Where to Fish This Weekend: November 14

The age-old questions we get in the shop are “where should I go fishing this weekend?” and “what’s fishing the best right now?” We completely understand needing some help in finding a place to fish, especially for those of us who work all week and have little to no time to research water flows, hatches, river reports, etc. Golden Fly Shop wants to help assist you in the process of finding the perfect place to fish this coming weekend. 

Before we dive into a few spots to fish this weekend, we’d like to start out by saying that “what’s fishing best” is very subjective and we know not everyone will agree with our selections. That said, we’d like to try and make some recommendations that are as objective as possible. 

This week and weekend both will have amazing weather conditions for mid-November which will help keep the freestones open a little longer. In case you missed our 3 Flies for the Week last week, I mentioned fishing freestones is the best way to go right now. They’re about to freeze up and the fish know it, so they’re putting the feed bag on. Small stoneflies, eggs, and midges will be killer at any of these fisheries, in addition to throwing streamers! Tailwaters have also been fishing great lately, with the vast majority of them seeing very stable flows which ultimately leads to consistent fishing. This is also the perfect time to fish stillwaters before they also freeze up. Much like the freestones, these big lake residing fish are looking to eat as much as they can. Tossing balanced leeches and big bloodworm patterns under indicators and stripping streamers, both small and large, will be very productive. 

This is a great time of the year to be on the water, but here’s four locations we think will be the best this weekend:

The Ark is a fantastic fishery in both its freestone and tailwater sections. Each section certainly draws a different type of crowd, but right now we highly recommend getting to the freestone section. Anywhere from Leadville to Cañon City will be fishing well, with midges being the predominant hatch, although keep an eye out for the few BWO’s remaining down low. We recommend spending most of your time nymphing with midge patterns that are led by an egg. If eggs aren’t working, we’d advise leading with small stonefly, caddis larva, or worm on your nymph rig, the recent snow melt has knocked around a couple of the bigger food sources. There’s still some dry fly opportunities, but keep in mind that the midge hatch certainly yields less results. Stripping streamers will be a great choice right now as well.

Our top fly choices: mercury midge, poison tung midge, flux capacitor midge, rojo midge, otter’s soft egg, twister egg, hare’s ear, prince nymph, two bit hooker, pheasant tail, kryptonite caddis, trina’s squirm, griffith’s gnat, pat’s midge, micro dungeon, jigged sparkle yummy, ta leech

We won’t lie, fishing on Antero this time of year is an absolute grind. But this is the time of year when the biggest fish are caught. Big cuttbows, browns, tiger muskie, and all the other random trout species that call this lake home are swimming close to shore in order to ambush big meals. Like mentioned before, leeches and baitfish imitations will be the top producers. Whether stripping flies or staring at an indicator, be ready for many hours of slow fishing, but the reward is tremendous. Finding a good drop-off or weed line is crucial to finding fish.

Our top fly choices: balanced leech, mini leech, thin mint, mini sluggo, drunk and disorderly, holo midge, cut bait midge

Right now South Boulder is benefiting greatly from higher flows coming out of Gross Reservoir. This may not hold up very long, but as of writing this blog it does. South Boulder below Gross is technically tailwater, but many times it doesn’t fish like it is. Oftentimes hopper-dropper rigs and tossing generally bigger bugs catches plenty of fish. With current conditions we don’t necessarily recommend this though, but you certainly can throw flies bigger than you would at an actual tailwater fishery. You’ll still have to fish midges right now, but sz18 and 20 is more than appropriate. Fishing midges behind an egg, scud, or small stonefly on an indicator rig will be the best, but there has been some good dry fly and streamer fishing as well.

Our top fly choices: flashy money midge, rainbow warrior, red ale midge, massacre midge, copper john, cdc thrasher, uv scud, midge cluster, strawberry blonde

The Eagle is notorious for flowing low and clear this time of year, making for relatively difficult fishing. But if you approach the Eagle as you would a tailwater this time of year, you’ll reap the spoils. Midges sz20-24 will be best right now if led by a leech, egg, small stonefly, or worm. The recent snow melt has kicked around some of the bigger food sources again, allowing the fish to feed on these bigger meals. Dry fly fishing won’t necessarily be the best, but nymphing good runs and tossing streamers in the “B” water will produce loads of fish. The Eagle fishes well this time of year anywhere from its confluence with Gore Creek down to Gypsum, but generally down low provides the warmest water, and thus the best fishing.

Our top fly choices: top secret midge, zebra midge, manhattan midge, butt crack midge, mini leech, otter’s soft egg, trina’s squirmy, duracell, mini peanut envy, mini heisenberg, griffith’s gnat, midge cluster

Best of luck on the water this weekend and we hope this article helped make up your mind on where to fish this weekend: November 14! If you have any questions or concerns regarding this article or finding fishing spots in general.