Time: 11:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: Between Wolcott and Minturn

Eagle River 04/20/2026 Photo Album

I was convinced that my day of fishing on Monday was going to unfold on the South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon; however, a last minute check of the Eagle River prompted me to change my mind. High temperatures in Avon were in the low sixties with moderate wind; and, surprisingly the flows were chugging along in the 140 CFS range. I concluded that the river was back in ideal pre-runoff conditions, and I decided to take advantage before the real snowmelt made an appearance.

Quite a Start

Brown Trout Are Great As Well

I arrived at my chosen pullout at 10:30AM. The temperature was a chilly 51 degrees, so I wore my long sleeve thermal undershirt, my fishing shirt, my fleece hoodie and my raincoat. I was very comfortable until lunch, when I removed my rain shell. During cloudy periods in the afternoon I was comfortable, but there were times, when the fleece was a bit too much, but I persevered. I rigged my Sage One five weight and replenished my 20 incher supply, and I was off to the river.

Lovely Colors and Speckles

I hiked along the path for .2 mile, and then I cut a short distance to the river to begin my outing on Monday, April 20, 2026. My starting lineup included an amber ice dub chubby Chernobyl, a 20 incher and an olive perdigon. On the first backhand cast to a deep run at the entry point to a pool I noticed that the chubby darted sideways, so I made a swift hookset. I was connected to a fat rainbow, and it immediately rocketed downstream. I let it run and then exerted side pressure to bring it closer to my position, but the fighter slipped free of my fly. What an adrenalin boosting first cast! I continued to probe the nice deep riffle that produced the rainbow, and I landed two brown trout on the olive perdigon. It was quite an auspicious beginning to my day on the river.

Slicks Behind Exposed Boulders

Between 11:00AM and 11:45 I continued to wade up the river, and I built the fish count to six. All the trout grabbed the olive perdigon. If I encountered any riffle or glide with decent depth and moderate current, I was able to generate some action. The fish were on the feed, and I was the beneficiary.

Gold, Bronze or Butter

For lunch I returned to the bench by the pool that was below my starting point, and I observed the scene, while I munched my snack. By noon sporadic rises were distributed along the length of the pool, but I did not note any regular feeders, and I remembered from my previous trip to the Eagle that casting to the sporadic risers was a fools errand. I resisted the siren call of dry fly fishing and hiked back along the path to my exit point for lunch.

Turned Around

Between 12:30PM and 3:00PM I persisted with the dry/dropper, and the same three flies that I began with, and they served me well. I boosted the fish counter from six to nineteen, and these fish were not dinks. Of the first nineteen I estimate that six were below twelve inches and the rest stretched the tape between twelve and fifteen inches, and the range of sizes skewed toward the upper boundary of fifteen inches. In short, I was having a blast prospecting likely pockets, seams and moderate depth troughs, and quite often I was rewarded with a respectable hard fighting wild brown or rainbow. Several of the rainbows were wide slabs that easily extended to fifteen inches, and several browns were the same length although not as wide. The 20 incher finally chipped in and accounted for three fish, while the olive perdigon did the heavy lifting and accounted for the remainder.

Deep Color

Trough Between Exposed Rocks

By 3:00PM I was feeling very satisfied with my day, and I paused to inspect a new section of the river. A nice current seam created bubbles as it sluiced along the right bank, and three fish rose in rapid succession. I decided to accept the challenge, and I removed the three fly dry/dropper configuration and replaced it with a double dry set up. The first fly was an old reliable peacock body hippie stomper, and a mole fly trailed it on an eighteen inch dropper.

Across the Turbulence

Once I was ready, I executed a backhand toss to the tail of the small run, and instantly a fourteen inch brown trout smacked the hippie stomper. I was stunned but still managed to lift my rod and land the eager eater. I carefully dabbed the mole fly against my sleeve and then doused it in dry shake and plumped the CDC wing to dry it off.

Smacked a Hippie Stomper

Once the flies were back in floating condition, I flicked another backhand cast to the middle of the run, and within seconds I noted a flash and bulge and set the hook. Once again a feisty brown trout in the thirteen to fourteen inch range slid into my net, and in this instance it displayed the mole fly in its lip. I chalked the hippie stomper eat to a low IQ fish and expected to cash in on the mole fly a few more times.

Another Rainbow Beast

The last of the third fish rose next to a bank side boulder, so I lofted a cast above the rock. The flies drifted only six inches when another cookie cutter brown smashed the hippie stomper. This was not a dainty sipping take; but, instead it was an aggressive slash.  I landed all three fish that revealed their presence with surface eats, and I applauded my timely switch to the double dry fly combination.

Three Eats in This Location

It was near quitting time, but these successes caused me to continue the experiment with the stomper and mole fly. I moved up the river along the right bank, and I landed three additional trout, and all three mashed the hippie stomper with confidence. These fish were of similar quality and size to the three previously described, and this angler was in a state of euphoria. I elevated the fish count to twenty-five, before I called it a day, and the last six were all taken on dry flies. Should I have switched sooner? I will never know.

Deep Olive

My hunch that the Eagle River would be fishing well was confirmed, and I experienced my best day of the 2026 season. Everything coalesced, as I landed twenty-five trout, and the average size was above average. The icing on the cake was landing six stunning wild fish on dry flies in the last hour. I am very thankful.

Fish Landed: 25