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Cutthroat Newsletter - 11/06/06
< Return to Newsletter ArchiveWelcome to the start of snow season in Summit County. One day, we see snow all day and freezing temps. The next, it can be 45 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. It definitely takes a toll on your daily wardrobe selection. Be sure to wear plenty of layers because you can always take a layer off, but if you don't have it you can't put it on! Common sense, but its amazing how many people don't prepare. Also, make sure your layers are breathable. If you wear a layer that is similar to wearing a garbage bag you will end up sweating so much that you'll freeze. Breathable fabrics aren't just for summertime fun!
Fishing remains good when the weather cooperates. Wade anglers are finding consistent action on the Blue, Williams Fork, Upper Colorado, and Eagle Rivers. Drift boat anglers are finding hot streamer action on the Colorado and Roaring Fork.
The Blue below Dillon is fishing great. The flow is up over 200CFS, which seems to be creating a feeding frenzy. The usual suspects are working best - mysis shrimp, baetis, and midge patterns. Use either an egg or mysis pattern for a lead fly and trail it with a tiny nymph. Make sure your flies are hugging the bottom!
The Williams Fork and Colorado River (near Parshall) are also holding lots of feeding fish. You definitely will find better odds for dry fly fishing in these rivers compared to the Blue. The hatch usually doesn't start till around 1PM, so it can be a fruitless activity if you arrive too early. The crowds are stacking up just like the fish, so you might want to arrive early for the sole purpose of staking your claim. Start off fishing a double nymph rig with either two baetis nymphs or a small attractor leading a baetis nymph. If you see steady risers, you can switch to dries, but I'll out catch you 5 to 1 with my nymphs to your dries 9 days out of 10. To each his/ her own, though.
Float trips are still my trip of choice; however, the playing field is starting to level between fish-hiking and floating. If you're a proficient caster, the streamer fishing can be out of this world on the Upper Colorado. If you're floating on your own, you're mainly going to find action on double and even triple nymph rigs. Start big and taper down to tiny midges. When fishing streamers, you will need to experiment with a variety of different retrieve speeds and actions until you find what rings the dinner bell best.
Kokanee Update
We are still seeing Kokanee throughout the length of the Blue. We received a few reports of Kokes spotted in town; however, the anglers admitted that they did not catch any and were not positive on their identification.
Its getting late in the year, and even though the run started later than normal eventually Mother Nature will take her toll and the Kokanee will start to die. Personally, I haven't seen any carcasses on the side of the river yet, so there might still be a couple of weeks remaining in the run. We advise that you hit the river ASAP to catch a few Kokes because once the run is over you'll have to wait 11 months to catch another.
We also had a few frustrated anglers through the door this weekend that said they saw pods of salmon; however, they couldn't get any hook ups. We narrowed down the problem and realized that they were not fishing their flies on the bottom. The salmon aren't really in a feeding mode since their only focus is on the spawn. For this reason the Kokes aren't going to move out of their way to eat. So, you have to almost drift your flies into their mouth!
Sage Rod Giveaway Update
We are proud to announce that the time has come and past for us to randomly draw a winner for the shop's Sage Rod Giveaway. We cannot announce the winner because we are still waiting to receive confirmation that the email address we chose is active. Hopefully, by the next issue, we will be able to reveal this year's winner.
Tight Lines,
Shooter