#Colorado
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| Breckenridge Tourism Office |
The wildflowers are out and the bugs are hatching on the local rivers. Now is a great time to get out and fish.
The fishing has been good over in South Park, especially around the Hartsel area. A dry dropper rig has been good in the mornings, and on sunny days in the afternoon, a hopper rig or double try has been the ticket. Some of my favorites dries right now are elk hair caddis, PMD dries, PMX, Parachute Hoppers and Chubby Chernobyls. They have been working great as single dry rigs and dry dropper rigs. Fish the Hoppers in the afternoon by throwing them on the bank and using an upstream mend to get them off the bank gently, and then wait for the take.
As far as droppers go, the most bugs that I have been seeing are caddis, PMDs, BWOs and a few drakes. So for droppers, we are using a lot of Copper Johns in smaller sizes (18s), bead head hare's ears, flashback pheasant tails and green caddis imitations. Green has been a good color for droppers.
All of the other rivers around the Summit County area are fishing well, with the honest exception of our hometown water: the Blue River. The Colorado River has been great for streamers and dry dropper rigs. If you have the chance this weekend, get out and fish.
Brandon Atha is a manager and guide with Breckenridge Outfitters. Stop by the shop througout the weekend for updated conditions, flys and everything for a day on the river.
RIVER FLOWS BY CFS
Upper Arkansas (Nathrop) — 1,610
Lower Arkansas (Salida) — 1,460
Blue River (below Dillon Reservoir) — 402
Blue River (below Green Mountain Reservoir) — 1,000
Colorado River (Windy Gap) — 301
Colorado River (Kremmling) — 1,850
Eagle River (Minturn) — 370
Eagle River (below water treatment in Avon) — 740
Eagle River (Gypsum) — 1,110
Middle Fork South Platte River (below Montgomery Reservoir) — 52
Middle Fork South Platte River (Hartsel) — 905
South Fork of the South Platte (Antero) — 71
South Platte at “Dream Stream” (below Spinney Reservoir) — 249
South Platte at Williams Fork (below reservoir) — 125
Note: All CFS (cubic feet per second) data taken on July 13 from U.S. Geological Survey data.
