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Spring has Sprung in the Vail Valley - 4/11/23

Brandon, David, Rachel
04/11/2023
Sunny, slightly windy
Edwards
60's°F
200 CFS, 38 degrees, slightly stained

Three of our guides had the pleasure of taking out some long tenured repeat clients on a mid-day excursion on the Eagle River. They always book this time of year and it’s normally to their benefit. Spring or late winter fishing, whatever you want to call it is always different in the Vail Valley. Today was a special one and the fish were on the feed. We started our trip at 10 AM and the fish were already active. There were midge shucks covering the surface of the river. We started hot with the biggest fish of the day, caught by none other than the woman who comes out every year and won’t touch a fish. It is worth noting she also caught the most to complement the biggest and the first fish. “Rainbow Rachel” one of our top guides had the flies dialed and was handing us purple juju baetids and B’s Red Raiders so our clients could catch up with her. The fly fishing really hit its peak right as we were finishing up around 2 PM but with the upper river so crowded we knew we needed to get on the water as early as we could. The lower river is super cloudy with the influence of mud from Alkali Creek and Milk Creek. The Eagle River spiked 50% last night in the upper stretches and still had good clarity above Wolcott but that is likely to change if the weather stays as warm as it is over the next week or two. If you find yourself in the Vail Valley looking to fly fish I would grab the next available day because the fish know what's coming and are fattening up before the river swells and darkens from top to bottom.

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