Blue River, Colorado River, William's Fork River - Co

[Paola Cat]

Spent 8/25-9/1 in the Dillon, CO area. It was about a 10 hour drive from Paola, KS. Fished for a total of around 25 hours in the Blue River (at Silverthorne), Blue River (between Silverthorne and the Green Mountain Res.), Colorado River (at Parshall), and the William's Fork River.

Day 1: Drove north to Parshall to fish the Colorado River. Beautiful stream. Fished for about 4 hours. The action was OK for small to medium sized browns. Brought 10 browns to hand .... biggest around 15". The fish were fairly active. There were huge trico clouds off and on. Also saw some sporadic caddis activity. The flow was pretty fast. Took all the fish in 2 feet of water or less. Fished double nymph rigs. All fish were caught on #20-22 Mercury PTs and #20-22s RS2s.

Day 2: Drove back up north to Parshall. It was just under a hour drive from Dillon. Fished for 3.5 hours and brought to hand 12+ browns. Nothing huge. Maybe up to 13". Used the same patterns as Day 1. Around noon I noticed a few fish rising in some riffles. Put on a partridge/olive SH and first cast ..... bam ..... 22" rainbow. This fish was in less than 1 foot of water. Pretty good tussle in the current but was finally able to bring him in. This was the only rainbow I caught in Colorado River.

Day 3: Fished the Blue River just north of Silverthorne at the first public access. Fished for 4 hours. The fishing was unbelievable for small to medium sized rainbows. Also caught 1 small brown. Fished the same patterns as the Colorado ..... double nymph rigs ...... Mercury PTs, RS2s, and Jujubees (I've had great luck on these for Colorado trout). Too many fish to count. The water was crystal clear with good flow. Most fish came out of 3 foot of water or less. My biggest fish for the day was caught out from under a bridge .... 18 incher ..... caught on Mercury PT.

Day 4: Drove back up to Parshall .... crossed the Colorado River and hiked up to the William's Fork. What a beautiful place. Fishing was great for medium sized browns up to 16". Again double nymph rigs were the ticket. Too much action to count fish.

Day 5: In the morning .... fished the Blue River at the last public access north of Silverthorne (last bridge before the Green Mountain Res.). It was very cool and windy. Hiked in pretty far to an area that the locals called the "shale hole" (I think I got this right). Fishing was great for small to medium rainbows. Great action on EHCs and Green Drake dries. When the action slowed on top I'd switch back to double nymph rigs and the action would be on again. Also took a few fish on a hopper/dropper. In the evening ...... fished the Blue River below the Dillon Dam up to the outlet stores. I had heard that this area was very technical fishing for large fussy rainbows. I also had been told that these fish gorge themselves on mysis shrimp that are flushed out of Lake Dillon. Anyway, I tied on a couple of #20 white marabou midges and decided to give it a try. Didn't catch any monsters but caught numbers. Took lots of rainbows pretty consistently. It's kind of freaky to be fishing right under I-70 and right next to a bunch of outlet stores.

I'm a better fisherman than photographer ... so the pictures are pretty basic.

This is a wonderful area to fish and I would recommend this as a fantastic alternative to the South Platte or the RMNP area. Fantastic scenery, great water with lots of active trout. The crowds were pretty big in a couple of areas but not too bad.

Thanks to FFM for recommending the rivers, locations, and fly patterns.

Can't wait to get out there again .... I'll definitely be going back. PC

[flyfishmaster]

PC,

It is great to hear your success on these rivers in CO. Next time you go, you might have me asking you for some guidance. Great Report!!!

Later,

FFM

[Wheatenheimer]

Awesome report! Can't wait to get back out that way again! Thanks for sharing!

-Kevin

[ozark trout fisher]

Spent 8/25-9/1 in the Dillon, CO area. It was about a 10 hour drive from Paola, KS. Fished for a total of around 25 hours in the Blue River (at Silverthorne), Blue River (between Silverthorne and the Green Mountain Res.), Colorado River (at Parshall), and the William's Fork River.

Day 1: Drove north to Parshall to fish the Colorado River. Beautiful stream. Fished for about 4 hours. The action was OK for small to medium sized browns. Brought 10 browns to hand .... biggest around 15". The fish were fairly active. There were huge trico clouds off and on. Also saw some sporadic caddis activity. The flow was pretty fast. Took all the fish in 2 feet of water or less. Fished double nymph rigs. All fish were caught on #20-22 Mercury PTs and #20-22s RS2s.

Day 2: Drove back up north to Parshall. It was just under a hour drive from Dillon. Fished for 3.5 hours and brought to hand 12+ browns. Nothing huge. Maybe up to 13". Used the same patterns as Day 1. Around noon I noticed a few fish rising in some riffles. Put on a partridge/olive SH and first cast ..... bam ..... 22" rainbow. This fish was in less than 1 foot of water. Pretty good tussle in the current but was finally able to bring him in. This was the only rainbow I caught in Colorado River.

Day 3: Fished the Blue River just north of Silverthorne at the first public access. Fished for 4 hours. The fishing was unbelievable for small to medium sized rainbows. Also caught 1 small brown. Fished the same patterns as the Colorado ..... double nymph rigs ...... Mercury PTs, RS2s, and Jujubees (I've had great luck on these for Colorado trout). Too many fish to count. The water was crystal clear with good flow. Most fish came out of 3 foot of water or less. My biggest fish for the day was caught out from under a bridge .... 18 incher ..... caught on Mercury PT.

Day 4: Drove back up to Parshall .... crossed the Colorado River and hiked up to the William's Fork. What a beautiful place. Fishing was great for medium sized browns up to 16". Again double nymph rigs were the ticket. Too much action to count fish.

Day 5: In the morning .... fished the Blue River at the last public access north of Silverthorne (last bridge before the Green Mountain Res.). It was very cool and windy. Hiked in pretty far to an area that the locals called the "shale hole" (I think I got this right). Fishing was great for small to medium rainbows. Great action on EHCs and Green Drake dries. When the action slowed on top I'd switch back to double nymph rigs and the action would be on again. Also took a few fish on a hopper/dropper. In the evening ...... fished the Blue River below the Dillon Dam up to the outlet stores. I had heard that this area was very technical fishing for large fussy rainbows. I also had been told that these fish gorge themselves on mysis shrimp that are flushed out of Lake Dillon. Anyway, I tied on a couple of #20 white marabou midges and decided to give it a try. Didn't catch any monsters but caught numbers. Took lots of rainbows pretty consistently. It's kind of freaky to be fishing right under I-70 and right next to a bunch of outlet stores.

I'm a better fisherman than photographer ... so the pictures are pretty basic.

This is a wonderful area to fish and I would recommend this as a fantastic alternative to the South Platte or the RMNP area. Fantastic scenery, great water with lots of active trout. The crowds were pretty big in a couple of areas but not too bad.

Thanks to FFM for recommending the rivers, locations, and fly patterns.

Can't wait to get out there again .... I'll definitely be going back. PC

I have fished all of those streams many times....... All are truly great fisheries.

Glad you had a great trip.

[Brian K. Shaffer]

I caught fish right outside the Tommy Hilfiger store in 1998. Those are some pretty streams.

It's so funny that you can stop just about everywhere you want and catch trout in CO.

Phil and I did Cheeseman Canyon is 1996 or so. What a hike.

Phil, do you still have that pic I got of you casting off that boulder ?

( have you got any of those pics posted online ? )

cheers, Brian