Time: 9:30AM – 2:15PM

Location: Between Buford and Trappers Lake

North Fork of the White River 069/12/2024 Photo Album

Thursday was my last day in the Flattops and my get away day. I gathered all my belongings from the Aspen cabin at the Ute Lodge, and I was on my way for one last day of fly fishing. I planned to get an early start and leave early in order to allow for a reasonable arrival time at my my home in Denver, CO. Little did I know that two significant traffic snarls awaited me, adding thirty minutes to my already lengthy drive. One was on the west side of Vail Pass, and the other was the approach to the Eisenhower Tunnel.

Early Gem

Getting Bigger

In previous years I experienced great success on a section of the North Fork, and I reserved it for Thursday. The temperature, when I arrived, was 54 degrees, so I bypassed added layers, but I did pull on my raincoat. I planned to wear it for the first hour or so, but it remained in place during my entire time on the river. The reason for this was the fly angler’s four letter word, wind. The wind gusted for significant amounts of time, and I was forced to halt my casting, turn my back and hold my hat in place numerous times. Fortunately I was on a small stream with fast water that enabled me to approach relatively close, thus, facilitating short casts.

Brighter Colors Too

Brook Trout Joins the Parade

Perfect Holding Spot on High Gradient Stream

I chose this stretch of the North Fork, since it produced abundant quantities of fish in prior years, and I was concerned that I would not have as much time on the water due to my planned early departure. As it turned out, my plan was on the mark, although I still logged 4.5 hours of fly fishing. During this time I landed forty-six trout. Yes, aside from the constant battle with the wind, it was a magnificent day.

Another Respite from the Churn

Pumpkin or Fish?

After I intersected with the stream, I continued to hike without fishing for a decent distance. I wanted to make sure I reached my planned exit point by early afternoon, and the early section was characterized by high gradient and limited fish holding locations. When I finally began casting, I armed my Loomis two piece five weight with a size 14 olive ice dub hippie stomper and a salvation nymph. These same patterns remained on my line throughout my tenure on the North Fork. During the first hour I landed eight, after two hours the fish count rested on seventeen. In the morning session one-third of the landed trout crushed the hippie stomper, but this ratio shifted dramatically in the afternoon.

Long One

Look at This Flipper of a Tail

After my noontime snack, I continued, and the pace of catching fish accelerated from an already impressive morning rate. The fish counter moved from seventeen to forty-six, before I called it quits at 2:15PM in order to prepare for an early start. During this time period the salvation was king. I could rely on every prime spot to produce one if not two trout, as they aggressively grabbed the shiny nymph, as it tumbled by. My dropper was only 2.5 feet long, so the trout were elevated in the water column and looking for any sort of food to eat.

Home to a Big One

What sort of trout was I catching? Twenty-five percent of the finned creatures that occupied my net were brook trout, and the remainder were rainbow trout and cutbows. A couple of the brook trout approached a foot long, but the real prizes were the cutbows and rainbows. I landed many dazzling, chunky thirteen and twelve inch battlers with a couple fine fish pushing the fourteen inch line. All were healthy and hefty for their length, and they delivered heroic fights in their effort to get free.

Vivid Black Spots on This Cutbow

What type of water did they inhabit? The two main requirements were depth and slow current velocity. I skipped many high gradient stretches with minimal marginal pockets in order to efficiently utilize my limited time, and the strategy was successful.

Narrow and Fast Was Typical

Thursday was an amazing day and perhaps the best of 2024. The angling adventure was a success from both a quality and quantity standpoint. I moved quickly, popped casts, landed fish and snapped photos of the most memorable. The wind was indeed, a nuisance, but it just added to the gratification, when I achieved a high level of success. It was a splendid way to top off a fun week in the Flattops with stunning scenery, mostly beautiful weather, and productive fishing.

Fish Landed: 46

 

Time: 11:30AM – 4:30PM

Location: Upstream from the South Fork Campground

South Fork of the White River 09/11/2024 Photo Album

Wednesday was an interesting day. I was concerned about PM thunderstorms, so I wore my fleece and billed hat with flaps. The temperature in the parking lot was 54 degrees, and it never peaked above the upper 60’s. Part way into my hike, I began to perspire, so I removed the fleece and tied it around my waist. This was obviously not a solution for when I began fishing. I arrived at my chosen destination at 11:15AM, and I immediately made an adjustment, as I tied my fleece around my waist inside my wader bib. It was tight, but it worked.

I Skipped Many Wide Shallow Sections Such as This

Pockets Along the Left Bank Were My Targets

I was armed with my Sage One five weight, and I started my quest for South Fork trout with a tan Amy’s ant, a 20 incher, and a Pat’s rubber leg. The flows seemed a bit higher than normal for this time of year, so I used two weighted flies to get down. After a reasonable trial period, I declared my deep drift strategy a bust, and I replaced the Pat’s rubber legs with a salvation nymph.

Early Success

A Nice Handful

Sweet Spot. Depth and Slower Current

I paused at noon for lunch, and when I resumed, my frustration reached new levels. In the period after lunch I landed one rainbow, and I endured five long distance releases. One can imagine the level of frustration present on the South Fork. I was trapped at one fish and convinced that is where I would remain. I decided to mix things up, so I replaced the 20 incher with an ultra zug bug. A sloppy release of a fish snapped off the salvation, so I replaced it with another. I was hoping for a sharper hook. These moves resulted in a couple decent rainbows to boost the fish count to three, and I remained at this level for a long interval.

Action Improving

Deeper Colors

I was covering a huge amount of water, skipping wide shallow riffles and marginal spots and casting my arm off. The Amy’s ant was not a factor, so I replaced it with my old reliable olive ice dub hippie stomper. Between 2PM and 2:30PM I managed to climb the count to seven, but the action remained lackluster, although quite a few feisty twelve and thirteen inch rainbows were among the landed fish.

Productive Spot

By 2:30 some large dark clouds rolled in, and I managed to pull on my fleece and raincoat and dropped my earflaps, before the precipitation descended. I waited out the ten minute downpour, before I resumed casting. Needless to say, I was pleased with my foresight which provided the extra warmth to withstand the temperature drop and rain. I continued to stress, however, about how to carry the fleece on my return hike.

A Fine Trout

Once the storm passed, the fishing conditions shifted dramatically. I surmised that the long distance releases and lack of consistent action stemmed from the salvation not being a close enough imitation of the pale morning dun nymph. I swapped it for a hare nation, which is essentially a salvation with hares ear legs rather than rubber legs. The results were immediate. Between 3:00PM and 4:30PM, I doubled the fish count from seven to fourteen, and number twelve was the fish of the trip. The wide slab of a rainbow nipped the hair nation and fought me up and down the run, before I was able to slip it into my net. It was the fish of the trip so far, as it extended the length of my net opening. The girth was the more impressive characteristic. In addition to slab sides, numbers nine and eleven were also in the same length range, however, they failed to carry the extreme poundage of number twelve. They were not lean trout, just not as thick as the prize of the day.

Another Trout Condo

At 4:30PM I approached a long wide and shallow riffle section, so I stripped in my line and hooked the end fly to the rod guide. I solved my concern over carrying layers back to the parking lot by stuffing my raincoat in the backpack, and I tied the arms of the fleece around my neck.

Best of the Day

Most of the day was slow and frustrating, but the last 1.5 hours turned my fortunes around. The South Fork is a tough river, and I question whether a return is in my future. Yet, the image of those three fifteen inch rainbows may draw me back in a future year.

Fish Landed: 14

Time: 10:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: Between Buford and Trappers Lake

North Fork of the White River 09/10/2024 Photo Album

On day two in the Flattops I confirmed that a lot of beautiful fish reside in the relatively remote high mountain region. I spent another day on the North Fork of the White River, however, I chose a different section.

Pollinating

My Home for Three Nights

The air temperature at my cabin, when I departed, was 44 degrees, but it increased to 51 degrees by the time I arrived at my chosen pullout. In an effort to remain comfortable, until the  sun warmed the atmosphere, I pulled on my rain shell. For my casting tool I chose my Loomis two piece five weight. I expected to cast a lot of dry/droppers.

Copper and Scarlet

Brook Trout Resting

Watermelon Colors

In the two hours before I paused for lunch, I used a tan pool toy hopper size 8 and a size 14 prince nymph to elevate the fish count to ten. The hopper accounted for three trout and numerous refusals, while the dependable prince delivered the remainder to my waiting net. The morning session transpired in some high gradient terrain, and I skipped around quite a few narrow sections with minimal trout holding possibilities.

Nature’s Palette

Mostly Rainbow Here

What a Spot

After lunch I reconfigured my offerings with a size 14 peacock hippie stomper and a salvation nymph. I read my blog posts on the North Fork from recent years, and they cited these flies as effective. The action was not immediately improved over the morning, but after twenty minutes, the fish demonstrated their appetite for my two flies. The key was finding deep water with length. Short, deep pockets did not produce, nor did long riffles, if the current velocity was too strong.

Turned Around

Trout and Leaf

Between 12:30PM and 3:30PM I landed another forty-eight trout to boost the daily total to fifty-eight! Whew! What a day! I covered a significant amount of river length, as I searched for stream characteristics that consistently yielded trout.

Perhaps the Best Pool

What type of trout was I catching? Unlike previous years, the cutbows and rainbows far outnumbered brook trout. I estimate that ten of the total catch were brook trout. Two of the brookies approached twelve inches, which is impressive for that species in Colorado streams. The cutbows were amazing. Thirteen inches was likely the maximum, but the patterns and colors of these trout were magnificent. It seemed that the cutbows were in varying stages of hybridization. The body color varied from the light gray displayed by rainbows to the deep copper hue of a cutthroat. Pink stripes and scarlet cheeks blended with an orange slash and dense spot patterns to make the fish absolute jewels.

I will be extremely interested to see what tomorrow offers from the Flattop streams. Tuesday was a rare fly fishing bonanza, and I am thankful to maintain my ability to enjoy another year in this wilderness wonderland.

Fish Landed: 58

 

 

 

Time: 1:00PM – 5:00PM

Location: Between Buford and Trappers Lake

North Fork of the White River 09/09/2024 Photo Album

Monday was the start of my annual fly fishing adventure in the Flattops region of Colorado. I made this four plus hour drive every year for at least the last eight, although I abandoned my camping days for the moderate comfort of the Ute Lodge. My usual accommodations in the Pine cabin were reserved (I actually met the occupant), so I settled for the equally rustic Aspen cabin.

Cattle Roundup near the Gateway to the Flattops

I arrived at my fly fishing destination just after noon on Monday, September 9, 2024, so I immediately broke out my modest lunch. The dashboard thermometer registered 71 degrees, however, this was probably the peak, as high cloud cover blocked the sun for most of the afternoon and held the temperature in check. In fact, steady rain commenced at the end of my day, as I started my car to continue my drive to the Ute Lodge.

I utilized my Sage One five weight, in case I needed the extra backbone to control the hot rainbows of the North Fork. Once I was thoroughly prepared, I hiked along the road, until I found a gradual trail to the river. The wind kicked up during my early tenure on the river, and I was thankful for the larger five weight rod. I began my fly fishing outing with a size 8 yellow fat Albert, a size 12 prince nymph on a four foot dropper, and a salvation nymph on a one foot extension. My set up was rather long by dry/dropper standards.

Narrow Spot Where Tangle Occurred

I began lobbing casts in a narrow braid with tight surrounding trees, and this awkward approach along with wind created a massive snarl. It required two casts, and I ended up removing all the flies and the four foot tippet extension in order to tame the tangle. In reality I did not begin fishing until 1:45PM as a result of the massive monofilament mess.

Pleased with This Early Catch

Foot Long Brook Trout

Love the Slick

Once I returned to action, the day progressed admirably. I landed nineteen trout, before I quit at 5:00PM in time to avoid the impending rain. Two of my landed fish were 11-12 inch brook trout, and the remainder were hard charging rainbows. Even the small ones offered significant resistance, after a hook penetrated their lips. The rainbow catch included a chunky fourteen inch fish along with three feisty thirteen inchers, and a number of foot long fighters. The quality of the fish was exemplary.

Shimmering Coiled Trout

Taking the Plunge

Long Drifts Here

As with previous years, I covered a good amount of stream real estate while skipping long stretches of wide, shallow riffles. I focused on spots with decent depth and long slots and runs. The selective prospecting seemed to work, as I landed multiple fish from quite a few locations. Of course, not all was rosy, as I experienced quite a few temporary connections, and some of these appeared to result from prize fish. I played a massive whitefish for a minute or two, before it broke off my entire fly offering. What a ponderous beast it was! I was not happy, but I avoided profanity. In total I lost five flies due to break offs.

Copper Body Color on This One

Long One

Another Fine Rainbow

Monday was a promising start to four days of fly fishing in the Flattops. I am a weary but satisfied fly angler.

Fish Landed: 19