by Pete Mott
Many anglers ask me “When is the best time to go fly fishing? MARCH is always my quick answer. More accurately, pre runoff, or late February through mid April can be simply Magic on our home rivers of the Colorado, Roaring Fork, and Eagle.
The wild trout that inhabit these beautiful streams have been rested for most of the last 4 months with little to zero anglers on the water. The side affects of popular catch and release practices that may teach the fish of what not to do next time they see a bug, before they end up in again in a net, have been eliminated with almost no pressure. Imaging how disturbing a strike indicator hitting the surface might feel to a suspended fish eating emergers just below the surface? Poor mending dragging presentations unnaturally, sloppy wading, splashy oar strokes, or a metal hook beneath a fly have all been absent. The mistakes and recognizable warnings that they are being fished for are now a distant memory and I often catch some of the older, smarter, and larger trout during these first weeks of the season.
The fish have also had a limited diet for much of the winter. Tiny midges are mostly all that they have seen and they are hungry. Spring warmer weather gets the bugs moving and we typically enjoy blanket hatches of midges now so large we have nick named them Midgezilla’s. These hatches can be so intense that the rocky banks and the bottom of our boats are literally covered with the leftover shucks late in the day. As the weather climbs into the 50’s and 60’s, Blue Wing Olives also make their first appearance of the year emerging to the surface in the afternoons in incredible numbers. The trout are there too, eagerly eating everything they can.
Warm days, heavy hatches, un wary fish and still un crowed rivers might sum it up. Come enjoy the Best time to go fly fishing, it’s just days away…
AvidMax proudly endorses Trout Trickers – Pete and his team of guides are professionals in every since of the word. We have fished with Pete and his Team in Colorado and in Wyoming – and they are the guides we reach out to when we take our families fishing.
Check out Trout Trickers and all they offer over at https://trouttrickers.com/ or give them a ring 970-306-6255 and make sure you tell them AvidMax sent you! We love knowing our customers are going to go spend a day with the best guides we can recommend. We want to see those photos and hear about your epic adventure – please tag AvidMax in your social posts or email Lincoln@AvidMax.com.
