Day 1

The lot was pretty empty when we arrived below Ruedi. Outside of one guide with a client down in the bend pool and a couple of guys at the toilet bowl, the upper river was pretty much void of fishermen. The water was up again, so the flat water was all about thigh deep, with a couple of deeper slots. It was snowing pretty heavily, so spotting fish in the shallower water would be a challenge. We started out about mid-way up and began working our way downriver towards the bend pool. The guide soon left with his client, leaving the bend pool wide open. We continued working our way downriver and when I got down to the bottom of the flat water, I spotted a nice rainbow holding in a spot where the water dipped down into a deeper slot. The fish took my fly on the first cast and surprised by the quick take, I broke it off on the hook set. Soon after, I spotted another rainbow that had moved up out of the bend pool. Within a couple of casts I was hooked up with the fish and it tore off across the river. Justin made it downriver just as I had tired the fish out and was able to net it a little further downstream. It wasn’t a monster fish, but was a nice male in the 21 inch range. It had the bright red stripe on its side that is pretty typical of the bows in the Pan. Josh also hooked up with a nice 20+ inch brown upriver, but the fish was able to wiggle out of his hands before he could get a picture. They came down and decided to fish the bend pool, while I decided to do some more exploring on the far side of the river.

I noticed the browns were moving upriver through the deeper slot on the far side of the river and soon spotted a pod of really nice fish. There were two fish in the 20-22 inch range feeding, with a monster brown behind them. I was trying to figure out how to get my flies down to just the largest fish when it slid out to the side of the others. I could tell it had the length and width of a fish that would probably be the largest brown I’ve caught, if I could get it hooked up and in. All three of the fish were actively feeding, but it took a good 20+ casts before I finally got the right drift. The fish took the fly and immediately thrashed on the surface. It bolted off downstream and started rolling up in the line. I took it downstream and felt like I had the upper hand, but the fish started unrolling in the line and I was worried the fly might pop out. The fly held and the fish came up again and rolled on the surface. It was a beautiful fish, a bright yellow female that was definitely in the upper 20+ inch range. I got the net down to Justin and was working the fish over to his direction when she came up to the surface again and shook her head. The fly shot out of her mouth right back at me and she took off downriver. It would have definitely been the largest brown I’ve caught, guessing that she would have gone 28+ inches and was in the 8-10 pound range. I checked out the slot on the far side of the river a couple of other times before it got dark, but she never came back upriver. Justin and Josh fished the bend pool for the rest of the afternoon and had unbelievable fishing. The trout have exploded in both length and size with the increased flows and an abundance of shrimp in the river. They caught lots of browns in the 18-21 inch range, with the longer fish pushing 5-6 pounds.

Day 2

We arrived well before sunrise and headed down to the Bend Pool again. Most of the fish were down in the deeper water, but the fishing was good as soon as we got our flies in the water. Lots of chunky 18-20 inch browns. The fish were bulging, with the 20 inch fish pushing 4+ pounds. Since we started fishing the Pan, we've never seen football-like fish like the ones we were catching. Justin finally hooked into his big rainbow and after a couple of long runs; Josh got it in the net. It was a beautiful bright red fish, one of the prettiest we've ever caught. It even had a red belly and a red lower jaw.

I decided after a while to head up to the Toilet Bowl to fish the drift on the backside again. I was hoping one of the larger rainbows in the pool might be willing to take a shrimp. With the amount of shrimp pouring out of the dam right now, there has got to be a couple of 15-20 pound rainbows hanging out up there. While I didn't hook into any of the big boys, I did catch one monster brown. She was probably only in the 21 inch range, but the girth on this fish was maybe 17-18 inches.

I landed one more smaller brown, after fishing up there for maybe an hour. I decided to head back downriver and see how Justin and Josh were doing. Turns out Josh had lost another huge rainbow and they were starting to see some other larger bows staging in the shallower water. Josh moved downriver further and let me fish the drift on the fair bank along the willow trees. After not hooking anything for a while, I finally hooked into something pretty solid. It bull-dogged me down at the bottom of the pool and I could tell it was a pretty heavy fish. Justin came down with the net and the fish began to tire as I took it further downstream. The fish finally came up to the surface, but started floating downriver into the faster current. Justin decided to take a chance to net it before it was too late. He got the fish part way in the net, but it still had a little fight in it and took off for deeper water, breaking my line. Justin said it was a pretty good fish, in the 23-24 inch range, which would have been my largest brown for the trip.

Fishing slowed down a little in the afternoon, but we continued hooking fish every 5-10 minutes. Josh redeemed himself when he hooked into another pig rainbow. He did a good job fighting it and even expertly maneuvered the fish away from some sticks on the far side of the river. He was gaining the upper hand when I decided to turn the netting duties over to Justin, not wanting to be the one to loose the fish. Josh got the fish swung over into shallow water and Justin was easily able to net the fish. After a couple of high fives and a quick photo and measurement, Josh eased the fish back into the water. The fish taped out to 24 inches, with a 17 inch girth, Josh's largest rainbow to-date.

I spent some time later in the evening exploring the lower half of the flat water, but didn't find many fish moving upriver. Justin said he had spotted a monster brown on the far bank and when I went over there to check, she was still there. She was actively feeding, but I could tell she could see me and was tentatively holding in the run. I hit her with my slit-shot a couple of times, spooking her off, but she would usually come back to the same spot and start feeding again. She looked like a huge carp in the water and was definitely in the 10-12 pound range. I don't remember ever seeing a brown this big on the Pan before and I could feel my hands shaking as I added a little more weight to get down to her. I finally got her to take my shrimp. She didn't move at all and when I tried to put some pressure on her, my hooked popped out of her mouth. She took off downriver and I was left standing there in disbelief. This was the second large brown I had hooked on the trip and lost. I headed back downriver and fished with Justin and Josh for the rest of the evening. We continued hammering fish, but didn't get into any more big ones. Finally when it started getting dark Justin hooked into a good fish. It took him all over the river and we were all thinking it would be another large rainbow. He finally got it up to the surface and it was a monster brown. He got it over near Josh where he tried to net it, but stepped in a little too far, nearing filling his waders. The fish stayed on and Josh was able to get the net under it on the second try. It was another football brown that taped out to 22 inches, but again had an 18-19 inch girth.

We decided to call it a night after catching such a beast and headed back to the truck for our 16 hour drive back home. The fishing on the Pan was about a good as it has ever been. The fish are definitely starting to return back to the size of the glory days on the Pan, back before we had ever fished the river. Mysis surprising fished well up and down the river, with the fish taking on just about every good drift. Black Beauties, Biot Emergers, and Miracles Nymphs all worked, but the shrimp by far took the most fish. The flows were up at 332 cfs, which is pretty high for the Pan. The fish definitely have been benefiting from the increase in food in the river. With the fishing this good, I can't wait to get back.