Cutthroat Anglers

Fishing Reports

Casting

It's not the wind. It's your backcast.

Email Us | (888) 876-8818

Cutthroat Anglers Owner Trapper Rudd with fish

Cutthroat Newsletter - 10/17/06

The snow’s back in Summit County. Fishing remains rather consistent on tiny stuff – BWO and midge nymphs – throughout most fisheries. Baetis and midges also make up the primary hatches; however, the fish usually only rise during foul weather. You’re going to see the most action on deep nymph rigs set up with tiny nymphs. We’re closing in on spawning season for the Browns, so be sure to avoid the temptation to fish to bedded browns. The cold temperatures mean that you don’t need to start fishing until mid to late morning. I wouldn’t wet a line until 10AM at the earliest. Granted, you might miss an early midge hatch; however, you probably won’t find steady risers early and most mornings its darn cold.

Its definitely streamer season! We suggest you arm yourself with a handful of streamer patterns before fishing the Roaring Fork, Colorado, Arkansas, Eagle, and Lower Blue. On smaller water I tend to throw smaller buggers – unless you find a deep hole to dredge for the pigs. Streamer fishing can be a fickle beast. You usually turn a ton of fish; however, the strikes don’t always result in hookups. In our opinion, just turning the fish is a blast!

Good news for the Blue in town! The town recently stocked 25,000 fingerling rainbows. This should lead to banner fishing next summer. Keep your fingers crossed that the little guys will grow to be brutes one day.

Don’t forget that late October and early November can offer unforgettable days for floats. This is the time of year when the guiding season really slows down, and we take advantage of the down time to hit the rivers on our own. You usually have the river to yourself, and the fish will usually reward your ardent character with reckless feeding tendencies. At the moment, the Colorado near Glenwood Springs will rival any stretch of river in the country for hot action – I know because I’ve fished most of the fabled rivers throughout the West the last three weeks, and the Lower Colorado is so good right now that its not even fair to compare to others like the Madison, Yellowstone, Green, and Clark Fork Rivers. So, maybe its time to get in a last couple of days floating before the ski culture takes over the mountains.

With Old Man Winter knocking on the door, the shop is now operating under winter hours. For the rest of the year, Cutthroat Anglers will be open seven days a week. Monday thru Saturday - 9AM to 5PM. Sunday - 9AM to 4PM.

Kokanee Update

You probably noticed that I still haven’t sent out a special report email about the Kokanee run. Don’t worry – you didn’t get skipped. For the last month, we’ve received varied reports from the "run is peaking" to "the run has already passed." Cutthroat Anglers has had a number of guide trips in the Palmer Gulch section of the Blue, and they’ve reported more and more salmon each day. Over the last week, we’ve definitely seen an exponential increase in the total number of podded salmon. Is the run on? As far as we can tell – Yes!

You can probably target the stretches of the Blue directly above Green Mountain Res and find salmon; however, I still suggest you head to the upper stretches of river in search of trout and if you find the Kokes then you can alter your technique.

One thing to keep in mind, there is a lot of private water on the Blue. It takes time for the salmon to move up river, so just because you don’t see them for a couple of days doesn’t mean the run is over – they just need to move out of private property. (The same thing happens during the summer as the Green Drake hatch moves up river.)

The Kokanee run can be very short lived. Some years the Kokes run all the way into town. Other years, it can be sporadic to even find the salmon. If you’ve never caught a Blue River Kokanee, I definitely think its worth your time to search for them. Once you find a pod or two of salmon the action can be ridiculously good. Head to the river while we know the salmon are in because once its over you’ll have to wait till next year. If you’re not sure on what to do, be sure to book a guide trip with one of our many experienced guides. When you book your trip be sure to specify that you want to target Kokanee.

Demo Gear Sale

With the guide season wrapping up, we find the shop overstocked in a few items that we need to move before the start of next year. Next year, we are going to upgrade our demo and guide-stock fly rods to new rods. This means we need to make room for almost 20 new rods. While inventory lasts, we have a few Sage XP and GLoomis GL2 fly rods on sale. Prices vary depending on make and model. These rods are available on a first come first serve basis and are going fast! Each demo rod is sold as is and does NOT carry the factory warranty. Stop in the shop soon if you’re interested.

We also only have two Ross Big Game reels remaining. We have one BG7 (Gold) and one BG8 (Black). Once they're gone, its too late. Contact the shop if you're interested. They're priced to move!

Tight Lines,
Shooter

< Return to Newsletter Archive