Fishing Report May 17, 2012

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Welcome to the NPA Fishing Report. We strive to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information we can. If the information your looking for is not on this page, feel free to call the shop, we're here to help... (970) 723-4215.

Fishing is excellent in the park right now, and the weather outlook for the rest of the week looks fishy as well. Reports from anglers with good success continue to poor in. Right now the canyon is currently flowing at 321 cfs and holding steady. The big question as of late is when are the Salmon Flies going to be here? Good news is they haven't arrived yet, so you haven't missed anything. Any day now we should see the big orange bug, and when we do we will let you know, the hatch is truly something spectacular to see.

The Lakes are fishing excellent! Currently the lake temps are right above 50 degrees. The Chironomid hatch has been insane, and anglers wander in the shop daily with wide eyes, big smiles, and sore arms. Midges are the main food item right now but the callibaetis should come soon with warmer water temps.

The end of May and month off June are shaping up to be something special. Get up here and take advantage of these great fishing conditions.

Note: Anytime the wind and weather is tough our meadow streams are a great retreat. The willow covered waters provide good cover from the weather, and while trudging through the "Trout Swamps" your heart rate stays up and keeps you warm. In general the meadow streams are better for quality versus quantity. Anytime we fish these streams we're looking for one Big Fish and not trying to put numbers on the board. Next time your in the Park and weather is about to scare you away stop by the shop and we'll help you pick a sweet destination to save the day...

Other great destinations that have finally come into play are Big Creek Lakes, Joe Wright Reservoir, and North Gate Canyon. All three are great options and should provide very good fishing opportunities. Both, Big Creek and Joe Wright will have fish marauding the inlet and outlets as they always do in the spring which can make a Tiger Muskie or Lake Trout an easy target as well as Grayling or Kokanee Salmon.

We pride ourselves on friendly advice and a HUGE fly selection. Whether you need a few bugs or not, our coffee is always Hot, and we would love to see you in the store.


If your new to the area, take the guess work out of finding fish and hire a NPA guide to show you the ropes. We have permits and leases on water in every direction in the Park both on public and private waters.

Shop Hours May 4-September 30 7-7 Everyday


Gear Swap Memorial Day Weekend May 26-28

Join us for our first annual Gear Swap. It's time to dump your old gear and step into something new. Ahhh, doesn't that sound nice?

Here's how it work's: Bring your exhausted gear into North Park Anglers anytime before May 25th. Tell us how much you want to sell it for, and we'll equip the product with a price tag/ label, and privately store it until the weekend of the event. On Memorial day weekend, we'll display the used goods in our "Fly Fishers Market" from 12 noon on Saturday May 26th, until 5pm Monday May 28th. After your product sells, we'll present you with store credit in the amount it sold for, which can be used towards any products in our store. This is a way to get a "kick back" from your old gear, and an incentive to obtain something new!

We're looking for Gear, not terminal tackle. Items that will be accepted include, but aren't limited to: Pack's, Vests, Rods, Reels, Waders, Boots, Belly Boats, Pontoons, Wading Staffs, Fins, Tying Vises and Tools, Tying Materials, Fly Boxes, etc...

Dates: 12 Noon Saturday May 26th- Monday May 28th 5pm

Location: The "Fly Fishers Market" will be located along the side and behind of our shop

Come on: Bring up your old gear and step into something new, one mans trash is another mans treasure!!!


We have the shop stuffed full of great new products this year.

Stop by the next time you make it to North Park and say hello, we are always happy to share friendly advice and fish stories!

*Please note that our fishing report is as good as yesterday's information. We try to accurately relay up-to-date information as a friendly service to you. We comprise our information from angler's reports and our own experience. Please understand that conditions vary daily, if not hourly up here*

Check us out on facebook for live fishing reports and daily photos of the lakes and rivers. (www.facebook.com)Join NPA on Facebook and Twitter for more up-to-the-minute reports and updates.

524 Main Street Walden, CO 80480
(970)723-4215
info@northparkanglers.com

Sagebrush Lakes

The lakes are Excellent! We're seeing consistent chironomid hatches getting thicker by the day, and the fish are looking up taking bugs off the surface with regularity in the evenings. South and East lakes have been fishing better than North lake in terms of numbers and consistent action, as we all know North Lake is still the place for HUGE fish.

Lake John has been Awesome and is fishing better than it has in ten years! Anglers are reporting excellent days at Lake John, Seymour, and Slack Weiss. Most fish have been in the 12-16 inch range but a few 20-25 inch fish have been reported as well.

Patterns (Nymphs): Scuds (Olive and Tan #14-16) Chironomids (Red, Olive, and Black #14-18) Leeches (Black, Wine, and Olive #12-14) Crayfish (Orange and Olive #4-6) Stillwater Leeches (Wine and Rust #8-12) Prince Nymphs #14-16, Copper John's (Red, Copper, Black, and Silver #12-16) Rojo Midges #12-16, BH Woolly Bugger (Black, Olive, Rust, and Brown #2-10), start thinking about callibaetis: hare's ear's (14-16), anatomical callibaetis (14,16)

Patterns (Dries): Mosquito #16, Chironomid Dry #16, Chironomid Emerger #16, Griffiths Gnat #16, Renegade #16

Nymphing Tactics: The best nymph rigs the past week have been between 5-7 feet near the shore, or 12-19 feet out in the lake, below and indicator (slip indicator) using a 2-fly rig.

Stripping Tactics: The best rigs for stripping flies on either a intermediate, full sink, or floating lines, has been Crayfish or Big Buggers as point flies, with a Prince nymph or scud trailers. Try to target fish in the shallow water bays or near the shorelines where the fish are marauding for insects, scuds, and crayfish. It's best to get in a boat casting towards the shore.

Night Fishing: The "Night Bite" has been good. Many reports of good action from sun down until 11pm. We've had a few reports of guys that have done well after midnight as well. We expect the night fishing to get better as the weather and water warm up.

North Platte

Current River Flows For North Platte

The North Platte is currently flowing right around 321 CFS. This is a perfect level for wade fishing. Blue Wing Olive's, Black Stoneflies, and Caddis, are all coming off and soon we should start to see active salmon fly nymphs with the Salmon fly hatch towards the end of May. Dry fly fishing continues to pick up with sporadic hatches. The best rigs have been 2 fly nymph rigs fished 2 to 5 feet deep. Look for fish in the head of riffles during the day and concentrate your flies in the white oxygenated water. In the evening fish have been laying in long flats sipping bugs off the surface.

This time of year fishing will be best late morning through early afternoon. There is no need to be on the water at daylight. Look for fish in the slower deeper water earlier in the day. As the water temps rise above 48 degrees, the fish should move into feeding lanes located in riffles or to the sides of big boulders. It's a good idea to carry a stream thermometer with you on the river. If the water temps are above 48 degrees look for the fish to be moving into those feeding areas.

Bugs to look for: Midges, Blue Winged Olive's, Golden Stone's, Black Stone's, and Caddis. Lately, Black Stoneflies and Blue Winged Olive's have been coming off daily.

Streamer rigs should include: Zuddler's, Tequeely's, Platte River Special, White Lightning, and Lemon Drops. Nymph rigs should include Stone's, Worms, Hare's Ears, PT's, Zebra Midges, and Leeches.

Nymph Rigs:
Point Flies: BH Twenty Incher #8-12, BH Haden Stone #12, BH Prince Nymph #12-14, Hares Ear #12-14, Pat's Rubberleg #8-10, Barr's Tungstone #10-12, Copper John's #14-18
Droppers: BH Barr Emerger #16-18, BH Zebra Midge #18-20, BH FB PH Tail #16-20, Batwing Emerger #18, Loop Wing Emerger BWO #18, and San Juan Worms in Red, Pink, and Purple.

The North Platte is open from Verner/ Brownlee, Routt, 6 Mile, Bennett Peak, and all of the way to Saratoga. The canyon stretches are all accessible with dry roads, but be careful on some as rain can muddy them up very quickly. It's very rare to get the opportunity to wade fish the canyon in May so get up here and give it a shot... Good Luck!

North Park Meadow Streams

Current River Flows For North Park Meadow Streams

The meadow streams are open and fishing good. Water levels change dramatically this time of year. Ranchers will be turning on ditches and snow will be melting. With that being said the name of the game is "cover water". We like to say the tributaries are more trout hunting than trout catching. When levels drop and rise the fish move, where they were a week ago when you caught them might be a different story on your next trip. Keep this in mind when fishing and seek out new hides and structure. It's pretty simple this time of year, fish streamers in dirty water and nymph rigs in clear water and always try a worm.

Patterns:
Streamers: Flash Fry (White and Olive #4), Woolly Buggers (Black, Olive, Yellow, and Brown #4-6), Zuddlers (Black, White and Yellow #4-8), Beldar Buggers (Black Olive Brown and Yellow #4-8), BH Hale Bopp Leeches(Black, Olive and Wine #8-12)

Nymph Rigs
Point Flies: Stoneflies (Golden #8-12), Caddis Larvae (#14), Prince Nymph (#12-16), Twenty Incher (#12-14), Halfback's (#8-10), North Fork Special Golden (#12-14), Hott Butt Stone Dark and Light (#10-12)
Droppers: San Juan Worms (Pink, Purple, and Red), Caddis Pupa (#14-18), Egg Patterns, Hare's Ear (#18-20) Midges (#18-20)

Headwater Streams & High Lakes

Big Creek is wide open. The lower lake is fishing very good and will only get better by the day. Streamers and Midges are the ticket thus far. Joe Wright Res is also reported to be wide open and Grayling fishing should pick up very soon. With these lakes opening early, others in the area could be showing signs as well. The adventurous angler could stumble upon epic fishing at his or her favorite high mountain destination.
All the roads to these places are in good shape.