- Lower Frying Pan is deemed "Gold Medal Water" by the Colorado Division of Wildlife
- Potential record-sized brookies, browns, cutthroat and rainbows call the Frying Pan River home
- Top patterns include mysis shrimp, spinners and tiny midges
- Access the famous Lower Pan between the Roaring Fork confluence and Ruedi Reservoir
Gold Medal Frying Pan
Having earned gold medal fishery status, the Lower Frying Pan River offers good numbers of big, shrimp-eating fish and tons of insect life making it a world-renown fishery.
Wader's Paradise
Whether you're playing the upper river or the tailwater below Ruedi, all water is wadeable and loaded with fish. Anglers will find slippery rocks, but easily accessible water.
Seasonal Limitations
The Lower Frying Pan River is a year-round fishery. It is not subject to runoff, like the upper reaches, due to the fact it is a tailwater. Water releases from the reservoir dictate how high flows run. The upper reaches are subject to runoff and rain.
Fish Species
The Frying Pan River is one of the few rivers in the country where you can enjoy a grand slam without driving hundreds of miles. All four major trout species, brookies, rainbows, cutthroat and browns, call the river home. They reach record sizes, but are educated.
Accessing the 'Pan'
From the confluence with the Roaring Fork, anglers will find 14 miles of gold medal water along Frying Pan Road. Above the reservoir is wide open with miles of the "Pan" and a number of good feeder creeks.
