Feb. 14: If you were lucky enough to head to the river once the weather warmed up, you were hopefully rewarded with a tight line or two!  Weather began clearing in the afternoon, providing sunshine with temperatures a few degrees above zero.  There was minimal wind and the water clarity was phenomenal, at about 4+ visibility.  Today was spent exploring conditions within city limits.  Fortunately, much of the ice shelves have dissipated making for much safer fishing conditions.  However, always be sure to let someone know where you’re fishing and take any necessary precautions depending on the conditions of the area you are fishing.  Fishing was fairly slow for the middle part of the afternoon, despite a nice midge hatch around 1:00.  Later in the afternoon, the fish became more active feeding on prince nymphs, san-juan worms, yellow and copper copper-johns, and green caddis larvae/pupae.  All fish were taken on flies ranging from size 12-16.  Despite there still being snow on the ground, fish were not simply in their “winter” holdouts.  The largest fish, a healthy mid-twenty brown, was taken about 5′ from shore in medium depth water and a number of other fish were taken on the seams of medium paced/slower water.  I’m happy to report, all fish looked quite healthy with only a few looking thin from a hungry winter.

Feb. 15:  Weather continued to improve, with partial clouds throughout the day.  Clarity lessened a bit from the previous day, likely due to melt from the warmer temperatures.  Visibility was about 2-3′.  Unlike the previous day, fish were consistently active throughoutt the afternoon taking all the similar variations and sizes of flies from the previous day.  The one surprising part of the day was three healthy, vibrant and active low-twenty rainbows taken from fast water.  This illustrates that with the warmer temperatures fish will begin moving from their winter holdouts to various types of water, so be sure to cover not simply your winter holes, but all types of water!