Salmon Flies on the Colorado River
A good friend of mine came out to visit me in Colorado in search of Salmon Flies, trout, and just an all around good time! The first fishing day we had was up in Gore Canyon on the mighty Colorado. Due to poor snow pack this year the flows were around 800 cfs, which is incredibly low for this time of year. I had read that there were Salmon Flies buzzing around about a week before his arrival so I was hoping for the best.
Pumphouse was a mad house, but the majority of fisherman were putting their boats/rafts in floating downstream as we began walking in the opposite direction. There were Salmon Flies buzzing around as soon as we hit the trail and I was excited. We heard a wild splash or two, but there weren't many bugs on the water. Some were flying overheard while others were performing their mating ritual on nearby trees, rocks, and bushes.
The water was off color, but if we put our flies in front of fish, we were confident they would eat our delicious offerings. We caught the majority of our fish on nymphs, but I have never seen as many Salmon Flies as I did this year. I had read (and heard stories) about people slamming fish on dry flies, but this year it didn't happen for us. There were so many flies around that it was a truly special experience even though there weren't many on the water during our time on the river. Needless to say, they're big flies!
Here's my buddy Darren with a beautiful brown trout he caught on a nymph.
We hiked up a bit more and were able to get into some nice fish. We were fishing about 30 yards apart when we both hooked up and were able to land them separately and then combine them for a killer photo. Nothing like a solid double!
It was an awesome day up in the canyon and I hope that next year I'll hit the Salmon Flies when they are all over the water! Until next time, tight lines my friends.
Pumphouse was a mad house, but the majority of fisherman were putting their boats/rafts in floating downstream as we began walking in the opposite direction. There were Salmon Flies buzzing around as soon as we hit the trail and I was excited. We heard a wild splash or two, but there weren't many bugs on the water. Some were flying overheard while others were performing their mating ritual on nearby trees, rocks, and bushes.
The water was off color, but if we put our flies in front of fish, we were confident they would eat our delicious offerings. We caught the majority of our fish on nymphs, but I have never seen as many Salmon Flies as I did this year. I had read (and heard stories) about people slamming fish on dry flies, but this year it didn't happen for us. There were so many flies around that it was a truly special experience even though there weren't many on the water during our time on the river. Needless to say, they're big flies!
Here's my buddy Darren with a beautiful brown trout he caught on a nymph.
We hiked up a bit more and were able to get into some nice fish. We were fishing about 30 yards apart when we both hooked up and were able to land them separately and then combine them for a killer photo. Nothing like a solid double!
It was an awesome day up in the canyon and I hope that next year I'll hit the Salmon Flies when they are all over the water! Until next time, tight lines my friends.
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