Tying fly Fishing Flies for the Eagle River

Major Bugs of the Eagle River

Midges

Regarding the more extensive food options, caddis is a sure way to catch trout on the Eagle River, and caddis larva patterns can be used year-round. This is a fly you want to have a variety of in your fly box and is something we at Eagle River Outfitter typically go deep on because there are so many varieties. The trout can key in on a specific type, and it's not uncommon to see many types of caddis emerging or flying around the Eagle at the same time. The caddis come off in droves to kick off Spring when the water is high and off-color and continue all the water into October with our October Caddis hatch. The October Caddis hatch on the Eagle River can be overlooked as you don't always see too many adults in the air that late in the season; however, the trout will key in on them, and they are a bigger meal our local trout enjoy as the water cools and their metabolism slows. Throughout the peak season (June to August), all sizes, colors, and styles of caddis should be kept in your boxes. We have large brown size 12 caddis that will be seen fluttering simultaneously with size 20 black caddis. Cased and uncased caddis larvae are a great way to start early morning, and switching to caddis pupa as the sun sets on the water is always recommended for the Eagle River. Tie your Eagle River caddis fly patterns with mute colors and incorporate variation where you can. Natural materials like hare masks and partridge feathers add mottling to your flies and look more natural to trout than solid-toned fly-tying materials. Sparkled thoraxes or a little fly on an emerging caddis' wings look natural to the trout and are encouraged. Caddis use air bubbles to lift themselves to the water's surface, and light reflects off the bubbles, so flash certainly helps in specific situations. CDC and hair wing dry flies are a favorite on the Eagle, though foam caddis floats well and are great for dropping a weighted caddis emerger below. Tying caddis is fun, too, especially the soft hackled emerger stage. The caddis emergence is commonly overlooked but is a crucial part of our Eagle River trout's diet.

Sometimes these suckers can leave you scratching your head. Sure, there are the major PMD hatches of July that are easy to identify and match with pale yellow flies in various sizes and styles. Still, our local trout eat many varieties of mayflies in the other months that aren't always as easy to "match the hatch" on the Eagle River. Small blue-winged olives occupy the shoulder seasons, Spring and Fall, and are best tied in drab olive and other dark colors and in small sizes - 20-24. Mayflies take a backseat to the caddis fly during run-off and return strong in July with the abovementioned PMDs. It's an excellent hatch that starts large and gets smaller as the month progresses. This is a peak-season hatch where your fly box should be brighter than a banana. Dries, nymphs, emergers, jigs, and everything in between should be pale yellow with a dun wing. Even when you don't see them on the water, Pale Morning Duns can be incorporated into your line, even into August, in a small size like 20-22. Your hands should be well adjusted to tying on small bugs right in time for our August Trico mayfly hatches. Bring out the readers and crank up your tying light because these flies are tiny. Luckily, it's easy to match. Small black nymphs early, small black emergers when the sun hits the water, and drowned adults after the trico migration heads upstream past you. Sometimes, watching the thousands of tiny mayflies cruise past your eyes above the water is worth stopping to watch. Trout does key in on these and can produce a lot of strikes. Ensure you are tying your flies with a stout, reliable hook, as big fish eat these small flies, and you don't want to lose a photo-worthy fish to a bent or broken hook. Thread or quill flies are tremendous and using fine thread by Veevus is recommended in a 12/0 size.  Yesterday (Aug 26), a mayfly landed on the cork of my client's rod, which would make a trico look like a giant. I would guess it is a size 28 or 30 ha. There are many other baetis to tie in between, with olive, grey, and black as the primary colors. Simple flies like an RS2 in different colors and sizes make a great

 searching pattern, while more technical patterns will bolster your numbers once you figure out the color and size.

Stoneflies are prevalent in the Eagle River watershed and provide an excellent meal for our Vail Valley resident trout. Stoneflies prefer the faster flows of the Eagle, which is excellent in the Summertime but also makes for a good attention grabber in the dead of Winter in the deep, slow holes. We see larger-sized stoneflies (10-14) in May when the water is creeping up and taking on a stain, which is a perfect fly to tie and throw for hungry trout looking to fatten up before run-off is in full swing. Though there are great stonefly patterns that look like they will crawl off your table and take an hour to tie, the simpler patterns turn heads on the Eagle River and won't upset you when you lose your heavy flies to the rocks below. Pats Rubber Legs and a large Guide Choice are easy flies to tie that catch Eagle River fish when they are eating large stoneflies. There are also little black stoneflies and Skwala stoneflies during run-off, and in the right water, a dark olive or black stonefly pattern with garnish attention during "mud season". The most popular stonefly for Eagle River fly tiers and fishermen is probably the Yellow Sally stonefly that coincides with our PMD mayfly in late June through July. Take that yellow fly box and make it brighter with some more yellow bugs. These stoneflies will be found in sizes 12 to 20, starting large and getting smaller as the hatch continues. Though I keep talking yellow, red should be incorporated into your fly-tying sessions, especially in the abdomen of your Yellow Sally dry flies and nymphs. I'll tie them with an entirely red abdomen and only include yellow in the thorax. These colors are bright and bold and should be tied as such. Yellow Sallies are clumsy fliers, especially on some of our windier afternoons. Tie your Yellow Sally Dry Flies with hydrophobic materials like foam and CDC so your dry flies can skate across the surface. These bugs can get eaten on the swing on the surface and are subject to abuse when the hatch is strong. When floating the Eagle River from Edwards to Wolcott, a well-known stretch for the Yellow Sally hatch, these can be fished oversized with single or double droppers. Golden Stoneflies return as the Yellow Sallies disappear and the timing could not be more perfect. Fish move into the faster water in August as water temps increase, and faster flows are where the more giant stoneflies reside. Coffee and tan-colored nymphs in the fast water make a great lead fly, and the adults can be fished in "Hopper-Dropper" rigs. Both styles of flies target fast-water, opportunistic fish, and the eats on top and underneath are usually quite noticeable. The same big nymphs you threw in May should be tied for August.

"Hidden Hatches" are bugs in the Eagle River that are commonly overlooked by fly tiers and anglers but do not go unnoticed by trout in rivers. By late August (and even earlier), these trout can almost tie your flies for you. They know them so well. They've been floating past their faces every day for nearly 3 months now, besides tying your own patterns and including your own variations on common fly-tying patterns of the significant bug species. Alternative food sources should be considered as well!

Maybe you don't consider this a hidden hatch, but there is a point in the season where fish see and gorge on worms. This happens during run-off when trout see and eliminate dozens of worms daily. My best worm day last season was June 2nd, when I had a client fish throw up a baseball-sized ball of worms in the net. This is a great time to tie big, easy flies that you can fish on 3x tippet and not cry when you lose the

m in the debris that's in the river this time of year.

Craneflies, or "Mosquito Hawks" as they are also known, are in the Eagle River in most stretches and provide a great meal for a hungry trout. These large grubs can be imitated with mop flies or, more subtly, like John Barr's Crane. These flies can be weighted heavily or not at all so they can be fished in shallow riffles or deep holes. If you see something flying on the water that looks like a giant mosquito, you've got craneflies in front of you. I would recommend buying the dry flies, though; tying all those legs are a pain in the butt, ha!

Commonly mistaken for midges, these little guys coat the sticks and branches logged under rocks in the Eagle River. I've pulled flies out from under rocks for clients and had my hand tingling with the hundreds of blackfly larvae on my hand. This "hidden hatch" can be mistaken for a black or olive midge, but you will honestly notice a difference in success rate if you tie thread flies in very dark colors with a bulbous butt. These guys are shaped like a bowling pin, and if you tie them as such, you will get more bites, especially in the Avon stretches of the Eagle River.

Though not born in the water, these guys frequently find themselves aquatic thanks to the heavy foliage like willows and grasses along the banks of the Eagle River. These flies can be tied as struggling bugs on the surface or drown terrestrials underneath. On a slow day in the summer, try tying and drowning ant patterns and fish them close to the bank. Red, Black, and Cinnamon colors are ideal ants. Even two-toned ants. Beetles are best imitated with black or peacock colors.

Whether you tie as you go along or sit down production-style in the winter months, there are many flies to imitate and tie for the Eagle River. Though we are known for our winter skiing at Vail and Beaver Creek, the cold months can be a great time to have a fire, look up your favorite fly tiers on YouTube, and tie Summer bugs while the snow falls in the Vail Valley. Keep your eyes peeled for fly-tying clinics and classes around the Vail area this off-season, and please feel free to reach out with any fly-tying questions you may have for the Eagle River from Minturn to Dotsero!