Frying Pan River
Flow: 519cfs/below Ruedi Reservoir
Conditions: As I write this report the Frying Pan is flowing very high and fishing has been slow overall with one exception; there’s a bunch of mysis shrimp being washed out of the dam right now and big fish are being hooked for sure in the upper 1/4 mile below the dam. Flows will normalize again on 12th. When that occurs anglers can expect to find hatches of BWOs, caddis and even some golden stones along the lower river. By the end of the month we’ll start to see the first hatches of PMDs. Light fluorocarbon tippets of 5x and 6x are recommended. Most hatches are found midday which is when the best dry fly opportunities occur.
The Frying Pan is world renowned for it hatches but it does have its issues. Colorado Parks & Wildlife has recently acknowledged what long time guides and anglers of the river have long known; there’s simply an overabundance of small brown trout in the river. We need your help. How? Anglers are very strongly encouraged to keep their daily limit of two brown trout under 14″ inches. In the near future, regulations are hopefully going to be updated with a significantly increased daily limit. In this day and age, where we taught generations the virtues of catch and release angling, is it possible to teach them the virtues of responsible harvest? I hope so. Bring on the return of the shore lunch – I’m in!
From the Colorado Parks & Wildlife:
An extremely abundant fish in the Fryingpan and most often caught by anglers. Due to high densities in most the
river, harvest is encouraged for Browns ≤14” to relieve competition for resources and increase growth for other
trout. Harvest of Brown Trout under 14 inches is encouraged, because in many locations, like “Old Faithful”, where Brown Trout average less than 10 inches and 94% of the fish are under 14 inches. The incredible abundance of trout, despite being small, also contribute significantly to the biomass in surveys.
Flies-
Dries: Comparadun Adams, CDC Biot Comparadun, Mole Fly, Roy’s Special Emerger, Almost Dun, Wild Turkey Emerger, Para Quill BWO, Hackle Dun BWO, Foam Elk Hair Caddis (tan/brown), Egg Laying Caddis, Rubberleg Stimi (yellow)
Nymphs: 2Bit Hooker, PTs Olive, Split Back BWO, Epoxyback Baetis, BTS Baetis, CDC RS2s, Mayhems, Foam Wing RS2, Foam Back Chocolate, Polywings, Medallion Midge, Bling Midge, Miracle Midge, Jiggy Mysis, Epoxy Mysis, BTS Mysis
Streamers: Bubble Guppy, Thin Mints, Sculpzillas, PSLs
