The big news this week is the drastic drop in flow coming out of Palisades Dam. Last week flows were around 18,000 cfs and we mentioned that the Bureau of Reclamation was going to hold flows from 18-20,000 cfs for several weeks. Well, throw that out the window because the B.O.R.dropped flows each day to a current flow of 11,135 cfs. In the past week Palisades reservoir has risen from 12% to 26% capacity. Justin Hays, our manager, spoke to the B.O.R. this week and they stated they are “aggressively” filling palisades and flows will remain around 10,000 cfs for now. This is great news for anglers as fishing has been very tough with the high off colored water and as Palisades fills the water will clear and fishing will improve.
With the snowy weather and flows dropping each day fishing has been tough this week. Our guests still had success each day with some lucky anglers bringing in as many as 35 fish. With flows stabilizing and warmer weather forecast for the weekend we should see fishing pick up a bit. At current flows there will be a lot more water to fish with plenty of riffles poking out, more wading opportunities and banks becoming fishable again. The name of the game is still nymphs; rubberlegs, egg patterns, and sanjuan worms being the best producers. Don’t be afraid to toss a streamer in between good riffles
If you need a guide, flies, shuttles, or an up to the minute fishing report swing by our shop or give us a ring 208-483-222