Sunday July 9th, 2017
Big Thompson river is still strong from the run off at around 400 CFS. Patience is the key to fishing the river at this time of the year, you might get frustrated trying to switch up flies that work to get into fish. Stone flies are a good bet when the water is this high and not as clear as you want. Pat’s Rubber Leg and Yellow Sallie should be great choices. A red color San Juan has been successful for me. Some of the nymph betters that have been working for me are zebra midges, two-bit hooker and rainbow warrior, I’ve noticed the brightly colored flies tend to work a lot better with murkier water.
Brown trout have been a lot more common than the Rainbows below Lake Estes and in the lower parts of the river as you drive through the Canyon the Rainbow tend to be caught mostly. In a few weeks we should see the flows much lower and fishing once again to be lights out. If you’re looking for some good river fishing I suggest you visit any of the South Platter locations in the Park County like 11 Mile Canyon, the Dream Stream and Cheesman Canyon.
