We are in the full swing of spring fishing and with sunnier days and rising water temps the dry fly fishing has been fantastic.  Our guides are seeing excellent Blue Wing Olive mayfly (BWO) hatches most afternoons.  Overcast days are the best, as the mayfly duns need more time to dry their wings before taking off. This makes them more vulnerable to hungry trout looking for easy pickings and creates exciting dry fly opportunities for patient anglers with perfect presentation. In addition, caddis flies are starting to pop as well. With Caddis a drag free drift isn’t necessarily the ticket. Skittering an elk hair imitation across the surface on the swing, or bouncing your favorite pattern in the riffles will provoke hard strikes from aggressive trout looking for hatching caddis.

Stonefly imitations are also working well this time of year. The rivers are starting to rise and stoneflies are taking their cue from mother nature and migrating towards the banks where they will crawl out of the river and hatch on their favorite willow branch. This migration of large bugs to the banks is our opportunity to throw BIG flies to “dumb” glutenous fish.

Chubby Rainbow at Abell River Ranch

Get out out there and enjoy spring fishing before runoff is in full swing. If you are looking for more help with your rigging, presentation,  or fly selections give us a call. We’d love to set up with a professional guide to get you dialed in!