Fly Fishing Colorado

10/16

As most of you know, I have always been an ardent supporter of the  Wright and McGill company in Denver. We sell lots of good stuff, but our association with this company has always been a pleasure. We have just launched a new web site with nothing but Wright and McGill products…. all of them. It is http://www.wrightmcgillsuperstore.com
 
 I hope you all will go take a look and perhaps make a Christmas purchase or two. Because we have all taken a few hits in the past couple of weeks, we are offering free shipping in the lower 48, and a low fixed rate for everyone else.

Also for you folks, if you will click on the "Discount Coupon" link on the right side of the page and enter this code…..RGAnews….you wil receive a free Wright and McGill Power "L" nipper with your purchase. This coupon will be good until December 31, so I hope you will take advantage of it, along with the free shipping. Shipping is factory direct, so as long they have product in stock, so will we.

This may not have been the best time in the world to launch a new retail site, but we opened this Royal Gorge Anglers in 1990 in the middle of a recession, so I wouldn’t want to break my lucky streak. After all, fly fishing is about the only sane thing we have to cling to.
 
 Capire et Relinquere,
 
 Bill
 
 Royal Gorge Anglers
 1210 Royal Gorge Blvd.
 Canon City, CO 81212
 Phone: 888-994-6743
 Email: bill@royalgorgeanglers.com
 Visit us Online: www.royalgorgeanglers.com

It is always a pleasure to announce success by a fellow flyshop owner.  (Marshall, Editor of fly-fishing-colorado.com)

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10/16

In addition to the Arkansas, the South Platte below Spinney has  plenty of spawning fish moving into it from Eleven Mile Reservoir.  This is sight fishing at it’s best, so don’t expect to be extremely successful if you just go flail away at the water. You should attempt  to spot the fish first and then make a cast to it.

Fish spotting is not easy for most folks. It’s mandatory that you have a good pair of optics that allow maximum light in while preventing glare. You will need to have the sun at your back to spot fish, but that also presents a problem with shadows, so keep a low profile while searching the water. I often lie prone on the ground and watch an area that is likely to hold fish.Then if I spot one, I move to the other side of the river so my line will not cast a shadow and attempt a presentation.

Fishing for big fish is a lot like Elk hunting. You must have a strategy and take your time. You’ll get about 5 minutes of
casting for every 30 minutes of walking and searching, but it’s worth it. Try an orange or apricot egg trailing a Mercury Midge or RS2. Try to hit the fish square in the face and make it eat. Lots of fun and can result in the biggest fish of the year. 
 

Report courtesy of

Bill

Royal Gorge Anglers
1210 Royal Gorge Blvd.
Canon City, CO 81212
Phone: 888-994-6743
Email: bill@royalgorgeanglers.com
Visit us Online: www.royalgorgeanglers.com

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10/17

To celebrate the near end of the Presidential campaign (thank goodness), the failure of large investment banks, our new ownership of those investment banks, and a variety of other wonderful news out there….lets go fishing.

Folks, the weather just doesn’t get any better than this. We’ve got highs in the 70s, lows in the 30s and happy fish on almost every river around. The Arkansas, after a bout of rain last weekend in Salida, has bounced back and actually the water has that slight green tint that covers up your mistakes. Never fear, it will return to gin clear in the next few days, so I recommend fishing while you have a little help from Mother Nature.

Fish are on double nymph rigs with a BH Prince trailing a Tungsten PT or a Black Ice, or you can drop the Baetis nymph off a big red Stimulator or October Caddis. Streamers are starting to work as well, so take along an Olive Woolly Bugger or one of Larry’s incomparable Trik’r Treats.

For those of you who are thinking of putting away the fly rod, don’t. The Arkansas will probably fish very well all the way through Thanksgiving if we have good spells of weather. Browns are beginning the spawn, but on this river they rarely work the redds during the day, so when they are not having sex, they are fair game. Just watch where you wade and try not to disturb the redds. They are harder to see this year since the river has cleaned up so much from the spring runoff, but they can still be spotted if you look close.

Report Courtesy of:

Bill

Royal Gorge Anglers
1210 Royal Gorge Blvd.
Canon City, CO 81212
Phone: 888-994-6743
Email: bill@royalgorgeanglers.com
Visit us Online: www.royalgorgeanglers.com

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10/10

Two beautiful days on stream in one week.  What a week.  We started out at the Arkansas in Pueblo but it was a chalky green off color.  So off to the Arkansas River in Canyon City.  Yes right in town.

CFS ranged from 260 to 225 toward the end of the day.  Water clarity was good.  I could see bottom on the runs that were 2 feet or less from 20 feet away.  Runs over 2 feet, the bottom was visible but you had to be in them to do it. There were lots of holes over 2 feet deep to maybe 8 feet deep with moss on the bottom.  I could not see bottom on these.

Air temp was in mid to high 70’s all day, cloudless sky until about 4 p.m. then some clouds and gusty wind came up.

My friend Larry drove so this trip was a treat for me.  This was my third test of a furled nymphing leader with a built in strike indicator.  I started out fishing the seam along a deep pool straight out from where we had parked. I had a 3 nymph rig with a #14 pheasant tail on top, a #16 beadhead goldribbed flashback hare’s ear middle and a #18 gray RS2 on the bottom.  This was the rig I fished most of the day.

Moving to the far side under the bridge we were by, I fished a fast run some 3 feet wide and about 18 inches deep.  Several drifts, I had a nice 13 inch brown on the hare’s ear.  Several drifts later, same thing.  Some 10 drifts later, a fat 15 inch rainbow hit the hare’s ear but I lost that one.  I got one more brown out of the run before fishing tapered off.

Rather than change flies, I moved upstream.  I waded carefully into my casting position for quartering upstream casts along the near seam where the water formed a seam, then a slick and a far seam from pouring over a couple of rocks. Second drift a nice fat scrappy 14 inch brown hit the hare’s ear as I worked the drift along the near seam.  Got 2 more out of the near seam and one out of the slick. Lost a small one about 11 inches long from the far seam.

In my first hour of fishing with my furled nymphing leader, I hooked up with seven or eight fish and got 5 to the net.  During the rest of the day, I hooked up with several more fish including a rainbow by the bridge which I think may have been the one I lost earlier.  Lost him this time too.  He was doing head shakes so violent that his tail was hitting his head to get off the hook.

Larry hooked and landed about 10 fish over the course of the day including this beauty of a female brown.  Larry got this one from the tail of the big pool where we had started using a #16 beadhead hare’s ear on top and a #18 beadhead hare’s ear on the bottom tied on a scud hook. 

 
Larry with his 18 inch Arkansas River brown 10/10/08

Tom, one of the HPD members with us, caught 3 or 4 nice fish over the course of the day.  Tom hooked up with 2 nice browns out of a run that I had fished 3 times with no luck.  He caught his fish on what looked like a thread body pheasant tail nymph. (interesting fly)

Lessons: This year there are lots of wood case caddis on the rocks.  The beadhead, gold ribbed flashback hare’s ear works well over a light colored bottom when these wood case caddis are in abundance.  Try tying some up on a scud hook for a trailing fly.  Try tying your pheasant tail nymphs with a thread body to reduce the abdomen size.  The fly Tom used had an extremely slim body profile with a dubbed thorax and 3 pheasant tail fibers for the tails. (The body profile was thinner than the traditional pheasant tail nymph.)

See you next time.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
Everything you need for fly fishing
www.110flyfishingtips.com
www.troutadventures.com
Alaska Trout Fishing Information

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10/08

Today was one of those incredible Colorado days.  Cloudless clear blue skies all day, sunny with temperatures in the mid 70’s around 3 pm on the river in the Deckers area.

The air was cold at 9:30 when I arrived at the river.  Around 55 degrees.  But warmed quickly when the sun cleared the ridge on the Y camp road.  Sky stayed clear and sunny until I left the river about 4 pm.

CFS was 120 and water clarity was gin clear.  Could see bottom clearly at 3 feet from some 50 feet or more away.

Did not see much hatch activity until about 3 pm when a small hatch of tan mayflies came off where I was fishing.

Most prevalent insect noted was the wood case caddis.  The rocks were literally covered with thousands of them from size 20 to size 16.  Most of my fish were hooked on a # 16 beadhead-goldribbed-flashback hare’s ear.

This was my second test of a furled nymphing leader I had been given at the Fly Fishing Retailers Trade Show.  I rigged a three nymph rig off the tail loop on the leader.  A #14 traditional pheasant tail on top on 12 inches of 5x, a # 16 beadhead-goldribbed-flashback hare’s ear on 18 inches of 6x fluorocarbon and a #20 gray RS2 on 15 to 18 inches of 6x fluorocarbon tippet.

I started out fishing the big bend pool down stream from the 1st parking lot on the Y camp road.  Spotted one fish taking an occasional fly on the surface.  I went deep along the near seam of the pool fishing from the west side of the river.  A half dozen casts with no strikes, I moved to the head of the pool.  Second cast into the shallower water at the head of the pool resulted in a 12 inch rainbow on the hare’s ear.

Worked the river straight out and upstream from the parking area. My focus was along the far bank but no strikes.  After an hour or so, I moved to the parking area across from the Bar and Grill in Deckers.  Started on the bend and worked upstream along the far bank.  Saw a few small fish rising but no strikes.

Moved to the first big bend straight east of the bridge east of Deckers.  Switched the RS2 for a #16 white miracle nymph.  Sometimes a miracle nymph will catch fish in the area from the bend downstream to the water fall area.  In this area are a lot of runs that look like they are not too deep.  But they are about 18 inches or more at 120 CFS.  Good rocks for fish to hide behind too. Fished and then waded across these runs to fish the pools on the far side.  Picked up a couple of 8 to 10 inch rainbow dinks there on the hares ear.

On the road side the river sweeps into a pool that empties over into the water falls at the tail of the pool.  There is a slack area about 4 feet in diameter just before the pool empties out.  On the eighth drift through down the pool with a swing by the slack area, a nice 15 inch rainbow slammed the miracle nymph.  On the fifth or sixth head shake, he rolled off and was gone downstream.

 Downstream to the Bridge Pool where Douglas County 97 and 67 come together.  Fished upstream from the bridge at the big rock cliff area. There is a deep run there.  I stood thigh deep behind a big rock and cast straight upstream into the run.  After 12 or so casts a nice fat 12 or 13 inch brown hit the hare’s ear just as my rig hit the water.  After landing and releasing this fish, I concentrated on the shallow run area across the river.  Finally picked up a couple of smaller browns.

Back at the bridge on the west side, there is a small run feeding into the pool under the bridge.  This run is usually good for one or two fish.  Second drift, a 13 inch rainbow hit the hare’s ear hard.  No more strikes that run or from the pool.

The run downstream from the bridge.  At the end of a drift, a nice 15 inch bow hit the hare’s ear but I was too anxious and lost him with a bad hookset.

Bridge Pool - no hits.  Runs on far side - no hits but could see a few risers behind one of the rocks.  Looked like smaller fish.

Four o’clock came all too soon and I had to head home for an appointment.

Lessons: The beadhead-goldribbed-flashback hare’s ear is working well on the South Platte in the Deckers area. I would go with a size 18 next time. I talked with a fellow fisherman who had done ok on a gray RS2.  This was tied on what looked like a 1x long dry fly hook with a long, thin thread body and two black microfibbets for tails. Would also think about a small egg pattern on the end since the browns are spawning.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
Everything you need for fly fishing
www.110flyfishingtips.com
www.troutadventures.com
Alaska Trout Fishing Information

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