Colorado River Fly Fishing Report: July 2020

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Colorado River Brown Trout – Hopper eater.

Floating on Neon Green

The fly fishing on the Colorado River has been good despite water levels being very low. Float trips from Pump House to Cottonwood have been consistently hooking fish on Hopper dropper rigs. Current flows at Kremmling at 800 CFS which is a slight bump from yesterday. I would imagine the bump is from the rain that fell last night. However the river bottom is neon green with algae and water temps are getting into the mid to high 60’s later in the afternoon. We suggest putting on early and giving the Trout a break after 12 O’Clock. Hopefully water levels rise over the next couple weeks and cool down the river. It feels like August out there.

 

Our go to set-up has been a Hopper – Chubby, trailed by a PMD nymph. Occasionally we are adding a midge in-between the hopper and PMD. We are running a jig nymph approx 3 feet below the hopper and focusing on the fast riffles. Jig Flies or competition flies are excellent for fishing over the mossy bottom. They decrease snags and get down quickly in the faster water. Other flies to consider are Caddis, Golden Stones and Twenty Inchers. If you have someone in the boat who can throw streamers make sure to do so. Olive, White, Black and Natural colored streamer patterns are a good place to start. If they don’t chase, go back to the Hopper/Dropper rig. Feel free to reach out with any questions or last minute fly fishing reports on the Colorado River. 970-368-5959.