The Ramblings of a Fly Fisherman

The Frying Pan River – August 2013


This river is one of my favorites in the state.  It offers countless opportunities to fish some challenging terrain while at the same time whispering a promise to provide you with the prospect of hooking into a trophy that you can brag to your friends about.

The river was in full swing this past weekend.  The fishing was excellent from Basalt all the way to the Ruedi Dam.  There weren’t many places to fish up next to the dam as many of your weekender fishermen were there, elbow to elbow, combat fishing for the entire day.  However, the remaining areas below the dam were often open. If you dared to cross the river and hike up into more secluded areas, you would then find yourself faced with some interesting runs teaming with trout that had not seen a fly in the last few weeks.   This is where I concentrated my time.

It was evident that the green drake situation was really not the way to go even though I had read several reports the day before indicating that the drakes were on.  No adults and very few nymphs were present despite my many attempts to locate them. Instead, I found an abundance of midge larva and stone flies as I seined the water and flipped through the rocks along the shoreline.  Based on that, I tied on a Pat’s Rubber Legs and a zebra midge.  This proved right away to be effective as I targeted the seams between the white water and the pools created near the banks of the river.  Adding some weight to the line and using the small waterfalls to plunge the flies deeper into the run was a great tactic to reach some of those larger trout hiding right below the swift water at the head of the run.

After only two days of fishing this area, the count was up to 36 trout to the net.  It is a clear reminder of why I keep returning to this river year after year.