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Fishing Reports

Rocky Mountains

Frying Pan
July 15, 2004

Posted by Frying Pan Anglers
Contact: Roy Palm
Basalt, Co 81621 U.S.A.
Phone 1: 970 927 3441
Email: Roy@fryingpananglers.com
URL: http://fryingpananglers.com

Current Report
Fishing report on the Frying Pan River

When other rivers in Colorado are blown out-- The pristine little Frying Pan will be FISHABLE!!

YES YES THE GREEN DRAKES ARE HATCHING ON THE PAN. (THE LARGEST HATCHES ARE FROM TOWN TO THE MID RIVER. MOST OF THIS SECTION OF RIVER IS STATE OWNED AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Pale Morning Duns, Caddis, Yellow Saleys, beatis are hatching on the Pan

I had been waiting with antisipation for my first mosquito bite and now I can truthfully say summer is here. Yes it is Summer time in the Rockies with the smell of fresh cut grass , waterfowl swiming around with their little ones, and the Beatis mayflies are hatching. Of course the midges are also hatching in large numbers. The spring midges are usually larger , size#18 , and vary from black to olive. These midges are so large that many fishermen mistake them for the Beatis may fly. There have been some stone flies and caddis flies hatching , but not in large numbers. Fishing a size #16 purple prince nymph can be very productive. At the end of this report I have attached a article I wrote about fishing the Beatis May Fly.

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I will not predict the weather here in the mountains. I have been here too long and I am not that big of a fool. Although we are only eighteen miles from Aspen and one and one half hours from Vail , Basalt lies at a much lower altitude and there for it is warmer and gets a lot less snow. The Frying Pan River meets the Roaring Fork River in Basalt. Both rivers are designated Gold Metal Rivers by the Colorado Division of Wild Life and in my opinion they are the two best trout fisheries in Colorado.

The Frying Pan River is running clear and at a very nice flow. It will remain this way through out the summer.

ROY PALM BAETIS

When I think of dry fly fishing on my home rivers I think of Baetis. yes it's a small may fly, size #24 to size#18, but there are a lot of them, and the fish love them. Typically the Baetis hatch starts in April and the last time I fished this hatch in 1997 was mid December. The primary dates of this hatch are from May through October with September and October being the most spectacular. There are over a dozen different insects in the Baetis family. This insect is commonly called the blue winged olive or the iron blue dun , and although the adults wings are defiantly a dark dun, the bodies can vary from a light olive to a dark gray. Many times during a good green drake hatch I have witnessed seventy five percent of the trout keying in on the Baetis. Most of the fisherman are plopping out a size #12 Green drake and the fish are snubbing their nose at them. with a little concentration and observation the fisherman could have caught a lot more fish. I am not sure why a trout passes up a big juicy Green drake in preference to a small blue winged olive. Discussing this around a camp fire with A.K. Best, Ed Engle, and John Gierach. John came out with the comment that maybe they taste good. I am going to seine a bunch of them and feed them to (one of my guides who eats bugs)and see what his personal opinion is.

Like most may flies the Baetis loves to hatch on gray over cast days (a little rain does not hurt). the hatch usually occurs between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.. Some time between noon and 3:00p.m. is usually the best. I like to fish this hatch with a high floating dry fly such as a B.W.O. Compara dun with a olive biot emerger or a baetis nymph as a trailer. I will apply some sink or spit on the trailer to hold it below the surface film. My dropper is usually 12" to 18" long. The reason for a short dropper is that you are concentrating on the dry and you will swear that the fish ate it when in reality the fish will eat the trailing fly most of the time. This technique works on other hatches.

I prefer to fish a three or four weight rod and a 6x or 7x tippet. With a light rod you get a more delicate presentation and you don't pop your fine tippet as easily. Six x or seven x is a must on the upper pan while fishing small flies.

ROY PALM

Special Report
We have moved our shop (next to Clarks Market in down town Basalt. John Gierach, A.K. Best, Ed Engle and Mike Clark will be in our Shop on July 17th and 18th (between 10:am and 2;00 P.M. We will have all their books and if you would like to bring your own to have signed --please do Roy

Hatch Info
GREEN DRAKES P.M.D.'s, Caddis, Yellow Salleys, Small Western Crane and many more. The Drakes should start around the 10th of July. Sallies,Small Western Cranes, baetis, saratella

Hot Fly Patterns
We have 850 fly patterns in our shop. Our new location is next to Clarks Market in Basalt

River Flows
The Frying Pan is low and clear You can pull up the flows on our web page-under links

Meet our Guides
Too Ugly but the best

This fishing report brought to you by Frying Pan Anglers.

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