The Blue

The Blue is a half hour from my doorstep.  I fish here a lot, in the winter especially.  It's a great place to get your sight fishing on!  Light tippet and long leaders help here.  Small indicators are best, not to spook the fish. I almost always nymph here.  Short line high sticking is very effective here.  I prefer to fish the section from Chipotle upstream. Sometimes I make it all the way to the dam.  I'm looking for fish and movement.  If I don't see a fish, I'm moving on.  Unless there is a lot of pressure, I'm usually on the move.  A few great ways to increase your ability to sight fish is to wear polarized sunglasses and when you release a fish, watch him until you can't see him anymore.  This will train your eyes to spot fish and movement!  A dry dropper rig can be very effective when the fish are eating off the top.  Some dry flies to try are Griffith's Gnats, Parachute Adams, and Stimulators.  Sizes 16-20 should work.  Some nymphs and emergers to try would be BHFB Pheasant Tails, RSII's, Juju Baetis, Miracle Midge, and various BWO patterns.  Sizes 18-22.  Some good colors to try are white, olive, and red.  Good luck! Josh

Willy's Fork

I fished the Williams Fork and the Colorado River near Parshall a while back for the first time.  I had a great time and caught several fish. The Williams Fork is a tail and is skinny water, similar to Clear Creek.   There are A few larger fish in there as well.  I did see some bigger fish chasing some smaller ones so streamers make work there as well.  I focused my effort on short line high sticking.  Nymphs and emergers were working well.  RSII's, brassies, BWO patterns, and an egg as a lead fly should do the trick.  Dry-Dropper rigs will work on days that fish are rising.  I also caught fish at the confluence of the Williams Fork and Colorado.  I caught fish in both rivers.  There are some nice deep holes in the Colorado at the confluence.  I mostly caught Browns but did land some Bows too.  I hooked into some larger fish but didn't land them.  Both of those were surprisingly on the Williams Fork.  I really enjoyed fishing here for the first time and catching several was just icing on the cake.  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call the shop on your way out!  Tips up! Josh

Thanks Josh!

Clear Creek

What's that? A Dry Fly?  Yes!!  I haven't seen any fish rising much yet, except to eat my Putterbaugh Caddis, shown in the mouth of this trout.  I fish a dry/dropper rig on Clear Creek whenever I can get away with it.  Each day is getting better on Clear Creek.  Warm cloudy days seem to be the best. The fish on Clear Creek are small and very spooky on sunny days.  The Rainbow Warrior for my dropper has been working very well.  All of Idaho Springs is fishing well.  I haven't made it down into the canyon.  I imagine it will take longer to thaw out than the Idaho Springs section.  In town gets a good deal of light during the day. If you have any questions come in the shop or give Rob or I a call. A fish caught may be a gift from someone else and that fish you put back may be a gift to someone else.  Tips up! Josh

The Dream!!

 On Tuesday October 30th, I headed out to the Dream Stream at around 4AM.  It was about 7AM when I was on the water.  I had a feeling that it was going to be a good day when I lost a nice one on my third cast.  The first fish I brought to the net was a nice Kokanee.  The first of the season!  Those fish always seem to put up a good fight.  A Red San Juan Worm is what the Kokanee wanted.  Once the excavation started upstream, we had to move to the upper part of the river.  Construction crews are making stream improvements and it really affected our fishing today. I don't believe there is construction on weekends, so if you fish weekends, you will have that to your advantage.  Above the excavation, were normal Dream Stream clarity conditions.  I caught several Cutbows on the egg pattern above the middle parking lot.  I only saw a few paired Browns and only three or four Kokanee.  I think it is still a bit early for the prime of spawn.  But it was a great day, I cannot complain.  Good Luck and Tips Up! Josh

Cutts & Tigers

Dean and I ran out to Utah's Strawberry Reservoir for Bear Lake Cutts and Scofield Reservoir for Tiger Trout.  Hi did pretty good on this trip but I, not so much!!  That's why they call it fishing not catching.  Here are some pics.  All were caught stripping big streamers!!!

Clear Creek

Clear Creek is my "home water" so I fish it more than probably any other water.  I have been fishing it the same way since the flows have came down from spring run-off.  If I can get away with a dry-fly, that is my preferred way of flyfishing.  That said, I've been using 2 dry flies.  Generally, I will run a bigger one for my lead fly, like a size 12 Amy's Ant.  Red works well.  I like this fly because it has legs, is highly visible, and floats extremely well.  Behind that is a Putterbaugh Caddis, size 18.  It doesn't seem to matter what tippet size you use but generally I have 4 or 5x to my first fly and 5 or 6x on my second fly.  As you will see in my pics, a small Griffiths Knat or Adams also works well.  The fish like to set next to the bank.  I just walk next to the bank, walking upstream and casting to the slower seams and pocket water.  The fish will only average 8 to 10 inches but they are very cooperative and sometimes you even get that explosive take that surprises you with a bigger than average fish!  Good Luck and Tight Lines!  Josh

Thanks Josh

Tiger Muskie

Here are some pics from our Tiger Muskie Trip to Utah!!!