Spring Break Trip: The Final Chapter
On the third day we hit up the Fryingpan River. Some of my friends know that I have a deep affinity for "The Pan."
(FLASHBACK) When I moved to Colorado in the Summer of 2015 I drove up to the quaint town of Basalt to chase after the famous rainbows and browns that call the Fryingpan home. On that fateful day I pulled off at the first available stop, but found faster water. I tried to nymph with no luck and then put on a streamer. My first solid strike (the tug is the drug) resulted in a miss, but I knew there were fish.
After a 3 1/2 hour drive I was excited. I walked upstream only to bump into a sign stating that I had approached private water. I had looked at a map before my trek and determined that the river had plenty of public water that was interrupted by private stretches. I headed upstream to another pull off with decent looking water. It was the PMD (Pale Morning Dun) time of year so I put one on and hooked up. Guess what? I lost that fish. Then I cast my delicious offering into a "fishy looking area" and hooked up again. Guess what? I lost that fish. They were both rainbows and at that point I was cursing the fishing gods for my struggles. After all of that travel and some decent hookups my net had remained dormant.
I then walked downstream and saw a fish rise. I had the same fly on and I cast it out hoping for that fish to honor my well presented fly. On the first drift that gorgeous rainbow obliged and after a slip or two on the greasy rocks and a silent prayer in my head, I landed that fish. It was a magical moment I will never forget and my face says it all. I was "hooked" on the Fryingpan River.
I went on to catch another gorgeous rainbow on the same PMD pattern. I was extremely satisfied to tackle a famous river and succeed.
Since August of 2015 I have visited the town of Basalt and The Pan several more times and the hatches of midges, BWO's, PMD's, and Green Drakes keep me coming back.
(FLASH FORWARD TO THE PRESENT)
During this trip I was hoping for BWO's, but unfortunately it was still too soon for one of my favorite mayflies to start breaking through the meniscus of a river I will always embrace. Instead, I told Tim and Chris that small midge and bwo nymphs would be a safe bet once we arrived. During our short trip from the Eagle through Glenwood Springs to Basalt we were lucky enough to pass a herd of bighorn sheep. I have seen different herds in different places from Denver to Basalt, but it's safe to say that March is a great time to find them. Below is a picture I snapped from March of 2016.
They looked happy to see me!
I had told Tim about the infamous "Toilet Bowl" and the aquarium fish that reside there. I will say that I have never fished there with vigor because there are often times too many people. Combat fishing has never been my cup of tea so I showed him the monster fish (that you can clearly see) in that area and then headed downstream.
I had already seen plenty of midges in the air so I knew the fish would be eating them off the surface down below. Since my first trip I have learned a thing or three about dry fly fishing on The Pan. First, you need to use light tippet. Sometimes 6x will not cut it. Trouthunter makes a 6.5x tippet that I have had great success with. They make half sizes and from March to November on most rivers, 5.5x is straight up the best decision on the market.
Second, (and if you're fishing midges) you'd better have a solid imitation or you're going to struggle. They don't eat just anything up there. After my first real midge experience on the Fryingpan, (I did not catch very many fish) I turned to Youtube for help. Ken Iwamasa ties a midge emerger that was part of the "Designed to Deceive" series and it has been a real game changer for me. He put in hours of study to develop this fly and for that I am eternally grateful. I tie and fish several different variations of his pattern and they have all caught beautiful trout not only on the Fryingpan, but on other Colorado rivers as well. Check out his video and let me know if you have any success. I'm guessing that you will!
Designed to Deceive: Ken Iwamasa Tying the Midge Emerger
So back to our trip. I found some risers downstream and was able to hook into several fish in the same pool on midge dries and emergers. There are plenty of Fryingpan browns that range from 8-12 inches, but one thing I'll say about these fish is that they are extremely beautiful. There are hogs at the Fryingpan, but sometimes catching these fish is somehow more rewarding on a size 24 dry fly fishing 6.5x tippet. My biggest fish of the day was a solid 16 inch brown and I lost a rainbow that was probably an inch or two bigger than that. The browns and rainbows have incredible colors that I have not seen on many other rivers in Colorado.
Our crew did not do as well on the Fryingpan, but it is a technical fishery. It's a special river that rewards a (very) well presented fly.
Until next time, tight lines my friends.
(FLASHBACK) When I moved to Colorado in the Summer of 2015 I drove up to the quaint town of Basalt to chase after the famous rainbows and browns that call the Fryingpan home. On that fateful day I pulled off at the first available stop, but found faster water. I tried to nymph with no luck and then put on a streamer. My first solid strike (the tug is the drug) resulted in a miss, but I knew there were fish.
After a 3 1/2 hour drive I was excited. I walked upstream only to bump into a sign stating that I had approached private water. I had looked at a map before my trek and determined that the river had plenty of public water that was interrupted by private stretches. I headed upstream to another pull off with decent looking water. It was the PMD (Pale Morning Dun) time of year so I put one on and hooked up. Guess what? I lost that fish. Then I cast my delicious offering into a "fishy looking area" and hooked up again. Guess what? I lost that fish. They were both rainbows and at that point I was cursing the fishing gods for my struggles. After all of that travel and some decent hookups my net had remained dormant.
I then walked downstream and saw a fish rise. I had the same fly on and I cast it out hoping for that fish to honor my well presented fly. On the first drift that gorgeous rainbow obliged and after a slip or two on the greasy rocks and a silent prayer in my head, I landed that fish. It was a magical moment I will never forget and my face says it all. I was "hooked" on the Fryingpan River.
I went on to catch another gorgeous rainbow on the same PMD pattern. I was extremely satisfied to tackle a famous river and succeed.
Since August of 2015 I have visited the town of Basalt and The Pan several more times and the hatches of midges, BWO's, PMD's, and Green Drakes keep me coming back.
(FLASH FORWARD TO THE PRESENT)
During this trip I was hoping for BWO's, but unfortunately it was still too soon for one of my favorite mayflies to start breaking through the meniscus of a river I will always embrace. Instead, I told Tim and Chris that small midge and bwo nymphs would be a safe bet once we arrived. During our short trip from the Eagle through Glenwood Springs to Basalt we were lucky enough to pass a herd of bighorn sheep. I have seen different herds in different places from Denver to Basalt, but it's safe to say that March is a great time to find them. Below is a picture I snapped from March of 2016.
They looked happy to see me!
I had told Tim about the infamous "Toilet Bowl" and the aquarium fish that reside there. I will say that I have never fished there with vigor because there are often times too many people. Combat fishing has never been my cup of tea so I showed him the monster fish (that you can clearly see) in that area and then headed downstream.
I had already seen plenty of midges in the air so I knew the fish would be eating them off the surface down below. Since my first trip I have learned a thing or three about dry fly fishing on The Pan. First, you need to use light tippet. Sometimes 6x will not cut it. Trouthunter makes a 6.5x tippet that I have had great success with. They make half sizes and from March to November on most rivers, 5.5x is straight up the best decision on the market.
Second, (and if you're fishing midges) you'd better have a solid imitation or you're going to struggle. They don't eat just anything up there. After my first real midge experience on the Fryingpan, (I did not catch very many fish) I turned to Youtube for help. Ken Iwamasa ties a midge emerger that was part of the "Designed to Deceive" series and it has been a real game changer for me. He put in hours of study to develop this fly and for that I am eternally grateful. I tie and fish several different variations of his pattern and they have all caught beautiful trout not only on the Fryingpan, but on other Colorado rivers as well. Check out his video and let me know if you have any success. I'm guessing that you will!
Designed to Deceive: Ken Iwamasa Tying the Midge Emerger
So back to our trip. I found some risers downstream and was able to hook into several fish in the same pool on midge dries and emergers. There are plenty of Fryingpan browns that range from 8-12 inches, but one thing I'll say about these fish is that they are extremely beautiful. There are hogs at the Fryingpan, but sometimes catching these fish is somehow more rewarding on a size 24 dry fly fishing 6.5x tippet. My biggest fish of the day was a solid 16 inch brown and I lost a rainbow that was probably an inch or two bigger than that. The browns and rainbows have incredible colors that I have not seen on many other rivers in Colorado.
Our crew did not do as well on the Fryingpan, but it is a technical fishery. It's a special river that rewards a (very) well presented fly.
Until next time, tight lines my friends.
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