Time: 10:30AM – 3:30PM
Location: Along the Marvine Creek Trail
Marvine Creek 09/13/2017 Photo Album
Given the closure of the North Fork near Himes Peak, I decided to try new water on Wednesday. Hiking into the South Fork again was an option, but I quickly eliminated it, as I was not willing to undertake back to back strenuous hikes. I was saving the section of the North Fork, that I fished on Monday for Thursday, since it was along my return route and close to my new campground. I relocated to the North Fork Campground on Tuesday evening after returning from my trek into South Fork canyon.
I read on several sources that Marvine Creek was an interesting small stream with plentiful brook trout and the occasional larger rainbow. This description appealed to my love of high mountain small stream fishing, so I decided to explore new water.
It was in the low sixties when I began hiking at 9:45 on Wednesday morning from the Marvine Creek trailhead. At first I thought I was at the Denver stock show, as the dirt parking lot was nearly full with vehicles and trailers. Several outfitters arranged makeshift corrals along the east side, and the arched metal entrance gates displayed their names. One wrangler was exercising his horse by trotting around the parking lot, and he extended a friendly greeting to me as he passed by. Eventually I learned that all the trucks and cars belonged to hunters and outfitters, as I never encountered another fisherman during my day on the stream.
Outfitter Corrals
I selected my Orvis Access four weight once again, as it remained strung with a light yellow pool toy, ultra zug bug, and salvation nymph; and the light shorter rod was perfect for small stream fishing. I decided to hike roughly a mile in order to get away from the trailhead and campground, since fishermen never seem to stray too far from their cars and trucks.
After twenty-five minutes I descended from the trail high above a deep canyon section, and here I began my search for Marvine Creek trout. On the return hike I timed the length of the canyon stretch, and I estimated it to be .3 mile. My future to do list includes fishing through this section, as I suspect the typical fisherman avoids it. The area where I commenced fishing was a meadow, and I covered it early in the day while skipping many wide shallow riffle sectors. Between 10:30 and my lunch break at noon I landed ten fish, and I was feeling rather optimistic about my choice of destination. The early going included four rainbows, and the remainder were brook trout.
Stripes and Spots
The ratio of brook trout to rainbows would shift dramatically in favor of brookies after lunch. During the day I landed thirty-three trout, and I estimated that ten were rainbows, and the remainder char. On average the rainbows were larger than the brook trout, although the top fish in length was no more than thirteen inches. Wednesday was simply a day of prospecting and moving and catching small trout in a gorgeous backcountry setting.
Awesome
The brook trout were splendid in their fall spawning colors with deep orange breasts and iridescent spotted bodies. I negotiated through two narrow canyon areas, and while the wading was a challenge and finding decent holding water was difficult, it seemed that my catch rate accelerated. After lunch I suffered a longer than normal lull, and this prompted me to switch to a size fourteen gray stimulator. The attractor dry yielded one fish and numerous refusals, so I converted to a Jake’s gulp beetle. Terrestrials seem to be very popular with high mountain stream inhabitants. In this case, however, the beetle was a flop and failed to generate even a look.
Brook Trout Territory
I returned to the offering that worked earlier, but substituted a size ten Charlie boy hopper for the one legged pool toy. Instead of the standard ultra zug bug and salvation nymph, I attached an emerald caddis pupa. The hopper choice created some action, but the pupa was ineffective, and I reverted to the morning nymph lineup, with an ultra zug bug and salvation nymph making a repeat appearance. The two subsurface flies once again paid their way, as three out of every four fish inhaled the salvation. The two workhorse flies were so popular that they partially unraveled after repeated toothy attacks. This was not a problem, however, as I simply replaced them with one of the many backups in my fly box.
A Large Snack for a Small Fish
In the last 1.5 hours I discovered that the brook trout favored the riffles in Marvine Creek, and I dramatically boosted the fish count, as brookie after brookie slashed the trailing nymphs while they tumbled through two foot deep riffles.
What a fun day! Thirty-three fish were netted in a newly discovered stream in the Flattops. Once again the scenery was superb, the solitude was perfect, and I lost myself in the simple challenge of catching gullible mountain trout. The weather was a bit imperfect, as a storm cloud gathered overhead just as I began my return hike, but I was prepared with my raincoat, and the precipitation did not affect my day. Hopefully I will have an opportunity to return and explore more of Marvine Creek in the near future.
Fish Landed: 33
The Guard Dog Did Not Want to Let Me Pass