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. 

06/28/12 Blue River in Silverthorne

06/28/12
Blue River in Silverthorne
8:00 AM - 10:00 PM

Another day with work in the mountains...I got up there early so I decided to get my fish on for a couple hours!

Even for a Thursday, the river was busy!  Lots of fisherman out, but at least they were moving up and down the river.  I suspect because the fishing has slowed somewhat and the spots like cable hole and rodeo hole have been pounded on for the last couple of months.

Still, with only 2 hours, I decided to start at cable hole and see how the fishing was.  I think the key here is to change up your offerings.  Most guys are fishing midges, but maybe changing to some small mayfly patterns and emergers might be the ticket.  I did see a couple fish slurping so I decided to try a foamback RS2.

At first, it was hard getting into the swing of things...I couldn't get my timing right and the fish weren't really actively feeding on the surface or subsurface.  But once I got a good drift in, I was able to hook up with some nice fish.

I managed another 2 on the foamback rs2 and even managed a few on a size 20 black mayfly and another on a mysis.

Overall, the fishing is good.  The fish are still there, but are very selective now.  Switch it up if you aren't having luck with the standard tailwater patterns.  Or fish early or later in the day. 

Is it still worth heading to the Blue in Silverthorne?  Not if you are making a special trip.  But if you are headed up there for work or are headed to another body of water, it's worth stopping to catch a few brooders.

02/28/12 Blue River in Silverthorne

02/28/12
Blue River
3:00 - 4:00 PM
Conditions: Blowing snow, wind gusts up to 40 mph

A miserable day on the river...

I was traveling to Steamboat for another work function and I decided to stop and fish the Blue. It was snowing on my drive up, but the wind wasn't gusting so I was looking forward to having the river all to myself!

By the time I got to Silverthorne, things had changed. The wind was howling and the snow was blowing sideways. As I rigged up at the car, I was having second thoughts. But the thought of feeling a big fish tugging on the other end of my line pushed me on.

I parked behind the outlet mall right above cable hole. Through the blowing snow, I could see plenty of rainbows stacked in the hole. After a few drifts through the pod, I managed to catch a dink at the end of my drift. No pictures...we've all seen those little dinks! He took a Craven's Mysis by the way...

After a few more fruitless drifts, I decided to move upstream to the long run above cable hole and managed to catch a fish on my second cast. A decent fish by anyone's standards, but a small fish for the Blue. He ended up being a decent 16 1/2 inches, and I thought about taking a picture, but decided against it because of the blowing snow and the thoughts that I would catch an even bigger fish!!! Little did I know that would jinx me.

I moved back down to cable hole, and tried a few more casts, but the wind and snow drove me off the water pretty quickly.

My two fish both came on Craven's Mysis in a size 18. Cut the tail a little shorter if you are buying them.

I was hoping to stay a little longer and try some streamers around sunset, but conditions were just getting worse...

So...no pictures and a short trip, but I was looking forward to getting to fish the Yampa again on Wednesday.