Time: 9:45AM – 2:30PM

Location: Between Buford and Trappers Lake

North Fork of the White River 09/18/2026 Photo Album

Friday was my getaway day, so I selected a stretch of the North Fork, where I remained closer to the road for an early departure. I completed all the required tasks for vacating the Pinon cabin at the Ute Lodge and drove to the pullout chosen for fly fishing access.

Lots of Fly Snaggers

The weather forecast predicted a chance of thunderstorms beginning at 1PM and continuing throughout the afternoon. The air temperature was 52 degrees, so I wore my raincoat for warmth and rain protection. Knowing that temperatures can drop precipitously with the onset of a storm caused me to tie a fleece hoodie around my waist and under my waders. As it turned out, a storm never developed, and the hoodie remained around my waist the entire day. For a fly rod I chose my Loomis two piece five weight.

Odd Spot Arrangement

Marvelous Pool

Friday turned out to be one of my best days of 2026, yet it was also weird. I began fishing at 9:45AM and took a lunch break at 11:45AM, and I landed five trout during the two hours in the morning. Throughout this time, I deployed a tan size 10 mini chubby supplemented with a size 14 prince nymph and a size 16 salvation nymph. When I sensed that I was covering prime spots with no success, I shifted to a tan size 8 pool toy hopper trailing a 20 incher. I felt the three fly dry/dropper was too long and snagging bottom too often, and the length was inhibiting the natural drift. In spite of these supposed shortcomings, the five landed fish were beautiful rainbows with thick bodies in the thirteen to fifteen inch range.

Cradled

After lunch I persisted with the hopper and 20 incher and slowly increased the count to eight. I was beginning to fear that Friday was a single digit day, and that is very unusual for the stretch of creek that I was fishing.

Big Tail

Another Shelf Pool

I decided to make a radical change. I migrated to a double dry featuring my ever reliable peacock hippie stomper and a size 16 deer hair caddis with a medium olive body. Initially these flies were ignored, but when I arrived at a wide riffle section, the results suddenly shifted. Suddenly the caddis could not be refused by the resident trout.

A Favorite Spot

Between 12:30PM and 2:30PM I progressed up the stream at a fairly brisk pace, and the dries were on fire. The fish count climbed from eight to thirty-eight in two hours of torrid fly fishing. Five eager eaters snatched the hippie stomper, and the remaining twenty-five grabbed the caddis. It seemed that every viable fish holding locale produced a fish. In fact, some extremely marginal spots also yielded trout.

Another Beast Brook Trout

One might guess that I was landing an abundant quantity of small fish, but that was far from being the case. Many of the netted trout were spectacular wild rainbows and cutbows in the thirteen to fifteen inch range. These fish were healthy as evidenced by their array of bright colors and their thick muscular bodies.

Prime Habitat

Why did I label Friday weird? I was convinced that it was going to be a slow single digit day up until 12:30PM, and then suddenly the action was on fire, and the fish emerged from everywhere. Looking back, I offer two factors of explanation. First, the morning section of the stream was characterized by a steep gradient and few viable fish holding locations. Second, the stream temperature moved into ideal feeding ranges, and the trout stopped hugging the bottom and aggressively sought food. Another oddity was the shift in ratio of brook trout compared to cutbows/rainbows. In past years I probably landed 60% brook trout and 40% bows. During Friday I estimate the ratio to have been 75% rainbows and cutbows vs. 25% brook trout. It was a weird day in many respects, but I will accept that weirdness any day, if it produces large quantities of quality fish. It was a blast and a great way to end my week.

Fish Landed: 38

Time: 2:30PM – 5:00PM

Location: National forest

Marvine Creek 09/17/2026 Photo Album

Well, Thursday did not develop as anticipated. Rain began falling Wednesday evening and continued through the night and into the morning. I repeatedly visited the porch to check the intensity of the rain while also viewing Weather Underground to study the radar map. Initially Weather Underground indicated that the rain would stop by noon, but eventually the rain cloud icon slid to 2:00PM. Several periods of heavy rain interrupted the steady soaking. I did my New York Times games and read my book and ate the lunch I packed , when I optimistically thought that I would be fishing.

One of the More Attractive Spots

Early Stunner

Finally by 1:30PM the rain subsided to a drizzle, so I made the short drive to the Marvine Creek trailhead. The entire parking lot was full except for one space on the north side, so I grabbed it. Archery and muzzleloader seasons were in full swing.

Trout Emerged Along the Log

I geared up and fit together my Sage R8 four weight for small stream action. By the time I was prepared, the rain stopped, and I departed on the trail. The trail was another story. The steady rain converted the sunken trail into a nearly continual muddy hog trough. I did my best to straddle the narrow mud pit or stay on the packed earth that bordered the path, but getting my wading boots muddy was inevitable. I was headed toward wading in a clear mountain stream, so I am not certain why avoidance of mud was a priority.

Big Boy

Brook Trout Haven Was Foam

By 2:30PM I arrived at a narrow canyon section tucked deep below the trail high above. I knew from previous visits that the canyon section lasted for .5 mile, before the bank tapered to allow an easier exit strategy. I gambled that I could cover the .5 mile in 2.5 hours. My theory was that most anglers would not undertake the challenge. Well, I suspect my theory was sound, but I discovered that the narrow streambed and steep gradient provided a limited number of quality holding spots for trout. In addition, being a contortionist would be a huge advantage, as I twisted and turned my seventy-five year old body in all manner of positions to climb over, under and through fallen logs.

A Rare Double of Two Species

Double Site

How was my day? I fished a tan mini chubby with a size 14 beadhead prince and salvation nymph during my time on the creek, and I landed seventeen trout. Unlike previous visits to Marvine, the ratio of rainbow/cutbow/cutthroats to brook trout was 70% to 30%. I have no explanation. As one might expect, quite a few fish were beneath twelve inches including some six inch brook trout. However, the highlight was a fifteen inch cutbow, and I also landed a splendid fat brook trout that extended to thirteen inches. That is large for any Colorado stream let alone small Marvine Creek. Early on I netted a fat thirteen inch cutthroat that tested my four weight.

Pumpkin Brook Trout

Fish producing locations exhibited depth and slowing current, and these spots were rare in the canyon section. Of my seventeen trout landed, nine accumulated in the canyon, and the last eight were found in the wide and open meadow area. If I fish Marvine again, I will skip the high gradient canyon. Nevertheless, I was quite pleased with a seventeen fish day in 2.5 hours of fishing, and I managed a few larger than expected fish from a small mountain stream. At one point I was skeptical that I would even fish on Thursday, September 17.

Fish Landed: 17

Cutthroat with No Slash?

Home of Fish of the Day

Time: 10:30AM – 4:30PM

Location: Between Buford and Trappers Lake

North Fork of the White River 09/16/2026 Photo Album

I decided to fish a different section of the North Fork of the White River on Wednesday. Jane and our friend, Amy, planned to complete a hike and then return to Denver, so I had the Pinon Cabin at Ute Lodge to myself.

Magnificent Colors

Perfect Pocket

The weather forecast was unfavorable with a strong chance of afternoon thunderstorms. It rained all night on Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning.

Nice Fish for Small Stream

Shelf Pool

I arrived at my planned pullout a bit before 10:00AM. The temperature was 60 degrees, so I wore my long sleeve thermal undershirt and my raincoat for warmth and in case of rain. The sky was populated by large puffy gray clouds. I chose my Loomis five weight, as it is shorter and more suited for tight quarters, yet as a five weight, it provides a decent backbone for fighting feisty fish.

Slipping Away

After a thirty minute hike, I arrived at my chosen starting point. I began with a tan size eight pool toy hopper trailing a 20 incher, and the two-fly dry/dropper produced five trout in the morning, before I paused for lunch. One fish crushed the hopper, and the others grabbed the 20 incher, but I felt as if I was bypassing some quality locations with no response to my offerings. All the morning fish were rainbow trout except for a long slender brook trout. The rainbows were quite nice, with most falling in the twelve to thirteen inch range albeit very chunky.

Small Side Pocket

After lunch I decided to change things up, so I switched to a double dry with a leading peacock hippie stomper and a trailing size 16 light olive deer hair caddis. The caddis fooled three fish to increase the fish count to eight, but then a lull ensued.

Prime Real Estate

At 12:45 the warning sounds of thunder transformed into rain. Since I was already wearing my raincoat, I persisted, but in a short amount of time the precipitation descended in sheets with tiny hail balls bouncing off my body. I sought the shelter of a deciduous bush and waited fifteen minutes, until the deluge waned.

Off the Point of the Large Rock

When I resumed fly fishing, the hippie stomper was serving as a distraction as evidenced by refusals, so I exchanged it for Jake’s gulp beetle. The beetle never produced a fish, but it served as an indicator, while the caddis fooled some nice fish. Eventually I encountered another dry spell, and the caddis was struggling to float, so I swapped it for a gray size 14 stimulator. The stimulator yielded a fish or two, until it mysteriously broke off, and I replaced it with another similar stimulator with a light olive body.

Speckled Lips

I slowly advanced the fish count to eighteen by 3:00PM, but it was slow and steady progress. I grew weary of constantly drying my flies, and tracking them in glare and choppy water was a chore, so I reverted to the dry/dropper approach. For the lead surface fly I opted for a size 10 tan mini chubby, and beneath it I hung a size 14 prince nymph and a salvation nymph. I chose the mini chubby, so I could support two beadheads, but I did not want the larger size that created too much of a crash landing when casting.

Swirling Trough

The combination clicked. Between 3:00PM and 4:30PM I advanced up the stream and exploded the fish count from eighteen to forty. The nymphs worked their magic. Initially the prince dominated, but later the salvation became a favored attraction as well. During this time period I encountered the nicest spot on the stream of the day. A long run entered a pool, and I landed eight trout while standing in the same spot. I continued making cast after cast expecting to come up empty after the commotion of earlier fighting fish, but it surprisingly kept producing. What a hot spot!

End of Day Scene

During the afternoon I weathered two additional showers, although they were a short nuisance compared to the 12:45 thunderstorm. From 3:30PM until 4:30PM a fairly heavy hatch of small mayflies commenced. I was tempted to swap the salvation for a RS2, but the salvation was producing, and it seemed like too much trouble to make a change. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush, as they say.

What a day! Forty fish is worth being thankful for. All but two were rainbows or cutbows, with the exceptions being brook trout. This ratio of brook trout seemed low compared to history for this stretch of the North Fork, but I was not complaining. The bows and cutbows were exceptional fish with many in the twelve to thirteen inch range, skewed to the upside. Could the low brook trout count be attributable to spawning activity? It seems early. I look forward to day three tomorrow. Weather is expected to once again be unsettled.

Fish Landed: 40

Time: 10:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Between Trappers Lake and Buford

North Fork of the White River 09/15/2026 Photo Album

The week beginning with Monday, September 14 was my annual trip to the Ute Lodge in the Flattops area of Colorado. In 2026, however, I was joined by my wife, Jane, and our friend, Amy. Jane and Amy drove separately on Monday, while I navigated the two passes on the Flattops Scenic Byway in the Telluride. Jane and Amy were staying Monday through Wednesday to enjoy some hiking and scenery, while I planned to remain through Friday for a week of fly fishing, thus the two cars.

Super Start

Scene of Big Rainbow

Since Jane and Amy had each other for hiking companionship, I was free to fish as much as I desired, and Tuesday began my Flattops fly fishing blitz. I chose a favorite section of the North Fork of the White River, and by the time I geared up, assembled my Sage One five weight, and hiked down the road; I was ready to fish by 10:30AM. The air temperature was 61 degrees, as I departed from the Telluride, but the high was forecast to reach the low seventies. I packed my raincoat, but it was never removed from my pack.

My My, What a Fish

Deep Trough on the Left Produced

I was concerned about the stream level given the low snowpack and 2026 drought conditions, but I noticed only a small impact on the North Fork. I was able to wade to all parts of the river unlike some years, but the fish holding spots seemed very similar to higher volume years.

Love This Spot

I fished from 10:30AM until 11:45AM with an amber body chubby Chernobyl and prince nymph, and I logged seven spectacular rainbow trout. The second trout was a rainbow that crushed the chubby, and what a specimen it was! The fat slab was easily in the eighteen to twenty inch range. All of the morning catch were rainbows at least thirteen inches in length with several fifteen plus in addition to the beast.

Streamlined

After lunch I decided to go deeper, so I swapped the prince for a heavier 20 incher, and I added a second nymph in the form of a salvation. This combination yielded a pair of nice fish, but the pace of action slowed, and I experienced three very brief connections. I assumed the salvation was not quite what the fish desired, so I traded it for a supernova PMD. Voila! The chubby/20 incher/supernova combo clicked and remained on my line for the remainder of the afternoon. I moved the fish count from nine to twenty-two, and each fly was a contributor. Several respectable rainbows smashed the chubby, and the supernova and 20 incher split the remainder. A few of the additional thirteen trout landed in the afternoon were less than twelve inches, but otherwise the catch was once again hard fighting rainbows in the thirteen to sixteen inch range. All the White River trout fought extremely hard, and I was pleased to have my five weight in action.

Easily Over Twenty Inches

As is usually the case on this section of the White, I was very strategic with my casts. I skipped wide, shallow areas, and I minimized my coverage of marginal spots. Riffles over moderate depth and long slots and troughs were the most productive locations. Day one in the Flattops was a definite success, and stream flows seemed to be adequate.

Fish Landed: 22