FRISCO — For those avid in the fight to fool fish with feathers, the battle is often entirely mental — a quest to figure out just the right pattern to outsmart those pesky trout.

It can be frustrating; it can be draining.

But, right now, Frisco's Zeke Hersh says it's a good time to give your brain a break. After all, with conditions so strong for local anglers, not much thinking is required — or at least, not as much as usual.

“Right now, fishing is pretty good on every river — all kinds of hatches happening,” said Hersh, owner of Blue River Anglers. “Really, fish aren't very particular right now. So, big attractors — either on top of the surface for attractor dries or below the surface for big attractor nymphs — are good. You don't have to be too picky for your fly selection, right now, which makes for good fishing.”

Water levels have been steadily dropping, and with so many hatches surrounding local streams, Hersh said you can't go wrong heading out to nearly any river.

Although, nothing's hotter right now than the upper stretches of both the Arkansas and South Platter rivers. Hersh said his guides have returned from trips on both rivers raving about the hatches. Everything from yellow Sallies to brown drakes to grasshoppers have been popping up in those areas, and the fish are hitting on all of them.

The Colorado River, Hersh said, is also producing a lot of fish.

“I floated the Colorado the last couple days,” he said. “Evenings have been phenomenal, although the mosquitoes have been pretty bad. Big foam attractors and big nymphs (are working).”

On the Blue River, Hersh said drake hatches have been popping up and the pale morning duns (PMDs) should be coming shortly. There are also plenty of caddis along the Blue, Hersh said.

“The Blue is still dropping,” Hers said. “So once it stabilizes, I think it will fish really well north of (Silverthorne). And the caddis hatches will be substantial.”

And with everything hatching so well, Hersh suggests getting out and dropping a line.

“Everything is kind of peaking right now. We should have a couple weeks of peak fishing as far as hatches go,” he said. “Right now is the best time to get out there.”

Tip of the week: Fish the banks

Even though the water levels in the area have dropped substantially in the past few weeks, Hersh said most of the bigger fish are still sneaking up along the banks.

“Look for the back eddies and those undercut banks,” he said. “That's where the biggest fish will be.”

Although Hersh said to watch out for snagging the bank with your cast, it's still worth digging the fly out of a bush if it happens.

“Closer to the bank, the better,” he said. “Even if you snag a couple times on the bank, one time you'll get a big fish.”