Ice-Off Early Spring Fishing

 

 

First week of April and we’re announcing “ice off“?  Yeah, that’s right!  Spinney Mountain Reservoir opened last Sunday, and Antero Reservoir has been fishing great, so toss out any old ideas you have on the calendar about when to start your stillwater fishing.  It’s time! Kenny Romero reports on his trip to Spinney on Tuesday, April 3.

 

Based on all indications including amount of water in Spinney (75% full), health of fish after ice off and numbers of fish, 2018 is sure to be one for the record books.

 

My brother and I fished Spinney Tuesday April 3 and had an awesome day.  The ever-present South Park wind was up,  but so was the bite!  We were on the water at 7:00 AM and immediately hooked up with bulky and aggressive trout. Although the wind created difficulties for us, we persevered and were rewarded with many beautiful rainbows.  This time of year, look for rocky shore line areas with sufficient depth where early spring trout are cruising the shore line.

 

We fished traditional static nymph rigs fished from shore.  It’s important to fish these rigs at the correct depth so adjusting your strike indicator makes a big difference in your success ratio.  Peach and orange egg patterns and orange and green scuds picked up fish all day.  I use as large a leader and tippet as I can get away with for these big, early season cruisers including 2X or 3X leaders and 3X and 4X tippet.  Weight is also important when fishing a static rig to ensure the flies are down where the fish are — especially when fishing in windy conditions like we were in.   I also use a 6 weight rod this time of year at Spinney.

 

Kenny Romero and his brother enjoy a great, early spring day at Spinney Mountain Reservoir.

 

The fishing should remain good from shore for the next couple of weeks.  I would recommend stripping streamers as well.  As water temperatures increase, more Chironomid activity will occur so it will be important to add these patterns to your set up.  And as we progress more into the summer months there should be significant Caddis and Callibaetis may fly hatches which means stellar dry fly fishing. 

 

In the meantime, get your gear and flies ready and head up to Spinney Mountain for some of the best trout fly fishing in the west. It’s gonna be a great season at Spinney!

 

Watch this blog for Summer and Fall Spinney updates from Kenny Romero for the latest patterns, techniques and productive areas to fish Spinney.