2009 Rockies Fishing Reports

[teleee]

Hey SFB, I must be following you. We fished the A section of the Green on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday was windy and cloudy and every person in the tri state area was there with some sort of flotation device. We caught a few but it was fairly slow.
Sunday however, was a different story. Little traffic on the river, sunny skies and hungry fish made for a great day! Hoppers and big ants were the recipe for the day. I actually ditched my dropper and just threw a hopper and did great all day.






Edited to add; I am going to be on the South Fork on Friday - SFB, I told you I was stalking you!

[schwerty]

South Fork of the Snake? ^^

[teleee]

Yeah, we are going to be on the South Fork of the Snake. Me, my brother and a friend.

[skifishbum]

Nice brown telee. Let me know if you want to head back to the Green the weekend of the 21 or the 28th for a camp trip. Probably won't hit the S. fork of the Snake till Sat. leave a few for me.

[schwerty]

Yeah, we are going to be on the South Fork of the Snake. Me, my brother and a friend.

Nice brown telee. Let me know if you want to head back to the Green the weekend of the 21 or the 28th for a camp trip. Probably won't hit the S. fork of the Snake till Sat. leave a few for me.

The canyon should be fishing well. The flows dropped recently, making the fishing come in! Yellow Sallies should be all over the river, even down low. Clouds will get the fish feeding on the typical.....pmd's, a few mahogany's, and some sulfers. As usual, pink pmd's with very little hackle will be the best producer.

I'll be out there sunday trying to cause problems for the fish. Montana Grizz colored, (Gray, Maroon, and white), Clack. Good fishin to you guys!

[skifishbum]

^^^^^
Shuttle recomendation??

[teleee]

SWEEEET, thanks for the bug report schwerty, I need to make sure I am bugged up.

I was trying to get on my computer long enough to ask you for a report...

SFB, let me see what I can do about escaping for a trip to camp on the green, it sounds GREAT! I am burning my hall passes at a pretty rapid clip though!

[schwerty]

^^^^^
Shuttle recomendation??

sent you a pm with numbers.

SWEEEET, thanks for the bug report schwerty, I need to make sure I am bugged up.

I was trying to get on my computer long enough to ask you for a report...

SFB, let me see what I can do about escaping for a trip to camp on the green, it sounds GREAT! I am burning my hall passes at a pretty rapid clip though!

let me know if you need more advice.

Hope to run into both of you on the river. BTW, don't expect much privacy on th SF this weekend, unless you shove off EARLY or late.

[Steepdeepnlong]

Pardon my ignorance, but is Brainard Lake worth fishing? (IPW above Boulder)

[Beder]

A quick up to the main stem of the Big Lost about 20 miles NE of Sun Valley. One of the better days I've ever had there. Nothing huge but a dozen or so like these guys. Cuts, Bows, and Cut/Bows. And one whitey I accidently stepped on.







The Devil's Postpile. 11,000 feet. Bit of snow still on the north slopes.

[Donkey Punch]

Had another nice night on The Big Thompson. Two nice browns where landed on a yellow caddis stimulator, and 7-10 others tried to take my yellow hopper once the wind picked up, but all where too small to actually get hooked up on that big of a fly.

[DeeAre]

A quick up to the main stem of the Big Lost about 20 miles NE of Sun Valley. One of the better days I've ever had there. Nothing huge but a dozen or so like these guys. Cuts, Bows, and Cut/Bows. And one whitey I accidently stepped on.

Pretty fish.

[gretch6364]

Camping by the Williams Fork above the lake this weekend, probably fish there as well as below. Any one been up there lately? Thanks

[neckdeep]

Teton is still in great shape; water is cooler than normal and every day seems to have some sort of hatch. No sign of "summer doldrums" with the icy rain and cold nights keeping water temps down. Fish in the canyon are on the hoppers and scattered pmd hatches in the slow pools. Pmds, tricos and mahogonies in the meadows. But.....the fishing pressure has been fairly intense over the last three weeks and many fish are getting wise. The last two trips, I've observed big fish nudging flies, tasting the water around the fly and spending 3-5 ft of drift inspecting a fly before vanishing. A sloppy presentation usually gets you zilch, not even an inspection/refusal. 5x flouro really helps when fishing the dry because fish are getting very leader shy in the clear water and, fished side-by-side, the nymphs have generally been more successful both for numbers and size(either a small nymph hopper/dropper or a big stonefly fished deep under an indicator). Fish have probably seen too many big drys slapped and dragged over their heads so many of the mature fish are reluctant to feed on the surface. But they still need to feed....

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Tips for places to get on decent fish in Eagle/Summit WITHOUT a boat? I have been fishing the Blue (Above and below Green Mtn Res) and the Ark below Leadville.

Of the 40 or so fish I have caught this year none have been bigger than 9-10 inches (I caught 4 foot longs in New Jersey this spring lol)....

I must be doing something wrong.....or is it that I can't float the Colorado? Or both?

[gretch6364]

Tips for places to get on decent fish in Eagle/Summit WITHOUT a boat? I have been fishing the Blue (Above and below Green Mtn Res) and the Ark below Leadville.

Of the 40 or so fish I have caught this year none have been bigger than 9-10 inches (I caught 4 foot longs in New Jersey this spring lol)....

I must be doing something wrong.....or is it that I can't float the Colorado? Or both?

Keep fishing the Blue, you will catch something bigger. The closer you are to Dillon damn, the bigger the fish get.

Most of the water in Colorado you can cast from shore to shore and a ton of the water is catch and release. Are you fishing primarily dry? Put a dropper on and fish the deeper holes.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Yes, I am mostly fishing dries. I did lose a fucking monster 3 weeks ago on a dropper....way far down on the blue by Grand County Road 1.

[neckdeep]

It is said that a typical rainbow eats 90% of its annual diet subsurface and for browns that number is probably 99%. Cutts like to feed on top but can get hazed off of the surface feeding after they get harelipped a few times during the summer. If you see fish actively feeding on the surface, then you match the hatch with the dry. If you are in the backcountry, slap down the big attractor pattern. Otherwise, go subsurface and put that fly down on the fish's nose. Dry fly purists love to talk about the aesthetics of angling more than they like to catch fish. I know, I work in a flyshop and, believe me, I have met my share of self-described purists. Most of them fish dry exclusively cuz it is a lot easier than being an accomplished streamer and nymph angler, they suck at indicator nymphing and then they read somewhere that nymphing isn't allowed on the private angling club chalk streams of England. So now when they see someone slaying it down deep while they search the top for a riser, they harumph about that uncouth "bobber fishing" and how it isn't proper angling as it was meant to be done. Dry fly is reactive; you see the bug, you see the rise and you target the riser. Nymph and streamer fishing requires far more advanced ability to read water and understand seasonal fish behavior WITHOUT A PROMPT FROM A RISER!

A good subsurface fisherman is, by nature, a far more curious and imaginative angler than any dry fly purist.

[gretch6364]

It is said that a typical rainbow eats 90% of its annual diet subsurface and for browns that number is probably 99%. Cutts like to feed on top but can get hazed off of the surface feeding after they get harelipped a few times during the summer. If you see fish actively feeding on the surface, then you match the hatch with the dry. If you are in the backcountry, slap down the big attractor pattern. Otherwise, go subsurface and put that fly down on the fish's nose. Dry fly purists love to talk about the aesthetics of angling more than they like to catch fish. I know, I work in a flyshop and, believe me, I have met my share of self-described purists. Most of them fish dry exclusively cuz it is a lot easier than being an accomplished streamer and nymph angler, they suck at indicator nymphing and then they read somewhere that nymphing isn't allowed on the private angling club chalk streams of England. So now when they see someone slaying it down deep while they search the top for a riser, they harumph about that uncouth "bobber fishing" and how it isn't proper angling as it was meant to be done. Dry fly is reactive; you see the bug, you see the rise and you target the riser. Nymph and streamer fishing requires far more advanced ability to read water and understand seasonal fish behavior WITHOUT A PROMPT FROM A RISER!

A good subsurface fisherman is, by nature, a far more curious and imaginative angler than any dry fly purist.

I agree with nymph fishing being harder than fishing a dry....at least on the fast waters we see in Colorado. I can never figure out how far away from my dry to put the nymph.

Do I almost always catch at least a couple fish...yes...do I kill it very often...nope. But I at least always have fun

[neckdeep]

One bit of advice is to try nymph tactics that don't require using splitshot, especially when prospecting fast water with a lot of pocket structure. Trust me, the shot really complicates things and causes mucho problemo when it comes to hangups or missed strikes. It is much easier to effectively work a single heavy nymph around snaggy structure and cover. I like the #6 Kaufmann BH RL stonefly nymph in black, brown or gold, fished below a yarn indicator or thingamabobber as an all around pocketwater probe. It sinks like a rock and it is easy to stay in contact with the nymph by feel as you jig the nymph through structure. This tactic is often called "tight-lining" or "high-sticking."

If the fish are responding to an ongoing hatch and are suspended in the water column and intercepting pupating nymphs, then I rig up a dropper 18-24 inches below a dry(typically a golden stone, chernobyl ant or parahopper pattern) and I "fish the nymph". If a fish hits the dry, that's just gravy cuz the nymph is the real payload. In slower water, the nymph had better look natural but in fast or colored water a variety of trout candy works. Tung head prince nymphs are hard to beat as an attractor pattern.

Deep water nymphing is a different game, typically using small flies and splitshot 5-12 ft under an indicator. The trick to that game is always adjusting the indicator and weight to match depth/current speed and getting a drag free drift so that the shot ticks lightly along the bottom and the indicator stalls the instant a fish picks up the nymph.

Use those tactics in the right time and place and you will slay them on nymphs, just takes practice. And always let your nymph swing up and across at the end of the drift; don't pick up your cast until it swings up. That rising motion gets its share of no-look hookups over the season.

[MakersTeleMark]

Phish - try just west of the bridge where 70 crosses 6 west of edwards before wolcott. Fish around the island, some big bows in there and browns cruising the bank. I heart dry fly fishing and have been slaying it on the eagle, but not doing so well on the colorado due to time of day, off color water, not great sections, shitty rowers (for fishing), and a million other excuses.

[tone capone]

Dry fly purists love to talk about the aesthetics of angling more than they like to catch fish. I know, I work in a flyshop and, believe me, I have met my share of self-described purists. Most of them fish dry exclusively cuz it is a lot easier than being an accomplished streamer and nymph angler, they suck at indicator nymphing and then they read somewhere that nymphing isn't allowed on the private angling club chalk streams of England. So now when they see someone slaying it down deep while they search the top for a riser, they harumph about that uncouth "bobber fishing" and how it isn't proper angling as it was meant to be done. Dry fly is reactive; you see the bug, you see the rise and you target the riser. Nymph and streamer fishing requires far more advanced ability to read water and understand seasonal fish behavior WITHOUT A PROMPT FROM A RISER!

A good subsurface fisherman is, by nature, a far more curious and imaginative angler than any dry fly purist.

Excellent post. Pics of hogs please!

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Got this guy in Black Lake 1....on a worm, so it doesn't REALLY count.

[Pow4Brains]

Spent a long weekend here.



Bears working on a pedicure.



It was said this place holds things that are big.



We headed up to Sable Lake in search of Cuttys that where reported to hit the 2 foot mark. Needless to say, we ended up looking at things that where pretty.



First, find a camp at Mirror Lake. Over there looks good.



The view from the kitchen.





Time to fish.



Fishing became caught.





Mirror Lake held a good number of really nice brookies 10-14 inches. They ate mostly subsurface though on Copper John's size 16.

Step 1 handled.



Step 2, check.



Tacos.



An after dinner mint.



The next day we hiked over to Sable and were skunked. I don't know if the Outfitter in the area took a toll on the lake, but we didn't even see a fish. Regardless it's prudy.



Day 3 Shamrock Lake was on the docket.



Prolly some better luck here.





Nature's float tube.





Shamrock was loaded with small brookies 6-10 inches. This would be a great place to take a rookie as they tagged everything from hoppers to Cheetoes.



Jack approved.....



.......but wanted a closer look.



I guess they were satisfied.



Can't wait to check out more of the Flattops. In the winter too.

[MakersTeleMark]

That last pic is unreal. Nice dinner too in a great area of Colorado.