
Wild brown trout caught on a dry fly from a guided trip to Abell River Ranch.
It has been a crazy guide season so far that has seen us as busy as ever. People in the industry have joked the covid has made fly fishing “cool.” More and more folks are looking to get outside to recreate and fly fishing is a perfect way to do this. With the extra interests, our bookings have been filling up super quick. I feel bad how many last minute requests we cannot fill but I often tell people to remember, good guides get booked up quick!
With the extra popularity the sport is seeing, you can imagine the crowding we have been experiencing on our rivers. Lucky for our guests, we are proud to offer some of the best private water fly fishing locations around. Our private water guided trips are a great way to enjoy solitude on the water while also experiencing fish that are a little more friendly due to a lack of pressure. These private locations are at a premium so be sure to plan well in advanced.
We are still guiding plenty on public water, we are just really encouraging our guests to avoid the weekends if at all possible and for a very early start time.
Most of our local rivers are “tailwaters” which means the water comes from the bottom of a dam. Because of this we are not experience the high water temps like many other parts of the state but come August, I am guessing we will need to be checking temps and starting early even on these rivers. The South Platte Basin was the only one in the state to see good snowpack this past year but with the crazy heat we have been experiencing, good, ethical, angling practices will still be needed to make sure we do not hurt our finned friends. I only have time to post a couple photos below then it is back to the water! We currently have a couple late August openings still but most of our booking focus has shifted to September and October. Give us a call at (303) 325-5515 if you want help planning a guided fly fishing trip! For current fishing conditions around the state, check in with our friends at FlyCast.

A large rainbow trout from a private water guided fly fishing trip to the North Fork of the South Platte.

Trophy rainbow trout from the Arkansas River and Rolling J Ranch.