Intro | Small-Stream Fishing | Tailwater Trout | Below Silverthorne | Private Water | Hatch Strategy | Blue River Restoration Project | Blue River Map (1.8 MB .pdf)

Below Silverthorne
Flowing north from Silverthorne, the stream becomes a classic mountain trout stream sweeping through stands of conifers, aspen, and cottonwood trees and meadows sprinkled with wildflowers and sagebrush. The boulder-strewn river parallels Colorado Highway 9 between Silverthorne and Green Mountain Reservoir and is accessible from Blue River Campground, Sutton Unit, Eagle's Nest, Palmer Gulch, and the Blue River State Wildlife Unit.

These public accesses are situated near beautiful trout habitat with deep runs, gravel bars, swirling pockets, and deep, clear pools. Browns, rainbows, and cuttbows in this area range from 9 to 15 inches but anglers occasionally catch fish in the 16- to 20-inch range, as well as the odd brook trout that drops down from the feeder creeks.

Cannon's Bunny Dun (BWO)

Kokanee salmon add to the experience later in the year as they run upstream out of Green Mountain Reservoir during the last two weeks of September and continue moving upriver for four to six weeks. The salmon average between 17 and 19 inches and are easiest to catch while they are holding in the deeper runs and pools. They eat egg patterns, Pink San Juan Worms, bead heads, and other brightly colored dead-drifted flies and sometimes chase and crush bright pink streamers.

My favorite rig this time of year is a #16 Nuclear Egg with a #20 Sparkle Wing RS II tied to the eye of the egg hook because it fools trout feeding on two important food sources. When the salmon begin to spawn, resident trout feed heavily on the eggs, and trout from the reservoir move upriver as well to partake in the feast. In this Poor Man's Alaska it's possible to find trout taking eggs behind the spawning redds of the salmon and then fish dry flies during the Baetis hatch all afternoon. I have experienced some of my best days during October when the river is loaded with an influx of trout from the reservoir, eggs are rolling along the stream bottom, and Baetis are hatching.

Private Water
The Blue River below Green Mountain Reservoir is known to hold monster trout. The Denver Post ran a photo of guide Matthew Burkett with a 25-pound rainbow he caught on private water the summer of 2005 (the fish was 33 inches long with a girth of 25 inches), but most anglers don't get shots at these trout unless they are invited by a landowner or book a trip at Elktrout Lodge (970-724-3343).

Public access is limited to four small access points, but this may soon change as landowners and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are currently negotiating to consolidate the holdings into larger parcels. The four access points at the time of this writing are Green Mountain Canyon Access (a three-mile stretch right below the dam), a 1/4-mile BLM property above the gravel pit, another 1/4-mile BLM property above Trough Road, and finally the Yust Ranch property (two miles of public water) just above the confluence of the Colorado River. Please respect private property, and obey all no-trespassing signs. It is your responsibility to know the rules that govern these pieces of land.

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Pat Dorsey is co-owner of the Blue Quill Angler in Evergreen, Colorado. He is author of the book A Fly Fisher's Guide to the South Platte River (Pruett Publishing Company, 2005).

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