Fly Fishing the Fryingpan River. Will Sands

      Fryingpan River (West-Central Colorado)

       Location: Western Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley, Basalt. Twenty minutes from Aspen, 1½ hours from Vail or Grand Junction, and 3 hours from Denver. Full-service airports are available at all four locations.

      The Fryingpan (aka “the Pan”) is rich with angling lore. Home to the H&L Variant, popularized by the writings of John Gierach and A.K. Best, this river is certainly Colorado’s most noted year-round tailwater. Since the completion of Ruedi Dam in 1968, the introduction of Mysis shrimp, fabled mayfly

      hatches, and trout often measured in pounds rather than inches, the Pan has certainly garnered a reputation among anglers for being a must on the bucket list.

      The Fryingpan flows 14 miles from Ruedi Dam downstream to the town of Basalt where it merges into the Roaring Fork River. The Pan is an intimate, medium-sized Western tailwater, offering a variety of angling opportunities 365 days a year. Too small to float, the Pan is known for its ease of wading and readily available public access. The entire 14 miles is designated “Gold Medal” water. Gold Medal is Colorado’s defining measure of quality coldwater fisheries and states that, at a minimum, an acre of water must support no less than 60 pounds of trout with at least 12 of these fish being 14 inches or greater. A unique note is that the 14-mile stretch from Ruedi Dam downstream initiates the beginnings of the

      single-longest continuous stretch of Gold Medal water in the state. This encompasses 14 miles of the Pan and about 28 miles of the Roaring Fork, collectively providing 40-plus miles of unrivaled Colorado angling opportunities.

      What’s all the fuss about this tailwater? Green Drakes, Mysis shrimp, and double-digit fish, to mention a few. Introduced into Ruedi Reservoir, Mysis shrimp were originally poised as the primary food source in anticipation of supporting a Kokanee salmon sport fishery, which unfortunately never materialized. However, an unintended benefit was soon realized as these shrimp were being flushed into the river below the dam. The Fryingpan is not a large river—average flows range from 100 cfs to 250 cfs—and all of a sudden fish were growing to grotesquely unimaginable proportions for such a medium-size river. Typical of many Western tailwaters,