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.
