Welcome to the Trouts Monthly Frisco/Mountain Forecast!

Oh, how sweet it is to have summer and the peak of fly fishing season upon us. This year has been a bit strange and everything seems to be two to three weeks behind here in Colorado. The usual dry June never showed up until the last week of the month. Now July has been unusually clear and dry for the first few weeks. I have been enjoying this the last few weeks as this is truly my favorite time of the year here in the high country.

The fishing has been getting quite good even with the higher flows in many of the rivers. The warmer temperatures have warmed the rivers to the perfect temperatures for the hatches and the fish have been responding well. The rivers are still high and this makes it challenging to find holding water, but once you do the fish tend to be stacked up and feeding actively.

Here are some sections I will be looking to fish in the weeks to come.

The Colorado from Hot Sulphur Springs to Kremmling:

The Colorado River from Kremmling to Dotsero:

With the higher flows lasting a bit longer this season this section of the river has been overlooked in the past few weeks. This has been a welcome sign for me with very few other boats and anglers on the river. The fish have been tight to the banks but with the flows starting to drop, look for the fish to disperse in the river. The dry fly action is just starting to heat up and I expect the great fishing to last for the next few weeks.

The Arkansas River from Leadville to Buena Vista:

Like the Colorado this river’s flows are just starting to come down and with that, the water temperatures are entering into that magic temperature range. This temperature range is triggering the many insects in this river section to begin hatching and this has been producing some good dry dropper fishing and dry fly fishing.

The Roaring Fork from Carbondale to Glenwood Springs:

People ask me if there are large or blanket hatches in Colorado. On many of the rivers, we do have plenty of hatches but the amount of bugs may be hard to see or quantify. This river's next month, however, changes that trend. Looks for large amounts of caddis and yellow sallies in the next few weeks and then look for that to transition to the green drake hatch.

The South Platte above Spinney Reservoir:

This is also a river that’s flows are starting to drop and the water temperatures are entering that magic temperature range. In my opinion, when the upper reaches of the South Platte start to fish well with dry droppers, it might not get any better. Not only is there bend after bend of great fishing water, but there is also plenty of trout ready to eat your flies and you always have the chance to catch a fish in the twenty-inch range.

The Colorado River at Hot Sulphur Springs- 850 CFS

The Williams Fork below Williams Fork Reservoir- 279 CFS

The Colorado River at Parshall- 862 CFS

The Colorado River at Kremmling- 2340 CFS

The Colorado River at Catamount Bridge- 2600 CFS

The Colorado River at Dotsero- 3680 CFS

The Arkansas River at Leadville- 96 CFS

The Arkansas River near Malta- 184 CFS

The Arkansas River at Granite- 630 CFS

Lake Creek below Twin Lakes Reservoir- 269 CFS

The Roaring Fork at Aspen- 112 CFS

The Roaring Fork at Emma- 1240 CFS

The Frying Pan below Ruedi- 207 CFS

The Frying Pan at Meredith- 183 CFS

The Crystal River at Carbondale- 1200 CFS

The Roaring Fork at Glenwood Springs- 2680 CFS

The South Platte above Eleven Mile Reservoir- 139 CFS

The South Platte above Spinney Reservoir- 149 CFS

The South Fork of the South Platte above Antero Reservoir- 47.1 CFS

The dry June weather we were supposed to get showed up in July this year. This has been quite enjoyable for the last few weeks. Look for the monsoons to enter our weather pattern as we get later into July and this pattern should stay with us through the middle of August. The prediction is for a shorter and lighter monsoon pattern than last year, but this remains to be seen.

Stop by our Denver or Frisco locations to see what locations and flies are fishing best!