By Joel L. Evans

April. Tailwaters. Big fish. Clear water. No crowds. Hungry trout. Eager trout.

Early spring is an outstanding time for Colorado fishing. It might even be better than summer and fall fishing. The river of opportunity is skinny, but the results can be fat - fat as in trophy trout measured in pounds instead of inches!

In that shoulder season after winter ice has vanquished its vise grip on rivers but before the heat hits the high country, there is a sweat spot for the early-season angler before the soupy waters of spring run-off come tumbling down.

True, I can't go a summer without hiking into the Colorado Rocky Mountain backcountry to a small creek in hopes of enticing small cutthroat trout to a softly laid dry fly. But for consistent chances of large fish, the best place to go hunting is a tailwater river. And Colorado has some of the best in the world.

Tailwaters, although they may be in out-of-the-way places, are easily accessed simply because there is always a road to the dam that creates the tailwater, even if it is just a dirt road. No hiking required.

Easy access also means that you should not expect solitude. In fact, during the height of the summer tourist season, tailwaters can be take-a-number fishing. And the fish - they are wary, smart, and difficult to catch.

One of Colorado's most-storied rivers, the Fryingpan. Finesse is the name of the game here. Photo by Joel Evans

So what's the attraction? Big fish.

How does it get that way? Tailwaters create an environment conducive to rapid and constant growth of trout. With a rich supply of food coming fresh from the reservoir above, fish feed year-round. Constant water temperatures due to the mass of the upstream reservoir provide a narrow range of optimal stream temperatures - cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter - than would otherwise be. Working like a big filter, reservoirs tend to clarify the water as solids settle out in the lake. It all adds up to a prime environment.

So how do you experience the best of both worlds - big fish with minimal crowds? Fish in the spring before the summer angler wakes up! Late March through early May is prime time in Colorado.

Waters are warming and fish are increasing their activity, feeding more and more after a winter of cold metabolism. Hungry trout are easier to fool. Although you won't be alone at a tailwater stream, most anglers either aren't willing to bear the cold of spring or they just aren't in the fishing mood yet. So what may become combat fishing in summer will instead have a reserved springtime place just waiting for you to drop in.

TAILWATER FLY PATTERNS There seems to be no end to tailwater fly pattern variations, but all of them have two things in common: They're small (size 20 and smaller) and simple. Fish these standard patterns with 5X and smaller tippets:   Mysis Shrimp -- For the Frying Pan, Blue and Taylor rivers, mysis are a year-round, high-protein food source that gets sucked into a dam's outlet. Dead-drift a mysis in a current line, both in surface film and deep.   Miracle Nymph -- Tied with white floss over a pink body. When wet, this fly has varied color and texture. Fish on a dead drift.   Sparkle Wing Emerger/Sparkle Wing Dry -- For midday dry-fly action, have this blue-winged olive/pale morning dun pattern in both an emerger and a dry tie, in gray or olive body colors.   Red Midge -- Tie with red thread on a standard hook or a red hook with a thin peacock head. Trout take this simple midge ever so lightly in deep runs on sunny days. -- Joel Evans

Tailwaters require a change in tactics to fool wary fish. Be sneaky. Don't just splash your way along the stream. Remember the rules for crossing a street? Watch, look and listen. At first, don't even cast. Instead, observe. Using polarized sunglasses, peer into the holes and riffles to locate fish. Since we are talking bigger than average trout, you will often be able to spot them before they spot you.

Knowing where they are before you cast gives you a big advantage. Often you may be focusing on a single fish, so adjust your angle of approach, study the subtle flows of the current, and plan where you can land the fish - all before you make your cast.

Numerous reservoirs in Colorado make it easy to find a tailwater near you. Four of the best chances for a larger than average fish include the Frying Pan River below Reudi Reservoir, the Blue River below Dillon Reservoir, the South Platte River below Spinney Mountain Reservoir, and the Taylor River below Taylor Reservoir. Each of these is in a different part of the state, so one of them is close to you. Plan a springtime visit to one of these outstanding fisheries.

Nearby Aspen gets a lot of attention for its glamour and high style. But just a short distance away, up the Fryingpan Valley, finesse is the name of the game. Only patient fishermen need apply for a workout here. It is a rare day that the hookups come easy. Typical days mean repeated casts, changing flies, and checking knots and tippets. But attention to detail will be rewarded with browns that commonly go over 18 inches and weigh 3 to 5 pounds with the potential for rainbows over 10 pounds.

"Flows usually increase in April and the big rainbows cruise the river looking to spawn," according to Tim Heng of Taylor Creek Fly Shop in Basalt. "The big fish are shrimp and midge eaters, so trail a mysis behind a midge," he said.

Sight-fishing with a partner to spot fish and watch for a take can be a big boost. Complacent trout move very little for a take, so you must put a fly on their nose and watch for the white inside of their mouth to show, signaling the intake of your fly. Often, strike indicators are useless. An educated fish will test your fly and spit it out before your strike indicator pauses, and you will have missed the take. These trout are so accustomed to fishermen and flies that if they feel a tippet touch them or a fly doesn't look right, they don't spook, but lazily drift aside.

To access the Fryingpan, leave Highway 82 at Basalt in west-central Colorado, and head east through town and up the Fryingpan Road. In the 13 miles between Basalt and the dam, there is a patchwork of well-marked public and private land. Anywhere along the way is better than average fishing, but the big fish mostly hang out in the one mile public section immediately below the dam from the Toilet Bowl down to Baetis Bridge.