Fly Fishing

NWflyFisher · Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 9:48 pm Post subject: Blue River, Colorado

I am looking for any help or tips that anyone can give me for fishing the blue river right below Breckenridge. I will be fishing it in mid summer. Wether its fly selection or spots to fish it would be very helpful. Thanks in advance.
Confused

Clint

ChrisR · Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 7:54 am Post subject:

The Blue is a great little river. Personally I prefer the sections above Breckenridge. There are literally a ton of different spots along 9 where you can pull off and fish it. I couldn't say which is better than the other because I only got a couple opportunities to fish it the week I was there.

Sub surface flies that you will definitely want are wd40's and RS2's size 22-24 in both olive and gray. Choronimid red larva in size 18-22.

Dries that are a must are BWO and Adams size 18-24.

There are a few big bug hatches but they really depends on when your there. There is a good shop, at least there was, down in Dillion that could probably stir you in the right direction. The Snake river near Keystone is pretty nice also.

ColoradoKid · Newbie Joined: Apr 03, 2007 Posts: 5

All the info below is meant more for someone visiting here, and may not be helpful if you already live here. Most the people on this site seem to be out east so I just made an assumption

I fish the blue a fair amount. There are great sections along the whole river. Between breckinridge and frisco they have done improvements, making a series of wide slow pools and spill ways. These hold a decent amount of small (10-14") trout. However, there is a popular bike path that runs next to the river, and it is highly visable to all the people on the highway, thus it gets a fair share of pressure, and alot of it is bait fishing.

That said I would check out the blue below dillon res. as well The first two miles flow through silverthorn and is a great fishery, but these fish are educated and the water is usually low and clear. Therefore, 7x leaders and tiny flies are a must. The difficult nature of this can be rewarded by the huge fish that live there, with 'bows reaching 8-10 lbs. Mysis shrimp get flushed from the res. and make the fish fat.

The blue below silverthorn to green mountain res. is an excellent western stream. The fishing is variable, one day its a fish every couple casts the next you can't buy a fish. There are a lot of large browns in this section with a good mixture of rainbows and cutthroats. Several areas are private so becareful where you fish. This section is nice in the summer becuase adjacent pastures are full of hoppers, and you can have great days with stimulators with a dropper nymph.

The snake though keystone is nice. It is heavily stocked with rainbows and is a voluntary flies and lure only/ catch and release (which most people hold to. A lot of this river is private, but know one seems to care if you fish. (most private sections are owned by large condo complexes). However, this river has almost no fish if you get above keystone. Here bead head nymphs work well, along with most mayfly patterns.

The Eagle and Gore are only an hour drive and are excellent and tend to be less crowded. The Colorado is an hour from Silverthorn and is a nice larger river, however, this does not equal larger fish. The Ark and S Platte, are also all with in 1-2 hours and are good option. The Ark for number of fish and the S. Platte for size. Finally there are numerous small creeks that hold tons of eager trout. they are all small 10" or less, but the challange of making a 15' cast with trees all around into a hole only 3' feet wide is where the fun comes in. One such creek near buy is 10 mile creek through Frisco.

Finally, the blue river fly shop in Breck. seems nice and helpful, but they have a small selection. The Cutthroat anglers in Silverthorn have a great selection, but most the staff have something stuck 10' up their you know whats. So becareful of any "info" that they give you. If you get a guide avoid them at all costs.

Finally a great resource for up to the minute updates on rivers, conditions, hotflies, ect. is the Colorado fishing network. The forum has 4000 members and a lot of collective knowledge.

colehatch · Newbie Joined: Jan 08, 2007 Posts: 32

Everything ColoradoKid said is right on. I lived in Denver for about 8 years and spent alot of time in this general area. The Blue below Dillon is TOUGH but the potential reward is huge. I didn't care too much for it myself because it was too public. A portion of that area that these big fish hang out in runs through a strip mall (literally)...it can be a spectator sport at times.

I would also consider looking at the South Platte which is only a pass away. I did spend alot of time between Spinney Res. and Eleven Mile Res. and there's some great fishing there too. It was one of my favorite places out there.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

Jeff

NWflyFisher · Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 8:40 pm Post subject:

Thanksfor the help guys I really appriciate it I am going in september so it will be a while before I give any reports.

Clint

mnflyangler1 · Newbie Joined: Nov 17, 2007 Posts: 7

below dillon res. I would use a scud or mysis shrimp