Difficulty: Intermediate
Fishing on the Eagle has been a challenge with ice accumulation and snow. While much of the river is covered in ice, you should manage to find a few open runs and pools. Keep in mind that were seeing a fair amount of ice/slush run-off in the morning so if the cold weather alone isnt enough to deter you from fishing the morning shift, hopefully this will. Give it until about 11 am before you hit the water. Once you've settled in and found some fishy water, be persistent and really pick it apart. At this point, its all about the small and imitative midge nymph rig. However, with elevated air pressure in the coming days youll want to consider small and flashy attractor flies at the lead. Rainbow Warriors, red or purple Copper Johns, Psycho Prince Nymphs and Flashback PTs are a few of our go-to attractor flies at the moment. Otherwise, trail any of the aforementioned flies with one or more smaller and imitative midge patterns like a Blood Midge, Mercury Black Beauty, Mercury Midge, Top Secret or Tube Midge. While baetis are few and far between, trout will go for the more versatile patterns like an RS2. Cold weather, lack of cloud cover and elevated air pressure for most of the next seven days will leave trout holding in the deeper water columns. As such, ensure plenty of weight and get your flies deep. On Monday (1/18), dont hesitate to lead with something bigger like a leech or stonefly as trout will capitalize on bigger bites in the hours leading up to the storm.
Ideal Days to Fish: 1/17 & 1/18
Suggested Flies:
Sub-surface: RS2 (#20-22), Barr's Emerger (#20-22), JuJu Baetis (#20-22), Chocolate Thunder (#20-22), Mercury Pheasant Tail (#20-22), Black Beauty (#22-26), Zebra Midge (#20-24), Blood Midge (#20-22), Disco Midge (#18), Guides Choice Hares Ear (#16-18), red Copper John (#18-20), Frenchie (#18-20), Rainbow Warrior (#18-20), Pine Squirrel Leech (#10), San Juan Worm (#10-12) .
Surface: Parachute Adams (#22-24), Griffiths Gnat (#22-24), Parachute BWO (#22-24), Comparadun BWO (#22-24)