Colorado Fly Fishing Blog - The Flyfisher

The Top Ten Colorado Fly Fishing Rivers!

I thought it would be fun to share my personal top 10 favorite rivers and creeks in Colorado. 
Of course this is my own opinion so I do not mean to offend you if I don’t mention your favorite fishing spot…

I have compiled what I believe to be the most dynamic and interesting streams, and of course there is a lot of stuff I have yet to fish and places I have yet to be, so if you think you might know of a better stream feel free to chime in…

The Yampa - The Yampa is undoubtedly and unquestionably my favorite river in the beautiful state of Colorado!  I know this because one afternoon I was fishing the Yampa through the town of Steamboat and the fishing was going quite slow…then out of nowhere it started to rain and a
blanket hatch of Green Drakes fluttered over the river and from the riffle infront of me multiple brown and rainbow trout over 20 inches began slurping the bugs from the water!  Enough Said.

The Boulder Creek Watershed – OK so this one may come to a shock to many but the entire
Boulder Creek watershed is one of my very favorite places to fish in Colorado and I’ll be happy to tell you why.  Middle Boulder Canyon is just plain fun to fish with aggressive little brown trout seemingly hiding behind every rock!  The North Fork of the Creek running through Dream Canyon makes me feel like I am in the Black Canyon, with colorful Brook trout rising to my hopper creations!  And South Boulder Creek fishes awesome for the occasional 16” plus brown in the meandering meadow sections around Boulder. Then the bug life on the creek both below and above Gross makes for some awesome dry fly fishing!

The Roaring Fork – I love float fishing the Roaring Fork.  This river is a streamer junkie’s best
friend.  I can’t think of a better way to spend the day than floating the Fork with good friends and a cooler full of ice cold drinks…

Black Canyon and Gunnison Gorge – Does it get any better than hiking down into the steepest, deepest and most narrow canyon in North America to find Salmon Flies crawling all over the river?  I don’t think so.

Taylor River – No I’m not talking about fishing the “Hog Trough” but I simply love the lower sections of the Taylor.  This river gets one hell of a Green Drake hatch in the summer and wade fishing the Taylor with its fast current and slippery rocks always makes for an
adventure.  Camping along this river and its main tributary Spring Creek is a great way to experience the wilds of Gunnison.

Tributaries of the North Platte in Walden – The various feeder streams of the North
Platte are some of my favorite excursions for Brown Trout.  Fish of all sizes live in these streams and the fishing can be challenging, technical and overall difficult but the rewards
can be amazing. 

Frying Pan – You can learn a lot about trout and fly fishing for them on this infamous stream.  Sight Fishing is almost always possible and a plethora of insect hatches will keep even the most
seasoned of anglers guessing.

Cheesman Canyon – Ok so Cheesman is definitely not my very favorite stream but anytime I land a trout in the Canyon I feel grateful…for it certainly never happens too often!  The canyon is a technical fishery and it simply takes hard work and persistence and thorough understanding
of Nymph fishing to fool these trout.

Eagle –I haven’t explored this river as much as I would like but my limited experience on the Eagle has been good.  Lots of fish, bugs and interesting water makes for a dynamic and year round fishery.

Rocky Mountain National Park – A lifetime of fishing is available within the lines of the park and most of it remains untouched.  Native Greenback Cutt Throat call these streams their home and they are easily fooled with small fly rods and dry flies.  Fishing in the park is just plain fun and after all isn’t that what it’s all about?

So there is my Top 10. 
What’s yours?

Tight Lines,

Tyler Bowman

www.coloradotroutfisher.com

All Fly Fishing Magazines Are Not Created Equal

    I have been a longtime subscriber and even free lance contributor to Fly Fisherman Magazine. I can remember one of my first issues way back when I was a kid; it talked about fishing in tight quarters and using the bow and arrow cast. Another article was a fly tier's bench article about the inch worm and how to fish it. Ever since then I have been a collector of sorts, never throwing an issue away. At one point in time I even went as far as putting them all in chronological order. It isn't perfect, but its articles have taught me a lot over the years; for that I am grateful! Even though I'd have to say that Fly Fisherman Magazine is by far my favorite publication for fly fishing I have read pretty much all that is out there; Fish & Fly, Fly Rod and Reel, American Angler, Southwest Fly Fishing,  Fly Fishing in Saltwater, Catch magazine, the list goes on and on.
      I recently picked up a copy of the latest Flyfishing and Tying Journal...
my attention was caught by the  promise of a Colorado trout story. Inside I found some good stuff; useful patterns from Montana guides (although they were heavy on dries), a nice story about the Colorado River, and an enjoyable piece about the Salmon Flies on the Klamath River. But as I began to look at the magazine from a different perspective, I saw some things that seemed a bit sub par. The photographs for example left something to be desired. Several were out of focus and some didn't seem to fit the seasons of the articles they accompanied. For example, the article about the Klamath focused on Salmon Fly fishing in June, but all of the pictures showed a winter-like landscape with people in fleece and leafless trees and bushes lining the riverbanks. It just seemed strange and took away from the article. There were also some typo's...now don't get me wrong, I have made my fair share of typos in my life, but it again took away from the article. Finally, there were some mislabeled flies in one of the articles. Not the end of the world but you add them up and you have a C- publication.
    We all have our favorite magazines. Personally I hate the layout of FFM but I love the content and pictures. I like the layout of Fish and Fly a lot more - they tend to keep the articles a lot more in tact and provide a little advertising after each piece. Whatever your favorite is, be open to grabbing a different magazine every once in a while. You never know what you may encounter.

Ethan Emery
Angling University Director

2008-09 Nymphs Volume 1 & Volume 2 Fly Fishing Book Preview/Review

It has been a long time since we had seen a bug book worth the paper it was printed on, we do not mind loosing a tree or two for this two volume baby. There is a lot to read and look at, it will take us a lifetime to digest this book. Ernest G. Schwiebert passed away in 2005 and we will always have these volumes to remember him.

Nymphs Volume I - The Mayflies | Nymphs Volume 2 - Stoneflies, Caddisflies, & Other Important Insects -If you want to catch big fish you must go deep. Nymphs encompasses two monster books revised and enlarged from the 1973 originals. Author Ernest G. Schwiebert spent the last fifty years of his life traveling, fishing, speaking, writing and gathering information on scores of aquatic insect species across the country. At age 24 Schwiebert authored Matching The Hatch, which was published in 1955 and made him a respected authority on fishing bugs going forth. The Mayflies, the first volume, is the singular authority on identifying the myriad species of mayfly larvae and tying imitations that will help us identify and tie the bugs we need to catch the big boys. We find painstaking details of every major mayfly species for identification and tying details for many patterns to imitate the naturals. In addition to mayflies we must know caddisflies, stoneflies, and midges just as well. Stoneflies, Caddisflies, and Other Important Species, volume two, gives us all the essential information we need about these bugs throughout their North American range. Very few fishing books have focused so closely on so many individual species of the particular genera of aquatic insects.

These are indeed monumental works, instant classics for anglers, and an unprecedented view of the bugs we try so hard to imitate. If you are a nymph fisherman this is a must have series, something you cannot afford to live without, if you think you have a fly fishing library you are fooling yourself if these volumes are not the backbone of your collection. A special thanks to Erik Schwiebert, Ernest's son, who made sure the revised volumes came to light.

mattieb