WATER CLARITY: Clear

OVERALL RATING: 8 out of 10 (9 out of 10 on a rainy/cloudy day)

FOOD SOURCES PRESENT: Green Drakes, Pale Morning Duns, Midges, Blue Winged Olives, Mysis Shrimp, Sculpins

THE LOW-DOWN:  We (and the fish) have been focusing on Pale Morning Duns and Blue Winged Olives, but Green Drakes are on the steady move dam-ward. Hatches have been sporadic on bright days, thick on the cloudy ones, and it will still be a few days yet before we see a Drake hatch in earnest in these first few miles below the dam. Remember, these bugs hatch all the way until Halloween most years, so don't fret -- they'll be there.

As always, keep your nymphs up here slim and subtle, even for your larger mayflies.

Streamer fishing can be productive early or late in the day, or any time the sky is clouded up or the wind is blowing. 

Mysis shrimp are a year-round food factor.

HATCHES: Green Drakes 10-14, Pale morning duns 16-18, Blue winged olives 20-24, Craneflies 16-18,  Midges 18-26

APPROPRIATE PATTERNS:  

DRIES: Taylor Creek Custom Sparkledun Green Drake 12-14, Umpqua Custom Improved Sparkledun Green Drake 10, Fryingpan Green Drake Cripple 12, CDC Comparadun PMD Yellow 16-18, Hackle Dun PMD Cream 16-18, Last Chance PMD Cripple Pink 16-18, Mike Lawson's No Hackle BWO 20-22, Quasi-No Hackle BWO 20-22, Parachute and Traditional Adams 20-26, HOH Hanging Midge Grey/Black 20-22, Mole Midge 20-22, Roy Palm's Special Frying Pan Emerger 20-22, Bill's Midge Emerger 20-22, Hatching Midge 20-22, No Hackle BWO 20-22, Befus' Para Emerger BWO 20-22

NYMPHS: Tungsten Redemption 16-18, Stalcup's BTS Nymph Rust 16-18, Epoxyback PMD Emerger 16, Barr's Emerger and Barr's Black Back Emerger 20-22, Stott's Good Carl 20, Stott's Juggernaut 20, Dorsey's Mercury RS2 Gray 20-22, Skinny-tied Pheasant Tail 20-24, Killer Mayfly Olive/Brown 22, Jigged JJ Nymph BWO 18-20, TC Candy Cane Midge 18-22, Tim's Mysis 16-18, Will's Epoxy Mysis 18-20, Craven's Mysis 16-18

STREAMERS: Barr's Slumpbuster, Borski's Bonefish Slider, Tim Heng's Autumn Splendor, Tungsten Thin Mint, Craven's Swim Coach

HINTS: Be stealthy and present your offering with minimal line on the water whether dry fly or nymph fishing. Fryingpan fish will not tolerate hero casting or laying line and indicators over them; they'll shut down and stop feeding.

MIDDLE FRYINGPAN (Mile Marker 4 upstream to Mile Marker 8)

WATER CONDITIONS: Clear

FOOD SOURCES PRESENT: Pale Morning Duns, Green Drakes, Blue Winged Olives, Midges, Sculpins

OVERALL RATING: 8 out of 10

THE LOW DOWN: Both nymphing and dry rigs have been doing the job in this stretch. This stretch is the best for your Drakes about now. They aren't in full swing, but you'll definitely see them on the water -- like the upper river, expect hatches to be impacted by the new, lower flows. They tend to hatch in the afternoon, though the patterns can get you some risers into the evening.

You can ditch all the tiny fly rigs in the middle and lower river, and consider adding in some caddis larvae, heavy euro-style flies, and small green drake nymphs in size 16 or so.

HATCHES: Caddis 14-18, Green Drakes 12-14, Pale Morning Duns 16-18, Blue winged olives 20-22, Midges 20-26

APPROPRIATE PATTERNS: 

DRIES: Missing Link Caddis 14-18, Lawson's EZ Caddis 16-18, Elk Hair Caddis 14-18, CDC Comparadun PMD Yellow 16-18, Hackle Dun PMD Cream 16-18, TC Custom Sparkledun PMD 16-18, Last Chance PMD Cripple Pink 16-18, Fryingpan Green Drake Cripple 12, Colorado Green Drake 12, HOH CDC Thorax Green Drake 12,  CDC Biot BWO 20-22, Mole Fly Baetis 20-22, Harrop's CDC Biot Dun BWO 20-22, Harrop's CDC Thorax BWO 20-22, HOH Hanging Midge 20-22, Roy's Special Fryingpan Emerger 20-22, Massacre Midge 20-22, 

NYMPHS: Prince Nymph 14-18, Tungsten Redemption 16-18, Stalcup's BTS Nymph Rust 16-18, Epoxyback PMD Emerger 16, Tungsten Frenchie 16, Murder, She Wrote 20-22, Mercury Pheasant Tail 16-20, Tim Heng's BLM 16-18, Flashwing Black (or Gray) RS2 20-22, Zebra Midge Red 18-20, 

STREAMERS:  Tungsten Double Thin Mint, Dali-Lama, Skully Bugger, Tim Heng's Autumn Splendor

HINTS: Keep moving if you're mid-river, there's going to be quiet zones and others with more activity the more you explore. The middle river can hold more fish than you'd think!

LOWER FRYINGPAN (Basalt upstream to Mile Marker 4) 

WATER CONDITIONS: Clear

FOOD SOURCES PRESENT: Caddis, Pale Morning Duns, Blue Winged Olives, Crane Flies,  Green Drakes, Golden Stonefly nymphs, Midges, Sculpins

OVERALL RATING: 7 out of 10 

THE LOWDOWN: Water is steady, clear, and fishing well. Hatches are always a little slower down here; when in doubt, dry-dropper rigs can fish well. 

The fish down lower see significantly less pressure and tend to be easier to fool. A dry-dropper setup is an ideal approach for the lower river as well as euro-nymphing the faster section. 

HATCHES: Caddis 14-18, Pale morning Duns 16-18, Crane Fly 10, Green Drakes 12-14, Blue Winged Olives 18-20, Midges 20-26

APPROPRIATE PATTERNS: 

DRIES: Elk Hair Caddis 14-18, Missing Link Caddis 16-18, TC Custom Collette's BWO Adult 18-20, Parachute Purple Haze Adams 16-20, CDC Comparadun PMD Yellow 16-18, Hackle Dun PMD Cream 16-18, TC Custom Sparkledun PMD 16-18, Last Chance PMD Cripple Pink 16-18, Crane Fly Adult 10, Royal Wulff 12-16, H&L Variant 12-16, Traditional Adams 16-22, Morgans Midge 18-22, Hatching Midge 20-22, Sprout Midge 22-24, HOH CDC Spent Midge 22-24, Mole Fly Baetis 20-22, Harrop's CDC Biot Dun BWO 20-22, CDC Comparadun BWO 20-22 

NYMPHS: Prince Nymph 16-18, Twenty Incher Nymph 16, Buckskin Caddis 16-18, Crane Fly Larva 10, Tungsten Redemption 16-18, Stalcup's BTS Nymph Rust 16-18, Epoxyback PMD Emerger 16, Tungsten Frenchie 16, Jerome Baetis 20-22, Ultra Bling RS2 Gray 18-20, Stott's Good Carl 20, Murder She Wrote Rust 20-22, Bling Midge 20-24

STREAMERS:  Home Invader, Carlton Banks, Skully Bugger, Dali-Lama

HINTS: Fish in the lower river tend to ramble and migrate around, so keep searching if you're not feeling the love.

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/co/nwis/uv/?site_no=09080400

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