Winter is here in good old NZ, Feels kind of weird not having snow on the ground though. I was having a bit of a think back of a few years ago when I was living in the States about fishing in the winter and how much I miss those cold days up the Pan.
It does get cold here in NZ, I was living at the lazy Glen trailer park near Basalt and a stones throw from the Roaring Fork river, some days would start with me Shovelling 2' of snow off my trucks windscreen, And that's after Ive just dug a snow path from the front door of our trailer to my truck which took a lot of effort most mornings. It was really cold.
I was working Construction at the time and during winter we had a bit of down time, Working anywhere from 3-4 days a week, Days off meant Skiing and Snowboarding wrapping up warm and hitting the many skifeilds the Roaring fork valley has to offer. For me days off meant Fishing (Or a quick couple of runs if it was a big powder day) the cool thing about living and fishing in Basalt was the fish were biting year round and there were 1/2 dozen rivers to choose from and no closed season.
A quick drive down to
www.taylorcreek.com for some flys and a quick chat, Then over to grab a breakfast burrito from Jose. I was off to fish one of the more well known Tailwaters in Colorado the Frying Pan River.
Legend has it two men were attacked by Utes while trapping beaver on the river. One of the men were seriously wounded so his partner left him in a cave by the river, hung a frying pan visibly in a tree to mark the location of the cave and went for help. When he returned with help, the frying pan helped them locate the wounded man who had not survived his wounds. Thus the river was named.
The bad weather days seemed to produce the best hatches, Blanket hatches of Blue Winged Olives were common especially on those cold overcast days in November. After dodging the herd of big horn sheep I Arrived at mile marker 7 ( That's where kirk said the best fishing was yesterday) It took me a few minute's to drag myself from my trucks now warm cab which had finally heated up just nicely, It took about another 1/2 hr to get my frozen boots unstuck from under the 3' of snow that had been in the back of the truck from last nights dump, Frozen laces are not fun either: Will be taking boots inside tonight.
Rigging up was a pretty quick process as moving quickly as possible was the best way to keep my feet and hands from freezing, 9' Tapered Leader with a foot of 7x tippet on the end was the usual set up, Flies I used for the pan at this time of year were Sparklewing RS2's, Sparkledun BWO 20-24, Para Emerger BWO 20-22, Midges in Black and red, And of course Mysis shrimp patterns and some buggers.
Trudging thru the snow down to the river often involves a bit of sliding and slipping, The amount of bugs on the water some days is unbelievable, Often my flies would be lost in the swarm of naturals and the splashy rise of a fish in the general area you think your flies are should be followed up by a strike which most of the time produced a fish.
Time is often spent breaking away the ice which has formed inside my guides, Once the net has touched the water to land a couple of fish it also freezes solid, Making it interesting trying to slide that next fish into the net.
The water I was fishing ranged in depth from waist deep to ankle deep, Spotting fish was easy. Once the Hatch began I had as many as ten to twenty fish visibly rising in front of me. Most of the fish I saw I’d say were between ten and sixteen inches, but the occasional hog could be seen holding in deeper holes. Five rainbows over sixteen inches were landed in about sixteen minute's, A couple of Browns then followed. Feeling quite pleased with myself I celebrated on the bank with a quick smoke and to enjoy some of the sun that had finally broken thru the thick fall clouds.
The Pan is one of the few rivers in the country where you can score a grand slam, All four major trout species, brookies, rainbows, cutthroat and browns, call the river home. Chances of catching a trophy in these waters is always possible.
The Frying pan river runs cold due to bottom releases from Reudi reservoir, with temperature extremes from about thirty five to fifty degrees F. The pan does get a fair bit of attention, Between Basalt and Reudi res the road runs beside the river and has several pullouts for parking, and a few private stretches these are marked.
Also dont miss the Green drakes which come off around July and August and this is also a good time to be on the water.
From the confluence with the Roaring Fork, You will find 14 miles of gold medal water along Frying Pan Road. Above the reservoir has great fishing also with less crowds and some fantastic little tributaries.
Fishing the Fryingpan river during the winter months should be on your to do list.
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