On my third day on the Frying Pan I fell into my routine of catching the morning midge hatch up in the flat below Ruedi Dam. On the previous days I found success with zebra midges, RS2s and DMC (embroidery floss) midge patterns. There was a ton of shucks floating on the surface from the hatching midges, including some midges still trapped in their shuck. The adults were large, a size 18 black body midge, with a gray wing. I captured a few wriggling larvae to inspect them closer. The larvae were big, much bigger than the size 20-22 midges I caught fish on the previous days. I decided to upsize to a size 18 blackfly larva pattern I fish back East in the Winter months. The pattern I tie features stripped peacock herl wound around the hook shank, and 3 coats of Sally’s Double Duty (nail polish) for durability. The pattern has a natural rib with the dark edges of the peacock strip, translucency from the nail polish, and has one bulbous end tapering to a thin end. I rigged one size 18 and one size 22 blackfly larva behind a tiny split shot, under a thingamabobber. The flat riffle ranged in depth from thigh deep to ankle deep, so spotting fish was easy. Once the action began I had as many as twenty to thirty fish visibly rising or flashing in front of me. The majority of trout I’d estimate between nine and sixteen inches, but the occasional larger trout could be seen holding in deeper water. I landed two rainbows over eighteen inches, as well as a bunch of browns and bows between eleven and sixteen inches. The switch to a larger midge pattern lead to the best two hours of fishing all week, but I had a difficult time filming while standing in the middle of a wide river, trying to hold out a chunky fish for the camera. A number of anglers (8-10) were fishing above, below, across or behind me, so at times I couldn’t move back to shore without walking through someone’s drift. The hatch stopped right at Noon, and I left with everyone else for lunch.

In the afternoon I was close to completing my goal of fishing all the public access points along the road paralleling the river. I knew I’d never know them intimately, but felt that each area had obviously different characteristics. On the previous days I fished through some rough water, and tough wading, but on the third day I found some nice long riffles and shallow pocket water. I rigged my nymph/caddis combo and fished up into the first few miles below the dam. There was a lot more pressure in these areas, so I walked the road to leap around the anglers and guides. It was interesting as I progressed up river, my patterns became less effective. Trout were rising in backeddies and slow pools to small size 20 baetis, and I started switching out nymphs. I got a few fish on trico nymphs, bwo nymphs and small pheasant tails, but the fish were keyed into something about the real nymphs I was missing. The evening midge hatch hit just when I got back down river to my car, so I fished some dries for my last evening on the river. The latest video post features some shots of the flats below the dam, and some of the fish I caught on day three on the Frying Pan River.

I spent my second morning on the Frying Pan River nymphing midges in shallow riffles. I started out on a wide riffle at a lower access point, and caught a brown on a holographic midge larva. After fishing for thirty minutes I wasn’t seeing the midge hatches I had the previous morning in the upper sections, so I moved upriver. I found a good midge hatch and rising trout that lasted for two hours. Dead drifting zebra midges, holographic midges, and black fly larvae under an indicator accounted for a dozen fish by lunch time. The majority of the browns and bows I caught were between nine and fifteen inches. Some larger brutes not willing to rise (the reason I was nymphing) would occasionally bite, and tear off across the river. Most of these trout were big rainbows, between three and six pounds, and went ballistic once hooked. The Thingamabobber would dart under, and a big bow would go airborne before I got a chance to set the hook. One memorable twenty inch plus brown ate the fly, and was down river in six seconds into the backing. I gave chase thinking I got through the initial run, until it swam toward an angler on the far side. To the angler’s surprise the trout swam at him in a series of jumps, leaping up, breaking me off and nearly hitting him. I think the fish actually hit his fly rod, and it definitely splashed him a little. He shot me a bit of a look, either because I was laughing, or he was trying to figure out where the fish came from. Keep in mind I was over a hundred feet above him, on the opposite side of a wide river. Once the hatch slowed, the bite did as well. I headed back into town for lunch.

The midday fishing was a little more work than the morning midge action. I focused on working up the river from the lower sections, covering the rougher areas where few anglers were fishing. I hit the slow edges off rough water using the rubber legged nymph and Sparkle Pupa above. One section of river had a series of riffles where the river washed up along the red rock bluffs. The bubble line hugged the ledges, and the water was just a little deeper against these bluffs. I managed to catch ten fish in one of these runs, and all of these spots looked like they held three times that many fish. Instead of changing flies, I just kept moving, trying to see what was around the next bend. The Frying Pan would change dramatically from narrow, swift chutes to wide sections of shallow broken water, and even some deep slough type sections. I gravitated to the faster sections where the trout were in predictable holding lies, and aggressively feeding. Before dark I pulled out my Scott G2 for some dry fly fishing when the midge clouds and drake spinners hit the water. The trout were focused on the size 22-24 midges, and could have cared less about the size 10 drake spinners on the water. I ended the day with a few more fish in the net before heading back into town. In the latest video post I filmed more fishing on the Frying Pan River.

I recently returned from a week long trip to Colorado. This was my first time fishing in Colorado, and I narrowed down my efforts to the Frying Pan River near the town of Basalt. I landed in Denver and picked up a rental, driving four hours through the mountains. The Frying Pan, a tailwater, offered many miles of public access, and connected to the Roaring Fork River a short walk from my motel. I arrived on Sunday just in time to get a fishing license, check in and wet a line for thirty minutes. On Monday morning I drove up the Frying Pan to the first mile below Ruedi Dam. The road hugged the river most of the way, and I marked some good looking pull offs on a map. The section below the dam was popular, as anglers and guides were all suiting up when I arrived. Even with twenty to thirty anglers nearby I walked into a nice spot below a low head dam. The sun was just starting to break over the mountains, and when it did a good midge hatch began. I was rigged with a mysis shrimp pattern and small midge larva pattern under an indicator. It wasn’t long before browns and bows began rising in the soft spots below the small dam. I caught my first fish on the shrimp pattern, a smaller wild brown. I eventually swapped out the shrimp for a zebra midge pattern, and by lunchtime landed eleven trout. I drifted my midge tandem rig through the risers using 6X tippet, and watched the Thingamabobber take off. The browns and bows I landed ranged from seven to fourteen inches, but I stung a few larger fish in this run.

I headed back into town for a quick lunch and began working my way up the river from the lower sections. It was clear after a few minutes of surveying the water that the midges I had on the line were not likely to produce. I could see a number of large and small mayflies peeling off the water. The small gray baetis were in the 20-22 range, and a few larger mayflies were tan bodied in a size 14-16. I even saw some larger green drakes hatching. After a few minutes I noticed one nice brown flashing under the surface in a riffle. After a number of unsuccessful drifts with tandem nymph rigs, both big and small, I noticed some size 16 caddis crawling on a log. This became an ephipany of sorts, as the next pattern I tied on became the Go-To-Fly for the week. I tied on a small brown bodied Caddis Sparkle Pupa, and the brown took on the first drift. I spent the rest of the day trying different patterns, and pull offs along the road. I caught a good hatch with rising trout taking very small midges before dark. I ended the afternoon with more fish than I caught in the morning, but nothing big. I hooked a few fish between 15-17 inches, but only landed one thick fifteen inch brown. The lower sections of the Frying Pan reminded me of the Savage River, with rough pockets, deep slots and rock ledges. I decided that day to stay on the Frying Pan for the remainder of the trip, instead of spreading myself thin on other rivers. The Roaring Fork was close by, but I already locked down a few hatches, and I had plenty of the patterns the Frying Pan trout were willing to eat. The latest video post features footage of the drive through the mountains, river shots, and some of the trout I caught on day one.