Telluride fly fishing report 8-29-2024

August 29, 2024 / Colorado, Texas Coastal Bend, Texas Hill Country, Texas Lakes and Rivers/By Michael Brown

Fly Fishing Report from Telluride

Next: the best fishing of the year as rains pause and waters clear

Dropping water, rising trout

“…Walking through Telluride today you could watch the river clear up as the day went on. The Dolores at Rico is coming down as well and clearing by the minute. I believe that Thursday we will be fishing the Upper Dolores above Rico and by Friday ought to be fishing the San Miguel, at least the water above Placerville.”

– Richard’s intro to a detailed fishing report including a special section on alpine lakes.

Dolores River
“Tomorrow ought to be all-go on the Dolores tribs. The higher up in elevation you go, the more likely you are to find lower and clearer water. If you get to your spot, find clear water and a good level and you’re thinking it’s fishing slow, wait an hour or two.”[complete report, fly suggestions]

San Miguel River
“The water in the Miguel has cooled down, but it isn’t fresh snowmelt cold any longer, meaning the fish are going to be more active in the higher flows than they were earlier in the year. Fish big dark dry-dropper rigs, San Juans, large attractor nymphs, dead-drifted Wooly Buggers to start out.”[water levels, tactics and more]

Gunnison River
“Now is the time of year for the Tricos. By my calendar they have been going on for a couple of weeks now. I have not been down there to see for myself, but I’ve set my watch by that hatch in the past.”[water levels and recommended access]

Uncompahgre River
“Pa-Co is such a wonderful place to have in our backyard…You have to love the fact that you can find clean and clear water 365 at PaCo…150 cfs is a great summer flow, filled in but not overfilled. You get a lot of fishable structure at this water level and very few parts of the river don’t fish well at this flow… “[time of day strategy]

Alpine Lakes
“Hard fishing up there means the fish themselves are hard, stubborn, shy, spooky, nonchalant and often unfair. You do best when you treat each fish individually. Try to see if they have a little pattern…”[alpine creeks, too]