Full-Day Wade on the Blue River Tailwater

About this trip

The Blue below Dillon Dam is a tailwater, which means two things: it fishes twelve months a year, and the fish are difficult. Cold, clear, consistent water grows trout that get a very good look at your fly. I will not pretend this is an easy day. It is a technical day, and people who like the puzzle love this river. We are fishing small. Midges and baetis nymphs in the eighteen-to-twenty-two range, light tippet, and drifts that have to be genuinely drag-free rather than approximately drag-free. The difference between a good angler and a great one shows up here in about twenty minutes. When the water is low and clear, sight-fishing to individual trout is the game. I will spot the fish, you will make the cast, and we will both watch it eat or refuse. There is also the mysis shrimp factor. The dam releases shrimp out of the reservoir, and the rainbows below it grow thick and heavy on them. That is why a river this size holds fish this big. Hooking a twenty-two-inch rainbow in water you could walk across is a particular kind of experience, and the reason people keep coming back to a tailwater that will otherwise humble them. Because it runs cold and clear year-round, this is the trip I recommend in winter and in the shoulder seasons when the freestones are unfishable. Bright cold January days fish surprisingly well. Bring warm clothes and expect to work. Species: rainbow and brown trout, including genuinely large rainbows. Season: year-round; best in winter, early spring, and after the freestones drop in autumn. Meeting point: the Blue River Trailhead lot in Silverthorne, 8am, off the water by 4pm. Experience level: intermediate to advanced. You should be able to manage a nymph rig and light tippet. Beginners will have a better first day on the Roaring Fork.

About your guide

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River conditions

10-day forecast

What's included

• Rod, reel and line rigged for tailwater fishing
• Waders and boots in your size
• All flies, tippet and leader
• Streamside lunch and hot drinks in cold months
• Instruction on light-tippet and sight-fishing technique

What to bring

• Colorado fishing license
• Polarized sunglasses, essential here because you are spotting fish
• Warm layers; the canyon holds cold air even in summer
• Rain shell
• Gloves and a warm hat from October through April