In this report
25 CFS and Wide-Open Water: Fish the Margins
Current flow is running at 25 CFS, which is comfortably above this stream’s typical low-water baseline and sits right at the top end of normal for early June on the Middle Fork. That’s good news for wading—you won’t be picking your way across slick rocks like you would in mid-summer drought—but it also means the fish are distributed. On a freestone this size, elevated flow spreads holding trout across the meadow rather than concentrating them in a few obvious deep slots. The water is slightly off-color from early-summer runoff, which actually works in your favor: it reduces the fish’s ability to scrutinize your imitation, and their wariness drops a notch or two even in open meadow water where they’re normally spooky.
Temperature is still cool—high snowmelt is keeping the Middle Fork in the low 50s Fahrenheit—so fish are actively feeding and holding without the thermal stress that starts creeping in by mid-July. This is prime season to be here.
PMD Emergence and the Late-Morning Window
Pale Morning Duns are the headliner hatch right now, and on the Middle Fork they follow the textbook June timing: emergence typically kicks off around 10:00 a.m. and peaks between 11:30 and 1:00 p.m., with duns scattered through 2:00 p.m. or later on overcast days. This is NOT a dawn-and-dusk fishery. Plan your day around the midday window.
The duns themselves run #18 and #16—mostly #18 on this small water. Unlike tailwater PMDs, which come off in dense, predictable batches from a single fertile zone, these emergence are softer and more scattered across the meadow. You’ll see rises, but they won’t be the head-down feeding frenzy of a big spring creek. Each rise is a deliberate taking of an individual dun, which means your presentation has to be precise: drag-free drift, correct size, the right posture on the water.
An effective rig is a #18 PMD dry as your top fly (Sparkle Dun or Adams-style parachute), with a #20 midge emerger (Mercury or Zebra, black or gray) dropped 18 to 24 inches below on a 5X tippet. The dropper covers fish rising to emergers in the film, which is common here, while the dry gives you a visible target and a reliable take indicator. Cast upstream and slightly across the current, mend once to slow the drift, and watch both flies through the drift. Strikes on the dropper are often subtle—a slight pause or hesitation—so stay connected and set firmly.
If duns aren’t actively hatching when you arrive, don’t waste the morning before the emergence begins. Fish nymphs instead until 9:30 or so, then switch to dries as the first duns appear.
Subsurface Tactics Below the Hatch
During the hatch window, the dry-dropper rig will out-fish pure nymph rigs. But before emergence, and in the afternoon when the dun flight slows, nymphs are your bread and butter.
Fish a #18 PMD nymph (Barr Emerger or similar slim pattern) or a #18 RS2 emerger as your point fly, weighted with a small tungsten bead to get depth quickly in 25 CFS. Add one small split shot 12 to 14 inches above the nymph—not two or three, just one. At this flow and on this meadow water, you want to touch the bottom occasionally without snagging constantly. Use a small yarn indicator (orange or white, pencil-thin) set three times the water depth above your point fly, or fish tight-line if you’re comfortable reading the line and rod tip for strikes.
The reason to keep weight minimal: those open meadow trout here can feel heavy rigs and will reject them. This is not like fishing a tailwater where fish are acclimated to 6X tippet and size-22 nymphs under heavy indicator rigs. The Middle Fork’s residents are educated and easily spooked. Lighter, more natural presentations will out-fish slug-and-plunk methods.
Fish the soft seams where current slows slightly—the inside bend of meanders, the soft water just behind a grass clump, the slack water along the near bank. At 25 CFS, current is steady through the meadow, but it’s not a raging torrent. Find where the trout don’t have to work hard to hold, and that’s where you’ll see takes.
Caddis in the Evening, Midges All Day
Evening caddis emergence will begin around 5:30 or 6:00 p.m., with activity peaking until dusk. Fish are usually less selective on caddis than mayflies here, so a #16 or #14 Elk Hair Caddis (tan or olive) cast up and across and allowed to drag slightly often produces. If you want to hedge your bets, fish a caddis dry with a small black midge (#22–24) dropped below—midges are the year-round utility pattern on freestone water, and they’re always relevant.
From first light through the PMD window and again after dusk, midges are happening. Small black or gray patterns in sizes #20–24, fished as emergers in the top inch of water column on a dry-dropper setup or as nymphs 18 inches below a small indicator, will consistently catch fish. Don’t ignore them just because PMDs are the “sexy” hatch. Midges account for more actual feeding in June than any single mayfly emergence, especially on a stream this size where dense hatches are the exception, not the rule.
Water Access and Stewardship
Both Tomahawk and Badger Basin state wildlife areas are open currently, but seasonal spawning closures do apply in certain zones at certain times of year. If you see closure signs, respect them—they exist to protect spawning trout that are critical to the fishery here. Check with Parks and Wildlife before you go if you have any doubt, and carry either a valid CO fishing license or a current SWA pass for anyone 16 and older.
The meadow water here is easy to wade once you’re in, but entry points matter. Stick to marked or obvious public access, avoid trampling the riparian zone, and leave no trace. These are small, sensitive trout on shallow, open water. They remember pressure.
Water is in good shape. Get there during the late-morning PMD window, and bring #18 dries and emergers. Fish the margins, stay light on weight, and move methodically through the meadow. The fishing is straightforward this week: match the hatch, present delicately, and stay patient.