Pink Spring

Pink is great. Rainbows are either spawning, getting ready to spawn, or just finishing up the spawn. This all depends on the individual fish and which river, stream, or lake we're talking about. Some have been spawning in the spring creeks for awhile now, while they are just getting started on the Bighorn. Regardless of where you fish this time of year, there is always a good chance of getting some fish on PINK. Eggs a plenty in various shades of orange, amber, red, and pinkish hues are being spewed into the water right now so all the fish are looking for them and know that bright colored goodies mean food. The trick is to practice some self control and avoid the spawning beds or redds.

Pink has always been a staple on western tailwaters and I can't tell you how many times I've heard people talk about finding fish that are keyed into orange scuds or pink sowbugs. Just for the record, scuds and sowbugs are olive, gray, or tan in the "wild". The actual color varies, but they are always a muted tone that probably has more to do with the alkalinity and habitat than anything. They turn orange when they die due to some chemical process of which I don't know much about, but that's what happens.
So, the point is that the fish are probably looking more for eggs than dead scuds and that's what they taking our orange and pink flies for in the end.