Colorado Spring Fly Fishing Report
It has been an interesting spring for fly fishing. Obviously the Covid-19 pandemic has had a large effect on Colorado and the rest of our country. We guided fly fishing trips on the South Platte River for the first few weeks of March before having to stop guiding trips due to the various stay at home orders placed throughout Colorado. We are planning on starting to guide trips again starting May but obviously this can change depending on the status of the virus. You can still get out and fish on your own however! The state is just asking that you limit travel and long drives to the river. Before we had to stop running our guided fly fishing trips, the rivers were fishing fantastic and they still continue to do so. Spring fishing in Colorado is the most underrated time of year in my opinion. Trout are cold blooded so as the water temps warm up, their metabolism increases and they really start to feed. After a long cold winter, the trout of the various sections of the South Platte River are all out trying to put on some weight. Most people I see fishing are either standing where they should be fishing or they are only targeting the deep slow water. Fish will sit there but we like to hunt the trout! The trout are moving into the riffles to feed offering some excellent sight fishing opportunities. I am currently starting my days with a large point fly like a worm or cranefly imitation and trailing some small (#22 or #24) midge patterns behind it. Once 11 o’clock comes around, the Blue Winged Olives start to get active subsurface so I switch up to smaller mayfly patterns. My go to’s are #22 RS2, I like this fly grey with no flash. I also run small Barr’s Emergers and Pheasant Tails. Overall, the fishing has been excellent! One thing that has made it more difficult is the traffic on the river. With most people either working from home or working reduced hours, the rivers have been very crowded. Like 4th of July weekend crowded. Make sure to give everyone plenty of space out there. Our calendar for the summer is quickly filling up. Give us a shout at (303) 325-5515 or send us an email to get on our calendar! Our popular guided fly fishing trips on the North Fork of the South Platte are tentatively scheduled to open up in early May. We have some other great private water fly fishing opportunities like Santa Maria Ranch or Tarryall Creek that will offer great dry fly fishing post run off. Our private water guided fly fishing trips book up the furthest in advanced so be sure to reach out early if you have a specific day you want to fish!
Here are some photos from a few of the spring guided fly fishing trips and a couple photos from some guides day off fishing trips.
