Fly Fishing Insider Podcast
Floating the Colorado River rewards river memory over fly changes. Roughly half the fish come from eddies - the back eddy along a bank, the eddy line off a point, the swirl itself - and the rest from slow banks. Go slow, fish tight to structure, and push through low-percentage water to reach spots you know hold fish.
Zeke Hersh is a guide with Trouts Fly Fishing who has been guiding for 27 years, floating the Colorado River for about as long, with a saltwater background from years fishing tarpon on the Gulf coast of Florida.
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Where do the fish actually sit when you float the Colorado River?
About half the fish on a Colorado River float come out of eddies - the back eddy tucked against the bank, the eddy line peeling off a point, or the slow swirl in the middle of the eddy itself. The other half come from slow banks, which in high water means getting the boat uncomfortably close and accepting that flies will end up in the bushes. When a day on the Colorado is going badly, the eddies and eddy lines are the first thing to work rather than the last.
Why does river memory matter more than fly changes on the Colorado?
There are over 100 miles of floatable trout water on the Colorado River, and the guide's argument is that knowing every nook of it beats swapping patterns. At low water in September the small holding spots are visible, and those are the ones to memorize; at high water the river looks nothing like that, but the fish will be near the same lie, pushed over toward the bank. Friends who float the same water and still have bad days are usually changing flies constantly instead of refining depth, drift and position.
How should a new oarsman handle eddy lines on the Colorado?
Ferry angles are the key skill on the Colorado - roughly 45 degrees across the current rather than fighting it head on. Clients should have their feet in the leg braces before crossing a heavy eddy line at high volume, because the boat will hit that seam and lurch. New oarsmen should practice using the oars as a counterbalance rather than muscling the boat, and mind them so they do not catch; a stuck oar in fast water strains an elbow or flips a boat, and a raft punches through eddy lines more forgivingly than a drift boat.
What is the deep dry-dropper rig for the Colorado River?
The rig is a big chubby or attractor dry on six or seven feet of 3X or 2X, then three to four feet of dropper tag to a heavy first fly - a Pat's rubber legs or a big stone - and about 16 inches from that to a trailer such as a prince nymph or a San Juan worm. Both droppers are tied off the hook bend rather than the eye, which the guide finds tangles less. The heaviest fly goes first so it bounces near bottom, while the lighter flashy trailer rides higher in the column like an emerger.
When do you shorten or simplify the dry-dropper rig?
If the dry-dropper rig is snagging repeatedly along a tight bank, shorten the first dropper from three feet to two, or drop to a single fly under the dry. Around mid-June three feet is enough depth; as water clears and cools into fall the first dropper goes out to a full three to four feet to reach the fish. Beginners often start with a single dry and graduate to the three-fly rig once they can turn it over, since a bobber rig is harder for many clients to cast than a big visible chubby.
Which hatch is worth planning a Colorado River trip around?
The Colorado River does not produce blanket hatches, so the best dry fly fishing comes on blue-winged olive days - meaning cold, gray, miserable weather in spring and fall. In mid-June the blue-winged olives ran about a size 16; later in fall they get smaller. The usual rig is a double dry, a size 12 parachute Adams as the visible lead fly with a size 16 blue-winged olive imitation trailing behind. The salmonfly hatch is a short window on the Colorado and moves upriver quickly.
How do you rig streamers on the Colorado River?
Streamer fishing on the Colorado River is done with a sinking leader rather than a full sinking line - usually a seven to twelve foot sinking leader, then a tippet ring or swivel, then 0X or 2X. The river carries enough color that tippet size barely matters for streamers. The retrieve is deliberate: hit the bank, strip three or four times, then look for the next pocket, crossing the same current lines a dry-dropper would fish. It is physical fishing, so most clients tire of it before the guide does.
Key takeaways
- Fish eddies deliberately on the Colorado River - back eddy, eddy line off a point, and the swirl - since roughly half the day's fish come from them.
- Note the small holding spots at low water in September; they are the map you fish from when the river is high and unreadable.
- Use the oars to work with the current, not against it - a 45 degree ferry angle moves the boat with far less effort and far less shoulder strain.
- Tie droppers off the hook bend rather than the eye on a dry-dropper rig; save eye-to-eye rigging for stillwater.
- Lift the rig very slowly for the first couple of feet before recasting - fish frequently eat on that slow lift.
- Push through low-probability water to spend the time in spots you know hold fish, rather than working every stretch evenly.
