With fall weather already beckoning anglers to “wader up” and only colder weather on the horizon, it’s key to have a decent pair of non-leaking waders to endure these conditions. As many anglers know, leaks in waders happen and can happen quite frequently. It is not fun. Anything from a […]
Tips and Tricks
87 posts
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 […]
Who doesn’t love late summer fly fishing when we can tie on a giant size 6 hopper pattern only to watch a big fish race out of a cut bank and suck down your fly? On the local rivers here in Colorado we see grasshoppers throughout the riparian zones starting […]
As the PMD hatch peters off, my buddy informs me that he’s having success with his Top Secret Midge rig. I fumble through three fly boxes and finally locate a lonely size 22 in that pattern. A little annoyed, I scour the boxes a second time. I know I have […]
Golden Stoneflies are the most abundant larger stonefly hatch that we have here in the west. Golden’s thrive in both freestone and tailwater fisheries. While the presence of golden’s are an indicator of good river health, the bugs don’t need as pristine conditions like their distant cousins the Salmon Flies. […]
Part 1: Why this adventure is right for you… Part 2: Time to gear up! By now, you hopefully have the itch to try backpack fly fishing. And with all the gear essentials laid out, there are only a few more key pieces to the preparation puzzle. You may be […]
A day spent teaching young kids how to fly fish insures the future of our beloved pastime. Vail Valley Anglers believes in supporting the future of our fly fishing activities. We support local young anglers as shop ambassadors and provide some helpful suggestions for teaching kids to fly fish. To […]
These days fly anglers chase just about everything that swims and has fins. So what is considered a “game fish”? Something that fights well? Or something that is caught for sport not food? Or something that bites your fly? In my opinion any fish that is targeted with a fly […]
Throughout a shift at the fly shop I often hear questions like: “What’s working?” and my answer varies throughout the day. Sometimes it’s a suggestion on fly selection or pretty often I will suggest: “Try fishing with two flies.” Followed by a blank stare from the customer, an awkward pause […]
One of the most difficult things to teach a new angler is how to properly play and land a fish. It is doubly hard because an angler can only practice such a task as often as he can hook a fish. There is no substitute for experience with landing fish, […]
You can only call your buddies and invite yourself on their boat so many times. You can only buy so many 12 packs of beer before you start thinking about buying your our boat. The process of buying your first raft is both exciting and tedious. You want to make […]
In this day and age, backcountry enthusiasts demand more from their electronics than ever before. There is an ever-increasing reliability on electronic gadgetry by modern day outdoorsmen. This has overshadowed the necessity to understand and orienteer by good old-fashioned compass in the outdoors. As a result, a compass can’t deliver […]