Author Archives: wellerfish

Elk River – 08/07/2023

Time: 4:00PM -6:00PM

Location: National Forest

Elk River 08/07/2023 Photo Album

Jane and I set up camp and did an out and back hike for an hour during the early afternoon. Once the tent was erected, I prepared to fish. Temperatures were in the low sixties with dark threatening clouds for much of my two allotted hours, although it never rained. Flows were higher than normal for the first week of August. Jane dropped me off next to the stream to eliminate hiking time and maximize fishing time, and I fished back to the campground. Before I embarked on my brief fly fishing excursion, I assembled my Orvis Access four weight, and I began my effort to catch fish with a peacock hippie stomper and gray size 14 stimulator.

Before I could make my first cast, I was forced to bash through some tough branches, and then I clambered over large, slippery boulders. The Elk River in this area actually flowed through a narrow canyon, and the character of the stream alternated between plunge pools and whitewater. Wading along the edge was an exercise in caution, rock climbing and branch avoidance.

Typcial Deep Shelf Pool

I positioned myself below an attractive swirling shelf pool for my first cast, and nothing responded, but on number two cast I spotted a swirl, and my fly disappeared. A swift set followed, but I felt no weight and, thus, assumed I was victimized by a refusal. Wrong. I stripped in my line and discovered it was devoid of flies and displayed only a curlicue; the telltale sign of a bad knot. I uttered some unmentionable words and knotted two more of the same flies to my line.

I Love the Speckles on the Tail

Finally I began to fly fish in earnest, and I landed three trout over the next hour. My catch included a cutthroat, a brook trout, and a brown trout. I was a rainbow trout short of a grand slam in one hour of fishing. The cutthroat measured around twelve inches, and it displayed gorgeous pastel coloration. The brook trout was barely over my six inch minimum, and the brown trout was a healthy twelve incher. The cutty grabbed the hippie stomper, while the brookie and the brown attacked the trailing light gray deer hair caddis. I swapped the stimulator for a caddis early in my fishing venture.

Pleased with This Brown Trout

By 5:30 the action stalled, so I converted to a tan pool toy hopper with a trailing beadhead hares ear. These flies were out of favor, so I added an iron sally to achieve more depth in the plunge pools, but the ploy was not effective. I reached a place, where I was “walled out”, and this forced me to scale a bank to the road. Once I was along the shoulder I looked back down to the canyon, and I could not bring myself to attempt another bout of extreme exertion. The quality of the fishing did not justify the effort required.

I hiked back to the bridge near the campground, and I prospected upstream, but the results were disappointing. I tried a Chernobyl ant solo, and in a last gasp attempt, I added a cinnamon comparadun, after I spotted a pale morning dun over the water. By six o’clock I was wasted, so I returned to the campsite for refreshments.

Monday was a slow start to my much anticipated trip to the Elk River. The main deterrent to more fish was the very challenging wading conditions. When I gazed back at the canyon near the end of the day, I was actually astounded that I fished as much as I did. Landing one trout of three separate species was also a welcome outcome on Monday, August 7, 2023.

Fish Landed: 3

Frying Pan River – 08/02/2023

Time: 1:00PM – 2:30PM

Location: Below Reudi Reservoir

Frying Pan River 08/02/2023 Photo Album

It took me thirty minutes to return from the upper Frying Pan River to the tailwater section, and I paused to eat my lunch upon my arrival at a wide pullout across from the river. After lunch I reconfigured my setup with a tan pool toy hopper, an iron sally and a salvation nymph. I lengthened the dropper section below the hopper and did the same to the connecting leader between the iron sally and salvation nymph. Based on my review of the flows, before I left in the morning, I assumed I was fishing at 151 CFS. Upon my arrival back home on Wednesday evening, I realized that the water managers increased the outflows to 210 CFS, while I was fishing! Trout generally take some time to adjust to significant changes in water conditions, and I judge plus 60 CFS to be significant.

Angling to the Far Bank

Another Glimpse

I carefully angled across the river and began fishing upstream along the south (right) bank. During my early afternoon foray on the tailwater I managed to land six brown trout. One stretched the tape to thirteen inches, but most fell within the ten to twelve inch range. Once again the fly fishing was not a torrid affair, and I covered quite a bit of real estate and made an abundant quantity of casts to achieve the six fish count. Many very attractive runs and pools failed to deliver; whereas, some marginal spots produced. The common denominator of the productive spots seemed to be depth and especially depth along the bank. A few refusals to the hopper accompanied the action, but the hopper also produced takes often enough to justify its presence in my lineup.

Yielded One Brown Trout

Not Bad

Near the End

By 2:30PM I realized that I was not going to encounter a safe crossing place, so I laboriously and carefully retreated along the edge of the river to my original crossing point. I maintained a low stance, secured my footing with each step, and made sure each placement of my wading staff was solid; and these precautions enabled me to cross the river without incident. Six fish in 1.5 hours was certainly a respectable haul, but once again I felt like I worked exceptionally hard for the results. Wading was nearly as difficult in the tailwater, as it was on the upper Frying Pan. Insects were largely absent from the landscape during the afternoon session, and I was very surprised by this circumstance. I saw one or two pale morning duns and a handful of caddis. The much anticipated green drakes were totally absent from the scene. Hopefully I will get to visit Amy later in the season, when all the hatches are active.

Fish Landed: 6

Upper Frying Pan River – 08/02/2023

Time: 10:15AM – 12:00PM

Location: Upstream from Reudi Reservoir

Upper Frying Pan River 08/02/2023 Photo Album

My original plan incorporated fishing another high mountain creek on Wednesday, but severe thunderstorms and heavy downpours forced me to scuttle those plans. I stayed with my daughter, Amy, on Tuesday evening, and I decided the safest bet was to fish the Frying Pan River. I decided to inspect the upper Frying Pan first, and if it was clear with manageable flows, that would be my destination. If my scouting mission revealed unfavorable conditions, I could fall back on the tailwater below Reudi Reservoir.

I departed Amy’s apartment at 8:30AM, and this enabled me to arrive at a pullout along the upper Frying Pan River by 9:45AM. The upper river was clear and definitely running higher than what I was used to, but I decided to give it a go. The flows on the DWR web site registered 120 CFS, and that was higher than my typical experience based on visits later in the year. I assembled my Sage R8 four weight and ambled down the road for .4 miles, until I found a suitable spot to access the river.

Deceptively Fast and Deep

I adorned my line with a tan pool toy hopper, prince nymph and salvation nymph; and I began my quest for Frying Pan trout. Between 10:15AM and noon I advanced along the north side of the river and prospected all the likely deep runs and pockets, and I managed to land six trout. A thirteen inch rainbow was the largest, and a surprise cutthroat was the prettiest, and one brown trout brought me within one species of a grand slam. Most of the fish were in the nine to eleven inch range, and I also experienced quite a few temporary hookups and refusals to the pool toy hopper. Of the six fish that found my net, three connected with the hopper, one mashed the prince and two nipped the salvation nymph.

Chunky

Deep Runs

Six fish in 1.75 hour seems fairly productive, but I worked quite hard for these results. The high flows pushed the strong current against the bank, and the tight vegetation made it impossible to circle around difficult wading situations. I moved slowly and secured my foot plants with each move. For the last thirty minutes I cast to very attractive pockets and deep runs with no action whatsoever, so I decided to execute my fallback, and I drove back to the Frying Pan tailwater.

Fish Landed: 6

Lake Creek – 08/01/2023

Time: 10:30AM – 5:00PM

Location: .4 mile from road

Lake Creek 08/01/2023 Photo Album

Note: In order to protect small high country streams, I have chosen to change the name for a few. This particular creek happens to be one of them. Excessive exposure could lead to crowding and lower fish densities.

Tuesday was my fifth visit to Lake Creek, and unfortunately I got off to a rocky start. On Monday evening in preparation for my day on the high elevation creek, I read my four blog posts from the previous trips. I was appropriately excited for a day of fly fishing.

I arrived at my usual parking space by 10:00AM, and I quickly assembled my old Sage four weight. Originally I considered using my Orvis Access eight foot four weight, but with flows higher than usual, I selected the longer and stiffer casting tool. The temperature was already in the seventies, as I sauntered down the trail. On a previous trip I hiked quite a distance, but I determined that farther was not better and opted for a .4 mile jaunt.

Sweet Pool

To begin my search for trout I knotted a peacock hippie stomper and parachute green drake to my line. The creek was flowing faster than I was used to, and the gradient in the early going made wading a challenge and minimized good holding spots for the resident trout. I managed a couple small browns barely longer than my six inch minimum on the green drake and hippie stomper, and then I needed to cross to access the better wading terrain on the west side of the creek. I took a step and carefully placed my foot on an angled rock, and my cleats instantly slid on the slant. I felt like I was surfing on the rock surface, and I managed to maintain my balance, but the current pushed me into a deep spot, and the creek water trickled over the top of my waders. My dry fly box was in the pocket of my wader bib, and it got submerged in the process causing my fly hooks to get wet. This unfortunate incident transpired within the first fifteen minutes, and needless to say, I was not pleased.

Off and Running

Love the Slick Below the Rocks

After the near dunking incident, I advanced quickly and hooked the same branch twice, in a ridiculous display of lack of awareness on my backcast. In the first incident I managed to free both flies, but the second transgression resulted in snapping off the trailing green drake. I took a deep breath and replaced the green drake with a purple haze, and within five minutes I repeated the errant backcast routine with another snagged branch. In frustration I cast forward with added power, and the flies released, but my follow through brought the rod in contact with a rock. I was momentarily pleased with my good fortune at recovering my flies, but after two casts I came to the realization that I broke the tip of my rod. I was not sure whether the snap occurred at the time of the powered forward cast or the follow through contact with the rock.

Shimmering Brown Trout

Now my only option was to hike back to the car to take down the broken rod and assemble a different wand. I chose my Orvis Access four weight and once again completed the .4 entry hike to my exit point. I resumed fishing for thirty minutes and built the fish count to four small brown trout, before I settled on a flat rock to eat my lunch. Between 10:30AM and noon I managed to land four small fish while making tremendous progress toward my step goal.

Tight Quarters

Mossy Background

After lunch I experimented with a Chernobyl ant trailing a beadhead hares ear, and one aggressive brown trout nabbed the Chernobyl. The dry/dropper failed to excite the fish, so I returned to a hippie stomper and green drake combination and very gradually boosted the fish count to nine. During this time I covered a significant amount of stream real estate, and promising locations failed to produce. The target spots were few and far between, and the netted fish remained in the six to nine inch range. I was ready to call Tuesday a rare failure and relegate Lake Creek to last place on my small stream list.

Shelf Pool Bonanza

Butter Brown

In a fit of despair I decided to once again try the dry/dropper approach. The hippie stomper was increasingly difficult to track, as dark clouds slid across the sky. I tied on a chubby Chernobyl with an ice dub amber body and added an iron sally and salvation nymph. Finally I began registering success, as the trout attacked all three flies with increased regularity. The fish count exploded to twenty-one, and the size improved with a twelve inch brown and several eleven inch jewels in the mix. Two trout clobbered the chubby, while several grabbed the iron sally, and the remainder snatched the salvation. The afternoon dry/dropper session represented the style of fishing that I associated with Lake Creek.

Promising Shelf Pool

Line Twister

Thick

A near dunking and broken rod tip surely placed a damper on the day, but I at least solved the riddle enough to land twenty-one wild fish, and I exceeded my step goal. It was a success in many ways.

Fish Landed: 21

Big Thompson River – 07/26/2023

Time: 10:30AM – 2:00PM

Location: Below Lake Estes

Big Thompson River 07/26/2023 Photo Album

After a fairly strenuous day on Tuesday that involved a fair amount of hiking in the heat and wet wading, I was reluctant to embark on a long journey on Wednesday. For this reason I reviewed all the stream flows on nearby Front Range streams, and I concluded that the Big Thompson River in the canyon below Lake Estes was my best bet. The flows were on the high side at 124 CFS, but the fly shop reports indicated that the fishing was decent. The high flows were actually a positive to buffer warming water temperatures from the soaring heat wave.

Starting Point

I arrived at my chosen pullout by 10:15AM, and this enabled me to be on the river fly fishing by 10:30AM after assembling my Loomis two piece five weight. The air temperature was 77 degrees, and it climbed to 86 degrees, before I ended my day at 2:00PM. I decided to wear my waders after wading wet on Tuesday, since very little hiking was involved with the road running along the river. When I was prepared, I hiked down the highway a short distance to a place that did not present no trespassing signs. I cut to the river and rigged my line with a peacock hippie stomper and size 16 light gray deer hair caddis. Within the first thirty minutes I landed five trout and witnessed numerous temporary connections. Three of the landed trout mashed the hippie stomper, and the other two nipped the caddis. Four of the five were wild browns, and one was a small rainbow trout.

After the hot fishing in the first hour, I encountered a private property and no trespassing sign, so I quickly retreated to the highway and skirted the private plot, until I was just upstream. I reentered the river just below a gorgeous deep pool, and I resumed my prospecting approach with the double dry presentation. The action slowed appreciably, and I was shutout in my pursuit of trout, before I claimed my lunch break at 11:45AM. I suspect that my first section of the river was assumed to be private and skipped by most fishermen; and, therefore, the fish were less pressured and more aggressive toward my flies. Of course, another explanation might be the time of day, and the late morning water temperature was in the prime feeding range.

Sweet Spot

After I fished the attractive hole on the upstream side of the private water, another fisherman appeared thirty yards above me. Needless to say I was not enthusiastic about his presence, so I gathered my rod and quickly circled around the intruder. In fairness to the upstream angler, he probably was not aware of my presence, until he waded into the river. I gave him fifty yards of space and cut back to the river across from where my car was parked. The well worn path to the river suggested that the easy access section received a high degree of fishing pressure, but I continued fishing nevertheless.

Near the End of the Day

I ate my lunch next to the river and observed the pool, but insects were not in abundance. An occasional yellow sally fluttered skyward, and small caddis could be disturbed from the streamside bushes and willows. My slow stint before lunch caused me to adjust my approach, and I switched to a dry/dropper, with a classic Chernobyl ant as the surface fly and a salvation nymph on the dropper. The Chernobyl accounted for a small rainbow, but the nymph was totally ignored. I pondered the lack of action and decided to go deeper and added a prince nymph. For the next thirty minutes I applied the dry/dropper methodology with intense focus, but two nymphs were treated the same as one. As this story developed some dark clouds arrived in the southwest sky, and the change in weather blocked the sun and dropped the air temperature.

Two on Caddis Below Overhanging Branch

As I continued my upstream migration, I moved beyond the pullout for the Santa Fe and reached a section, where the river divided into two branches around a long narrow island. I began on the left braid, but when I reached the midpoint, the stream above me was characterized as a wide fast moving riffle, so I crossed the island to the braid next to the highway. I declared the Chernobyl dry/dropper a failed experiment, and I reverted to a double dry with a size 14 yellow stimulator on the top and an olive size 16 deer hair caddis trailing. This combination enabled me to reach ten fish landed by the time a second storm cell arrived and chased me off the water. I had the most success with the double dry tight to the bank and at the tail of runs of moderate depth. Two decent browns smacked the caddis, as it began to swing at the tail of a smooth pool under an overhanging branch. I am sure this was a spot virtually ignored by fly fishermen prior to my arrival.

A streak of lightning and the nearly immediate sound of thunder motivated me to hustle back to the car. I arrived just ahead of the rain, and, in fact, I was forced to pull on my rain jacket as I pulled off my waders. Wednesday was a challenging day. I blasted off to a fast start with five fish landed in the first hour, but the catch rate stalled in the early afternoon, until I worked the edges with a dry/dropper. I was actually quite proud to be able to advance the fish count to double digits in spite of the lack of insects and high air temperature. The size of the fish was lacking with one brown trout perhaps stretching to twelve inches. I find myself yearning for another high elevation creek now that the daily air temperatures have climbed into the nineties and upper eighties.

Fish Landed: 10

Pine Creek – 07/25/2023

Time: 11:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: National forest backcountry

Pine Creek 07/25/2023 Photo Album

After recent trips to the high and clear Eagle River and Arkansas River with decent results, I felt the urge to spend a day on a small high country creek. The high temperature for Tuesday in Denver was projected to reach the upper nineties, so that provided another solid reason for fishing at high elevation. The real question, however, was where to fish. Some of the Front Range freestones such as Boulder Creek and Clear Creek continued to race along at high levels, as did Chalk Creek on Monday, so I needed to exercise caution with my choice. I have a list of high country creeks that I have sampled or that I hope to sample this summer, so I pulled it up on my iPhone notes application. As I scanned down the list, Pine Creek caught my eye. I fished there one other time on 09/08/2021, after Jane and I scouted it via a hike. As luck would have it, there was a water gauge for Pine Creek on the DWR web site, so I checked it, and I was pleased to discover flows in the 30 CFS range. I suspected this was on the high side, but I was also fairly certain that it was manageable.

I arrived at the dirt road that serves the Pine Creek trailhead by 10:15AM, and I was surprised to see five or six cars parked along the rough and rocky road half a mile away from the trail. I decided to snag an open spot near them, since I was convinced that the closer spots were already taken. The hike from my parking space to the start of the trail was only .5 mile, and I always need steps. The air temperature was 77 degrees, as I prepared to fish, and the high was predicted to reach 84 degrees, so I pulled on my wet wading pants and wading booties. Tuesday would be my first wet wading outing of 2023. For a rod I selected my Orvis Access four weight, and this too was the first usage of the small light weight rod for the new year.

A Trout Home

Once I was properly prepared, I hiked for a bit less than a mile, and then I cut across a sagebrush flat and eventually bashed through some trees and bushes to the edge of the river. As I suspected, the creek was flowing along at a rapid rate, and my starting section was particularly intimidating due to the high gradient. I was forced to navigate the brushy bank for quite a distance, before I encountered a pocket that might allow a trout to hold in the heavy flows. Given the tight quarters and heavy flows, I opted to start with a classic Chernobyl ant, as it is nearly entirely comprised of foam and thus capable of floating without a backcast.

One of the Better Trout

Great Spot for This Small Stream

During the forty-five minutes before lunch I hooked and landed three brown trout, and I was pleased with this performance; however, I experienced an abundance of temporary hookups that far exceeded the number of trout that found their way into my net. After lunch I replaced the Chernobyl ant with a peacock body hippie stomper, and this fly remained on my line for the remainder of the afternoon. Actually the hackle on the first hippie stomper unwound after getting chopped by fish teeth, so I replaced it with another exact replica. The hippie stomper converted a few fish, but I felt that I was bypassing some as well, so I added a salvation nymph on a 1.5 foot dropper. These flies remained as my trusted offering for the rest of the day.

Great Spot

By the time I quit at 4:00PM, the fish count rested on twenty-one. As I mentioned, the first three nabbed the Chernobyl ant, and I estimate that five of the remaining eighteen nipped the salvation nymph with the remainder attracted to the hippie stomper. During the last hour, all the landed trout crushed the hippie stomper, and when I returned to my car to remove my flies at the end of the day, I discovered the explanation. The salvation nymph was missing a hook point, and that explained the high escape ratio on nymph takes.

One of the Better Brook Trout

The species of the landed trout was split fairly evenly between brown trout and brook trout. The brown trout were easily the larger fish, and I actually netted a pair of fine thirteen inchers. The other browns were in the eight to eleven inch range. The brook trout on the other hand were quite diminutive, with perhaps two extending to eight inches. They made up for their small size by displaying vibrant colors including bright orange bellies.

Shine On

Locating trout was easily accomplished, as nearly every spot with some depth and a length of slower moving water harbored fish. Wading to a casting position and placing a cast while avoiding the streamside vegetation was another matter. In addition, the trout were quite finicky, and I probably tallied twice as many long distance releases compared to landed fish. Of course, many of these fish were tiny brook trout beneath the six inch cut off required in order to be counted.

Hippie Stomper Craze

Loving the Left Bank

Tuesday was a successful day and a great introduction to high mountain stream fishing for 2023. The quantity of fish landed was more than I expected, and a few twelve inch plus browns kept me interested. I sensed that the ratio of brown trout to brook trout was greater than my previous visit on September 8, 2021. Tangles caused by spinning small fish were an ongoing frustration, but I managed to persist beyond this small adversity. Wading in the ice cold currents of Pine Creek on a hot day was an added bonus.

Fish Landed: 21

Roaring Fork River – 07/21/2023

Time: 9:30AM – 4:30PM

Location: Carbondale to Glenwood Springs

Roaring Fork River 07/21/2023 Photo Album

Friday, July, 21, 2023 was my second scheduled guided float trip of 2023. I completed my first float on the Eagle River on 07/07/2023. As I mentioned in the 07/07/2023 post, my friend, Dave G., booked around ten trips per year, and I signed up to share two dates with him. Jane and I drove to the home of Dave G. and his wife, Beth, on Thursday evening, and I was situated perfectly for an early start on Friday morning. Dave G. transported us from his home in Eagle, CO to our meeting location with Reed of Cutthroat Anglers. Reed has been our guide for nearly all of our guided float trips, and he does a tremendous job of choosing the right rivers, flies and trout lies that lead to consistent success. For Friday, Reed selected the Roaring Fork River as our destination. Flows between Carbondale and Glenwood Springs remained on the high side and ranged between 1,000 and 2,000 CFS, but the river was crystal clear, as we unloaded the drift boat just below the CO 133 bridge in Carbondale.

Ready to Start

I assembled a Scott five weight owned by Dave G., as Reed felt that its flex was more appropriate for dry fly casting than the Sage One five weight that I waved on my previous float trip. The launch site was quite crowded with anglers, but we were able to depart on our float trip by 9:30AM. Reed rigged a dry/dropper rod and a dry fly rod for each of us, and I began the day in the rear of the drift boat. The air temperature was already in the seventies, and it peaked around ninety degrees on the warm summer day.

Reed Creation

Rear Fly

Except for a short period of dry/dropper fishing in the mid-morning time frame, Dave G. and I tossed double dry fly offerings for most of the day. We cycled through quite a few flies, but the most effective were a size twelve parachute mayfly imitation with an iridescent purple body and a trailing shuck for a tail. Another favorite was a size 16 parachute with a bright yellow wing and a brown body. The latter seemed to work well during the early afternoon, when a sparse pale morning dun hatch was visible. Other flies included a parachute hares ear, a tan foam hopper, an extended body green drake and purple hazes of varying sizes.

Lunch View

My casting was vastly improved compared to 07/07/2023, and I was able to consistently place my casts within a foot of the bank, when the conditions dictated. Dave G. and I switched places twice, and my stint in the bow was in the late morning and early afternoon. During this time I enjoyed decent success; however, my performance in the rear did not lag significantly. We spent nearly the entire day banging the banks, as Reed rowed us back and forth from left to right depending on how promising each side of the river projected. Casting accuracy, and the ability to mend and reach cast to achieve long drag free drifts were the keys to success. As I observed the fishermen in the other rafts and boats, I noted that most were sporting nymph rigs with large Thingamabobbers hugging their lines. Our approach enabled us to fish areas of the river that were avoided by the deep nymphing crowd.

Representative

Did the results justify the approach? I am pleased to report that I landed fourteen trout over the course of six hours of casting. Four were brown trout, with the first fish of the day being a sturdy fifteen inch brown that grabbed a pheasant tail tied on a jig style hook. Reed called this fly a Frenchie. The other three browns were “small” fish in the twelve inch range. The other ten landed trout were rainbows and cutbows, and two were twelve inchers, while the remainder measured between fourteen and eighteen inches. The cutbows were particularly noteworthy with red cheeks, orange slashes and a background of speckles behind a pink stripe along the side. Several of the cutbows exhibited a relaxed approach to eating, as they circled around their targeted prey, before they chomped down on my fly.

Nose Up Location

In one memorable instance, Reed pulled the boat along the shoreline to work on Dave G.’s line. I decided to cast upstream from the stern to a slow moving shelf pool, and as the flies sat stationary, a large mouth materialized to chomp on the PMD parachute. It was quite a thrill to catch a very respectable cutbow without the guidance of Reed, although I do not mean to imply that I do not value his expert advice and direction. In another case shortly thereafter, Dave G. hooked a very fine fish near a foam patch. As he was battling his fish, I decided to toss a cast to the left of the boat and near the same foam area. Dave G.’s trout would periodically swirl near the surface, as it resisted attempts to be landed. I spotted one of these swirls near my flies, so I lifted to remove them and to avoid a tangle. Much to my surprise, the swirl was to my flies, and I found myself attached to an angry cutbow. Dave G. and I did our best to maintain a safe distance between the fish, and eventually we landed them both to record a cutbow double. Excitement ruled the boat for a good fifteen minutes.

Cutbow Double

Nine very robust trout in the fourteen to eighteen inch range represents a very successful day in my book. These fish were energized and unwilling to bow easily to the pressure of our rods. My casting and line management was vastly improved compared to my previous trip, and I was very satisfied with my fourteen fish day on the Roaring Fork River. I look forward to my next fly fishing adventure of 2023.

Fish Landed: 14

Arkansas River – 07/19/2023

Time: 10:30AM – 12:30PM

Location: Between The Numbers and Buena Vista

Arkansas River 07/19/2023 Photo Album

After a couple hours of success on the Arkansas River on Tuesday, I decided to give the river another trial on Wednesday morning. Wednesday was get away day from our cabin, so we were required to pack up and clean dishes and do laundry prior to departure. My wife, Jane, and our friend, Amy, made plans to bike from The Numbers river access area to Buena Vista, and then play pickleball, while I fished, so I settled on fishing a section in between those two end points.

I dropped them off with their bicycles at 9:15, and I then drove to a parking lot at my chosen fishing destination. I quickly pulled on my waders and assembled my Sage R8 four weight, and I was ready to hike along the river path by 10AM. The air temperature was already around 75 degrees, and the sun was quite bright. As I was about to leave the parking lot, Jane and Amy arrived, and we said our final goodbyes, as we went our separate ways.

I ambled along the dirt path for .4 miles, before I decided to cut down a steep bank to the river’s edge, but when I peered down, I spotted the hat of another angler. There was one other fisherman in the stretch that I selected, and he happened to occupy my chosen starting point. What luck!. I reversed direction and hiked back toward the parking lot for .1 mile, and then I carefully stepped down a steep bank. I began my day with the size 8 yellow fat Albert, a prince nymph and a salvation nymph, since the aforementioned combination was effective on Tuesday in the late afternoon. On my second backhand cast I created a woeful tangle, and after some nasty words I spent eight minutes cutting off my flies and redoing the entire configuration. I was about to finally make another cast, when the downstream angler arrived. He asked if I was just starting, and I replied yes. He then asked, if I would mind, if he went around me and dropped in upstream. I told him to go ahead but asked for a forty yard buffer. He continued past me and much to my surprise, he resumed fishing no more than twenty yards upstream.

I once again uttered some unkind words to myself, and I hooked my flies to the rod guide and scaled the steep bank and continued back along the path, until I was .15 mile from the parking area. I was fuming the entire time. I finally engaged in some serious fishing, but the trout did not cooperate. I prospected with the dry/dropper for the next hour, until I approached the parking lot, and all I had to show for my efforts were a few splashy refusals to the fat Albert. The nymphs were totally ignored, so I concluded that the fish were looking toward the surface for their meals, and I decided to shift to a double dry approach. I removed the nymphs and the fat Albert and tied on a peacock hippie stomper and a size 14 light gray caddis. The hippie stomper attracted some attention with a refusal and a very brief temporary hook up, so I made a slight bit of progress in my quest for trout number one.

Promising but Disappointing

I arrived at the path to my car, so I decided to explore the western bank of the Arkansas River. I crossed at a bridge and carefully negotiated my way along the bank in a down river direction for .2 mile. The western side of the river featured some very nice long and wide runs and riffles over moderate depth, and I was guardedly optimistic that I could finally add a landed trout to my scorecard. The first ten minutes resembled the previous hour of fishing, and I spotted a yellow sally or two, so I replaced the hippie stomper with a yellow stimulator. The stimulator failed to attract attention, so I once again modified my offerings, and in this instance I replaced the stimulator with a size 10 Chernobyl ant and trailed a lime green trude. The fat Albert at least attracted looks, so I reasoned that perhaps the larger foam ant might draw interest. Tilt. Another change followed, and I replaced the lime green trude with a size 14 gray deer hair caddis. This finally did the trick, and I hooked and landed an eleven inch brown trout that consumed the caddis. A few more temporary connections with the Chernobyl and caddis combination elevated my confidence.

Best Fish Near Closing Time

I was now approaching the departure time required in order to meet up with Amy and Jane in Buena Vista by 1PM. I continued to work my way upstream along the left bank, and I allocated the most casts to the most promising sections, where the river flowed at a modest speed over moderate depth. During the last twenty minutes, I hooked and landed two additional brown trout, and both snatched the gray caddis. One of the brown trout measured to twelve inches, and that was my best of the day. Did I leave just as the resident trout began their daily feeding binge? 12:30PM is typically within the time frame of increased feeding activity, although I was uncertain whether that was the case on a hot summer day. I will never know the answer to that question, as I hurried up the bank  and returned to the car in order to meet my commitment.

Wednesday was a tough late morning of fly fishing. I began with limited allotted time, and the encounter with the other angler diminished the fishing window even further. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I felt rushed and constrained by the shortened time frame. My next adventure is a scheduled guided float trip on Friday, July 21. Stay tuned.

Fish Landed: 3

Arkansas River – 07/18/2023

Time: 4:00PM – 5:30PM

Location: Private water

Arkansas River 07/18/2023 Photo Album

Tuesday was another hot day, so I was reluctant to fish in the middle of the day; however, this may have been a mistaken notion. The ladies in our group went on a hike to Ptarmigan Lake, while I agreed to accompany Dave H. to the pickleball courts in Buena Vista. We had a blast mixing in with some local players, and I got so caught up in the action, that I ignored my expressed desire to fish in the late morning. By the time we exhausted ourselves on the courts, it was 11:00AM, so we returned to the rental house for lunch.

Perfect Trout Refuge During High Flows on the Arkansas River

I decided to sample the private water on the Arkansas River in the late afternoon, and at 3:15PM I enacted my plan. I pulled on my waders on the porch and fitted together my Sage One four piece and drove to the trailhead. After following a steep trail to the edge of the river, I applied the necessary dose of insect repellant, and I knotted a yellow size 8 fat Albert, prince nymph and salvation nymph to my line. The air was quite warm, and the atmosphere was punctuated by periodic bursts of hot wind. I was not optimistic.

What a Start!

I began slinging the dry/dropper to all the likely runs and riffles of moderate depth and velocity, and the first ten minutes reinforced my conviction that the fishing was going to be difficult at best. I was surprised to learn that  my preconceived assessments of the fishing were misplaced, when I experienced two momentary hookups with what appeared to be respectable trout. This was a harbinger of the excellent fishing in my future.

Much Solid Water to Prospect

Butter Brown

Over the remaining 1.75 hours I landed six nice brown trout and connected with an additional four escapees that offered fierce resistance to a net visitation. Two trout mashed the fat Albert and the other four were split between the prince and salvation. The most productive approach was a lift or swing at the tail of the drift, although the fat Albert eaters responded to upstream dead drift casts.

Nice Length

Would this same level of success have resulted had I moved my fly fishing timing forward a few hours? I will never know, but perhaps the high flows mitigated the heat enough to make such an eventuality possible. Once again I enjoyed a fun although brief outing on private water, and I was quite impressed.

Fish Landed: 6

Rain on Mt. Princeton

Chalk Creek – 07/17/2023

Time: 4:45PM – 6:15PM

Location: Private water

Chalk Creek 07/17/2023 Photo Album

Jane and I, along with a group of friends, rented a cabin near Buena Vista during the week of July 16. On Monday we completed a wild rafting adventure through Browns Canyon which included eight Class III’s and two Class IV’s. Our group narrowly avoided three swimming (falling out of the boat) episodes. Once I returned to our cabin, I decided to explore some fly fishing. I only had a couple hours available to fish, so I chose to fish on some private water on Chalk Creek.

A Promising Deep Pool

I selected my Loomis 5 weight, and I began my fly fishing effort with a size 10 Chernobyl ant, a prince nymph, and a salvation nymph. The air temperature was in the low eighties, but some dark threatening clouds made it seem cooler. The flows were around 95 CFS, and this translated to some very difficult wading. In addition, the viable fish holding spots were scarce.

Butter Colored Brown

Over the course of my 1.5 hours on the creek, I landed twelve trout. Ten were browns, and two were rainbows. Two browns measured around twelve inches, and one of the rainbows reached thirteen inches. The other trout were in the nine to eleven inch range. One trout crushed the fat Albert, and 25% of the others grabbed the prince nymph, with the remainder consuming the salvation. If I could find a spot, where the current was slow enough to allow a trout to hold a position, I more often than not landed a fish.

Very Productive SpotSurprise Rainbow

My first hookup was easily the best fish of the outing. I dropped the three-fly offering in a small pocket tucked between the bank, a branch and a fast current. After the fly rested for a couple seconds, I lifted and felt the weight of a substantial trout. I managed to guide it out of the bucket hole, but when I leveraged it within five feet of my net, it shot downstream and found a strong, deep current. I allowed line to spin off the reel, and when the run ended, I attempted to recover some line. The trout suddenly twisted its head, and the flies flipped free.

Zoomed in on Site of the Big Guy

I was quite pleased with twelve fish over 1.5 hours given the elevated flows. Although the size was lacking a bit, constant action late on a hot day was much appreciated. Private water was valued and probably contributed to my Monday success.

Fish Landed: 12