Fryingpan River Report September 13, 2025

Posted on 13 September 2025

Fryingpan River Report September 13, 2025

UPPER FRYINGPAN (Mile Marker 8 upstream to Ruedi Reservoir)

FLOW: 220 CFS

WATER CLARITY: Clear

OVERALL RATING: 10 out of 10)

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

THE LOW-DOWN:  Pale Morning Duns have been the most consistent and prolific hatch, but Green Drakes and Blue Winged Olives are pushing their way into the mainstream, so to speak. Weather has been dang near perfect for hatches -- overcast, drizzly, overall ugly. We have been seeing a nice PMD spinner fall late in the evenings. Blue Winged Olives are back and the fish know it.

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: Pale morning Duns 16-18, Green Drakes 10-14, Blue Winged Olives 20-22, 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, TC Custom Collette's BWO 20-22, Mike Lawson's No Hackle BWO 20-22, Parachute Adams 20-22, 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

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 CONDITIONSClear

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

OVERALL RATING: 10 out of 10

THE LOW DOWN: Both nymphing and dry rigs have been doing the job in this stretch. With the current weather, hatches have been all-out, including big Drakes, medium PMDs and mini BWOs. Pack just about every fly box you own this time of year; you just never know. 

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: Green Drakes 12-14, Pale Morning Duns 16-18, Blue Winged Olives 20-22, Midges 20-26, Caddis 14-18

APPROPRIATE PATTERNS: 

DRIES: 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, No-Hackle BWO 20-22, 20-22, Mole Fly Baetis 20-22, HOH Hanging Midge 20-22, Roy's Special Fryingpan Emerger 20-22, Massacre Midge 20-22, Missing Link Caddis 14-18, Lawson's EZ Caddis 16-18, Elk Hair Caddis 14-18

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: 8 out of 10 

THE LOWDOWN: Water is steady, clear, and fishing well. Even with the cloudy days, hatches are slow, but streamers and terrestrials are still a really fun way to explore down here.

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, 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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