Roaring Fork River Report 7-22-17

July 22, 2017

UPPER ROARING FORK- ASPEN DOWNSTREAM TO BASALT     
                  
FLOW: 700 cfs below Maroon Creek (Woody Creek Canyon) 

WATER CLARITY: The Fork has cleared  It's go time!

OVERALL RATING: 7 out of 10

FOOD SOURCES PRESENT: Green Drakes, PMDs, BWOs, Caddis, Golden Stonefly nymphs, Sculpins, PMD and green drake nymphs, midges 

THE LOW DOWN: The Roaring Fork has cleaned up beautifully.  The upper river is still a bit more challenging due to flows, but it has been fishing extremely well, and getting better every day.  Most of the drakes are hatching above Basalt now!, (Hint: You'll see mid-day drake hatches up here)

HATCHES: Green drakes 10-12, midges sz 22-24, BWOs 18-22, caddis 16-18, Pale Morning Duns 16-18, golden stoneflies 6-12, Yellow Sallies 14-16

APPROPRIATE PATTERNS:  

DRIES: Stott's KGB 12, Winged Green Drake 12, Sparkledun PMD Pink 16-18, Perfect PMD 16-18, Bills Midge Emerger 20-22, Bills Midge Adult 20-22, Flag Adams 18-20, Perfect Baetis 18-20, Ethawing Caddis 16-18, Pearl and Elk Caddis 16-18, Charlie Boy Hopper 12, Stimulator Yellow 10, Garcia's Mini Hot 16, Hairy Sally 16

NYMPHS: Twenty Incher 12-14, BLMs 18-20, Tungsten Bead Baetis 20, BTS Baetis 20-22, Sparklewing RS2 20-22, Freestone Emerger 20, BH Polywing Emerger 20, Biot Baetis 20-22, Soft Hackle BWO 20-22, Prince 18, Eggs 16-18, San Juan Worm 10, Poxyback Golden Stone 8-12 

STREAMERS: Weir's Sculpin 6, Autumn Splendor 6, Zuddler 6, Slumpies 6-8 

HINTS:  Cover a lot of water out there!

MIDDLE ROARING FORK- BASALT DOWNSTREAM TO CARBONDALE 

FLOW: 1080 cfs in Basalt 

WATER CONDITIONS: Clarity is back to normal.

OVERALL RATING:  7 out of 10 on foot and float fishing is 8 out of 10 

FOOD SOURCES PRESENT: Green Drakes, Yellow Sallies, PMDs, BWOs, Midges, Caddis, Golden Stonefly nymphs, Sculpins, Cranefly larva 

THE LOW DOWN: The renowned green drake hatch is now happening!  The wave is around Basalt and up-Valley now, and our guides are seeing mid-day hatches of drakes on float trips too. Noticing all of the anglers plying the Roaring Fork around Basalt at twilight?  It only improves from here.  These anglers are primarily skating caddis dries around the edges and below the willows with some pretty good success!  We are starting to see handfuls of PMDs and Sallies here and there as well.

On the nymphing side of things, use those worms and golden stones as attractors and follow them up with some shiny baetis and PMD nymphs.  

HATCHES: Green Drakes 10-12, Yellow Sallies 14-16, PMDs 16-18, BWOs 18-20, Midges sz 22-24, Caddis 16-18

APPROPIATE PATTERNS

NYMPHS: BLMs 18-20, Tung Split Case BWO 20-22, Princes 16-20, CJs Red 16-18, PTs 16-20, Tung Teasers 16-18 Freestone Emerger 20, BH Polywing Emerger 18-20, Biot Baetis 18-20, Sparklewing RS2 20-22, Tailwater Assassin 20-22, Imposter 20-22, Eggs 16-18, Cat Poop 10-12, Twenty Incher 14-16, San Juan Worm 10 

DRIES: Sparkledun Green Drake 10-12, Drake Cripple 10-12, Split Flag PMD 16-18, Sparkledun Pink PMD 16-18, Colletts BWO Adult 18-20, Sparkledun BWO 18-20, Goddard Caddis 16-18, Ethawing Caddis 16-18, Pearl and Elk Caddis 16-18 

STREAMERS: Peanuts, Gongas, Carlton Banks, Splendors, Bread n Butter Bugger 6

HINTS: If you find yourself struggling here, move! Covering water is key on the middle Fork. 

LOWER  ROARING FORK- CARBONDALE TO GLENWOOD 

FLOW: 1860 cfs in Glenwood Springs.  The Fork is now in perfect shape.

WATER CONDITIONS: Clean and beautiful.

OVERALL RATING: 8 out of 10

FOOD SOURCES PRESENT:  Pale Morning Duns, Yellow Sallies, BWOs, caddis, midges, golden stonefly nymphs, sculpins, cranefly larva

THE LOW DOWN: Runoff is over and the green drake hatch is going strong.  Float guides have been boating fish left and right this week, and even seeing some drakes hatch mid-day.  We are also seeing good numbers of Yellow Sallies, PMDs and caddis!

The drake wave is up in Basalt at this point, and will keep rolling upstream over the coming month.

HATCHES: Yellow Sallies 14-16, PMDs 16-18, Caddis 12-18, BWOs 18-20, Midges 20-22, Golden Stones 6-10 

APPROPRIATE PATTERNS: 

NYMPHS: Prince Nymph 12-18, Tung PT 18-20, BLMs 18-20, Freestone Emerger 20, RS2s 20-22, Polywing Emerger 18-20, Biot Baetis 18-20, Thread Body Baetis 18-20, Soft Hackle BWO 20-22, Imposters 20-22, Cat Poop 8-12, Twenty Incher 14-16

DRIES: Hairy Sally 14-16, Pearl and Elk 16-18, Ethawing Caddis 16-18, Goddard Caddis 16-18, Morgans Midge 18-20, Sprout Midge 18-20, Skittering Zelon Midge 20-22, Improved Sparkledun BWO 18-20, Perfect Baetis 20, CDC BWO Comparadun 18-20

STREAMERS: Carlton Banks, Meat Gazers, Sculpzillas, Peanuts, Gongas, Splendors

HINTS: Caddis on bright days, PMDs on cloudy ones

Get social with us! Find us on Facebook@taylorcreekflyshops, Twitter@tcreekflyshop, Google+@taylorcreekflyshops and Instagram@taylorcreekflyshops

Link to the USGS Real Time Flow Chart for the Fork @ Aspen

Link to the USGS Real Time Flow Chart for the Fork @ Basalt (Emma) 

Link to the USGS Real Time Flow Chart for the Fork @ Glenwood