If you want the video version Two Flies, head on over to our Instagram or Facebook and watch our story that you can follow every Thursday titled “2 Flies”. This series will be showcasing 2 flies that we are using RIGHT NOW to catch fish on our local waters.
It almost sounds redundant…but we might be out of the thick of the late winter storms. It’s wild that we have gone from winter to summer in the span of about 4 days but that is Colorado for you. The forecast is still looking like a roller coaster, but it seems that big flows have arrived. The Animas has hit 5000 cfs today and we expect it to keep rising. We are also at the beginnings of the big flush on the San Juan River below Navajo Dam starting which will ramp up to 5000 over the next few days. Once those flows hit 5000, don’t be afraid of the water. We often experience some of the best fishing at high flows, and it can be off the hook (not literally, fish will be on the hook).
The Tungsten Trout Retriever
Picture this: as you roll up to your favorite freestone for a day of trout wrangling, with your best “Outlaw Josey Wales” swagger; you find the river high, off color, and raging. Rather than just give up and head back to the car, hike up your waders, spit, and utter these words with your best Bruce Willis Impression:
“It’s time to break out the big guns.”
The Tungsten Trout Retriever is your big guns. With stoneflies itching to hatch on many of our local waters, this bug will turn the tide for your high water day.
The One Sculpin
When high water rolls around, and fish are not quite ready to hit up top, this is one of my favorites. I typically swing this bug on our local rivers such as the Animas, San Juan, and Rio Grande with a two-hander and sink tip in late spring and early summer; but it finds it’s home just as well from a boat or wading with a single-handed fly rod.
Swing it, nymph it, strip it, or jig it: the One Sculpin is one of my favorite springtime streamers. It has a ton of movement with two rabbit strips and a bit of flash.
