Ah, winter in the High Country. Frigid temps, short days, frozen rivers and a strong desire to hibernate through it all. Although the diehard angler will still battle the ice and snow in order to land a few trout,* many spend their winter months tying flies, daydreaming about warmer weather or partaking in seasonal activities
Fly Fishing Tips
137 posts
Michael “Sal” Salomone Approaching the river in winter can be an intimidating fly-fishing experience when the water is as clear as glass and slowing from freezing. However, it can be extremely productive if an angler is aware of the conditions and presents flies with focused intention. Vail Valley Anglers’ professional […]
Since the new year is often a time for goal setting and preparing for the upcoming year, here are 9 new years resolutions for anglers in 2019.
In the past year, I relocated from Vail, Colorado up to Portland, Oregon. I’m lucky enough to have access to dozens of quality steelhead and salmon fisheries. After decades of trout fly fishing, the transition to steelhead fly fishing has been quite the learning experience. There is a big learning curve. It seems like you have…
When you think about fly fishing, the actual fishing part is just one component to a much larger entity. Beyond casting to and hooking up with fish, a well-rounded angler usually knows a thing or two about the dynamics of water, effective gear & equipment, weather, fish behaviors, and entomology. And that’s just naming a…
One of the most critical aspects of fly fishing and often one of the easiest to overlook is the fly line itself. Anglers regularly look to their fly rod for casting performance. When that falls short, they reach for the rod rack to alleviate their lack of proficiency. In reality […]
In the fly fishing world, typically we classify fish holding rivers/streams in three different categories, tailwaters, freestones, and spring creeks. So how do they differ and why should we care? Well, in fact, each classification is very different and typically supports different biology based on the amount of oxygen, vegetation, entomology […]
One fellow guide once said to me, “I don’t like streamer fishing because there’s not much to it. You don’t have to break down the entomology, read the water, crack that code that you normally have to when fishing dry flies or nymphs. You just chuck a heavy fly on […]
Whether it’s the aggressive takes, visual eats or an on average bigger fish being caught, fly fishing with streamers is by many a very enjoyable way to catch trout. By all means, streamer fishing is not necessarily the easiest technique to catch trout. The casting, line control, retrieving and setting can […]
Things started on a Monday evening. I read a post about a new Fly Fishing company from Boulder, Colorado named Riversmith. The Riversmith Company is producing a line of roof-top rod racks called River Quivers. Intrigued, I poured into all the information I could find. Two days later, a Vail […]
Across Colorado, the crisp night air of autumn causes anglers to break out high collared fleeces and streamer boxes full of heavy, articulated offerings that move big trout and even bigger pike. The cooling atmosphere brings aggressive Northern Pike into the shallow water bays of numerous Colorado reservoirs to feed […]
Colorado, much like it’s neighboring states Wyoming and Utah is known for quality trout fly fishing. Most people that come to Colorado to experience fly fishing, go trout fishing. The rivers and lakes, for the most part, are chock-full of trout. In the local angling community, most of us start […]