There are many short, deep pockets and pools on the upper Roaring Fork. Lob your flies and shot to the head of the pool and let them sink down to the bottom. Lift your rod tip as the nymphs float back to you and keep a tight line to detect strikes. Art Rowell of Frying Pan Anglers in Basalt believes that the Roaring Fork is an excellent streamer river, especially the lower stretches. Either sink-tip lines or heavily weighted flies on floating lines will take fish.
Woolly buggers are the most popular pattern, but matukas and spruce flies also work well.
One reliable local pattern is the autumn splendor. The Pitkin County Airport in Aspen will put you on the ground a stone's throw from the Roaring Fork but flying into Denver will often save money on airfares. It is a straight shot 140 miles west on I-70 from Denver to Glenwood Springs. Exit 116 on I-70 will take you to SR 82. From its headwaters just shy of Independence Pass, the Roaring Fork runs along SR 82 through the communities of Aspen, Woody Creek, Snowmass Village, Basalt and Carbondale before it meets the Colorado River at Glenwood Springs.