Time: 12:00PM – 4:00PM

Location: Two of the many ponds

Curtain Ponds 06/28/2024 Photo Album

My day on Hermosa Creek and the East Fork whet my appetite for stream fishing; however, when I reviewed the flows on Thursday evening, I determined that river and stream options along the Front Range and within a couple hours were limited. The Yampa River within the town of Steamboat Sprints dropped to the 900 CFS range, and I love edge fishing at that level, but the drive was more than six hours round trip, and I was unable to plan a Friday night stayover. Friday kicked off the Fourth of July week, and of course, campsites were at a premium.

First Pond Fished

I enjoyed my recent trip to the Curtain Ponds, and I felt like I failed to capitalize as a result of high wind and the loss of my hat incident, so I decided to give it another try. I was concerned about traffic heading into the mountains for the holiday week, but a quick check of my map application revealed that the drive was only slightly longer than normal.

Brilliant Orange Belly

I made the drive and arrived at the parking lot by 11:30AM, so I opted to enjoy my lunch from the comfort of the driver’s seat before launching my day of fishing. Once I consumed my small meal, I fitted together my Loomis two piece five weight. The temperature was a cool 62 degrees, so I slid into my raincoat, and I marched up the shoulder of the highway to my target starting point. The weather on Friday was typical of the Rocky Mountains with mostly sunny skies interrupted by periods of heavy clouds including one very brief cloud burst that included small hail balls. I weathered it all.

Circling AroundSuch Color

I began my day at one of the ponds with a size 14 peacock hippie stomper and a size 16 deer hair caddis. The double dry combination served me well on Friday, and the same flies remained on my line for the duration of my fly fishing experience. I prospected along the western/southern end of the pond for the first 2.5 hours, and I landed thirty brightly colored brook trout. 60% of the brookies grabbed the caddis and 40% chose the hippie stomper. Initially I cast and waited for a fish to crush one of the flies, as they remained motionless, but eventually I discovered that quick jerking strips attracted attention, and this was particularly true during periods of wind, when the pond surface got riffled.

Stretched OutVivid Colors on This One

The brook trout were all in the six to nine inch range with possibly one or two reaching ten inches, but they made up for their lack of size with brilliant colors. Many sported bright orange bellies and an array of subtle hues in the vermiculation along the back and sides.

Around the Corner

By 2:30PM I boosted the fish count to thirty fish, so I decided to move to a different pond. From previous experience I knew that this pond contained larger and more selective trout, and I was curious to know whether the technique that fooled many fish in the first pond would generate similar results in the more challenging body of water.

Gentle GripAnother Pond

In short, the answer was no, the technique did not translate. I managed to land two additional brook trout with the last fish of the day perhaps the largest, but quite a bit of futile casting accompanied my two fish catch rate in the last hour of fishing. I saw fewer rises, and I suspect that the fish density of the second lake was far less than the first lake that I fished.

Last and Perhaps Best

Friday was all about beauty and numbers of fish, but I was quite pleased with the outcome of my trip. After a week of traveling and mostly sightseeing in southwestern Colorado, I was tempted to pass up fly fishing on Friday, but I was pleased with my decision to make the holiday week journey. Hopefully I will soon be edge fishing freestones in Colorado and feeding that fly fishing addiction.

Fish Landed: 32

Time: 1:30PM – 3:30PM

Location: Below the confluence of the East and West Forks of Hermosa Creek

Hermosa Creek 06/23/2024 Photo Album

I found the Hermosa Trail parking lot, and I was surprised by the presence of quite a few vehicles. I quickly learned that the Hermosa Creek Trail was popular with mountain bikers. I was already suited up with my waders, and my rod was rigged, so I quickly departed. My goal was to fish below the confluence of the two forks in order to find higher flows and more forgiveness for my casts.

High and Tinged with Color

Early Catch

I hiked for .8 mile, and I reached the main stem, but then I encountered five sets of single or paired anglers. I pressed on and eventually cut to the creek at 1.2 miles. I decided to go deep in the slightly elevated and tinged flows, so I swapped the Chernobyl ant for a size 8 yellow fat Albert and then added an emerald caddis pupa on a three foot dropper followed by a size 12 prince nymph on a one foot extension. These flies remained in place for the first 45 minutes, before I swapped the emerald caddis pupa for a salvation nymph, after I spotted what appeared to be pale morning duns.

What I Fish For

For two hours I deployed the dry/dropper, and I boosted the fish count to sixteen. Nearly all the landed fish savored the prince except for one caddis pupa eater and a pair of salvation chompers. I truly enjoyed this two hours of stream fishing. The trout were where I expected for the most part.

Very Nice Section

What was I catching? All but one from the main stem were brightly colored cutthroat, cutbows and rainbows. Several of the cutthroats were stunning with bright red cheeks and breasts. The largest fish was possibly ten inches, but these wild, finned creatures compensated for their lack of size with vivid colors.

Flaming Colors

Just before I quit I encountered a gorgeous long and deep pool created by a small rock dam. Quite a few fish were rising to something small, so I shed the dry/dropper, added a section of 5X and tied on a size 22 CDC BWO. I managed to catch a seven inch brook trout for number sixteen, and then I proceeded to cast to a bush on the opposite bank. I circled around the bottom of the pool and rescued my fly, but when I returned the fish halted their brief feeding. This was my cue to end my day, and I hiked .8 mile back to the parking lot.

A Bit of Depth on the Left

Sunday was a fun day exploring a new stream for me and catching my favorite trout, the cutthroat. The beauty of the fish was matched only by the surroundings.

Fish Landed: 16

Time: 10:45AM – 12:15PM

Location: Meadow section two miles above confluence with West Fork

East Fork of Hermosa Creek 06/23/2024 Photo Album

Upon our arrival in Durango, I visited Duranglers to suck up local information on fly fishing conditions. I follow Duranglers on Instagram, thus the connection. In exchange for information I bought a spool of Rio 5X tippet, but I must confess that I was shocked at the price. The young man who helped me find the tippet rack suggested three stream options for me to consider. After enduring heavy rain on Thursday and Friday in southwestern Colorado, I was favorably surprised to learn that stream fishing was a possibility. The three choices before me were Hermosa Creek, Cascade Creek and Lime Creek. Each of these streams were high elevation creeks that were beyond the peak run off conditions.

Narrow Meadow Stream

I chose to begin on the East Fork of Hermosa Creek. To reach this pretty spot, I turned at Purgatory Ski Area and twisted on a moderately rough dirt road over the top of the mountain that hosts the ski area. I dropped over the western side, and in a short amount of time, I spotted a narrow ribbon of a stream running through a lush and wide open meadow. I passed up a couple scarce pullouts and then finally snagged a wide shoulder location. The temperature was in the upper 60’s, so I passed up layers and stuffed my raincoat in my backpack. I set up my Sage R8 four weight, and I ambled down the road a short distance, before I cut over to the creek.

Jewel of a Trout

The stream was a thin band of water rarely more than five feet wide with dense overhanging bushes. For the next 1.5 hours I worked my way upstream and executed daps and slingshot casts to possible fish holding lies. It was a challenge. I spooked a few fish, but I did land two very pretty cutthroats in the nine inch range along with three sub-six inch gems. My offering was a size 10 Chernobyl ant and a beadhead hares ear nymph on an eight inch dropper. This was definitely tough fishing, and I grew frustrated with the inevitable snags of bushes. At 12:15PM the sky darkened, so I scooted back to the car and ate my lunch from the driver’s seat, until the worst of the precipitation subsided.

One of the Better Spots

The map at the fly shop depicted an additional drive of two miles to reach the confluence of the East and West Forks, so I executed a U-turn and made the exploratory drive.

Fish Landed: 2

Chernobyl Ant Drew Interest But No Takes

Time: 10:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Trail side of the ponds

Curtain Ponds 06/12/2024 Photo Album

Exactly one year ago today I fished the Curtain Ponds with modest results. I had an open day for fly fishing on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, and with nearly all viable moving water options blown out with snow melt, I decided that a lake was my best alternative. Temperatures were projected to peak in the mid-90’s in Denver, so I wanted a lake that was higher in elevation with cooler temperatures, but not so high that snow and ice remained a barrier to fishing. I narrowed my possibilities to the Curtain Ponds and Clear Lake. My friend, Nate, stopped at Curtain Ponds to test the waters a few weeks ago, and he told me that he saw no evidence of fish, so that caused some concern, but a year ago I was impressed with the quantity of wild fish, and I was fairly certain that they remained. I decided to give it a go but used Clear Lake as my default should construction traffic on Interstate 70 prove to be a problem.

I kept my map app open, as I drove west, and I never spotted red or yellow, so I made the strategic decision to press on to the Curtain Ponds. Even though I did not do that well quality wise in 2023, I was impressed with the population of wild fish right next to the interstate.

I arrived at the parking lot next to the bike path at 10:00AM, and by the time I equipped myself for a day of fly fishing and hiked down the path, it was 10:30AM. I rigged my Sage R8 four weight, and I wore no extra layers. The air temperature was around 65 degrees, as I began, and it never warmed above the low seventies. Quite a bit of cloud cover rolled by throughout the day, and this held the temperatures in check. At lunch time I was chilled, so I slipped into my rain shell, and this proved to be useful, when two brief rain showers dropped precipitation on me.

I began the morning with a single dry fly presentation that featured a size 16 olive-brown deer hair caddis. Almost immediately I became acquainted with the cycle that repeated itself throughout the day. A large cloud would block the sun, and the wind kicked up, and this in turn generated riffles on the surface of the pond. During the morning the rises were extremely sporadic, but I covered them with the caddis and only managed a few refusals for my efforts.

Small Pond Yielded the First Catch

After an hour of fruitless casting, I decided to inspect the next pond below the one that I occupied. This pond was smaller and featured some current from Ten Mile Creek spilling over a log. As I stopped to observe, the pond suddenly exploded with rises. The fish appeared to be quite small, but I nevertheless began spraying casts to the upper end of the pond, where most of the rises appeared. No dice, so I turned my attention to the center of the small body of water, and I noted a rise just beyond some tufts of grass. I turned my body to the north and lobbed a medium range cast to the scene of the surface disturbance; and, whack, a nice twelve inch brown trout inhaled the caddis. I know it was twelve inches, because I coaxed it into my net to photograph and release. I was surprised and pleased by this turn of events.

First in the Net

I worked the small pond for another fifteen minutes, and then I found a small square of dry grass among the swampy peninsulas on the west side of the pond, and I consumed my lunch. After lunch I returned to the small bay on the larger lake, and I once again sprayed casts with no positive results. The wind once again kicked up, and this halted visible surface action, so I decided to give the dry/dropper method a trial. I watched a stillwater video from Charlie’s Fly Box on Tuesday night, and the lake expert suggested that wind was the friend of the angler, as wave action caused the nymphs or droppers to bob and attract the attention of fish. I gave it a try. I added a size 22 flashback zebra midge in the top position with a black leech on the bottom. I cast this combination for nearly thirty minutes, but I never managed any interest. By 1:00PM I declared the dry/dropper technique a non-starter for June 12.

I moved off the bay to the southeast corner of the lake, and this became my home for the remainder of the day. I returned to the double dry approach for most of this time period; however, during one especially windy and low light time frame, I swapped my entire reel and line for a sinking tip, and I tested an olive slumpbuster trailing a damsel wiggle nymph. I was quite optimistic that one of these flies would draw the attention of the trout, but my rosy outlook was never justified.

Southwest Corner and Beyond

For the most part I spent the afternoon tossing a double dry to surface feeding trout. When the clouds blocked the sun, and the wind kicked up, surface feeding ended. I continued to make fruitless casts, and I generally gave the flies more action by applying short strips and pauses in an attempt to use motion to counter the waves. Once the clouds moved on, however, and the sun reappeared, the surface of the lake shifted to smooth or nearly smooth, and this provoked some fairly active feeding. I stayed with the stomper and then later replaced it with a Chernobyl ant, but I shuffled through a myriad of flies as the trailer.  If my memory serves me, I tried a size 16 olive-brown deer hair caddis, a size 20 parachute Adams, a griffiths gnat, a tiny olive emerger, a trico spinner, a black parachute ant, a size 20 peacock body fly with a CDC wing, and a Jake’s gulp beetle.

Jake’s Gulp Beetle in the Jaw of This Beauty

Only one of these flies produced a fish. Can you guess which one? Surprisingly it was the Jake’s gulp beetle. I was shocked when a fourteen inch brown trout gulped the beetle during one of the time periods, when surface feeding was most intense. I responded with a swift hook set, and the gorgeous brown quickly rested in my net. Needless to say, I was quite pumped with this result.

Best Fish of the Day 

Unfortunately the other fish seemed to ignore the plop of my beetle, and that was the end of my fish count for the day. At one point I spotted a small insect drifting on the surface of the pond, so I stretched my cheesecloth seine over the net opening and captured the targeted natural morsel. Upon closer inspection it was a size 20 midge with a segmented body of black and dark green. Quite a few of my fly changes after this capture attempted to match the specimen that I seined. Alas, it was to no avail, but I did learn that the lake is populated by a decent population of wary and selective trout.

Two trout in five hours of fishing is a woeful performance from a quantity perspective, but I was not bored at all. The two trout that I landed were magnificent wild beauties, and my mind was totally locked into trying to solve the mystery of what the fish were feasting on. I never really solved the riddle, but it was an invigorating challenge nonetheless, and river and stream options are not an alternative, so I made the best of a day in June.

Fish Landed: 2

Time: 11:00AM – 3:00PM

Location: Western levee

Beaver Lake 06/07/2024 Photo Album

We planned a trip to Carbondale, CO to visit our daughter, Amy, on June 6 – 9. I was excited for the opportunity to fly fish the Frying Pan River tailwater, as it was one of the few moving water options that was not blown out by snow melt.

When we arrived at Amy’s house, I decided to confirm that the flows remained in the 260 CFS range, as this was the level that displayed, when I checked several days prior to our trip. In short, the flows did not remain in that range. Over the previous twenty-four hours the water level climbed to 470 CFS. I was more than disappointed. When I informed Amy of this turn of events, she produced an article from the local online newspaper that outlined the program to implement flushing flows on the Colorado River at Grand Junction to assist in the reproduction of endangered native fish species. Reudi Reservoir was one of the dams participating  in the coordinated releases, and the water manager announced that flows on the Frying Pan River would peak at around 650 CFS before returning to pre-flushing flows in a couple days. My timing could not have been worse.

I was not inclined to sacrifice a day of planned fly fishing on the western slope, so I initiated a web search of local lakes and quickly settled on two options: Reudi Reservoir and Beaver Lake. I was familiar with Reudi, since I fished it a few times while camping at Little Maud Campground. I also visited Beaver Lake several years ago after a hiking expedition near the town of Marble. Beaver Lake is situated on the southern edge of the small town of Marble next to the upper Crystal River. During that visit, the lake was overrun with tubes, SUP’s, kayaks, and pool toys; and Friday was forecast to feature high temperatures in the upper eighties, so a repeat of that experience was a concern.

Nice Conditions Early On

I found another article from the Aspen newspaper online, and it announced the Colorado Department of Wildlife policy of limiting usage of Beaver Lake to hunting and fishing, and it stressed the requirement of a State Wildlife Area license or a hunting or a fishing license. This, and the prospect of fishing a new body of water, sold me on a drive to Marble, CO to fish Beaver Lake.

I arrived at the small parking lot at the Beaver Lake State Wildlife Area at 10:15AM, and several vehicles and fishermen preceded me. The temperature was 72 degrees, but some large gray clouds in the western sky prompted me to slide into my rain shell. The rain protection came in handy during several periods of wind, chill, and light rain. In fact, one small storm forced me to retreat to the car for an angling rain delay. I put together my Sage R8 four weight to facilitate longer casts, and I marched around the northern shoreline to the western levee that separated the lake from the bloated and muddy Crystal River.

Between 11:00AM and 3:00PM I fished a thirty yard stretch of shoreline in an attempt to land a Beaver Lake trout. My efforts were only interrupted by lunch, the rain delay, and a visit from my daughter and wife after their wonderful hike. I deployed three different fly fishing approaches, but none resulted in a flopping fish in my net. Early and late I tossed a double dry fly rig with a hippie stomper and chubby Chernobyl with a variety of trailing dries including a gray stimulator, a size 16 olive-brown deer hair caddis, a black parachute ant, and a size 20 parachute Adams. I observed very sporadic rises throughout my tenure on the lake, and three or four tentative refusals were highlights.

Damsel Just Emerged

My second method was a dry/dropper with a beadhead hares ear as the dropper. The hippie stomper dove a couple times, but I attributed the action to weed snags. My third approach was a streamer gambit. I spotted and photographed a few damsel nymphs emerging on the shoreline rocks, so I knotted a wiggle nymph to my line. I truly believed that I found the answer, since I read numerous articles about torrid lake fishing during a damsel nymph migration to emergence on shore side weeds and rocks. I utilized a hand twist retrieve with no weight, but there was no response from the fish.

This Damsel Was Further Along in Its Transformation

Perhaps the nymph needed to crawl along the bottom to entice an eat? I added a split shot and a black ghost and trailed the wiggle nymph, and during this phase of my fly fishing day I felt a take and set the hook. I felt the throb of a fish, but after five seconds the fish flopped free, and I was mired in a day of skunking.

Western Shoreline View

By 3 o’clock my confidence plummeted, and I returned to the car to feel sorry for myself. My lake fishing expertise is still in its formative stages. The weather was nice, the scenery was spectacular, and I watched two juvenile eagles circle the lake, so the day was a success in spite of the challenging fishing.

Fish Landed: 0

Time: 10:30AM – 3:45PM

Location: Staunton State Park

Davis Ponds 06/03/2024 Photo Album

After nine days without fly fishing I was anxious to visit a local stream or lake. The incision on my right arm was healing nicely, and I felt confident that the stitches would hold through a day of fly fishing. Several pickleball outings without further damage were a good sign.

I reviewed all the stream flows throughout Colorado, and I concluded that the only options were tailwaters, and I was not interested in a long trip. I visited the Davis Ponds quite a few times over the last several years during snowmelt, so I settled on the fairly local stillwater spots for my day of fly fishing on Monday, June 3, 2024.

When I pulled into the parking lot at the trailhead, the temperature registered 62 degrees, and quite a few dense gray clouds hovered in the western sky. In deference to the one mile inbound hike, I avoided extra layers, but I stuffed my rain shell in my backpack. I removed my Sage R8 four weight from its tube, and I made it my casting tool for Monday. By the end of the day the temperature was in the upper seventies, and I never resorted to the extra rain layer, although heavy cloud cover held the temperature down in the morning hours.

Green Meadow Along the Inbound Hike

I began my day at the lower pond, and I rigged with a peacock hippie stomper and trailed a gray stimulator. The hippie stomper was mostly ignored, and the gray stimulator failed to create interest, so I swapped the stimulator for an olive-brown body deer hair caddis. I used my position on the rocky dam embankment to spray casts in all directions, and by the time I took my lunch break, the fish count rested on three.

My Corner of the Pond for the Morning

Another fly angler arrived along the southeastern shoreline, and he was experiencing decent success, so I observed him for awhile. He had a bright green indicator, and he was casting and allowing the subsurface offerings to hang motionless for long periods. Eventually he executed a slow hand twist retrieve. I was very impressed with his patience, but I was unable to dedicate the same amount of watchful waiting to my own efforts. Since he seemed to be experiencing decent success with something subsurface, I added a long leader to the hippie stomper, and I cycled through an array of nymphs and pupa. The hippie stomper accounted for the first fish of the day; a very small rainbow trout that appeared quite close to the shoreline. The second trout snatched a bright green caddis pupa, as I quickly lifted to make a new cast, and the third rainbow sipped the hippie stomper. In between these landed fish, I experienced a ridiculous quantity of refusals. The fish seemed to approach the hippie stomper and bump their noses against the fly in the ultimate snub. Other nymphs and pupa tried before lunch were the pheasant tail nymph, soft hackle emerger, salad spinner, and black mini leech; but none of these fly choices registered success.

Among the Morning Catch

After lunch I decided to ignore the other angler, and I returned to a double dry fly approach. By 1:30PM I was bored and stuck on three fish, so I decided to explore the upper pond. I hiked along the west side of both of the small bodies of water, and I situated myself along the western shoreline of the north pond. The wind was becoming a significant nuisance, but quite a few rises in the smooth protected area near my position got my juices flowing. For the remainder of the day I fanned casts from the upper half of the western shoreline, and I managed to increment the fish count from three to seven. The conversion rate of cast to landed trout was horrible, but persistence yielded four small stocker rainbow trout. One trout sipped a black parachute ant and another grabbed a size 20 parachute Adams, with the remainder fooled by the hippie stomper. I also tested a Chernobyl ant, size 22 black gnat, an olive-brown body deer hair caddis, and a hippie stomper with a red metallic body.

Inlet and Corner of the Northern Pond

I also experimented with different retrieval methods ranging from sitting motionless to staccato strips to long strips to quick pulses. Sitting motionless and a couple quick strips with pause seemed to garner the most success, although I am not bold enough to suggest that I figured anything out. During the afternoon, refusals once again frustrated me to no end.

One of My Successes in the Afternoon

A dad with two young boys arrived during the afternoon. When the boys noticed I had a fish, they sprinted along the lake to join me. I allowed them to touch the fish, and then I asked the oldest to wait, while I removed the fly, and then I filmed him releasing my rainbow. Apparently their dad was still rigging their rods for action.

Seven fish in five hours of casting is rather slow fishing. How could stocked fish be so choosey already? Quite a few fish remain in the two ponds, but I never solved the puzzle. The hippie stomper produced the most fish, but I probably logged five refusals for every hooked fish. By 3:45PM, I was quite weary and faced a one mile hike back to the parking lot, so I reeled in my line and called it quits. I was very tired by the time I arrived home on Monday evening.

Fish Landed: 7