"March Madness" Sylvan Dale Style ~ by Senior Ranch Guide, Bill Franz  970.635.9285

Every spring we ranch guides have annual chores to take care of before the season gets into full swing. And so it was Wednesday morning, March 20. I’d started out by working on Weldon Lake around 8:30. As I was paddling around I began to notice some midge activity and fish rising to them. I finished my work there and moved up to Island Lake to take care of a couple things. I saw a few heads there as well. After completing that chore I drove up to Mother Lake to put some tools away and start building the barley bales which keep Mother Lake free of moss all year.

At about 10:30 I looked up and the lake had erupted; midges everywhere and, I’d bet, every fish in the lake on the surface! There were rising fish from shoreline to shoreline. It didn’t matter where one stood to cast, every cast would have been at a rising fish! Did I say my rod was in the truck?
Read more on March Madness Fly Fishing…

Thank you, Wallace Westfeldt of MudBug Co. and Front Range Anglers for this fly fishing report.  They have guided 4 trips to SDR since Wed the 13th.  For anglers who love to have the best gear, I must point out the excellent and VERY LARGE net that Wallace employs here.  Gotta have a big net for big fish!  Thanks, Wallace!

Lower Valley River: Too low to be of much use.

Main Ranch River: Clear of ice with low water. Significant midge hatch from about 10am-1pm. On Friday first dozen fish caught on #18 Adams and #22 Mole Fly fished as double dry. Later in the day caught on Poison Blue Tung and Copper Ribbed RS2. Low water limits the number of places to fish. Dining Hall riffle excellent as usual. North edge of Pyramid rock also had lots of fish rising. Not very good conditions for beginners. A reasonable cast is required.
Read more on Fly Fishing Report ~ Main River & Big Valley…

Honest to Pete! (Who is Pete anyway?) This rainbow trout was caught in Mother Lake and measured 32 inches, folks!  Mike Kruise, co-owner of The Laughing Grizzly Fly Shop out of Longmont, was quite excited to report, and I quote, “This monster is the biggest rainbow I’ve caught ANYWHERE, EVER!” But then wryly commented that it sure sets his bar high for fly fishing the rest of the season!

He caught this on a small crawdad-orange colored squirrel leech!  (See below for more hot flies.)  Thanks for the photo, Mike, or some readers may not have believed you!

Read more on Fly Fishing Report ~ Monsters in Mother Lake!…

Submitted by Ted Meredith, Ranch Guide 970.215.2816 ~ March 3:

“Mother Lake was fishing well on Friday with big trout taking light Clouser minnow patterns and crayfish worked on the bottom very slowly.  Some Chironomid action was noted with midge larva suspended below a strike indicator.  Midges were hatching on Saturday, as new adults could be seen hovering in the sunlight.

No noticeable takes from the trout were seen on the surface yet, although the fish were seeing the food activity. There is no ice on Mother Lake and the water level is at full capacity.  Island Lake still has a large percentage of ice covering the surface of the water.   Weldon Pond is 75 % open.  Long Lake, Hourglass and Big Pump are covered with ice.  For bass fishing, Little Pump and Snapping Turtle are ice free.

Big Lake is still covered with ice.   The Lower Valley River is mostly free from ice although the flow and water levels are minimal.  River fish can be spotted concentrated in pools waiting for more water to allowing them to explore to other areas.”

THANKS TED!

Read more on Fly Fishing Reports – “It’s Almost Spring!”…

By Season Member, Glen Colton:

I fished Mother Lake twice this week realizing that the ‘good’ weather was coming to an end but I still had a few days of fishing left before it gets too cold for my liking.

I fished one day with my buddy Dave and one with Frank. On both days the weather was great; 50 degrees or so with little wind (except the wind came up late afternoon one day).

The water temperature was around 43 degrees with no ice on the lake. I tried fishing Island Lake for a short time the second day with no luck, but did not really give it a chance because the fishing was too good on Mother.

The fishing was great both days! If the lake does not freeze over, I would recommend anglers who are looking for a fishing fix to get out to Sylvan Dale soon and wet their lines!

Read more on Fly Fish Sylvan Dale: “Weather Cold – Fishing Hot!”…

Glen Colton, Season Member, and his friend Dave enjoyed fly fishing Tuesday: “It was a beautiful day; overcast, with little wind. We mostly fished Mother Lake. The fish were midging most of the day — we caught some on various midge patterns during the day — challenging fishing for mostly picky fish. Dave picked up 4 in the early afternoon.

I fished Island Lake early afternoon to midging fish as well — caught some on buggers and some on midges. About 5 o’clock, when the fishing was slow, I tied on a chartreuse/white clouser and caught three.

Towards dark I caught a few on a zoo cougar. At dark, Dave and I both used big flies on the bottom — Dave a big black bugger with rubber legs and an autumn splendor. I tied on a Kelly Galloup Big Hole bugger. From about 6 to 8pm we fished under a beautiful full moon and each caught a number of nice fish, while losing an equal number.

As usual, the fish were very nice size — my largest being a 23″ rainbow. We didn’t fish the Big T. — it was running very high — probably the source of the flows into Boyd Lake. In the late afternoon we were treated to a large herd of elk that came down to the meadow to feed and get water at Mother Lake. All in all, a great day!”

~Thanks, Glen!

Thanks, Marty Staab of Elkhorn Fly Rod & Reel for this report.  And Deniese, a guide from the same shop, for the pics!

“Sunrise at Mother Lake featured a glassy surface and many fish sipping near shore. A Callibaetis spinner was effective until the sun got a little higher, after which the rises decreased markedly, so we switched to float tubes and deep crawbuggers trailed with an olive stillwater nymph. The fish preferred big buggers, and slow retrieves, but several nice fish preferred the smaller trailing nymph.

Midmorning, Weldon had many feeding fish, and after many swirling surface refusals of hoppers and chernobyl ant, dropping a red chironomid sealed the deal. There are still active hoppers in the grass around the lake, and I would expect working tight to shoreline to be effective in the warmer and windier parts of the day.
Read more on Fly Fishing Report, Valley & River ~ 10/8/12…

Main Ranch River, Dining Hall upriver. Water level ~30-40 cfs. Water Temp mid 50s, 8am-Noon

Aside from early hits on terrestrial patterns not much surface action. An equal number (~12) of Browns and Bows were caught on a variety of nymphs. Biggest hitter was the Poison Blue Tung #20 followed by Egan’s Tailwater Sowbug #20.

Other flies that took fish were Red Two Bit Hookers #18, Prince Nymph #14-16, and Rainbow Warrior #18. A good plan is to start with Midge Pupa imitation (Blue Tung) and then on to the bigger nymphs.

Also saw Epeorus (aka Pink Lady) in abundance. This is a rare sight particularly in quantity, but I’m pretty sure about the ID. However, did not see any fish action on them. Nevertheless, next time I am taking some larger soft hackles, ginger colored and going to try some large Adams. Long casts will give you an advantage. Also, look for shade. There wasn’t much at that location that day. I expect downriver and later in the day much more dry fly action.

All the fish, regardless of size, were well fed with good body shape.

By Wallace Westfeldt, Fish Acquisition Specialist ~ 303 601-1902

For pictures from this trip and many others on Ranch, check out Wallace’s Website.