Upper Fryingpan River Report - March 20, 2017

FLOW: 91 cfs

WATER CLARITY: Slow and Low, clear

OVERALL RATING: 7 out of 10 The temps have been warm, with a cool down forecasted for later this week.

FOOD SOURCES PRESENT: BWO nymphs, Midges, Mysis Shrimp, winter stones

THE LOW-DOWN : Low and clear flows with the usual winter hatches and techniques. As always, please be aware of spawning areas (especially in the flats) and give them a wide berth. Your best shots at dry flies are going to be midday, especially if you get lucky and have warm and cloudy weather. Many pull-offs are NOT plowed out, although the road in the Rocky Fork Day Use Area IS plowed out. The moral of the story is do yourself a favor and don't get stuck!

Stealth is paramount through the winter, which means light tippets, small bugs, downstream dry fly casts and entering the water as a last resort (until it's time to net the fish.) Hands down the best piece of advice we can give you is to hunt your fish (sight cast) versus fishing the water. The best Fryingpan fly fishers cast rarely, but really make those presentations count.

Bugs of note are midges and small winter stones, plus you always need a few eggs, mysis shrimp and baetis nymphs through the winter. Bring the 6 and 7x!

HATCHES: Midges, Winter Stones, BWO Nymphs

APPROPRIATE PATTERNS:  

DRIES: Bills Midge Emerger 20-22, Bills Adult Midge 22-24, HOH Spent Midge 22, HOH CDC Midge Adult 24

NYMPHS: Pheasant Tail 18-24, Poxybiot Baetis 22, Tung Hoover Baetis 20-22, Tung Split Case BWO 20-22, Biot Baetis 20-22, Barr Emerger BWO 20-22, Freestone Emerger 22, Midge Biot Emerger 20-22, RS2s 20-22, Foam Wing RS2 20-22, Tailwater Assassin Black 20-22, Tungsten Winter Stone 18-20, mposter Olive 20-22, Will's Epoxy Mysis 16-20, Tim's TC Mysis 16-18

STREAMERS: Slumpies, Clousers, Sliders, TC Autumn Splendors, Sculpzilla

HINTS: If you listen closely, the fish will always tell you what you need to be doing.