Eagle River – 03/09/2025

Time: 11:30AM – 5:00PM

Location: Between Avon and Wolcott

Eagle River 03/09/2025 Photo Album

I considered options for fly fishing on Wednesday, March 9, and eventually settled on the Eagle River. The main factor that swayed my decision was a weather forecast of a high of 59 degrees with partial cloudiness most of the afternoon. I was seeking blue wing olive action. Did my decision to fish the Eagle to hit a baetis hatch pan out? Read on.

On Tuesday evening, as Jane and I were returning from dinner with friends in southeast Denver, we hit a curb with the left front tire. The blowout was nearly instantaneous, but the stretch of highway offered no place to pull over for a tire change, so we limped across a bridge and settled in a parking space on a side street. Of course, by now it was dark, and that only added to the challenge ahead of us. I got out of the car and examined the left front tire, and I discovered a four inch gash on the sidewall. The tire was toast.

We opened the hatch and emptied the rear of the car of its contents, which happened to be quite a bit, and then we lifted the floor covering and found the jack. I used my phone to search for how to release the jack, and that met with success; however, we were unable to find the toolkit that included the lug tool. We bought the Tucson three years ago used, and apparently the previous owner kept the tire changing tool kit!

We locked the car and walked back to our house, which was about .5 mile, and we climbed into my Kia Telluride equipped with a screwdriver and flashlights. Fortunately we discovered that the Telluride tool kit was present, and the lug wrench fit the nuts on the Tucson. We quickly installed the temporary spare, and returned to the house.

I planned to leave the house for fishing by 8:00AM on Wednesday morning, but I was not comfortable leaving Jane with a car in need of a new tire and possible alignment, so I delayed my departure. We made the short drive to Les Schwab Tires, and we were near the front of the line. The sales counter person assessed our tire needs, and set everything up for tire replacement and alignment test during the day on Wednesday. I drove Jane home, and I now felt comfortable continuing with my fly fishing plans.

I departed Denver by 8:40AM, and I arrived at my favorite pullout along the Eagle River a bit before 11AM. The sky was very overcast, and the wind was bustling, so I bundled up with my Columbia long sleeved undershirt, my light down coat and my rain shell. I was comfortable for most of the time except after long periods standing in waist deep water. I selected my Sage One five weight to counter the wind, and in case I tangled with tough fish.

Not a Bad Start

Once I was prepared, I hiked a short distance to the river. Another angler occupied the spot that I intended to fish, so I cut downstream a bit to give him space and fished some water that I never sampled previously. I began my day with a size 8 gray-body chubby Chernobyl, a 20 incher and a size 16 olive perdigon. I fished for the next hour through some moderate riffle sections and then the tail of the long pool that was occupied by the other angler. I landed one twelve inch brown trout on the perdigon, and I connected with two additional fish briefly.

Rainbows Became Prevalent

By 12:30PM my feet were crying for relief, and my stomach was growling, so I retreated to the bank and downed my small lunch. After lunch I carefully waded across the tail of the pool, and quite a few rises materialized, so I changed tactics. I swapped the chubby for a peacock hippie stomper, and then I added an eighteen inch dropper and knotted on a CDC BWO. I began casting to rises, and eventually I landed a small brown trout on a downstream drift. I had swapped the CDC BWO for a soft hackle emerger fished on the surface, and it was this fly that duped the small brown. I thought I solved the riddle, but I soon discovered that I was sorely mistaken.

Sweet Spot Yielded Quite a Few Nice Fish

Between 12:30 and 1:30PM I did what Deming warned against. I continued doing the same thing expecting different results. The fish rose in waves, and I repeatedly plopped casts with my CDC BWO or soft hackle emerger above the sighted fish, but my flies were totally ignored. I began to despair that I was going to fish through an intense baetis hatch with only two small fish as my reward.

Jen and Dave Focused

Over the last several years I became acquainted with a friend on Instagram, @jenmenke. She is a fly fishing woman, fly tier, and gardner, and we occasionally exchanged comments. I knew that she and her husband lived in the Eagle, CO area, so I mentioned that I was making the trip on Wednesday, and she replied that she would like to meet up, so I told her where I planned to fish. This all coalesced, when Dave and Jen arrived at my fishing hole by 1:30PM. I quickly waded to shore to greet them, and we chatted for a bit, and then we each waded into the pool. I returned to the tail, while Dave took the midsection, and Jen angled toward the top area.

Stunning

My frustration continued, as I continued to deploy the double dries. The wind gusted and clouds scudded across the sky, and for brief periods fish rose to voraciously feed on what I believed were blue wing olive mayflies. Dave was in shouting distance above me, and he managed to land a trout on a dry that was sort of a classic Adams. I felt a tickle on my ear, and I reached to scratch it, and suddenly I discovered a small size 18 black stonefly in my hand. Could this be what the fish were eating and not blue wing olives? I was skeptical that stoneflies would hatch in dense numbers to create intense feeding, but maybe it was worth a try. I tied on one of my small stonefly imitations, and I gave it a ten minute test. Nothing. I was in a state of frustration, so I waded to shore and decided to circle around Jen and Dave and move into new water above the pool.

Moving Up the River

As I stopped to talk to Jen and Dave, Jen announced that she had several hits on a black RS2, and she landed a couple nice rainbows. This information prompted my to switch back to my dependable dry/dropper method. Once again I tied on a gray chubby Chernobyl, and then I brought back the olive perdigon, and I added a size 20 classic RS2 with a silver bead. I waded in to the very top of the run that entered the vast pool, and I began working the deep runs and pockets in that area. Voila! Even though I spotted many rising fish around me, the fish were also tuned into drifting nymphs. Between 2:30PM and 3:15PM, when Jen and Dave departed, I landed four trout, and they were very nice chunky rainbows in the thirteen to fourteen inch range. I was more than ecstatic with this positive turn of events. I was making ten to fifteen drifts for every successful hit, so it was not easy by any means, but persistence paid off. I also imparted movement in the form of lifts and swings, and several of the trout responded to these tactics.

Decent

I waded to shore and said my goodbyes to the fly fishing couple, and then I resumed my fly fishing progression. As planned, I moved up the river and flicked casts to likely spots where there was moderate depth and holding lies. In each case I spotted rising fish, but with persistence I was able to hook and land quality fish. By the time I reached fourteen trout, I was fifty yards above my starting point, so I exited the river and ambled back along the concrete path.

More Pockets

When I arrived back at the pool, I decided to cut back to the section at the top. When I arrived, fish continued to rise, and I could not ignore the pull of the hatch. I decided to take one last shot at dry flies, as many fish continued to feed on the surface. I tried the CDC BWO and the soft hackle emerger, and I managed to land one trout on each by casting across and allowing a downstream drift to the point were the fish were rising. The sky was dark and the wind continued to gust, but the fish seemed to revel in the adverse conditions for human beings.

Splendid Colors

What a day! The Tucson was ready for pickup by early afternoon. I met two new friends that share common interests, and hopefully there will be many more meetings in the future. And through the experience of Jen, I utilized an RS2, and it led to solid success over the course of Wednesday afternoon. Was I able to cast dry flies and fool fussy trout? No, but with the help of Jen, I resorted to a baetis nymph, and I enjoyed an amazing 2.5 hours late in the afternoon. This was perhaps my best day of 2025 so far, and I look forward to more such days before run off kicks in during May.

Fish Landed: 16

Love the Body Color on This Rainbow