Blue Winged Olives baby!  No more staring at bobbers, no more iced up guides, no more split shot, no more back-ache.  It's time to cut the weight, go light and visual, and let it all unfold right before your eyes.  Time to tie it on... yes, the dry fly!  We've been noticing some noses and HATCHES, midges the size of your thumbnail, and BWO's - perhaps the most undervalued hatch of the season.  This is one of our favorites, mostly because the tailwater streams still haven't loosened their grip on the hammer-down indicator hatch.  To find some solitude, we've been spending a lot of time on the Arkansas and it's tributaries catching trout to our content on dries and emergers.  Our concentration has been on the lower river where temperatures are warm, public access is abundant and surprisingly unencumbered by pressure, and the bugs are swarming.  A few of our favorites patterns include, for the emergence: the Sipper BWO #16-18 trailed with a #18 Olive Two Bit Hooker or Olive Loop Wing RS2.  For the dry fly, we love the Sparkle Flag BWO #18-20, Extended body BWO #18, and in particular the Half Dun Hatching #16-18 for its unique stuck in the film look.

I learned a few things on this trip.  One, Steelhead really are the fish of a thousand casts.  Two, 75 degrees and sunny are not good conditions for Steelhead fishing.  Three, the OP is a an incredible place that I will visit again: 

In March I was invited to visit the Sage Fly Rod Company in Bainbridge Island, WA, the purpose of which was to visit the factory to learn more about their R&D and get an opportunity to test Rio's new skagit MOW tips with Chris Andersen and Simon Gawesworth.  These new tips, originally designed by Mike McCune, Scott O'Donnell, and Ed Ward (MOW), are the fishiest, easy casting, user friendly sink tips I've ever used.  They were specifically designed to be the perfect addition to Skagit lines allowing anglers to cover every likely fishing situation and condition encountered and are the absolute ultimate in sinking tip versatility.  These tips allow you to literally MOW the river down at every depth level (no pun intended) with easy to change, easy to cast loop-to-loop connection tips that help you adapt to a variety of water levels on the fly.  The tips will be available shortly and will come in three separate series, light for grain size less than 475 (switch rods), medium for lines between 475 & 575 grains, and heavy for Skagit lines in excess of 575 grains.  If you're into swinging flies for trout on two handed switch rods or gunning for big game Steelhead in the Olympic Peninsula or British Columbia, these depth charge tips systems will serve you well.

    

  

Run off just isn't right!  After a long winter of freezing temps and a healthy dose of cabin fever, we finally get a few days of sunny weather and wham! - down comes the snow melt.  This leaves us with a few options:  tie on a streamer and enjoy the solitude in off color and high water (not the worst option), or head for any one of a variety of close lakes and reservoirs for warm water species.  Ahh... now we're talking!

Keep in mind - It has been a pretty cold winter and spring, and the water temps are still hovering in the 40's, so we are going to need a stretch of nice warm days to help trigger the warmwater bite! Keep your eyes peeled and your thermometer handy, when the temps climb into the low to mid 50's, it's game-on!

There are four reservoirs in close reach of the Metro area that garner the most of my attention when it comes to chasing warmwater species. Pueblo Reservoir gets first mention for two reasons. Reason #1 is that the mild climate in Pueblo almost always means higher water temps earlier in the season. Simply put, the bite is on earlier here than in most places in the state. Reason #2 is that the opportunity for huge numbers and a variety of species is also best at Pueblo. This reservoir boasts a good population of Largemouth and Smallmouth alike, and of course the wildcard species that makes any warmwater fishery a favorite of mine - Wiper. Egg-sucking leeches, Mohair Leeches, Orange Tequeelys or Barr's Bouface in brown, black or olive work well for the Largemouth and Smallies. Clousers are the go-to fly for the Wipers.

Second on my list of warmwater hot-spots is Quincy Reservoir in Aurora. This quaint little body of water offers some of the best action you will find for Largemouth Bass in the metro area. Plus, if you've been itching to drag the belly boat out of the garage, this is the perfect spot. Quincy offers anglers the ability to test their skills on several different types of structure - fish vertically over submerged timber, channel your inner Bill Dance and flip that crawdad pattern up under the overhanging branches of the back cove, or work the wall of cat-tails and weed beds on the south-east corner. Also, you may as well bring an 8-weight with you in case one of the many giant Tiger Muskies makes an appearance. They are really tough to hook, but it's exciting just to watch one turn on your streamer.

Third on my list is a reservoir that very few people in the Metro area pay any attention to at all when it comes to fishing - Standley Lake. Standley has one of the most under-appreciated populations of chunky Smallmouth Bass in the state. Try out the northwest corner of the lake, and you may just find yourself surprised by the quality of fish you catch. The larger than average rainbows that also like to eat streamers are an added bonus, as are the fairly predictable Wipers that congregate by the dam face when the temps are right. Streamers of many types work very well - especially purple buggers with a hot-orange cone-head, as well as Stinger Sculpins and Silvey's Sculpin Leeches in a variety of colors.

Last, but most definitely not least on my list of  warmwater hot-spots is Aurora Reservoir. The overall quality of the fish you can catch here is the biggest draw for me. Aurora is widely regarded as the holding tank for the next state record Wiper and Smallmouth Bass. The coves of the south end of the lake hold some awesome Largemouth as well as the unique opportunity to fish for several species in the moving water of the deep creek inlets when the conditions are right. Aurora, like Quincy allows hand-launchable craft only, also making it a great place to fish from your belly boat or pontoon. A wide variety of streamer patterns, especially Crayfish imitations work well throughout the year.