River conditions for March were superb, excellent, glass clear at 80 C.F.S. Rainbow spawning ritual has been completed as of late March and the trout are looking to the surface for brunch, lunch, and dinner. Hatches of Caddis, Blue Winged Olives, and some early Stoneflies are beginning to pop from the surface and are a welcome site to both anglers and trout alike. The HOT color appears to be Red. Patterns like Royal Whulffs, Royal Coachmen and H&L Variants are seldom refused by the fish that are looking up. Trout are crowding the riffles by mid morning searching to regain the weight lost during a vigorous spawn. ( Fish for the future ) Soft hackle flies ( easy on the lips ) are the most productive subsurface patterns, along with Caddis Pupa, Sparkle Caddis emergers, and May emergers. The Streamer fishing in the evening and till dusk has gathered up some phenomenal rod rattling strikes from Monster Browns, Cutbows and Rainbows of the 6 to 8 lb. caliber. Hot patterns are Buggers, Buggers, Buggers! The smaller fish ( 14 to 18 inches) are active early, with the larger trout (18 to 28 inches) taking over the prime feeding lanes by mid afternoon. If you come to Boxwood Gulch, I would suggest having no curfew, and fishing until you drop, or at least until darkness shrouds you rod tip. The larger Bows, Browns and Brookies can be hooked earlier in the day by nymphing the deeper shaded holes and pools ( 4 to 6 feet deep ) with dark profile nymphs in sizes ranging from # 18 to # 12s. Prince nymphs, Pheasant Tails, Zug Bugs or any patterns with peacock bodies are being taken with very gentle, hard to detect strikes in these slow waters. My suggestion is, if the line acts funny, HIT EM! Small Brown trout ( 8 to 10 inches ) are being caught with regularity signifying a highly successful spawn last fall, and a growth rate of 2 inches per month. ( I can't wait to see them in a couple years.) Brookies and Browns from the ponds are starting to become active and eating terrestrials blown on to the water by gusting winds. Several 3 - 4 lbers. have been reported. Noteable Catches / Memorable Anglers March 9th Russel and son J.K. Givens, learned quite a lot about fly fishing over trout who hadn't seen anglers for 6 days. By mid day, father and son were spanking Rainbows with a variety of tactics. The highlight of the day for me was, handing my net to Russel and shooting photos of father netting one of the biggest fish of the day for his son. Great smiles guys. March 13th Rodman party of 6 anglers, spent the day with 3 River Ranch Outfitter guides on the Boxwood section in what only can be described as a Trout Fest. Dr. Fred Miller did his usual technique of covering every inch of the ranch, fishing fast and catching every trout he saw. He also set a record of taking the shortest lunch break in Boxwood history. 3 minutes 28 seconds. Dave Murphy was the HOT ROD again by landing an estimated 40 by himself. The groups total for the day was somewhere over 100 trout. March 13th While the Rodman party was enjoying the clubhouse and trout on the Boxwood section, I opted to spend the day with one of my favorite anglers, Harold Klausner. Just the two of us, 10 dozen flies, Harold's fine Winston rod, his angling prowess, and over 2 miles of water on the Long Meadow section. We had fun. March 14th Spring break---- Olkies invade Boxwood Dustin Orona, Trey Doocy and John Roys of Edmond Oklahoma, took a day off from the nearby ski slopes to fish the Long Meadow section. Dustin, whom I have known since he was born and have fished with before, asked to share in the guide and netting duties. This poor decision of mine cost John photos of some real trophy Rainbows. Sorry John, leave my nephew in Oklahoma next time. Dustin, GET A BIGGER NET! Trey Doocy took the largest trout of the day on the Welcome Mat section of Long Meadow. Trey didn't allow Dustin to help in any way resulting in the photo of this fine Buck. Angling must be genetic. I have fished with Trey's father Tim Doocy. He gets lucky once in a while too. March 23rd Dave Gerot from Tennessee. An acomplished angler. We decided to attack some of the more challenging water of the Boxwood section and target the larger, tougher, older Bows of Boxwood. Patience, great line control, and shear tenacity rewarded Dave with the biggest bow I have netted this season. ( Film on the next river report. ) Photos below, are of Joe Murphy and Dave Burnhams' record setting day of 125 fish on the Long Meadow section mentioned in a previous report. Water levels are expected to drop during the month of April in preparation for run off. Sunny days in the 60s are causing a slow melting of snow on the peaks that surround the valley. This melting taints the water slightly, dropping visibility to 80%. It also takes the caution away from the bigger, wiser trout and increases the strikes on attractor patterns 100%. Bring some Royal Whulffs, Red Humpies, Royal Coachmen, and Stimulators. Barry Conyers River Keeper

Update from 12/30/2008 This is our last trip of 2008. The Speer family and their friend, Steve, visited on a beautiful warm December day. They landed around 60 trout like the one Roxie is holding on a variety of flies. They used RS2'S, midges, eggs, black beauties, and streamers. Their largest fish...... an 8lb Cutbow and a 25 inch Brown. The river was flowing at 80cfs and no ice. The clubhouse was warm and cozy and the anglers brought a crock pot full of home made chile. A great way to celebrate an important birthday. Happy Birthday Roxie....see you next year.

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