Fly Fishing the Frying Pan River

The Frying Pan is a Gold Medal tailwater that runs 14 miles from Ruedi Reservoir down to Basalt in Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley, with Fryingpan Road following the entire stretch and ample public water. Cold, clear, stable releases below Ruedi Dam produce exceptionally large rainbow and brown trout, especially in the 'Toilet Bowl' plunge pool just below the dam. The fishery is famous for trophy rainbows that gorge on mysis shrimp flushed from the reservoir, supplemented by dense midge and Blue-winged Olive hatches. A celebrated late-summer Green Drake emergence brings the biggest fish up to dry flies.

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When to fish

Year-round

Best months: year-round

Best

Midge: year-round. Blue-winged Olive: Mar–May, Sep–Oct.

Today's conditions

Where to fish

Basalt to Ruedi Dam

Carbondale2 shopsBasalt3 shops

Glenwood Springs1 shopAspen2 shops

Fryingpan Road follows the river the entire 14 miles from Basalt to Ruedi Dam, with public water and parking pull-offs along the way.

The water

Tailwater

Key hatches

Blue-Winged Olive
Caddisfly
Pale Morning Dun
Golden Stonefly
Western Green Drake

Hatch calendar

Conditions

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6-day forecast

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Forecast from the National Weather Service ↗

Hatch calendar

Months each hatch is active on the Frying Pan River, with hook sizes and local timing notes.
Hatch · hook	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O
Blue-winged Olive(mayflies)hook #16–20Mar–May, Sep–Oct	March	April	May			August	September	October
Caddisfly(caddis)hook #10–18Jun–Aug, evenings				June	July	August	September	October
Pale Morning Dun(mayflies)hook #16–18Jun–Aug				June	July	August
Golden Stonefly(stoneflies)hook #8–10					July	August
Western Green Drake(mayflies)hook #10–12					July	August	September
Trico(mayflies)hook #20–24						August	September	October