In the last two weeks we've seen BIG changes to flows and weather. Lower elevation freestones are not only rife with midge, caddis and baetis nymphs but select stretches of the Colorado, Eagle, Roaring Fork and Arkansas are seeing late morning adult BWO's and afternoon Caddis hatches!

DRY FLY FISHING IS HEATING UP!

As the water temps creep up and the last few snow flurries of the year dust higher elevations the action on the surface is heating up!  

In the last two weeks we've seen BIG changes to flows and weather. Lower elevation freestones are not only rife with midge, caddis and baetis nymphs but select stretches of the Colorado, Eagle, Roaring Fork and Arkansas are seeing late morning adult BWO's and afternoon Caddis hatches! 

It's time to hone in on your dry fly game if you're still staring at the bobber! 

If you've been paying attention to our newsletter you might have seen several FOTW (fly of the week) references to Greg Garcia's signature fly patterns from Umpqua Feather Merchants. There's a reason for this. Recently Greg has been spending time in the shop filming a series of fly tying videos that we will be releasing on our YouTube channel over the course of the season. 

Considering the amount of BWO's hatching across the state our first fly tying tutorial on the chopping block is Greg's MiniHot Mayfly from Umpqua Feather Merchants. In our first fly tying video with Mr. Garcia, Greg demonstrates a black variation of this fly which is particularly deadly this time of year when insects are in their infancy and are generally darker in profile. As the season progresses, expect your mayfly and caddis imitations to slowly transition into lighter colors. 

FLY OF THE WEEK:

-- Alec Gerbec's - 'Resting Caddis' -- 

This weeks FOTW is Gerbec's Resting Caddis

from Umpqua Feather Merchants.

Gerbec's Resting Caddis has a buggy profile complete with wally wing for those slick water technical presentations that require some feathered creations that the fish have probably haven't seen yet. Not only does this fly excel in calm water but it will also stick out amongst the naturals during a blanket hatch, say on the Arkansas River for example.

 Remember that when applying floatant to this fly to use something that is CDC safe like the Shimazaki Dry Shake Liquid.