The fly fishing on the Eagle River in Colorado is outstanding. Fish are very active and have begun to move out of their winter lies into pocket water and shallow riffles . Big midges or “Midgezilla” is hatching heavily in the late morning and is bringing a lot of trout to the surface. There are also some Blue WInged Olives hatching sporadically through out the day. Expect the BWO hatch to become more prolific as we move into April. Current water flows are right around 90 CFS in Avon. Once the Eagle River hits 200CFS we will begin to float from Edwards to Wolcott. This is a very special time especially for the Streamer Fly Fisherman.

Clarity below Wolcott is terrible which is pushing a lot of fishing traffic above the 131 bridge. If you are fishing public water do not be surprised to see multiple cars at every pull out along HWY 6. The Rainbow Trout are beginning to spawn, so if you see a bunch of trout in about 18″ of water over gravel, leave them alone. Thank you.

Best bugs have been anything small #18-#20 that is black and floats. Ok..gray and brown flies have also been working on the surface. Griffiths Gnat, Renegade, Adams, Roy Palms, Soft Hackles, Chocolate Thunder, Midgezilla… Etc. Now is a great time to lose the indicator and start fishing dry flies. If you find yourself in deep pocket water, try a hopper dropper rig. This fly fishing technique has been great in areas where you can only get a short drift.

The dry fly fishing has been so good that we have not tied on a streamer. But, I would imaging that if you moved an Olive Slumpbuster across the river it would get some attention.

Give us a call, 970-368-5959, to book a guided fly fishing trip, for last minute fishing reports and river conditions. The fly shop will be open regular hours as we get closer to May. Right now we are spending our time on the river.