Colorado River Report 2-16-22

WATER CONDITIONS: Most improved river as of late, due to the lower elevation. Low and icy on the edges. Is beginning to look pretty good after a warm night here and there!

OVERALL RATING:  7 out 10 

FOOD SOURCES PRESENT: Midges

THE LOW DOWN: Some of the first prolific insect hatches of the year are on our doorstep! The fishery went through some tough times after significant burn scar flooding and mudslides last summer, but locals are relieved to see the river has cleared and the fish are still hanging in there.

As we ease in to mid-to-late winter, this river will "wake up" soon once we see some warming trends. The river has already produced well as of late, after a warm evening. We're seeing midges skating along the edges on the cloudier days, and we are about a month away from larger midges starting their annual late-February emergence.

Streamer fishing has been excellent some days and not-so-much on others, so be ready with dry fly, nymphing and sink tip streamer setups.

HATCHES: Midges 18-22

Appropriate Patterns  

DRIES: CDC Transitional Midge 20-22, Griffiths Gnat 18-22, Sprout Midge 20-22, HOH Spent Midge 20-22, Hatching Midge 20-22. 

NYMPHS: Spanish Perdigon 18, TNT Jigged BWO Nymph 18-20, BLMs 18-20, Tung Bead Baetis 18-20, Roy's Biot Baetis Emerger18-20, RS2s 20, Polywing Emerger 18-20, Imposters 20-22, Freestone Emerger 20, Roy's Biot Midge Emerger 20-22 

STREAMERS: Double Dirty Hippy sz 2, Hansen's Meal Ticket sz 4, Home Invader sz 2, Conehead Zuddler 4-8, Grease Monkey sz 4, Galloup's Dungeon sz 2

HINTS: This river will be the first to warm up soon, keep an eye on overnight temps and hope for some warmer and cloudy days soon. The fish are piled up deep for the most part!

Link to Real Time Flows:

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?090851