Time: 10:00AM – 11:30AM

Location: Thomasville lime kilns to bridge

Fish Landed: 7

Upper Frying Pan River 09/03/2010 Photo Album

Friday was Jane’s birthday, and she would be arriving around noon and then we planned to attend the Aspen Snowmass Jazz Festival. The first band performed at 4PM, the second at 6PM and Wilco, the main act, at 8PM. I assumed we would need to leave by around 3PM, and I could fish until 2PM. This would allow me to experience the early phase of the hatch assuming it materialized similar to Thursday.

I formulated a plan to fish the upper Frying Pan above Ruedi Reservoir in the morning while the water below the dam was still cold, then reverse tracks and hit the tailwater from noon until 2PM. It almost worked this way. I drove along the reservoir then up the road along the stream through Meredith and Thomasville. I parked at a large wide pullout across from the Thomasville lime kilns. After putting on my waders and stringing my rod, I scrambled down the steep bank next to the pullout and was on the water just a little past 10AM. I tied on a green body elk hair caddis trailing a beadhead RS2 to begin. This combination was on my line from the end of the previous day. This drew two refusals, so I clipped both flies off and tied on a light gray deer hair caddis. This fly didn’t even prompt any refusals, so I clipped it off and added a yellow sally. The yellow sally received some attention with a refusal. As I was changing flies I was moving upstream through some pretty sweet water and knew there were fish ignoring my offerings.

Thomasville Lime Kilns

I decided I was being too fine, and tied on a Chernobyl ant trailing a beadhead hares ear. This proved to be my best combination. The Chernobyl ant brought two rainbows to the surface as I hooked and landed my first fish of the morning. Next I spotted a subtle rise on the right side a couple feet out from a rock along the bank. I flicked the combination so the nymph splashed down where the rise was observed, and bam, a brown snatched the nymph.

Nice Rainbow on Friday Morning

I continued moving upstream prospecting with the Chernobyl/BHHE and came to a long smooth pool. Within eight feet of the lip of the pool, a rainbow grabbed the trailing BHHE. The next juicy long pool came behind a cabin. 2/3 of the way up the pool I spotted a trout in the clear water and cast my flies in front of it. The rainbow tipped up and grabbed the Chernobyl, but shook free as I lifted and set the hook.

Sweet Pool on Upper Frying Pan

At the very top of the long pool the current ran against a rock ledge wall on the far side. In the slack water on the near side of the current, I landed three browns on the BHHE as it slowly tumbled along the current seam. It was now approaching 11:15 so I looked for an exit route and quickly found a gap where I could scramble up the hill and then found the road and hiked back to the minivan. 

Time: 1:00PM – 5:00PM

Location: Around mile marker 13, below first bridge after dam spillway

Fish Landed: 15

Frying Pan River 09/02/2010 Photo Album

Jane’s birthday occurred on Friday of Labor Day weekend this year, and she ordered tickets for the Aspen Snowmass Jazz Festival at Snowmass ski area. The headline band that we both love was Wilco. I earned the job of driving to the Roaring Fork valley on Thursday and snagging a campsite for the weekend. I planned to fish on Thursday and Friday morning, and then we would attend the concert Friday, hike on Saturday and drive back to Denver on Sunday.

Frying Pan Rainbow on Thursday

I got off to a reasonably early start by 9:10AM and arrived at the pullout less than a mile below Ruedi Dam at around12:30PM. I chose to fish where Jeff Shafer and I began in August 2009. It was very sunny and bright when I entered the river, and the flows seemed high. The number of fishermen seemed to be down a bit, so I was concerned that fishing would be poor. Well I didn’t need to be worried. I began fishing a yellow Letort hopper trailing a beadhead hares ear, and suffered several refusals to the hopper. But this didn’t last long before I began to notice mayflies on the water. Consistent with last summer, the first mayflies to appear were red quills. These mayflies are a size 14-16 with a maroon color abdomen with medium olive rib. The fish were having none of my red-olive comparadun, but after a bit of frustration, I switched to the light gray comparadun. This may have coincided with the start of PMD’s, but it worked. I landed four trout in the lower portion of the area where the stream gently flows toward the roadside bank. I then moved to the upper portion of the area, and landed another five on the light gray comparadun.

Lots or Rising Fish in This Area

While this was going on, green drakes began to pop and by 2PM they were emerging at a pretty rapid rate. Surely the fish must switch to these large morsels. I clipped off my productive light gray comparadun and tied on a green drake comparadun made with dark olive sparkle yarn. I worked the juicy riffles and pools for the next hour or so during the dense green drake hatch and managed to land three fish. I switched among three different colors of comparaduns, but I was dissatisfied with the productivity of my flies in spite of duping three fish. The natural duns were fluttering and tumbling on the surface of the water and appeared to be much larger than my comparaduns. I don’t know whether it was due to their actual size being larger or the constant motion portrayed more mass.

Dave's Green Drake Comparadun

The period between 1:30 and 3:30 was intense with red quills, green drakes and PMD’s overlapping. In addition to the variety of insects on the water, the wind would gust from time to time making the atmosphere even more chaotic.

When the drakes thinned out at around 3-3:30PM, I switched to a size 16 sulfur comparadun that I tied for Pennsylvania, and this produced three additional trout. The first one was landed at the very top of the stretch I fished in a big pool behind a large midstream boulder. The water above the boulder was fast and unattractive, so I exited the stream and hiked back down the road beyond the minivan to the area that receives heavy pressure from guides and their clients. By this time late in the afternoon, the guides departed, and I pretty much owned the shallow wide riffles where I’ve always caught fish. In this area I landed two eleven inch rainbows that tipped up and sucked in the sulfur comparadun.

Little Maud, No. 6

By 5PM insect activity died back, and I decided to drive up the road to Little Maud campground and secure a campsite for the busy weekend ahead. There were quite a few sites unoccupied, so I snagged number 6 and put up the tent and made dinner. 

Time: 10:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: Below Reudi Reservoir

Frying Pan River – 07/16/2005 Photo Album

We camped at Little Maude after arriving late Friday night and snagging one of the last camp sites available. Jane dropped me off at the downstream border of the upper public water around 10AM. I began fishing a yellow Letort hopper with a beadhead hares ear. There was a nice long run feeding into a beautiful pool in the private water. I saw several fish flash to the hopper, but none made the mistake of eating my imitation. Toward the top of the run, I hooked and landed a beautiful rainbow (see photo) on a beadhead pheasant tail, that replaced the original hares ear.

Frying Pan Rainbow

I continued working upstream and caught three small browns. When I approached the area with the log forming a dam, where Jeff and Martin and I began previously, four fishermen appeared above me. I worked the slack water next to the large rock along the bank below the log and picked up a nice brown (Frying Pan Brown photo).

Frying Pan Brown

I broke for lunch, and Jane picked me up and took me back to the camp site. After lunch she dropped me off at the spring in the next stretch of public water downstream. I walked down the road a bit and began fishing pocket water. The Pan was clear and flowing at nice levels. I tied on a Madam X with grey body and then attached a beadhead hares ear. There were some nice pockets, and I had some looks, but no hook ups. I spotted some large mayflies emerging and a couple rises, so I put on three types of green drakes, but no success ensued. Then I thought perhaps PMD’s were emerging, so I tried one of them. Again no success. I fished from 1-3 with no luck, but I knew there were fish, so I switched over to nymphing with a beadhead pheasant tail and a beadhead hares ear combination. It was magical, and I caught five trout in the next hour, mostly on the BHHE.

I exited the stream and walked back to the spring to meet Jane, but when I arrived at the pick up point early, Jane was not present, so I crossed the road and found a nice deep run near the road. I cast the nymphs and quickly picked up two browns. At 4PM I stopped and waited for Jane.

Fish Landed: 12