Weekly Fishing Report: 07/20/24

Where to fish? The floatable sections of the river are from Wagon Wheel Gap down. Because of low flows, the upper river is too low to get a boat down. Wagon Wheel Gap to Palisade campground is boney and exposed in low flows so call the shop or stop in for more details. All wade fishing is a go right now. Any public section from Del Norte to Rio Grande Reservoir is open to wade fisherman and should offer some great fishing.

What time to fish? 7:00 – 2:00 is prime time. Because there are far less hatches going on the fish are putting on a feed far less than a week to two weeks ago. We are still getting trico hatches and BWO hatches but other than that, not much to write home about. It seems that about 10:00-1:00 is the best feeding hours. We have been receiving a lot of rain and its keeping the waters temps below 66 so evenings have been fair game.

What to use! For dry fly action we have been catching fish on big hoppers and small single dries. BWO patterns or most extended body mayfly patterns from 16-20 have been productive. If you see the single rising fish or a small pod of fish on a seam line, most small mayfly dries will do the trick right now. Brown, olive, or gray and you will be playing the game right.

Subsurface flies are a total mix. Our best flies have been fast sinking (tungsten heads), and BWO emergers. Olive, dark blue/black, and light gray perdigons, slim hares ears, and tungsten pats rubber legs have been great for point flies. RS2’s, WD-40’s, zebra midges, and various baetis patterns have been the ticket for small bugs.

Where are the fish? Because of higher water temps and low flows one of the best areas to target fish is in the fast heavy water. Look for the big riffles and heavy seam lines. These areas have more oxygen and most of the mayflies are hatching out of this type of water. Add some weight and depth and don’t forget to swing your flies.

If there is big cloud cover pay attention to the deep slow pools for the sippers. They are not aggressive on top but will take advantage of a hatch and move into the soft water. Having a longer leader will help in these situations. When throwing at these fish we advise 5x tippet for the best success.

To learn more about the area in and around Creede, Colorado click here.