“Now is the time to fly fish the Blue River!”

I recently went fly fishing on the Blue River in Silverthorne with fellow Blue Quill Angler fly fishing guide Joe Shafer. We got to the river about 1:00 pm. The water was gin clear and the flows were 144 CFS. We both started off using a Dry Dropper rig using our 9′ 5wt Sage TCX fly rods. It didn’t take long before I landed my first chunky 18′ rainbow on a size 18 Barr’s PMD Emerger. Right after that Joe nailed a beautiful rainbow on a red Amy’s Ant. It was non stop action after that. Occasionally we would throw some streamers to fish sitting in heavy currents with great results. We were fishing a double streamer rig with a #8 Laney bugger and trailed it with a #10 Pat’s Rubbberlegs. The fishing was awesome all the way until we got off the river at around 9:30pm. We both got the hat trick, landing numerous rainbows and browns on dry flies, nymphs and streamers. Now is the time to fly fish the Blue River in Silverthorne.

Jerry Vigil fly fishing guide for the Blue Quill Angler

Dream Stream – South Park Colorado

Tricos on the Dream Stream. If you haven’t noticed the Tricos are emerging in full force on the Dream stream. On August 1st I took  clients, Buffy and Duane Bradley to Spinney. When we got to the river edge there were swams of female tricos hatching. It was 9am and the mating process was just beginning. At one point Duane and I looked up  and could see thousands of tricos  against the blue sky. Buffy caught a 15 inch rainbow and I did a quick stomach pump.  What I found in this sample was almost exclusivly tricos and a couple of pmd nymphs. I set up both clients with a two nymph rig consisting of a size 18 pmd Barrs emerger and a spent wing size 22 black trico. For the next 4 hours, we experienced a fantastic morning, catching and releasing 14 fish, with the largest netted in the 18 to19 inch class, with a couple breaking us off that were over 2o inches. What made this trip interesting was Duane has been to the Dream 2 or 3 times before and has never caught one fish.  As an Orvis Guide, I always make it a point to meet anglers at the parking area and I hear this all the time.  I beleive most people move up and down the river to fast. One of the most important things I teach is to be patient and slow down. On this trip my clients started to see the trout and site nymphed. It was very exciting for them to spot the fish and then catch them. A very important tool this morning was the stomach pump.  When I showed them how to do the pump sample,  thier excitement and expectations grew and confidence soared.  If my clients are tuned in like this we are bound to be sucessful. Come down to the Blue Quill and pick up a stomach pump tool and a few spent wing tricos and pmd barrs emergers and get out here. Be sure to slow down, it’s not how much water you cover but how thoughly you cover the water.

 Ron Pecore, guide for the Blue Quill Angler