Dress right for comfortable winter fly fishing in Colorado

Fly fish all day by wearing the right clothes

This time of year, fishing is at the tail end of people’s to-do list. It’s cold, there’s good skiing and snowboarding, and major holidays/travel interfere with our favorite sport. These and many other reasons are why the rivers are empty and the fishing is great! With less people on the water, the fishing pressure is almost non-existent making the fish none the wiser to our imitations. Ask anyone at the shop when their best fishing/biggest fish normally takes place; the majority will tell you it’s in the winter.

So now that we have you all inspired, be smart about it! If you intend to spend more than 30 minutes fishing on any of our brisk windy days in the Vail Valley, you will need to dress appropriately. We guide on the Eagle River and Lower Colorado River throughout the Winter, and we always emphasize to our hearty fisher(wo)men to dress like you were going skiing. “How do you dress when you go skiing” you ask?

I’m glad you asked! We think of the clothing we wear and sell as a collection of layering pieces. Our most popular brand, Patagonia, is pretty much made in this fashion and compliments our Winter fly fishing tremendously. Start with a base layer. Base layers are made to be worn against the skin as a first layer alternative to underpants. These tops and bottoms are long sleeve and come in multiple weights for the different activities you might use them for.