It’s peak season for high country fishing in Colorado. That means casting to cruising cutthroat trout in high alpine lakes, and aggressive dry fly strikes on remote mountain creeks. The season isn’t very long on these high elevation waters, but the adventure, the scenery and the beautiful, wild trout are all worth the effort it takes to get there. 

As we pack for our next high alpine adventure, we thought we’d share some of our top confidence flies on these waters. When we’re loading our fly boxes for the high country, here are some of the patterns you can bet will be coming with us: 

Sparkle Minnow

• Baitfish/Leech Imitation
• Best Fished: On a medium sink VersiLeader with erratic strips and jerks OR low & slow along the lakebed.
• Notes: Coffey’s Sparkle Minnow is one of the best all-around trout streamers you can have in your box, regardless of location. But if you want to strip streamers in the high country, the Sparkle Minnow is the one to tie on first. The #8 is the perfect size to avoid spooking trout, but the #4 is another good bet at times. Brook trout love a big pearl Sparkle Minnow in the early fall.

Bat Wing Emerger

• Mayfly Nymph/Emerger
• Best Fished: As an emerger hovering near the surface in a dry dropper rig OR sunken into the film as a single fly.
• Notes: The Bat Wing Emerger, in the BWO color scheme, can wreak havoc on the upper half of the water column. Trout will eat mayfly duns without much trepidation, but they’ll sip emergers and cripples with reckless abandon. If you’re seeing a mayfly hatch popping off, but you can’t get a fish to eat a dry fly, fish the Bat Wing Emerger on a long leader. While deadly, this fly is difficult to see at a distance. Just watch for the water to boil in the general area where you placed the bug and then set the hook immediately.

Hippie Stomper

• Terrestrial – Ant/Beetle Imitation
• Best Fished: As the dry fly in a dry dropper rig OR as a solo dry fly
• Notes: Grillos’ Hippie Stomper is one of the best terrestrial patterns ever invented. It can be fished as a big ant, a beetle, or a small hopper. It can be fished on a dead drift, or slowly stripped and danced along the surface. Trout will eat this fly anywhere from right up against the bank, to all the way out in the middle of a deep lake. The Hippie Stomper, in a wide variety of colors and sizes, is an absolute essential for fishing at higher elevations.

Ant Acid

• Terrestrial – Flying Ant
• Best Fished: As a single dry fly on the surface or sunken into the film. 
• Notes: Kelly Galloup’s Ant Acid was designed to imitate a flying ant that has fallen onto the surface of the water. Like a swarm of bees, flying ants will leave their nests in the summer to start new colonies. And it’s not uncommon for swarms of these flying ants to be blown onto the surface of high alpine lakes. They get stuck in the surface film, and it becomes a feeding frenzy for trout. But you don’t have to wait for ants to be on the surface. Galloup’s Ant Acid is an effective searching pattern at any time during these summer months.

Shotglass Baetis

• Mayfly Nymph
• Best Fished: Within 1’-2’ of the surface below a small dry fly OR mid to upper parts of the water column as part of a deep nymph rig.
• Notes: Shea Gunkel’s Shotglass Baetis is an excellent searcher mayfly nymph with excellent proportions and shimmer. Almost every color of this fly will produce trout, but we’re partial to the Dark Brown/Red variation with a tungsten bead. The Shotglass Baetis excels as a dropper for throwing subtle dry dropper rigs in front of cruising trout.

Sneaky Pete 

• Terrestrial – Beetle 
• Best Fished: As a single dry when subtle presentations are best.
• Notes: Scott Harkins’ Sneaky Pete is a beetle pattern that was developed for casting to easily spooked trout, where delicate presentations are necessary. On calm days and on those crystal clear high alpine waters, this is a deadly beetle pattern. According to Scott, the Sneaky Pete hits the water quietly in still and slow-moving water and fish move out of their way to eat it, even during hatches. He says the slim design makes it a bit of a challenge to see, but look for the rise and set the hook!

Stimulator

• Attractor – Dry Fly
• Best Fished: As a dry fly in a dry dropper rig OR as the lead dry in a double dry fly rig.
• Notes: The Stimulator is a tried and true classic from Randall Kaufmann. The greatest attribute of this fly is its versatility. In varying sizes and colors, Stimmy’s can be used to imitate caddis, yellow sallies, larger adult stoneflies or salmonflies, and even hoppers. No matter what a fish thinks it is, the Stimulator is a loud, obnoxious dry fly that will stop cruising trout in their tracks.

Gold Jigger

• Streamer/Leech Imitation
• Best Fished: hanging horizontally under an indicator, dead drifted or slowly stripped.
• Notes: Rio’s Gold Jigger was designed as a micro sized woolly bugger and fishes great as a leech imitation or small baitfish. This fly has a ton of movement, even in stillwater and with just the right amount of flash, it is sure to be eaten by cruising cutthroat. All these attributes make it a must have pattern for high lakes, especially fishing deeper to fish that are not will to come to the surface.

Neon Nightmare

• Midge Larva
• Best Fished: Middle to deep in the water column as part of a nymph rig OR within a few feet of the surface during/leading up to a midge hatch.
• Notes: Matt McCannel’s Neon Nightmare is a simple, thin midge larva imitation with a pretty sheen. This luster of this fly will help it stand out among all the other midge larvae in the lake - which is especially important for grabbing the attention of cruisers. When choosing flies to tie on in the high country, midge nymphs are probably at the bottom of your list. But don’t discount their importance! Midges are so abundant in high mountain lakes that trout will eat them by the hundreds every day.

Contact Us With Questions

Have questions about fishing high alpine lakes or creeks this summer? Please don’t hesitate to ask! If you’re located in the Denver area or along the Front Range, you can stop by and see us at the fly shop in Littleton. Otherwise, give us a call at 303-794-1104. We’d love to help you feel confident for your next high country adventure!