Late Winter/Early Spring Fly Fishing in Colorado

I have been long overdue to post a report here.  Basically, over the past 2 1/2 months I have been spending quite a bit of time on the great waters around the state.  Both thru guided fly fishing trips and personal endeavors, the rivers of this great state have produced time and time again.  I will first discuss what has been happening on my local guided waters.  The South Platte is fishing great.  The stretch around Deckers is fishing very well and the fish are fat and ready to eat.  In South Park, flows have been optimal for late winter fishing.  The flows were bumped to 115 early in the winter and that actually brought in our first wave of spawning fish.  In January, we saw actively spawning fish and lake fish to 8 lbs, hence my lack of publications for fear of starting the crowd rush early.  But me posting this means that the word has spread through one avenue or another and people are starting to make their way in high numbers to the water.  As we get closer to spring, we are seeing more and more fish come into the system and we have caught some true giants up to 12 lbs.  If you would like to chase some of the largest Rainbow trout in Colorado, the next month is the time.  Book a guide trip and lets go chase some of these supremely large fish.  Some of the pictures I have been taking I will be saving to submit with future magazine projects, but I will show a few here.  Guided trips have gone great thus far this year and I have had clients describe some of the fish we are catching as the biggest they have ever encountered on the fly. On other waters, the Frying Pan River is fish very well.  Again, good water levels have the fish on the feed and some large fish are being caught.  While I love the hungry nature of the Pan fish, they have been more than obviously manhandled, and quite frankly the condition of their mouths is a little more than depressing.  So to be on my soap box, handle fish carefully.  Also, with a spawning season upon us, abstain from fishing to fish on spawning beds, no matter how tempted you might be.  If you accidentally foul hook or snag a fish anywhere but their mouth, quickly break them off or try to allow slack so the hook can come out. It doesn't take much skill to put on a lot of weight and hook a fish in the belly.  The funnest part of fly fishing is fooling that trout.  By quickly allowing a snagged fish to get back to feeding, you can almost immediately get that fish to eat!  As the spawn progresses, crowds will exponentially increase.  Be sure to respect other anglers by giving them both enough space so that everyone can have a great day.  Below are some pictures of both guide trips and personal trips.  For  a guided trip please call 719-494-6480, or email me at Tere5643@gmail.com.