You can contact Chuck at: ffschuck@aol.com
You can contact Chuck at: ffschuck@aol.com
Historic Runoff
Most of the talk in the Fly Fishing circles for the next few months is all about how much water will be in our rivers. I have talked to a lot of water people the past month and this year could be a historic runoff year. Percentages of snow pack are well over 100% in a lot of areas. Let’s look at this situation in a positive way.
Three items to look at are 1 – High water will make better fishing people out of all of us, you will have to change tactics. The use of bigger flies, flies with sparkle and flies with a lot of rubber legs will be to your advantage. 2 – If the water is high but clear the volume will force the fish more to the edges of the river, especially brown trout. 3 – Get out your maps and start looking for small streams that could carry less water. Other options are the old standbys, tailwaters, lakes (lord knows the lakes will be full), and the old standby beaver ponds (my personal favorite). These are just a few helpful hints to get us through the runoff period.
I am hearing more and more talk of a major flushing of the South Platte to get rid of all that silt. Keep an eye on the flows for this drainage. This drainage may turn into a caddis fly river because of all the casings on the bottom. How about a Mothers day caddis hatch on the Platte. The magic number for temperature is 55 degrees.
New book from our friend John Gierach is “Fools Paradise”, might even be out by the time you read this.
Got a chance to be guided by the famous Davy Wotton on the White River in Arkansas. His favorite pattern during high water is a fluorescent red San Juan worm with white jig head. He also like’s brown and orange as alternate colors.
Chuck Prather owns Flyfishing Services, Inc. in Littleton, CO and guides fly fishermen on some of the finest trout waters in the state. Call for your next trip at (303) 979-3077, or visit www.flyfishingservicesinc.com