The Fly Report: May 8th

Steamboat lake is now open! The fish are moving up into the feeder streams, so it’s a great opportunity to catch some really big fish in those streams. As the ice comes off and the lake warms, the fish are moving into the shallow waters back in the bays and feeding on minnows or cray fish, they are feeding in about 5-6’ deep water so they are easy to get at, you don’t need a boat even just wade in a little bit and cover a lot of water. This time of year it is important to keep moving! The fish tend to be schooled up, so if you are in one place and not catching anything move up the shore about 30 yards and just keep moving until you catch one and then stay in that spot.

Flies we recommend for Steamboat Lake right now are Streamer Patterns, Zonkers, Wooly Buggers, Crayfish Patterns, and Leeches. We have been trailing a leech behind a bigger streamer or even fishing two streamers at once.
Stagecoach tailwaters are fantastic right now. It does tend to get crowded this time of year so show up early to stake your ground. Typical tailwaters flies are working nicely, RS2s, WD40s, Zebra Midges, and Blue Wing Dries.

Stagecoach reservoir is starting to pick up. We went out there for a float trip and caught a few. It will probably start to pick up there in the next few weeks. This is a good time to keep an eye out for other lakes down in the Flat Tops to open up. As they become accessible they will be really good.

The Delaney Buttes, over by Walden, are fishing really well right now. There are three lakes (North, South and East) and they all offer a great opportunity to catch some really BIG fish. These lakes are fun because they have hatches of insects similar to rivers. If you would like to know more about what flies are working well for us there, please feel free to give us a call or stop on in!

Happy Fishing and Straight Lines!