What a fun time of year to find eating trout in the Eagle River. Spring fly fishing in Eagle County involves plenty of preparation, but there are fish to be found—happy rainbow and brown trout, too! After checking the weather, checking the flows, and checking with the rest of our guide staff as to where they were fishing, my client and I decided to gamble and start our trip in Eagle.
The water was high and off-color but every year a switch flips and regardless of the color of the Eagle River, the fish eat through the stain. Vigorously. Unfortunately, we were early, and today was not that day, so after a fruitless hour or so, we decided to head up the valley to fly fish the Eagle River in Beaver Creek/Avon, CO. That turned out to be the move. After texting the other 3 ERO guides working their clients in the area, I received a response of "Pink worm for the win!". They weren't wrong.
We led our 3 fly rigs with pink worms and proceeded to bag fish. They also seemed keen on small BWOs to complement the worm. Red worms got eaten, too, as did small leech patterns, which I assume they are eating as displaced trout fry/sculpin/small baitfish in high water. The "leech" was getting whacked on the swing.
I was pumped my client was willing to take a gamble and we stayed an extra hour to make up for lost time. Some guides do that ya know? We filled out quota, got some really great photos of Eagle River trout and walked out victorious. All in all it was a great day with a lot of moving around but we found eating fish up-valley at every place we stopped to wet a line. Focus on the soft edges and please by all means, remain upright. Let people know where you are fishing and when and be careful wading the rivers of Colorado this time of year.
