OUR JOURNAL

A collection of news, features & interesting things.

  • Frying Pan River Report

    Frying Pan River Flow: 113cfs/below Ruedi Reservoir Conditions: The fishing has certainly been picking up as the days become warmer and longer. The BWO hatches are increasing weekly and risers have been commonplace during the afternoons and early evenings. After a long winter it sure feels good to ditch that silly bobber and actually cast a fly line again! As…

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  • Colorado River Report

    Colorado River – Flow: 2,660 cfs/Glenwood Springs Conditions: Spring is here! Rising flows with poor water clarity — but the caddis hatch is in full swing now. The fish have had time to adjust to the water clarity and are having no problems finding caddis through the stained water if you know where and when to look. I’m not saying…

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  • Crystal River Report

    Crystal River – Flow: 128cfs/Redstone, 159 cfs/Carbondale Conditions: Spring has sprung and the Crystal is day to day with runoff conditions. Above the town of Redstone and Coal Creek, the river is clearer but access is still difficult with lots of post-holing through the snow still. Cold spells can slow and minimize the runoff effect while warmer temps will have…

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  • Roaring Fork River Report

    Roaring Fork River Flow: 91cfs/Aspen (Jaffe Park), 236cfs Basalt, 523cfs Glenwood Springs Conditions: Spring conditions are abounding! We’re seeing the water rise with snowmelt and color-up a bit though still plenty green and very fishable even below the Crystal. Lots of float traffic lately with the Colorado being discolored. Larger attractor nymphs like worms, eggs, stoneflies and caddis are all…

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  • Frying Pan River Report

    Frying Pan River Flow: 48cfs/below Ruedi Reservoir Conditions: The fishing has certainly been picking up as the days become warmer and longer. The midge hatches are increasing weekly still and risers have been commonplace during the afternoons and early evenings. After a long winter it sure feels good to ditch that silly bobber and actually cast a fly line again!…

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  • Colorado River Fishing Report

    Colorado River – Flow: 1,880 cfs/Glenwood Springs Conditions: Spring is here! Rising flows with poor water clarity currently, though conditions can change quickly depending on the weather. The low lying snow has been melting fast recently. Cold bouts of weather often help clear the river while heat waves melt higher elevation snow. When clear enough to fish, the bite has…

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  • Mental Toughness Key To Successful Fly Fishing

    March in the Roaring Fork Valley exemplifies the meaning of spring awakening, especially for the local fishing contingent. Our heralded “fifth” fishing season is fully underway now. All of our major rivers and streams are fishable again including the big four: Colorado, Roaring Fork, Crystal and Fryingpan. Midges, winter stoneflies and blue-winged olives are hatching again, and with that come…

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  • Crystal River Report

    Crystal River – Flow: 59 cfs/Redstone, 71 cfs/Carbondale Conditions: Winter is still here along the majority of the Crystal River – which means the best fishing will take place along the lower river in Carbondale. Fish the obvious deeper plunge pools for the best success. Small BWO imitations like PTs or a BTS Baetis trailed by a Zebra Midge or…

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  • Roaring Fork River Report

    Roaring Fork River Flow: 71cfs/Aspen (Jaffe Park), 192cfs Basalt, 338cfs Glenwood Springs Conditions: The lower river in particular is waking up from winters slumber – ‘Fifth Season’ is finally here! The river has been fishing best during afternoons and evenings once the sun warms it up a bit – no need to get out there too early. Stoneflies and attractor…

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  • Frying Pan River Report

    Frying Pan River Flow: 56cfs/below Ruedi Reservoir Conditions: The fishing has certainly been picking up as the days become warmer and longer. The midge hatches are increasing weekly and risers have been commonplace during the afternoons and early evenings. After a long winter it sure feels good to ditch that silly bobber and actually cast a fly line again! Even…

    Read more
  • Colorado River Report

    Colorado River – Flow: 1,160 cfs/Glenwood Springs Conditions: Low and clear (green) water for the Colorado. We have turned the corner recently and our locally famous ‘Fifth Season’ is now in play! The biggest key right now is playing the weather right – meaning you either have to be a local to take advantage or just have luck on your…

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  • Crystal River Report

    Crystal River – Flow: 48 cfs/Redstone, 69 cfs/Carbondale Conditions: Winter is here – which means the best fishing will take place along the lower river in Carbondale. Keep an eye on the weather for the best fishing. Ideally you want a warm overnight low temperature above 20’f. for the fishing to be very doable the following day. Fish the obvious…

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  • Roaring Fork River Report

    Roaring Fork River Flow: ice/Aspen (Jaffe Park), 221cfs Basalt, 351cfs Glenwood Springs Conditions: The lower river in particular is waking up from winters slumber – ‘Fifth Season’ is finally here! The river has been fishing best during afternoons and evenings once the sun warms it up a bit – no need to get out there too early. Stoneflies and attractor…

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  • Frying Pan River Report

    Frying Pan River Flow: 69cfs/below Ruedi Reservoir Conditions: Easily one of the most reliable winter fisheries in the Rockies, the Frying Pan River yields warm winter water flows that are easily wadable. Even during the coldest of days the Frying Pan and fish well. Light tippets of 6x and 7x are suggested given the tiny flies and low flows. Midges…

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  • Colorado River Report

    Colorado River – Flow: 1310 cfs/Glenwood Springs Conditions: Low and clear (green) water for the Colorado. We have turned the corner recently and our locally famous ‘Fifth Season’ is now in play! The biggest key right now is playing the weather right – meaning you either have to be a local to take advantage or just have luck on your…

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  • In Memory of Tripp Dobson 1965-2022

    We lost another of our old friends on Saturday, January 29, 2022–Arthur “Tripp” Dobson III.  Tripp fell to cancer, like most of the other friends of our shop that we have lost over the past couple of years, including Roy Palm (who was a mentor to Tripp like he was to me), Britt White, and Ron Rouse.  All of these…

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  • Crystal River Report

    Crystal River – Flow: 48 cfs/Redstone, 63 cfs/Carbondale Conditions: Winter is here – which means the best fishing will take place along the lower river in Carbondale. Keep an eye on the weather for the best fishing. Ideally you want a warm overnight low temperature above 20’f. for the fishing to be very doable the following day. Fish the obvious…

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  • Roaring Fork River Report

    Roaring Fork River Flow: na ice/Aspen (Jaffe Park), 150cfs Basalt, 374cfs Glenwood Springs Conditions: The river has been fishing best during afternoons and evenings once the sun warms it up a bit – no need to get out there early. Stoneflies and attractor nymphs like Princes, Pheasant Tails, Perdigons, Rainbow Warriors and the like are all fishing well. Midges will…

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  • Frying Pan River Report

    Frying Pan River Flow: 45cfs/below Ruedi Reservoir Conditions: Easily one of the most reliable winter fisheries in the Rockies, the Frying Pan River yields warm winter water flows that are easily wadable. Even during the coldest of days the Frying Pan and fish well. Light tippets of 6x and 7x are suggested given the tiny flies and low flows. Midges…

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  • Colorado River Report

    Colorado River – Flow: 980 cfs/Glenwood Springs Conditions: Low and clear (green) water for the Colorado. Due to the rivers lower elevation, fishing can often be better down here due to the additional warmth. Perhaps the biggest draw here is the quality of fish that can be caught – averaging over 14 inches. While widely known as a fickle fishery,…

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  • CFS Team Building – Louisiana Edition

    Crystal Fly Shops owner, David Johnson, has graciously taken his hard-working fishing guides to Louisiana for a little team building the past three years now. Not only do we get to stand on the bow of a skiff and throw a fly rod for a change but we also are lucky enough to be guided by our good friends Capt.…

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  • CFS Team Building – Upland Edition

    Enjoy a few pictures of some team building exercises the CFS way. We obviously all enjoy fishing but there’s perhaps nothing more American than boys and dogs walking around fields with a shotgun in hand shooting pheasants. A special thanks to the gang at Black Canyon Wing and Clay in Delta and our guide, Steve Hill. A graduate from Carbondale…

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  • Snow Days

    Kirk Webb Some of my fondest memories as a child took place when my mom would quietly tiptoe into my room, wake me up, point out the window to the bounty of white and tell me that school was cancelled. “Snow day!”, she would exclaim. My mother was a stay-at-home mom. She relished in being able to spend even more…

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  • Roaring Fork River Report

    Roaring Fork River Flow: 73cfs/Aspen (Jaffe Park), 201cfs Basalt, 403cfs Glenwood Springs Conditions: The river has been fishing best during afternoons and evenings once the sun warms it up a bit – no need to get out there early. Stoneflies and attractor nymphs like Princes, Pheasant Tails, Perdigons, Rainbow Warriors and the like are all fishing well. Midges will be…

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