Mid-Summer Fly Fishing in Colorado

Summer has settled in the mountains and fishing is better than ever! This time period can offer some of the best fishing we see all year. Hatches are plentiful, water is still high and cold but very fishable, alpine lakes are practically all open at this point, creeks are fishable and offer some peace and solitude, the list goes on and on! If you haven’t been taking advantage of the incredible opportunities that have been available this summer, we highly advise you do before things make a shift. Late-summer fishing can be sketchy, depending on the year. Low rain years can produce low flowing rivers that heat up rather fast and make them unsafe for the trout to fish. But, this is neither here nor there, today we’re talking about the amazing opportunities that we have available to us right now!

Mid-summer hatches are more diverse than any other time of the year. Depending on the river system you’re fishing, you may have stoneflies, mayflies, midges, caddis, and/or craneflies hatching all at the same time. To be more specific, the stoneflies you may see are salmonflies, golden stones, or yellow sallies. The list of mayflies include PMD’s, green drakes, gray drakes, BWO’s, pseudos, and the off chance of an early trico hatch. Caddis and midges are a lot more difficult to break down species wise, but there’s a ton of those popping off as well! These hatches are constantly changing as the day goes on, so being well prepared with the right bugs as the day shifts will lead to the best success. Nymphing is always a solid option for catching fish, but we’d highly recommend investing in some dry fly specific gear for summer fly fishing. Fish most definitely are aware of all the active bug life and spend much of their time in the summer with their eyes looking up to the surface. And anyone can agree when I say, there’s absolutely nothing like watching a fish rise to your perfectly presented dry fly. 

Post-runoff is absolutely the best time to be on the river. The fish are incredibly happy with the ample amount of food that’s available, in addition to the great water temperatures and high oxygen levels. Runoff water is typically on the colder side since the source of the water is coming from melted snow. That said, the water is very vulnerable to gaining temperature quickly with the warmer air temperatures. But for now, water temperatures are great and the fish are loving it. There’s nothing better than happy fish that are full of fight thanks to good water conditions and plentiful food sources. During this time of the year, the water is still rather high, but very fishable! Nymphing works well, dries, hopper-droppers, and particularly streamers. If there aren't any heads poking on the surface sipping adults, we always prefer to toss on a streamer. Post-runoff is a time where trout, suckers, and whitefish eggs have hatched, leaving the smaller fish vulnerable to predation. If you want to know more about streamer fishing this time of the year, follow the links to two of our previous blogs:

Streamer Fishing Extra Credit

Streamer Fishing 201 - It's All in the Presentation

This might seem like an exaggeration when I say “unlimited,” but in our minds this is absolutely true. Tailwaters are fishing amazing right now, particularly with the heavier flows that they’ve been seeing lately. Freestone rivers have reached the post-runoff status, which I’ve already highlighted. Alpine lakes are fishing great right now and the vast majority of them are wide open right now. Local and high-country creeks are fishing off the charts right now, particularly with the receding water. The lower elevations reservoirs, such as Antero and Spinney Mountain, have been fishing great with a multitude of hatches occurring everyday, including chironomids, damselflies, and callibaetis. Warmwater fishing for carp and bass have been fishing great and will continue to until air temperatures begin to drop. Keep in mind that tourism is at its peak right now in the state and fishing the more popular, easy to access rivers will always have crowds, no matter what day of the week you have the chance to fish. The term “crowds” is relative to where you are fishing, but definitely expect full parking lots at popular access points. If you’re looking for more solitude right now, we recommend hiking deep into the backcountry to alpine lakes or creeks, fishing warmwater locations around the metropolitan area, or the lower elevation lakes will be accommodating. Side note, the lower elevation lakes certainly get a fair amount of pressure, but they’re so large that it’s easy to find your own space.

There are many more things I could get into with the mid-summer opportunities we have, but I don’t want to sound too repetitive. Instead of reading a long blog, I’ll keep it short and let you experience the goodness for yourself!