As we roll into spring the Crooked is shaping up nicely and providing plenty of opportunity to find early season trout. Now sitting around 90cfs, we’ve seen a steady uptick in the flows in the past couple of weeks. The increase in flows has been gradual and given the fish of the Crooked some welcome breathing room after a Winter of low flows. Look for increased insect activity and active trout with the warm weather. We should continue to see good BWO hatches on cloudy afternoons, and midges on any given day. It won’t be too long before we start to see Caddis in good numbers and swinging a soft hackle or Caddis Pupa should become a viable approach in coming weeks. We’ll have more opportunity to fish small streamers and leech patterns as the water rises, and there are plenty of hungry trout looking for a big meal.
Suggested Dries: Hackle Stacker BWO #18-20, Sparkle Dun BWO #18-20, Tilt Wing BWO #16-18, Purple Haze #16-20, Griffith’s Gnat #18-22, Hatching Midge #18-22, Black Elk Hair Caddis #16-20, Peacock Chubby Chernobyl #14-16
Suggested Nymphs: Black or Purple Zebra Midge #18-22, Black Winkers Midge #18-22, Black Rainbow Warrior #18-20, Black Bead Wing Midge #18-22, Black or Purple Juju Baetis #16-20, Olive Anato-May #16-20, Olive Micro May #18-20, Black Tailwater Tiny #18-22, Tan or Grey Ray Charles #16-18, Olive BH Scud #16-18