KIRK DEETER

A wild-rainbow bonanza on the Colorado River near the Grand Canyon and Lake Powell, Arizona.

The Fishery | Nymphing | Wading | If You Go

Arizona's Colorado River at Lee's Ferry is an awe-inspiring fishery, in part because it's at the gateway to the Grand Canyon and in part for what novice and experienced anglers can discover between the riverbanks. Shadowed by 1,300-foot red rock cliffs, the Lee's Ferry water below Glen Canyon Dam holds an estimated 50,000 trout over six inches long (17,000 over 12 inches) per mile in over 15 miles of water, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department. That might be the highest concentration of trout in any river anywhere in the world. It's the kind of place where a 100-fish day is possible, if that's what you're after.

Lee's Ferry fish are fat, nasty, and strong. They are mostly wild rainbows--a distinctive strain recognizable by its rich green-and-red coloring and high girth-to-length ratio. A 17-incher can show you the clean part of your backing.

Despite the great numbers of fish, Lee's Ferry is one of the most technically challenging places for fly rodders in North America, demanding light rigs, tiny flies, and long casts. It is one of the best sight-casting rivers anywhere, a place where you can spend hours casting to big rainbows with tiny flies in shallow water.

Even with all its visual splendor and fishing excitement, what really impresses me about Lee's Ferry is its fishing diversity. Fluctuating water releases from the Glen Canyon Dam change river geography and trout feeding behavior at the drop of a hat, forcing you to think quickly and change your approach from day to day--and even hour to hour. The river can be raging fast one minute or glassy slick the next; it's like a spring creek on steroids.

No other river allows you to encounter so much in so little time.

A Unique Fishery
Lee's Ferry is actually a campground and boat access located 151/2 miles downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam. It is situated where the red rock recedes to lower heights as the river rolls out of Glen Canyon (where most of the boat-accessed fishing takes place), and before the Colorado resumes its path through the towering walls of Marble Canyon.

In 1871 John Doyle Lee, an excommunicated Mormon settler, established a ferry service, which continued well into the 20th century, at this lonely outpost. In 1919 the Navajo Bridge spanning the river four miles downstream was opened, and nine years later the ferry service went out of business.


Glen Canyon looks much the same as it did when early explorers first mapped the area--except the waters are now cold, clear, and full of trout.

Lee's Ferry is still a desolate place. Its stark, treeless though breathtaking beauty is a lasting monument to the powers of nature and time.

When the massive Glen Canyon Dam was completed in 1963, it dramatically changed the character of this stretch of the Colorado. What had been a muddy, hot, slow-rolling stream was transformed into a classic tailwater trout fishery. Average water temperatures plummeted to a near-constant 48 degrees (F.) and the native squawfish were soon replaced by stocked rainbow trout. The trout were virtually unfished for 12 years and they thrived, constantly eating and growing.

By the late '70s, anglers discovered the fantastic fishing, and 15-pound fish were common. During the peak of the trophy-trout era in Glen Canyon, there was a 10-fish limit for anglers, and a 100-pound haul of trout barely raised an eyebrow.

During this transition, the habitat around and in the river also changed. Scuds multiplied in the algae-covered bottom of the Colorado. Midges and other insects appeared in significant numbers, as did the swallows that swarmed to feed on them.

Ultimately, too much of a good thing led to a slight decline at Lee's Ferry as fishing pressure reduced the numbers and average size of the fish. Though heyday fishing will likely never return, what remains is one of the most productive and exciting rivers in the United States.

Lee's Ferry fishing today is different from any other Western tailwater. For example, while the fishing is technically challenging, you don't have to constantly dig into your fly box to find different patterns in perfect colors or sizes. On many tailwaters, trout won't look at your fly if it is ribbed with the wrong material. On Lee's Ferry, the technical game is focused more on how you present your flies to fish, rather than what you show them.

Another difference between Lee's Ferry and other tailwaters is how the water is reached. Anglers don't use drift boats in Glen Canyon; they motor upstream, anchor on a gravel bar, then wade-fish along the banks or drift-fish nymphs beneath strike indicators as the boat floats back downstream.

Walk-in fishing is available right at the Lee's Ferry boat launch, but steep canyon walls limit upstream foot access. The lack of wading areas is one of the area's biggest drawbacks.

Powerboats can be rented by the day from local fly shops, but navigating the river at low flow levels can be dangerous. It's a better idea to hire a guide to help shorten the learning curve and to safely reach the best less-pressured fishing spots upstream from the boat launch.

Finding Lee's Ferry fish is never a problem. When the water runs clear, it's easy to spot trout stacked up at the bottoms of deep runs or suspended in the shallows a step or two off the banks.

Figuring out what the fish are eating isn't a major challenge either, because there are no mayfly hatches to match. Trout feed mostly on midges, scuds, worms, occasional snails, and some terrestrials. There are more than 50 species of midges that account for decent dry-fly action--the bonus is using #22 and smaller flies.

Streamer and terrestrial fishing are hit-or-miss propositions, effective only when the fish are seriously dialed in on foods such as hoppers, ants, and beetles.

The prime time for dry-fly midge fishing is spring, though fish feed on the surface year-round, particularly in calm river channels and backeddies. Smaller single midge patterns usually work best, though Griffith's Gnats and Grizzly Clusters are also productive. In March, the trout key on a giant midge (#16), and the fish move into water as shallow as six inches deep and travel as much as five feet to take a fly on top.

Despite the decent dry-fly fishing, the best year-round action takes place subsurface, and Lee's Ferry is famous for its nymphing and sight fishing with midge emergers.

When midging for selective trout in clear shallows, you might need to use a 7X tippet and a 15-foot leader (or more), but a typical Lee's Ferry rig is a 9-foot 4X or 5X leader connected to 6X tippet.

I like a 9-foot, 4-, 5-, or 6-weight medium- or fast-action rod for this fishing, though many anglers use 0- through 3-weight rods when they fish tiny midge flies in the back channels. For versatility's sake, I prefer the slightly bigger rod, which I can also use to fish nymphs in open water.

Lee's Ferry water is usually gin-clear, so it's a good idea to avoid bright fly lines that can spook fish. A reel with a smooth drag is needed for slowing down the river's hot rainbows.

The best nymphing setup is a yarn strike indicator tied several inches below where your fly line attaches to your leader; micro-split-shot (the amount determined by the depth and current of the water you're fishing) attached several feet beneath the indicator at the knot connecting the leader to the tippet; a large fly (#14-#16 orange or pink scud) tied to the tippet 12 to 18 inches beneath the split-shot; and a smaller "dropper" fly (#20 bead-head midge larva) connected by another strand of tippet tied to the eye of the first fly and tied off 12 to 18 inches below.