Fly Fishing the Frying Pan River This includes a Frying Pan River fishing report.
Type: Tailwater and freestone
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Brown Trout
Rainbow Trout
Cutthroat Trout
Brook Trout
(Wild)
Size
Small – Approx. 14 miles
long
Location
Central Colorado
Nearest Towns
Basalt
Season
Year-round
Access:
Good
Non-Resident License
State of Colorado
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 & 12 ft., 5 or 6X, Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Superb Five or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
Frying Pan River Fishing Report – May 01, 2024 Discharges and stream levels are still just a little above normal and the water is clear. Good Light Green and Red, or Blood Midge hatches, are taking place along with Skwala stoneflies and Little Black Caddis. We update the Frying Pan River fishing report weekly, so check back with us.
Stream Conditions: Rate: 201 Ht. 1.89
Afternoon Water Temperature: 50 (mid to lower section)
Clarity: clear
USGS Real-Time Stream Flow Data Near Reudi CO
7 Day Weather Forecast: (click the link below for more detailed information)
Basalt weather
Recommended Trout Flies:
Brown Sculpin and White Belly Sculpin and Articulated streamers, size 6/4
Black Matuka and Olive Matuka Sculpin, size 4/6
Blue-winged Olives: size 16, 18 nymph, emergers, duns and spinners
Aquatic Worms, size 12, pink, red, and others
Midges: Light Green and Red (Blood) midges sizes 20/22, larva, pupa and adult. Our larva and pupa midge flies, pre-rigged in tandem, are very popular here. You can fish them under a strike indicator keeping the larva fly near the bottom. https://perfectflystore.com/product/pre-rigged-tandem-midge-larva-pupa-tippet
Skwala stoneflies, size 10, nymphs and adults
Little Black Caddis, size 18, pupa and adults
March Browns, 12/14, nymphs, emergers, duns and spinners
The hatches change frequently, so be sure to check back with us. We update the Frying Pan River fishing report weekly.
Fly Fishing on the Frying Pan River: The Frying Pan River is one of the finest tailwaters in the country. Although you can fish the freestone section of the river, it is the tailwater section below Ruedi Reservoir Dam that provides fourteen miles of great trout fishing. The Frying Pan River is a tributary of the Roaring Fork River. It’s a cold water river with huge hatches of aquatic insects. Although there are some big trout just under the dam in an area called the toilet bowl, the fishing further on downstream is what makes the river great. The fish below the dam feed heavily on the mysis shrimp, a small freshwater shrimp stocked in the lake that get through the dam. The mysis shrimp is thought to be the food that makes the rainbows attain their huge size. The entire stream has some very nice rainbow, brown, cutthroat and brook trout. It’s only disadvantage comes from the fact it’s such a good stream. It can get crowded. The “catch-and-release” regulations helps keep the large population of large trout year after year. Make sure you check the current regulations that are always subject to change prior to fishing the Frying Pan River. The river begins near the continental divide near Mt. Elbert. The headwaters consist mostly of pocket water. The trout are mostly small, and consist of rainbows, cutthroat and brook trout. The river flows near Meredith, into Ruedi Reservoir. It terminates at the little town of Basalt where it flows into the Roaring Fork River. The tailwater section averages about fifty feet in width. The bottom discharge of water from the dam is very cold. The river stays cold all the way to the Roaring Fork even in the hot summer months. The main feature of the Frying Pan River is its huge rainbow trout. They can grow to very large sizes. Rainbows have been caught weighting over ten pounds. Access to the Frying Pan River is easy and plentiful. It’s so easy that its upper section is often a crowded. Most anglers fish only the first few miles of the uppermost tailwater, not its fourteen mile length. The lower end of the river is rarely pressured.The discharge of water from the dam is so cold the water temperature changes the further downstream you go. Different aquatic insects prefer different water temperatures and consequently, hatches vary throughout the fourteen mile length of the tailwater. The first few miles below the dam is usually fairly fast moving water consisting of riffles, runs and pools. The flows slow down and the stream gets wider further downstream.The Frying Pan River is known for its huge Green Drake hatch but there’s plenty of other aquatic insects. In addition to the numerous species of aquatic insects there’s a large variety and large numbers of crustaceans available for the trout to eat.The lower end of the Frying Pan is rather secluded and fished far less than the uppermost section. A little effort is required to access the river in its lower section but it is well worth it.One great thing about the tailwater is the entire stream from the dam down to its confluence with the Roaring Fork is classified by the state of Colorado as Gold Metal Waters. That means fishing with artificial flies and lures only. All trout except the brown trout (2 fish over 14 inches) must be released. We will touch on the fishing in the upper headwaters of the Frying Pan River but we will be mostly concerned with the tailwater section.The upper headwater streams above the Ruedi Reservoir are purely freestone streams that depend on snow melt for their water. The small streams have plenty of small cutthroat and brook trout and some brown and rainbow trout in certain areas. They are a lot of fun to fish. The upper Frying Pan River, along with the water from its many tributary streams, flows from the White River National Forest into Ruedi Reservoir. There are three campgrounds in the area. As we said in the introduction, the main attraction of the Frying Pan River is its tailwater section that is approximately fourteen miles long. Most new anglers get caught up with trying to catch the huge trout just below the dam. They are easy to spot but difficult to catch. They can be caught but spending a lot of time there takes away from the excellent fishing the river has everywhere else. Also as mentioned, the stream has four species of trout – brown, brook, rainbow and cutthroat. It is possible to catch a Western Grand Slam there. These fish have seen about every fly that has been sold or tied. They are not pushovers, yet they can be caught if you do things right. You need to get good drifts, stay hidden from the trout and in many cases it is necessary to match the hatch. These trout can and do feed selectively on one insect at times. Matching the hatch isn’t easy, especially during July and August when there are multiple hatches occurring. We think the best time to fish the river is during late winter and early spring prior to the runoff. The runoff doesn’t directly affect the flow. It is controlled by the dam discharges but the melting snow has to be discharged at one time or another through the dam. The water levels do affect the fishing. During the late winter and early spring the discharges are low and the trout can be spotted. This makes for some excellent and exciting fishing because you can sight fish to individual trout, some of which are very large. The Frying Pan is a river that challenges the angler but doesn’t punish him or her if everything is done well. Even though it is relatively small, it is still one of the best tailwaters in the nation. Things change often, so check back with us often. We update the Frying Pan River fishing report weekly.
Hatches and Aquatic Insects: Our information on aquatic insects is based on our stream samples of larvae and nymphs, not guess work. We base fly suggestions on imitating the most plentiful and most available insects and other foods at the particular time you are fishing. Unlike the generic fly shop trout flies, we have specific imitations of all the insects in the Frying Pan River and in all stages of life that are applicable to fishing. If you want to fish better, more realistic trout flies, have a much higher degree of success, give us a call. We not only will help you with selections, you will learn why, after trying Perfect Flies, 92% of the thousands of our customers will use nothing else. 1-800-594-4726. This beautiful river has several hatches that takes place that provides some excellent dry fly fishing that would rival any trout stream in the nation. It is known for its selective trout. You will find midges hatching on most everyday of the year. They become more important when there is nothing else hatching. That is why they are popular during the winter months of the year. Mysis Shrimp are not insect, of course, but are one of the most imitated sources of food on the Frying Pan River. These little crustaceans get through the dam from the deep water of Ruedi Reservoir. They are more abundant just below the dam than far downstream. The first mayfly to hatch on the Frying Pan River is the Blue-winged Olive. The hatches start about the first of February and last through the month of March. This is a bi-brooded hatch that occurs again from August and into the month of November. It consist of several species including baetis. The huge Salmonflies start hatching about the first of May. This hatch usually last from two to three weeks. During the months of July and August the Little Yellow Stoneflies hatch. These are called Yellow Sallies by most anglers. Pale Morning Duns begin to hatch around the first of July. The hatch can last through August and into the first of September. The Western Green Drakes start hatching about the same time and it too can last well into September. The Red Quills start hatching around the end of August and can last through the month of October. There are several species of caddisflies that hatch on the Frying Pan River. Probably the most important of them are the Spotted Sedges. These caddisflies can hatch from June through September, depending on the particular species. There is also a short hatch of their Little Sisters that takes place in July. Green Sedges are fairly plentiful on this stream. Imitations of their larvae, called Rock Worms, are effective flies to use. There’s also an October Caddis hatch that occurs during September and October.Terrestrial insects, including ants, beetles and grasshoppers, are important insects to imitate during the summer. They become important staring about the middle of June through September. Streamers are effective flies to use, especially during the times the water is high or slightly off color from rains. The river has plenty of sculpin and various species of minnows and baitfish. We hope you will give our “Perfect Fly” line of trout flies a try if you haven’t done so already. They are the most realistic and effective trout flies you can purchase. Several of our patterns have proven effective at catching trout on the Frying Pan River. Thank you for viewing the Frying Pan river fishing report.