may head up to the blue this weekend

If some prior plans fall through for this weekend I may head up and try the blue. This will be the first time I have ever fished this area and the local guys at FRA said that they were having luck with some BWO dries and baetis nymphs.

He also talked about staying around the mall and fishing but thought I would hit you guys up and find out what you thought.

Vitesse have you been up lately?? =)

I wish I had a report for you, but I've been fishing down south to avoid the I-70 traffic. Once winter hits, and I'm up in the mountains for work more, I'll be fishing the Blue probably once a week, but for now, I'm avoiding it because of the crowds and also because the fishing has declined from the pressure.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a great fishery, but having to battle other fisherman for a spot or having someone cast over your shoulder gets pretty dang annoying. That's why I love fishing it in the winter when there's not a lot of people around and the fish aren't so lock jawed.

But the good new is, the fishing hasn't changed much all summer except for the heavy fishing pressure so the "standard" attack plan still works.

I've attached a map to help you get started. These are the most commonly fished stretches. I-70 hole, rodeo hole, cable hole, etc...

Red are the holes, green is where to park.



If I were you, I'd head up towards GM instead and fish the inlet. The Kokes are starting to run and the rainbows and browns will follow eating eggs. You'll have to avoid the snaggers, but fishing above and below them will yield you some fish. You might even hook into some kokes! (Think pink! A pink san juan will get the kokes bitting, and fish eggs for the bows and brownies.)

But if you are dead set on fishing in town, think small. Use a 6x leader and 6x fluro, 2 or even a 3 fly set up. size 18 is the biggest I would even think of using. And I would ALWAYS have a stalcup's mysis or craven's mysis in size 20 tied on. Also, use a beadhead lead fly, and fish with no weight. A tungsten hare's ear in size 20 is perfect. Round out your rig with a midge, or jujubaetis. If they are actually taking dries (actively breaking the surface, not slurping), a size 20 sprout's midge or bwo should work. If they are just slurping, they are taking emergers sub surface. A size 22 black rs2 fished in the film will fool those fish.

If you find that all the holes are taken, or the fish aren't biting around the outlet mall, fish the Blue behind Chipotle up to Cutthroat Anglers. Less fish, but these fish are also less pressured.

Good luck up there, and post a report when you get back.

thanks for the advice, will definitely let you guys know what I end up doing

No report? I was hoping to hear some good things since I'm headed up the hill on Friday.

I ended up fishing the Blue on friday. We started in town, and I had a chance to chat with Tblom. Fishing was slow, and no big fish. A bit of a contradiction to the new post by mhaith and his 5 fish over 20 in 20 min. We didn't see anybody else catching fish, besides a guy that staked out rodeo hole all morning.

Tblom was able to connect with a few fish, but nothing huge, I only managed 3 fish, 2 dinks and a 16 incher. My buddy only managed one at 17 in.

It was nice to see that it wasn't too crowded, but the fishing certainly has declined. We only fished the upper stretch from rodeo, down to cable hole.

Tblom was headed out to Slate Hole and we followed shortly after to the private stretch below GM.

Hopefully Tblom will post a report, on Slate Hole, I haven't heard much info out of there...

The private stretch fished great. Lots of fish, a good mix of brownies and bows. Fish were taking stoneflies and soft hackle pheasant tails and hare's ears.

Even though we were on the private stretch, the same tactics and flies hold true for right below GM. Flows are down, and wading is easy.

I managed to stick a nice pig that took a 20 incher.



I probably won't be fishing the Blue until the snow starts flying up there. The browns are running and it's time to peg some beads!

yeah I was not able to get up there after all. Instead headed up to south boulder creek inlet into gross res and was skunked out of there. Headed up boulder canyon and rocked 10 or so nice 10 inchers in an hour...

I was just up there and was shocked at how much it has changed since I lived there. There was nothing on the East side of the Blue when I lived there. In fact the only part of Silverthorne I even recognized was the Mint Bar. That highway overpass and whatnot did not exist. There was not a mall let alone mallS! Dillon was nearly as bad except I did recognize several buildings. The Lake was as low as I have ever seen it. Unfortunately this was not a fishing trip. I brought a fly rod and really hoped to get a few casts in but it didn't work out that way. It was a big family thing, and I am alone in the fishing addiction.

That was prolly me and my buddy on Rodeo (don't know the names or even the holes-just sight fishing) in the morning but it was a nice hole below the top parking area. It was the only place we saw fish besides the holes down by the outlet mall bridge.

The BWOs were coming off all day so we were getting em on green RS2s and Jujubaetis on a nymph rig. Also got a couple 6 inchers off #22 BWO foamback dries but the bigger guys weren't buying it!

Andrew, nice to meet you. Sorry we did not stick around too long, but it seemed spreading out was the way to success. We'll have to meet up again, maybe with a NAFFF group when the flows come back up in winter.

I managed 2 around 14-15" below the dam on a #20 blood midge larva. Hooked another around 16" but broke off (was practicing with shock tippet and 5-6x). Mike hooked a couple of dinks at cable hole. I tried to cast at a monster a few times but he soon disappeared.

We walked in toward slate hole, but ended up fishing some pockets on the walk in instead. Tough fishing. I managed a beauty 18" rainbow and lost another at my knees (smart fish ran past me and plugged my hopper in my waders, thus releasing himself). We did not sight many other fish although flows were plenty low. #16 black stone with some split shot. Mike committed to throwing streamers and had no follows. Although fewer fish, there were also no crowds and it was a great fall day

Best fish of the day:



We then high-tailed it to the green mountain tailwater. This area has become more popular, as people realize what is down there. We sighted a few fish, but the water was kind of murky at 150-200cfs (?) Mike's streamer finally payed off with a vicious take from a 18" brown. I managed a couple takes on black stones, but was too tired to react in time and promptly lost the fish Ahhh the 12 hour fishing day!
Red annelids, which have worked great for me in the past, took no bites down there.

Tough day, should have tried Blue poisons as mhaith said! Mike's belief was that the clear skies and full moon conditions had the fish well fed during the day. Never saw any real 'feeding' action all day. A tough day, but we covered a ton of water and had some fun. I slept like a baby that night.