3 Flies for the Week: April 1

We are back with 3 Flies for the Week, and what better time to bring it back than the spring BWO hatch. Not every stretch of our rivers have been getting this hatch in droves, but where they have been the fishing has been incredible. Places such as Cheesman, Upper Deckers, Pueblo, 11 Mile, lower Eagle, and Clear Creek have been seeing thick hatches on a daily basis. Fishing this hatch can be confusing for some, which is understandable because fishing this hatch is very counterintuitive for most other hatches.

Spring BWO’s are a smaller mayfly, therefore, upon hatching they’re wings can dry incredibly fast and prevent themselves from being eaten by trout on the surface. With that in mind, sunny days are by far the worst conditions to fish this hatch, if you’re looking for solid surface action that is. I would say most of us would prefer to get a dry fly eat any day over watching a bobber. So, we recommend fishing the spring BWO hatch when the weather is bad, ugly, cloudy, rainy, snowy, etc. Poor lighting conditions, damp weather, and cool temperatures prevent the BWO wings from drying in a timely manner leaving them stuck on the surface of the river. My two best days fishing BWO dries have been during a hard rain storm and in overcast, below freezing conditions. The rainy day was incredible, but catching the freezing day was the best day I’ve ever had on dries. Hardly any of the BWO’s were able to make it off the surface so it was nonstop surface action for 4-5 hours. Not everyday is like this, but it’s always nice to reminisce on the incredible days had. 

Enough of the chit chat though, let’s get to goodies that you folks came here to find! This week I’m going to stick with just dry flies, and next week I’ll be happy to talk about a few nymphs. Anyways, to the flies:

#1: Comparadun - BWO

This is the shop’s absolute favorite BWO dry, having both incredible realism and buoyancy. I really don’t need to say much more about this fly except it has accounted for more incredible dry fly days for the shop than any other fly. 

#2: Drymerger - BWO sz22 (In-store only)

We recently got this fly in the shop only a few weeks ago and it has quickly become a staple in our box. As the name suggests, this fly can be fished as both an adult dry or an emerger. Therefore in a given day you could throw it solo on the surface to rising fish, put it behind another dry to let it sit in the film, and even put it on as the last fly on a nymph rig. It’s a truly versatile fly that allows you to fish it regardless of what the weather conditions are. Sometimes the conditions are calling for amazing dry fly fishing and you may only bring your dry fly box because of it. But, you get to the water and there’s not a single head to be seen. The fish are still actively eating but are refusing to breach. If you’re lucky enough to have had this fly in your box, the day wouldn’t be over. Fish it behind another dry and don’t put any floatant on and you’ll be in business. This is a goofy scenario that most of us won’t encounter since we all overpack on our flies, but hey it’s good to know that if it does happen this fly will take care of itself. 

#3: Parachute Adams - sz22

It feels weird to put a classic fly on the flies for the week, there’s somewhat of a pressure to put out something “new” and “revolutionary”. But in all honesty it’s hard to skip this fly during the BWO hatch because it does such a great job of imitating both the duns and spinners. It’s a fly that can be fish throughout the hatch. The poly yarn post helps this fly stay floating high throughout the while remaining ultra visible. If you can’t see the white very well, we recommend using the SA Indicator Markers to put a little hotspot on the post!

Best of luck on the water this week and we hope these flies catch a fish or two for ya. Two out of the three flies are available on our website and all are available in the shop. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to Xavier on email at xavier@goldenflyshop.com, or call the shop at 303-330-1292. Thank you!