive, and a few long distance releases...a few curse words for the big ones that got away and a few prayers for the hogs to just stay on the line!



This was certainly the biggest of the day. He took a Craven's Mysis and pulled like a freight train. Most of the footballs would lose their steam after a run or two, but this guy continued to fight all the way to the net. It's not a great picture, I had to prop my phone up on a rock, leaning on my fly rod, set the timer and hustle to get in front of the camera. He measured out to 19 in, and felt like 10 lb'er. He didn't have much color, looking more like a steelhead...maybe it's a donaldson that escaped from a privately stocked pond?

Catching fish of this size reminded me of floating the Blue...I can't wait for summer. But I do love winters...I love to ski (we just need more snow!), and the winter does afford me more time in the mountains...I guess I'll just have to plan another trip to the pan to get my fill of big fish. Or maybe I should make it to the Taylor...