Spring fishing is in full force in the Rocky Mountains. We have been wade fishing on the Eagle River and Gore Creek and doing a bunch of float trips on the Roaring Fork near Glenwood Springs. The night time temps are in the 20's and 30's and the day time temps are 40's and 50's. We have had great midge hatches on the Roaring Fork and also a few Blue Winged Olives. The Eagle has been great above Wolcott and somewhat unpredictable below due to the two small feeder creeks that come off of Castle Peak that trash the lower Eagle. When we get colder nights the lower river will clear up. Great time to get out there even if it is a little off color. The Beaver Hole from Montana Fly CO. has been very productive on the Eagle. I was out on our new lease the other day and caught 4 fish in 5 casts with that fly and the famous Gorsuch Blue Prince. I also floated the upper Colorado River yesterday with YT (aka Rob White) who is one of our senior guides. The water was still very cold and offered very little insect activity. We saw a few fish rise and managed to catch a couple of nice fish and had a great float. The water color was still a bit off but fishable.
Our snow pack is around 112% of average and in great shape for this summer. I think we will have a somewhat normal run-off that will extend the Eagle River floating season for a few weeks.
The construction on the new store in Eagle started last week and is slated to open in late May. We will offer a wide variety of products in including spin fishing supplies and a new fly fishing report internet kiosk. The shop is just East of Wendy's and the car wash across the street from the Eagle Post Office.
We hope to see you in Eagle County this Spring for some great fly fishing action on the Eagle, Gore, Roaring Fork, or Colorado Rivers.

PHOTO: Guide Pete Mott with a Lower Colorado Rainbow (March 2006)

Until next time.

Hello everyone,

Last week was spent in the Florida Keys with a cross section of fly fishing freaks from around the country. I spent a day with Frank Smetherst and his brother William who I fished with in Cabo a few years back. We fished hard and had some great shots a bonefish and a couple of permit with no luck on the fly other than the shocking bonefish eat which spooked William who was instantly reduced by the evil green fish. Better luck next time. Brett from the shop was with me as well and fished with Captain Nick Varnberg in Whitewater Bay where the landed a 90# tarpon on fly and released it safely back to the wild. All in all the fishing was ok but we struggled after a period of severe cold the week prior to our arrival.

Back in Colorado now and the fishing here is beginning to heat up. Lots of guided fly fishing trips and many fish being caught. The forecast is for a mild and warm March so the fishing should be better than the skiing for this month. If you are coming to town call ahead and make a reservation. We are preparing for a very busy summer and look forward to seeing you all on the waters near Vail.

Mark Sassi (shop manager Edwards) is pregnant with number 2 child and is expecting around July 4th. If he looks like a deer in the headlights you know why.

We have added Peter DuPont from the Fly Fisher in Denver to the staff full time and he will be operating the new store in Eagle which is scheduled to open in late May.

All of the guides are ramped up and ready to go so come by the shop in Edwards and catch up on the fishing juice for the Spring.