Colorado Fishing Report from Anglers

Please help fellow anglers by emailing your report.
It will be featured in this section.

We've had a request for reports on Golden Pond, Pela Crossing & Lageman Reservoir.
Also had requests for reports on Lemon Reservoir, Bayfield, Colorado.
If you fish those waters or any others for that matter, please email us some reports.

August 20, 2015 - Trinidad State Park - Hi, was just down to Trinidad State Park, week before last, camped two days but only could fish one day do to rain. The one day we did get to fish, we caught 17 Trout, all running 2 to 2 1/2 ponds each. We started in the morning catching the drifting from the boat on garlic power bait and worms. As the dat progressed we turned to trolling and did very well again using pink flat fish lures...
We had no luck with any other type of fish, but we did have a rattle snack swim up to the boat and try to get in, this was in the middle of the lake with nearest shore some 150 yards away...
Anyhow I hope this helps you
Thank you
C. McClain

January 4, 2013 - Pella's Crossing, Lagerman, and Golden: Everything has been hard capped with ice for the last 3 weeks. I fished at St Vrain state park (barbour ponds) about a month ago and it had skim ice around the edges. St Vrain is pretty close to pella and Lagerman. Lagerman and Golden are the same. Sorry. It will be late February before we see any open water. And it won't be till mid-March early April before boats are allowed back in the water. We could have an early spring melt, but I haven't seen one in five years or so.

October 4, 2012 - San Juan River and Navajo Lake - Submitted by Scott Taylor of High Country Charters -

The seasons are changing! Snow in the high country (7 inches at Wolf Creek Ski Area), yellow aspens, red and orange oak brush. This is a great time to be in Pagosa Springs. The day time highs have been in the mid 70’s with temps around 38 a night, making for some great sleeping weather. That is good news for the trout. The water temperature has dropped considerably from the highs around 72 degrees only 3 – 4 weeks ago, to between 50 – 60 degrees (depending on elevation). This has made the trout much more active, and the recent rains and dusting of snow has increased flows to keep the streams healthy. The flows below the dam are still great at 800 cfs. October and November is the best time of the year to catch an awesome BWO hatch. Some of the “blanket hatches” (so many bugs you can’t see your fly) are the best I have seen on any river I have fished. If you are in the area, and are interested in late season dry fly action, the Juan is the place. If you want smaller stream action, the high country is still fishing great. With some of the higher flows after some of the rains and snow, we are back to fishing with dropper rigs, this brings us to my high country tip for fall fishing.

Fishing dropper rigs on high country streams!

I often see anglers using their dropper rigs, without changing anything. They make their set up and leave it. They might change the dropper, but that’s it. As a guide fishing on public waters, I often have to fish behind other fisherman, or let them fish through a hole. If I get to a nice hole more than 3 feet deep, I will change my point fly’s location. I will move it up, and increase the dropper length. Sometimes, I will have a 4 foot dropper, with only a 9 foot overall length. Don’t make the mistake of just adding a 4 foot piece of leader, and having an overall length of 13 –14 feet. You do not want to sacrifice a sloppy cast. Doing this I often get into fish that other fisherman have just fished for, without any success. When I move to a new stretch, I will switch back to my standard set up. Point fly at 71/2 or 9 feet, and dropper 15” to 24”s behind that. So don’t be lazy!

While you are in town make sure that you visit the following business!

Need Fly Fishing gear? See Pop's
Let it Fly
Located on Put hill, just West of Downtown Pagosa Springs.
970-264-3189
http://www.flyfishpagosa.com

Scott Taylor
High Country Fishing Charters
558 Ginger Cr.
Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
970-946-5229
http://www.highcountrycharters.com

August 13, 2012 -San Juan River and Navajo Lake - Submitted by Scott Taylor of High Country Charters - It has been a very busy July and first part of August, after August 19th town will start to slow down with a lot of schools starting back up. Then there will be another bump with the start of hunting season in late August. The fishing continues to be good with water levels staying fishable and afternoon showers keeping the water temperatures down. A few streams in the area are affected more than others. Most of the best fishing in the Pagosa area has been on streams around 9,000 feet or higher. The fish are still eating dry flies. Caddis, humpy’s, and all the terrestrials will take fish. In the deeper holes, add a dropper. Pop’s hare & copper, and the fox squirrel caddis pattern with beads heads are great dropper fly’s.

Below the dam the fishing has been very consistent. The flows got bumped up a few days ago to 925 cfs, the water has cleared and the river is in good shape. Grey midge patterns, and grey foam backs have been some of the top producers. Above the T hole I have been doing very well on a 28 or 26 tan midge pupa with a black head trailed behind a red big mac in the morning. After lunch we would mix up a few different patterns, but always had on a grey foam wing. There are still some PMD’s on the lower river, some of the fish are getting tricky, but you can still fool them. I like fishing a compara dun then trail a HCPT or hares ear in the surface film.

Scott Taylor
http://highcountrycharters.com
970-946-5229

High Country Fishing Charters Blog

http://highcountrycharters.blogspot.com/

Scott Taylor
High Country Fishing Charters
558 Ginger Cr.
Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
970-946-5229
http://www.highcountrycharters.com

July 10, 2012 -San Juan River and Navajo Lake - Submitted by Scott Taylor of High Country Charters - Two weeks ago, we were wondering if the rivers were going to dry up! Now after 5 days of much needed rain, conditions are looking good for the rest of the summer. We are in the start of the monsoon season, which gives us good chances of afternoon rains in the high country and even showers in town. The San Juan in Pagosa went from 50 cfs 2 weeks ago to 140 cfs today, and because of improved conditions the lower San Juan was lowered 200 cfs to 825 cfs. Fishing conditions after some of the big storms will leave several of the drainages muddy, most of the time we drive around and find clear water on the N side of 160, and sometimes it is on the S side. It all depends on where the big storm cells were. It is very rare that all the streams in our area are blown out. If they are, we can always go down to the lower San Juan and fish the tailwater. By the way the ants fell last week, and there are still fish looking up for them.

At Sunset Ranch the fishing has been great in between blown out days. Last week Jeff and I had a family out there with visibility in the 8 – 10 inch range. That can scare some anglers away, but we got into a bunch of fish. We were throwing some of Pop’s special San Juan worms, egg patterns, and the copper and hare. A lot of the fish were hooked one rod length away. Normally the ranch fish will not let you get anywhere near that close. Often times in dirty stained water we will catch more fish with beginners than when the water is gin clear. The clearer it is the spookier they are, and that means your presentation is more important.

See photos on our blog. http://highcountrycharters.blogspot.com/

Scott Taylor
High Country Fishing Charters
558 Ginger Cr.
Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
970-946-5229
http://www.highcountrycharters.com

June 20, 2012 -San Juan River and Navajo Lake - Submitted by Scott Taylor of High Country Charters - Summer time fishing in the Colorado Rockies

The fishing has been very good on all of the local waters and on the Lower San Juan. The Private Property trip on Sunset Ranch has been fishing extremely well. The fish have been hungry and aggressive to rise for a well-placed fly. Best patterns on the Ranch have been a Slow Water CDC Caddis (a pattern I found in the UK), Pop’s Hare & Copper Caddis Larva, and my HCPT (High Country Pheasant Tail). For the HCPT recipe go to my January blog, http://highcountrycharters.blogspot.com/2012/01/hcpt.html. Some of the best fishing has been mid-day, with adult caddis activity around the overhanging bushes. As the water continues to drop, conditions will change as the water temperature goes up. The fishing should remain consistent until at least the 1st week of July. By then we will hopefully have some rain to help the San Juan River drainage and give some relief to the hundreds of fire fighters in SW Colorado and New Mexico.

The Blanco, Turkey Creek, and numerous other small streams all have fish that want to eat dry flies. The fish have not been very selective; they just want a good drag free float. Hoppers, ants, caddis, and grasshopper patterns all have been effective at making the fish look up. We haven’t noticed any big hatches on the small streams lately, just enough activity to keep the fish feeding throughout the day.

Scott Taylor
http://highcountrycharters.com
970-946-5229

While you are in town make sure that you visit the following businesses!

Need Fly Fishing gear? See Pop's
Let it Fly
Located on Put hill, just West of Downtown Pagosa Springs.
970-264-3189
http://www.flyfishpagosa.com

Hungry for Adventure?
Pagosa Outside Adventures - Rafting, Biking, Kayaking, Tubing
Downtown Pagosa Springs
970-264-4202
http://www.pagosaoutside.com

June 6, 2012 -San Juan River and Navajo Lake - Submitted by Scott Taylor of High Country Charters - I just got back from 6 weeks in the FL Everglades, fishing every day except for 4 days. One day was to pick up my wife, one day engine repair and oil change, and 2 days for nasty weather. Our phone and internet service was horrible, I wasn’t able to post reports and most of the time had to drive outside of town to get my hot spot! It was so much easier when you could just check the answering machine. Besides the technological glitches (we were in the Everglades after all), this was our best FL trip since I was running charters here in 2002.

The guides were fishing lots more water during May, than a typical year. Low snowfall and an early melt, means that run off is over. While this may be good for fishing in May and early June, let’s hope for a wet summer to keep the water levels in check come October, and not let Navajo Lake run too low. Looking at the summer forecast we are on the border of a Hot and Dry cycle, and the typical Mid – Late summer thunderstorms cycle. Let’s hope for the thunderstorms.

The fishing below the dam, on the Tailwater section of the San Juan River is very good. The river is in great shape. The flows were just lowered from 5,000 cfs to about 500 and the river bed is looking clean. After the river has been blown out, we often have some of the best fishing with very hungry fish. Midges up high, and bigger dry’s in the back channels, and hopefully soon we will see the ant fall if we get some rain.

The Blanco, Turkey, Piedra, and our Private property on the San Juan are all fishing very well. Most of the other streams on our permit need the water to drop just a bit. They will all be fishing fine in another week or two. Pop’s at Let it Fly, reported that the Stonefly’s and Caddis are going good, and both Jeff and Steve have already been doing well on grasshoppers. Now I have to go to the river and re-learn how to tie knots with 6x, after spending a month tying 60lb shock to Tarpon fly’s. I hope I have that problem again next year...

Scott Taylor
High Country Fishing Charters
558 Ginger Cr.
Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
970-946-5229
http://www.highcountrycharters.com

April 16, 2012 - Lemon Reservoir - The ice is off Lemon reservoir, fishing was slow yesterday with wind and snow. Typically the fishing for rainbows around the inlets heats up soon. The lake is beginning to rise and is off color.

April 12, 2012 -San Juan River and Navajo Lake - Submitted by Scott Taylor of High Country Charters - April fishing in Pagosa Springs, CO.

Today we went to Navajo Reservoir. It was snowing and blowing up to 20 mph at 8:00 am, but we had a plan, and stuck to it. Even with the tough weather, one of our main goals was to see how some of our new Tarpon flies were swimming. We also wanted to try some on the new 9 inch Hogy soft plastic lures, with several different riggings. Next week, Steve and I head to the Florida Everglades to chase Tarpon for 6 weeks. We had a few flies that we want to tweak a bit, but over all they looked great in the water. The 9 inch Hogy looks amazing, incredible action. I was hoping for a better day on the water to try them on some Pike. I am sure they will work. The evidence of their success is this nice, chunky small mouth bass that slammed a 9 inch lure!

Last week Steve fished with Josh on the Lower San Juan. They fished the wade area and got into a bunch of fish. They spent a good deal of the day working fish on the dry fly. Josh was throwing a size 24 grizzly fore aft in the morning. In the afternoon, they switched to baetis patterns, the grey fluffy baetis in size 24 ended up being the preferred pattern.

Craig Taylor, from Pagosa went out on a float the last week of March, and got into a few rainbows and one brown trout on a quick afternoon float. The day before it was snowing in Pagosa, and the next day Craig was in short sleeves floating on the San Juan River. Got to love that!

While Steve and I are Tarpon fishing in FL, Jeff while be taking care of the bookings in May. I will still be checking emails, and taking phone calls. Jeff will also be checking voice mails. We will keep you updated on our Florida adventure through our blog - http://highcountrycharters.blogspot.com/.

If you are planning on a guided trip this summer give us a call and we will help you plan a great fishing trip. Our trips range from fishing the high country streams for cutthroats, private property trips on the San Juan River, Floats & Wade trips on the Lower San Juan River, and Lake trips on Navajo Lake.

Tight lines,

Scott Taylor
http://highcountrycharters.com
970-946-5229

April 1, 2012 -San Juan River and Navajo Lake - Submitted by Scott Taylor of High Country Charters - Last week’s warm temperatures broke all the ice on the upper San Juan River and the flows went from 150 cfs to 850 cfs this morning. Run – off is starting. As the lakes start to lose their ice, the fishing should be good on them. Most of the high country lakes do not lose their ice until late May or June. With that said the Forest Service roads generally do not open until May 15. If the roads are dry they open them earlier.

The best fishing over the next few weeks will be in-between cold fronts that slow the run off, and clear the river. Drifting Pop’s Buggers, caddis patterns, and egg patterns are often my best bets. Look for parts of the river where the fish can get a break from the current. Often you will find fish stacked in one section. If you find one these places, you can be sure there will be more fish holding in similar spots. I will assume that this is a “pattern”. If you think you have the “pattern” figured out, move up or down river looking for similar water. I don’t waste time fishing up to the next spot that might have stacked fish. By the time you get there, the bite could be over! With higher flows, be careful wadding the river. It might be a good idea to wear an inflatable life jacket.

Of course the fishing below the dam on the Lower San Juan should remain good with flows around 500 cfs the wadding will be good until the flows get higher after the lake fills up. Last week guide Steve Baird did best on chocolate KF, black UV, and some of his no-name midges. The fishing was best during mid-day for him.

Navajo lake is where the pike action is. Reports of good catches started back in Feb. when we still had powder days at Wolf Creek on our minds. As the lake fills and warms up the action should continue. It is also crappie time! My neighbor Jim Mudrock caught 20 last Saturday.

Tight lines,

Scott Taylor
http://highcountrycharters.com
970-946-5229

July 20, 2011 -Miramonte Reservoir - I have not been seeing any reports for this lake so decided to write one up. I was just there last week.

Water is very warm. Fishing from bank is hit & miss with some folks limiting out on 12-14" Rainbow's while others not catching a single fish. Powerbait and worms are what is working from shore.

I waded out to 3-4' of water and started catching 16" Rainbows on very small silver & blue Kastmaster's. Fish were surfacing all around me as I stood very quietly casting. This was early morning and later evening.

Lots of boats trolling but no real good reports of what was or was not working. Again seemed to be hit & miss for boats as well.

Scott Johnston

Montrose, Colorado

June 1, 2011 - Pella Crossing Webster Pond - My son and I were at Pella Crossing on Saturday May 21st. We fished the Webster Pond. We caught a total of 4 Bass that day. The first was small but the other 3 were good size. The largest one we caught was 3lbs! Great day and a very clean place to just hang out. Please help keep it this way.

September 9, 2010 - Sonar Question - Anyone experience this? I have a Lowrance LCX 19 sonar, (fish finder). Its 6 years old or so. Been experiencing when I turn it on the unit, (Cristal's) are upside down. All the readings, water temp. depth are upside down. Then after a few Min's. the problem corrects itself and functions fine. I know I can call Lowrance and be put on hold for awhile and ask them if I can get home in time before they close but just thought I'd put this out there for remarks. I'm afraid one day it's not going to correct itself.

August 5, 2010 -Eleven Mile - Fished Eleven Mile last Sunday with my son. Started around 0800 and the bite started around 1000. Caught 4 nice rainbows from 14-26”. All were caught on original yellow powerbait fished 16” above a sliding sinker. Fished on the north side of Corral Cove. Others there were also catching rainbows in the 14-18” range. Bite stopped at 1100 and picked up again around 1400. Saw a huge Brown cruising in about 10’ of water near the dropoff we were fishing.

Paul McIntosh

July 23, 2010 -Navajo Res (CO/NM)...(Tip is based on fishing in the past, may not be reliable today.)
Navajo Res. (CO/NM) has a lot better kokanee fishing in it than most folks realize...
In the New Mexico side,,,by Sims Mesa marina, troll Southerly towards the E corner of the dam, but stay along the vertical bluff just S. of the Simms Marina..Late July is a good time, the Kokes should be hanging around in 30-35 ft depth, but you will be in 180 ft of water.
Several lures should work, be we have found that a Kokanee King
worked about 18" back of willow leaf popgear (weighted) and about 3-1/2 to 4 colors of lead line out is good, Tip the lure with a single kernal of white shoepeg corn.. The kokes there run a more consistant nice size, and not so many smaller "shaker-offs" as Blue Mesa Res in CO.

June 27, 2010 -Barnes Meadow Reservoir - Went to Barnes Meadow Reservoir with a Church group on Sat. June 26th...I've never seen the lake so full of water, whatever debris that was reported on the lake is no longer there. We fished off to the right side of the earth dam starting about 7:00 AM...The first hour we caught one sucker and one 6 inch rainbow. around 8:00 the bite was on. Never had such a good day there. We fished until 11:30 caught around 20 nice Rainbows the fish averaged 12"-13". Using baby nightcrawlers mostly and a few caught on power bait. Great day, nice weather had a blast.

Greg Fotre/Fort Collins

May 11, 2010 -Navajo - Fished antero on Friday the 7th. It was a pretty slow day for most around us. A few fish here and there. There was a spot on the north end that seemed to be holding some fish. Most of the action took place very near a pipe coming out of the wall on the north side. Caught a few on olive scuds but that was it.

April 15, 2010 -Navajo Lake - Submitted by Scott Taylor of High Country Charters - I had two trips out on Navajo Lake last week. The fishing has been on the slow side with most of the water temps at 49 degrees. We did find some back, muddy water at 52. With the conditions being tough, we did still land some of our target species for those days. I was fishing with Tim Froelich who was out from NJ for a Merriam Turkey hunt. He tagged out on the first day with a nice TOM! Then he decided to get in a few days of fishing instead of just hanging out at camp, while his buddies were hunting.

Two of the Pike he caught were real nice. The bigger of the 2 had a 14-inch Kokanee Salmon in her throat, and still ate a 6-inch Mepps Musky Killer! Pike are pretty impressive eaters. We tried several times for Crappie, but just couldn’t make them turn on. As the water warms to 55 – 60 degrees, the post spawn Pike bite will be on. The Crappie should improve when the water is consistently 52. It snowed for a few hours yesterday, that didn’t help. Spring is in the air, and the post spawn Pike action should be on within 2 weeks.

Don’t forget all of our new areas that we are fishing in the San Juan National Forest.
The streams of the upper San Juan are not at ALL like the San Juan in New Mexico. These unspoiled rivers and creeks start just miles above where we will be fishing. The 10,000-foot peaks that are still packed with snow in July feed these intimate rivers on their way to the Navajo Reservoir and then the Tail water section of the San Juan that everyone knows. Some of the many streams that we are permitted on through the San Juan National Forest are the West Fork and East Fork of the San Juan, Quartz Creek, Wolf Creek, Turkey Creek, The Upper Piedra, and the Rio Blanco. These streams are great for beginners and experienced anglers alike. We will access most of the fishing areas on foot or on a 4 wheeler. The fish average 8 – 15 inches and are eager for dry flies and dropper rigs. Small steams will often give the beginner fly fisherman many more opportunities to hook fish on the dry fly.

Scott Taylor
_____\|/_
(_ /|\

July 20, 2009 - Pagosa Springs Area - Submitted by Scott Taylor of High Country Charters - The fishing last week was a bit slow on the big rivers, but was on fire on the high country streams. The cooler, shaded waters on the creeks have been producing non – stop dry fly action. Ants, Caddis, PMD’s, and Humpy’s have been the best bugs. When a big fish would turn his nose at us, we would add a size 20 Bead Head Prince. It would fool him almost every time. The water levels in the creeks are starting to get low, not low enough to bother the fish, but some rain is needed.

The San Juan on Sunset Ranch has been tough for some anglers with the clear days and temps into the 90’s (that’s hot in the mountains). The key for success in these conditions is to down size your flies and leaders. I had some beginners out 2 days ago and they landed 9 trout on their first day of fishing. Some other guest at the ranch could not believe that this couple was into the fish. They were using flies from size 10 – 16 and 4 – 5 x tippets. The biggest fly we used was a size 20 rs2, and we were using 6x fluorocarbon. We were also using size 5 and 6 shot, and fishing suspended. Every one else was glued to the bottom.

I hope this tech tip helps.

The fishing should continue to be great in the high country, and the local rivers should improve as our rainy season is approaching. Rain at 5 pm, every afternoon.

July 11, 2009 - Pagosa Springs Area - Submitted by Scott Taylor of High Country Charters - Finally we can cross the river at Sunset Ranch. Last week the flows were at a wadeable 400 – 500 cfs, now it is at 247. The East Fork is at 270 cfs, and below the dam it has spiked to 839 cfs. The San Juan at the Ranch has been fishing good with a caddis dropper rig. The best dropper has been a size 20 bead head prince. On the East Fork we have been pounding the fish with red Copper John’s and Pickpockets (available at Let it Fly). We have also been doing good with large Para Adams, 16 and 18 caddis, and smaller stimulators.

June 14, 2009 - Pagosa Springs Area - Submitted by Scott Taylor of High Country Charters - The area streams are in great shape and are fishing very well with some nice mid day hatches. On the smaller streams there have been hatches of Slate Winged Olives size 14 and even some Western Green Drakes size 10. When they come off the fish are really keying in on them, and nothing else. When prospecting in-between hatches, we have been using Yellow Humpies, Para Adams, and Elk Hair Caddis. On the San Juan above town we have been having good success with Prince Nymphs, and Pop’s Turd flies. The water keeps dropping and more water is opening up for the wading angler, even with the water going down, still be careful wading.

Below the dam the water is back to 500 cfs and is fishing great. The next two weeks is usually some of the best fishing of the year below the dam. That is, the first two weeks after the high water is over. Two days ago there was a pretty descent ant fall. I missed it. Hopefully it was a teaser. That one was on the early side of June. I would guess that after the next big rain it is going to be the real thing.

May 27, 2009 - Pagosa Springs Area - Submitted by Scott Taylor of High Country Charters - The stream flow in Pagosa has been steadily going down every day from 2,600 last week to 1,400 this morning. This is great for fisherman as the levels are allowing fishing on areas of Williams Creek, and Turkey Creek. Echo Lake was also stocked last week.

The lower Juan is on a one-week ramp up period to 5,000 cfs from 500. It will stay at 5,000 for one week followed by a one-week ramp down to 500cfs. Some anglers stay away from the high water, but if you ask the guides in the area, you will find out that they love it. Most of my biggest fish of the year are caught with the flows at 5,000. Many anglers are used to the 500 cfs levels, and are unaware that in the 80's it ran at 2,000. If you are wading at high flows be careful, very careful.

The ramp up period also makes the fishing on Navajo Lake great. It creates currents where there was very little or none. Find these currents and you will find the fish. With run off almost over the conditions of the rivers and lakes should be great for the summer. For more information on area streams or guided trips in the Pagosa Springs area, give me a call or check out my website.

May 5, 2009 - Pagosa Springs Area - Submitted by Scott Taylor of High Country Charters - Run off is here and we will have high water for a few more weeks on the San Juan above the lake and it's tributaries. The ski area's last day was yesterday May 4th. So there is still, lots of snow in the high country. For guest coming to town, that stay in the Pagosa Lakes area, they can expect some great fishing for trout, bass and crappie. Echo Lake should be stocked shortly, and the ice is almost off of Williams Lake. Lake Vallecito is producing trout, and as always this is the time of year to look for some of the biggest pike in the state, as the north end of the lake floods with spring run off. Navajo lake has had a descent crappie bite, with some good reports of pike. The temps. were in the low 50's. The bass are jus starting to get more active, they like 55 degrees. Last week there was a tournament and 80 bass were weighed in, so things are looking great for Navajo.

The Quality Waters has been on fire. Lots of overcast days, had fish eating baetis emergers all day. Gray foam wings, poly wings, rs2's, Freemans Stuck in a Shuck, and black and cream midges all worked. We were mostly wadding, fishing the midges early, then switching to foam wings around 11.

May 5, 2009 - Prospect Park, Wheatridge - Finally got out from under the rain long enough to wet a line again. I have been fishing these three little ponds for more than a decade, never a dull moment, caught a 18" 4lb female 050309 using a finesse worm, texas rigged, 1/8 ounce, brown. my best was a 22" female about 6 years ago could fit my fist in her mouth w/o touching considering I am 6'2" and 240 lbs , she was breath taking

March 16, 2009 - Arkansas River near Salida - Submitted by www.eddylineanglers.com -Fishing this week has slowed down just a bit. The blue-winged olives will be hatching soon! I've seen one or two flying. There are thousands of BWO nymphs squirming around on rocks and sticks at the bottom of the river. I think the fish have a lot to eat and are becoming very picky. But once it warms up just enough for the nymphs to form wings and come to the surface, the fish go crazy on dry flies! A few caddis pupa and golden stone nymphs also found in the water. Midges are still present.

March 5, 2009 - Arkansas River near Salida - Submitted by www.eddylineanglers.com
Temps in the 40's-50's have made for great fishing! Fish are becoming more active and insect life is consistent. Midge patterns have been working for the past month. Bead head griffith's gnats, black beauties and any small midge pattern size 16-22. Also blue-winged olive nymphs have been populating the river. Bead head pheasant tails are the classic BWO nymph imitation. Golden stone nymphs and caddis pupa are also productive. Skiing is always fun, but this is some of the best fishing I've seen here in a few years. Come out with us for a trip!

February 24, 2009 - Douglas Lake - February 22nd, 2009 - Douglas Lake (outside Wellington CO) The fishing was very slow here last weekend. We talked to about 15 other fishermen on shore and on boats and for the most part nobody had caught much. I caught a 13 inch rainbow by the boat dock on a worm. We tried Kastmasters, spinners, worms, Powerbait, mealworms, and minnows and only caught one fish between the 4 of us. The lake had a little ice on the south end but is 99% open water now.
Paul

February 13, 2009 - Eleven Mile Reservoir - February 8th 2009. Eleven Mile Reservoir. The fishing was pretty good here. The ice is very thick (2 feet plus). We had the best luck within 4 to 5 feet of water using jigs tipped with meal worms and kastmasters. The guy who owns the marina store is also very knowledgeable and can tell you what has been working. Stop in for some free coffee.
Paul