Fryingpan River

Mysis shrimp and trophy 'bows in a cold canyon tailwater.

The Fryingpan flows roughly 14 miles from Ruedi Reservoir down a steep, cottonwood-and-spruce canyon to its confluence with the Roaring Fork at Basalt. The bottom-draw release from Ruedi keeps the river cold and clear year-round, and CPW manages the entire reach below the dam as Gold Medal trout water.

The fishery is built around an unusual food source: Mysis shrimp flushed through the dam from the reservoir. The river's most famous wild rainbow trout — the so-called "toads" of the upper reach — eat them year-round and grow accordingly.