Rivers in our area are rapidly improving. The warmer weather has turned on some of the best
rivers in the state, but be careful of ground melt mudding some of the streams by
afternoon. There are reports of BWOs in the Canyon on cloudy days starting to turn that
section of the river into a dry-fly haven. I fished the “Arky” and it is just a
matter of time before that bug life starts popping. This time of year the fish are podded
up so you have to keep on the move if you don’t see them. Waterton Canyon had an
increase in flow so the big “bows” from Chatfield will move up river to spawn.
Research has led me to believe that a lot of fishermen do not
know how to pick a leader or even build a hand-made leader. Making a leader by hand takes
a lot of time and getting the right formula can be a never-ending search. Different
conditions determine different leader lengths. I like short leaders for pocket waters,
freestone rivers, and sink-tip lines. Long leaders should be used for tail-water and
clear-water situations. About 60% of the leader should be constructed as a butt section
and rest of the leader is then tapered down to the size of fly that you intend to use. I
use the “divide by four and add one” rule. Divide the size of your fly by 4 and
add 1. E.g. If you are using a Number16 fly,
divide 16 by 4 and add one to get 5 which will be your tippet size. Everyone I talk to
says that leader and tippet materials have gotten stronger without sacrificing diameter.
Continuing
my suggested book list, I recommend FLIES OF
COLORADO by Rhonda Sapp with illustrations by John Betts. The book was published in 1997 by Alpha graphics. Not only does Ms. Sapp list more than 400 flies,
but it also has a description of each fly and suggestions on where to fish it. The neat
thing is that the author has included little sayings from old-time writers and some tying
tips. Ha - even I am in the book! What a steal for $20. I may loan the book to Julie to keep at the shop
for review because it may be out of print. Stop
by and take a look.
