Half-Day Wade on the Roaring Fork

About this trip

The lower Roaring Fork around Glenwood is a bigger, pushier river than most people expect from the name, and wading it well is mostly about knowing which fifty yards are worth your time. That is what you are paying me for. We will fish two or three access points, and at each one I will show you the specific seam or shelf holding fish rather than letting you flog the whole pool. This is a half-day, so we fish hard and we fish focused. Mornings are usually nymphing, with a heavy point fly to get down in the push, something smaller behind it. If we get a hatch in the afternoon, and from late spring through summer we often do, we switch to dries and it becomes a completely different trip. Green drakes in early summer are the event of the year here and they bring big fish up in ugly light. Blue-winged olives bookend the season in spring and again in October, and those grey drizzly days nobody wants to fish are frequently the best ones. Expect wild browns and rainbows, mostly in the fourteen-to-eighteen range, with the occasional fish that makes you reconsider your tippet. The Fork gets pressure, since it runs through a resort corridor and everybody knows about it, so the fish have seen flies. That is part of why it is a good teaching river. If you can catch a fish here you can catch one anywhere. Half-days suit people fitting fishing around something else, or anyone who would rather do four sharp hours than eight tired ones. It also suits genuine beginners better than a float does, because standing in one place while you learn to mend is much easier than doing it from a boat that will not stop moving. Species: wild brown and rainbow trout. Season: April through October; runoff typically pushes it off in late May and early June. Meeting point: the Two Rivers Park lot in Glenwood Springs, 8am for the morning slot or 1pm for the afternoon. Experience level: all levels, including first-timers.

About your guide

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River conditions

10-day forecast

What's included

• Rod, reel and line
• Waders and boots in your size, just tell me when you book
• All flies, tippet and leader
• Water and snacks
• Instruction, as much or as little as you want

What to bring

• Colorado fishing license
• Polarized sunglasses
• Rain shell
• Layers you can fish in
• Wading staff if you own one and like the security