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ROARING FORK RIVER (UPDATED 1/1):   Flowing at a mere 467 cfs in Glenwood with lots of water in the river freezing up in the extreme cold conditions. Ice flows stuck around all day again today up and down the whole river system after another very cold night--it was -4 degrees in Glenwood at 9 AM and never got above freezing all day. Our annual New Year's excursion was cancelled, since fishing would have been extremely difficult, and floating impossible. We don't even offer float trips until things begin warming up the second half of February, because most of the fish are stacked in the deepest holes which you may as well access wading, so you can have the luxury of moving around and warming up your feet.

And when things are coldest around here, the Fork has the least amount of surface ice immediately below the confluence of the Frying Pan, and between Basalt and Aspen, where the steep gradient of the river resists freezing. If you go, you can expect to have to work fish with deep nymph rigs and slow drifts on the inside seams and tailouts, where they can spend a large amount of the day sluggishly until sudden feeding frenzies (which may or may not happen). Deep double nymph rigs with attractors (princes, stones, eggs) trailed with midge larva/emergers are pretty standard up and down the river this time of year.

Catch of the Week
Lots of great powder up on Sunlight Mountain.

Two-Week Fishing Forecast
If it's clear and cold at night, you may as well head to the ski hill. If it's cloudy at night, the next day you might have a good day of fishing.

Hot Fly Patterns
MIDGES, SIZE 18-24, NYMPHS: Hollywood Midge, Improved Biot Larvae and emergers, BMWs, Loopwing Emergers, Black Beauties; BAETIS, SIZE 16-20, NYMPHS: D-River, Tungsten Pheasant Tail, Poxyback Baetis, Copper John's, Whitey's Dropper, WD- 40's, BMW; CADDIS SIZE 14-18, NYMPHS: Translucent Pupa, Lite Brite Pupa in Peacock & Lime, Bead Diving Caddis, Electric Caddis larva, (Flashback) Prince. STONEFLY NYMPHS SIZE 8-14: Double Bead Black Stone, 20 Inchers, Golden Poxyback, Stellar Stone, Large Princes. Huevos. STREAMERS, SIZE 4-10: Bristlecone, Black Eye, Sculpin Bugger, Brown Crystal Bugger, Double Bunny, McGuinness Extra Stout.

FRYING PAN (UPDATED 1/10):  Flowing at 97 CFS. It's been a long time since we've seen this much snow pile up in the Frying Pan Valley (all over the Western Slope, actually). And it's been a long time since I've taken a day off to fish the Pan for fun, and today will stand out as very memorable for even longer. My best fishing buddy Cheryl and I got out for a short stint this afternoon, as much to survey the stunning scenery as to catch a fish or two. The fishing turned out to be fabulous--once we were able to make it to the river, that is. Very few turnouts have been plowed (very hazardous along the road), and there are lots of hazards long before you even step into the river, which is probably the safest place to be. Expect to encounter snow that may be chest high, unstable drifts on the banks, and try to find established paths if possible. Breaking trail down snow covered boulder banks could mean broken bones, twisted ankles, or even snow slides.

Older or unfit fishermen may want to wait until things melt down a bit and until the younger crazy guys beat down a few paths. The road to the dam is not in good shape since plowing crews have much bigger priorities valleywide. In terms of the fishing, the nymph fishing is basically idiot-proof-- tie on an egg and a midge and call it good. Many places have seen no one, and fish are hungry and will also eat silly stuff like princes and hare's ears on much heavier tippets than the usual 7X we're used to by the dam. It's a lot of fun right now, but not without risks and hardships.

Catch of the Week
Nothing big today--but we both hooked over 15 fish in about 1 1/2 hours of fishing.

Special Report
Be careful out there! There are tons of hazards along the Frying Pan road with the massive snow buildup. If you go, here's some recommendations: 1) DON'T FISH ALONE--Go with a buddy or hire a professional in case someone gets stuck/ buried/ wet. 2) BRING A SHOVEL IN THE CAR--It's easy to get stuck in a lot of places--you personally and your car. 3) BRING EXTRA CLOTHING/ GLOVES.

Hot Fly Patterns
MIDGES, SIZE 18-24, DRIES: Roy Boy, Trico Parachute, Trico Quad; NYMPHS: Improved Biot Emerger, Black and Olive Biots, loopwing emergers, wine and black midge larva, Sunken trico spinner. BAETIS DRIES, SIZE 18-24 (which fish will take for large midges/ midge clusters): Comparadun Biot Baetis, Zelon Crippled Baetis, BWO Quad, Biot BWO Spinner; NYMPHS: Poxyback baetis, Olive Biot and Loopwing emergers, Pheasant tail and WD-40 nymphs, Downey's Master baetis, Beaverhole Special, Solitude Baetis Emerger, BMW. CADDIS, SIZE 16-20 NYMPHS: Cased Caddis, Edwards Hydropsyche. Egg Patterns of all sizes and colors.

CRYSTAL RIVER (UPDATED 2/15):  Flowing with much less ice at 105 cfs at Carbondale.  Icy conditions can make it tough here like everywhere else, but much of the river has a fairly steep, ice resistant gradient.  And the Crystal is home to a lot of mountain whitefish, which share the same deep holes with most of the trout through the low water levels of the winter months, and can be a lot of fun too.  The Crystal may receive the least amount of fishing traffic than any other local river in the winter, so fly selection and presentation are usually less important than other popular valley spots.  Just try to locate the deep holes and you should locate the fish, and work them over with deep nymph rigs.

While bug life is not as prolific on the Crystal as the Roaring Fork or Frying Pan, the freestone nature of the Crystal does produce plenty of insects, and generally of the same freestone varities as the Roaring Fork--heavy on PMDs, baetis and caddis, and there are also decent stonefly and drake populations.  Therefore, a lot of Roaring Fork type rigs and fly selections will produce well on the Crystal.