Fly Fishing Report / Telluride Outside / August 27, 2024

Fishing Report August 27, 2024
by Richard Post

I hope everyone has been enjoying August so far. I also hope that you made the decision to buy a nice new rain jacket around the first of the month, one where the water beads up and slips off like quicksilver. That is money well spent of late. We have been in a monsoonal pattern since the beginning of the month. We have been fishing, albeit with small interruptions and plan Bs for sure, and it has really been pretty good until this week. The strong storm on Sunday pushed both local rivers over the tipping point. Today was the first true day of clearing and an earnest drop in flows. Walking through Telluride today you could watch the river clear as the day went on. The Dolores at Rico is coming down as well and clearing up by the minute. I believe that Thursday we will be fishing the Upper Dolores above Rico and by Friday ought to be fishing the San Miguel, at least the water above Placerville.

Dolores

The last two days have been high and off color, but prior to Sunday the Upper D was fishing very well. The rain didn’t hit extreme levels on that side until this most recent storm. There have been some off-color days, but not many. The Dolores has been fishing great. The rains cooled the water down and bumped up the flows when most needed. The end of July had the D looking low and lean, not the case anymore. I had a half day trip one week ago and fished a very standard, accessible and often fished beat. I have guided this particular beat many times and many of our other guides have as well. I have also sent many people over the years to this particular spot. We had an awesome morning. Following a thorough casting clinic and my short fish-hooking seminar, fish were eating dry flies in the first spot. The water was cool-to-cold and perfectly clear, even a hair lower than I prefer. Most of the fish ate dry flies and the smaller dries like a Parachute Adams and Elk Hair Caddis got more responses than the bushier attractors. We ended our walk at the planned spot and headed up the trail to truck. We all love this beat because it solves the biggest challenge on a half day trip:  getting in and out of the water. Knowing where to enter and exit the river and about how long it will take you to fish the beat is second only to safety when guiding. I also don’t want to throw my future self under the bus and state that sometimes you need to do some bushwhacking and go on a walk about, but I try to save that for full days.

The creeks and the West Fork are probably in fishable shape this afternoon, albeit a shade high by my guess. Tomorrow ought to be all go on the Dolores tribs. The higher up in elevation you go, the more likely you are to find lower and clearer water. Watch the temperatures too; it’s that time of year... We had some crisp upper 40s in Telluride this morning, snow above 11k a couple days ago. If you get to your spot, find clear water and a good level and you’re thinking it’s fishing slow, wait an hour or two. You might just need to give that cooler water a minute to warm up. Fish bigger and darker or brighter dry droppers in high or stained water, but don’t be afraid to throw the single dry when the time feels right. A Parachute Adams and a small PMX have been my best flies.

The Lower D has been fishing very well, with some rain showers and thunderstorms to contend with but good, honest dry fly fishing and warm weather if you’re looking for a little more summer.

San Miguel

She’s been fighting the monsoons a little bit and unlike the Dolores has been more not fishing than fishing the last couple weeks. The Miguel wasn’t particularly low when the rains came, but it was starting to warm up a touch. My most successful fishing approach at the beginning of the month was shifting away from midday to mid-morning and evening. We have cold water now and a little more than we need, but it appears the drain has been pulled. The river saw a big drop last night through today and I hope/expect to see something similar tomorrow. The water in Telluride, the Valley Floor, the South Fork, from Silver Pick upstream and Sawpit upstream should all be fishable by Thursday without any more rain. If you hit the lower parts of the stretches I listed above, expect the water to be pushy but fishable. I like to say below 200 cfs is when the Miguel fishes like we want to, but under 300 cfs you have plenty of fishable water, just mighty tough to cross in most places. 300 cfs is very different now than it is in June or early July. The water is still icy cold at those times, low 50s at best and high cold water is a hard hand on a freestone river. The water in the Miguel has cooled down, but it isn’t fresh snowmelt cold any longer, meaning the fish are going to be more active in the higher flows than they were earlier in the year. Fish big dark dry dropper rigs, San Juans, large attractor nymphs, dead-drifted Wooly Buggers to start out. As the water drops and clarity improves slightly, go back to that PMX attractor, Elk Hair Caddis, small hopper and Parachute Adams. The Miguel can fish at its finest when the water doesn’t look great. If I can see my boot laces when the water is at my lower calf, I’ll guide that and expect to do well.

Gunnison

Now is the time of year for the Tricos. By my calendar they have been going on for a couple of weeks now. I have not been down there to see for myself, but I’ve set my watch by that hatch in the past. Unfortunately, the Lower Gunnison has seen some rain, the North Fork has been on again, off again and we’re currently waiting for it to turn back on and clear up. We have lower water coming out of Crystal Reservoir as well, 400 cfs today. That is low, 300 being the bottom. The North Fork is at 185 cfs and dropping and clearing, but it will need a couple more days to clear to fishable levels, hopefully by the weekend. The East Portal, Pleasure Park and Gorge are all good options right now, just mind the roads getting into the Gorge, they dry quickly, but the price for being too early is steep. You don’t make that mistake twice and I’ve already made mine down there.

Alpine Lakes

The fish are there and willing. Your biggest consideration is timing the weather and avoiding being above treeline when the thunderstorms roll in. That is a bad place to be. Fishing in most of the lakes is straightforward, cast your dry fly at a cruising fish and watch their reaction. In some lakes the fish throw themselves at the fly, but our favorites have fish that eat with an utter lack of confidence that will turn a sane man mad and make him sick with desire. Alpine lakes have moods. I find them easy to read because the playing field is limited:  only so much space, only so much time, and usually not a ton of food items. Hard fishing up there means the fish themselves are hard. Stubborn, shy, spooky, nonchalant and often unfair. You do your best when you treat each fish individually. Try to see if they have a little pattern. Maybe a lap they like to swim or a spot they come back to. Find that and wait. Watch the fish react to the fly and critique your own technique. Be your best on every shot. That doesn’t mean a long and difficult cast, just the right cast at the right time. If they come up and stare it down and don’t eat it, make your next shot better before you change your fly, or give the second shot a twitch. Enjoy these ephemeral gems while you can; in another month and we’ll be at the end of Alpine lake season.

Uncompahgre

Pa-Co is such a wonderful place to have in our backyard. We’ve been going down there with the Miguel and Dolores being high and off color. You have to love the fact that you can find clean and clear water 365 at PaCo. Yes, there will be more pressure down there, but most of that pressure is going to come during banker’s hours. You won’t see many people there before 8 am and you won’t see many after 5 pm. Guide trips have to get home and the folks that are camping are usually firing up the grill after 5pm. I like the evenings right now. Take a walk and look for an opportunity. You might not find one, or you might find something that makes you wish the lights stayed on longer. 150 cfs is a great summer flow, filled in but not over filled. You get a lot of fishable structure at this water level and very few parts of the river don’t fish well at this flow. Fish are more spread out as well; don’t forget about the bottom of the property.  There is more to PaCo than the bridge and upstream.

Good Fishing,

Richard Post

Telluride Angler Buyer and Guide