Author Archives: wellerfish

03-25-2022 North Fork of St. Vrain Creek

Time: 10:45AM – 3:30PM

Location: Button Rock Preserve

03-25-2022 North Fork of St. Vrain Creek Photo Album

I must admit that my first fishing outing of 2022 was  a bit disappointing, but at least I lit up the scoreboard with six fish. Unfortunately they were quite small. One twelve inch brown chomped a fat Albert after lunch, but the other landed trout were in the six to eight inch range. As I look back on first days in Colorado, I can remember a few skunkings on the South Platte River, so at least I avoided that embarrassment.

The high temperature was predicted to be in the mid-60’s in Denver, so I checked the options within a one day drive of Denver, and I settled on the North Fork of St. Vrain Creek. A high in Lyons, CO was predicted to peak at 62 degrees, and the flows on the small tailwater hovered in the 25 CFS range. The South Platte River on a Friday was risky due to crowding, and the temperatures were colder in the narrow canyon that carries the flows of South Boulder Creek. These were my alternatives.

Snow Remains on the Bank

I arrived at the Button Rock Preserve parking lot by 10:00AM, and I quickly pulled on my waders and assembled my Sage four weight rod. I considered the shorter and lighter Orvis Access, but periodic gusting wind convinced me to go with the rod that carried a stiffer backbone. The temperature, as I embarked on the dirt road that follows the creek, was 42 degrees, and I wore my light down parka and New Zealand hat with earflaps. These clothing choices were welcome, particularly, when I waded through shaded areas. A fair amount of snow remained along the stream; however, the creek was very clear and devoid of any ice or snow.

Fish Number One of 2022

After a medium hike I configured my line with a peacock hippie stomper, beadhead hares ear nymph and salad spinner. I cast this combination for thirty minutes and managed to land my first trout of the 2022 season. It was a seven inch brown trout that munched on the hippie stomper, and I was quite pleased to be on the scoreboard. In the next half hour before lunch I swapped the salad spinner for the ultra zug bug to gain more depth, and this fly accounted for a second and slightly larger brown trout.

Number Two Nabbed an Ultra Zug Bug

I tied some beaded mini leeches on Thursday, and I was itching to break them in, so I exchanged the hares ear for the mini leech after lunch. In order to support the extra weight of the larger bead on the mini leech, I replaced the hippie stomper with a size 8 fat Albert and added a sparkle wing RS2 on the point. Amazingly the fat Albert produced two fish including a twelve inch brown, and that was my largest fish of the day.

Best Fish of the Day Ate a Fat Albert

During my time on the North Fork I cycled through a large array of flies including a soft hackle emerger, sunken ant and prince nymph in addition to those already mentioned. At one point I revisited the hippie stomper, and it yielded a small brown in addition to several refusals. Between 1:15PM and 1:30PM I spotted four or five blue winged olives, as they danced along the surface during a gust of wind. A few dimples revealed rises in some slow moving sections, and I converted to a single CDC BWO, but I was unable to fool any surface feeders. In addition, three small gray stoneflies fluttered above the creek just before the blue winged olive emergence, and I tried a non-beaded gray soft hackle emerger in an attempt to mimic the small stoneflies, but this ploy also failed to lead to success.

Gorgeous Pool Beckons

After I reverted to the peacock hippie stomper accompanied by a size 14 prince nymph and sunken ant I managed to land two more small trout on the prince. I covered a significant amount of water including some very attractive pools, and the small trout were my only reward. By 3:30 my back began to cramp, and I concluded that 4.5 hours was an excessive amount of time for my first outing of the season, so I hooked my fly to the rod guide and made the return hike to the parking lot. It was fun to get out on a stream again, and I am anxiously checking the weather for another opportunity to fly fish in the near future.

Fish Landed: 6

Gray Deer Hair Caddis – 03/12/2022

Gray Deer Hair Caddis 03/12/2022 Photo Album

Gray is another favorite deer hair caddis color, and I cast this fly quite frequently. In a manner similar to the olive deer hair caddis, I utilize this fly as the point on a double dry, when the trout are picky about the larger stimulator or hippie stomper. It works quite well in these situations. I have also encountered situations where trout refuse the light gray caddis, and I switch to a light gray comparadun with success. The similar size and body color to a pale morning dun seems to attract interest, but the wing configuration is wrong. At least in this case I appreciate the attracting quality of the light gray deer hair caddis. For more on the deer hair caddis go to my post of 02/22/2021.

Popular with Trout

I took inventory of my light gray caddis and determined that I required some replacements, and I produced eight new models. I am certain that these flies will see abundant time on my line in the upcoming season.

Eight Completed

Olive Deer Hair Caddis – 03/07/2022

Olive Deer Hair Caddis 03/07/2022 Photo Album

This fly is one of my workhorse dry flies, as I extract it from my fly box quite frequently. During the spring grannom hatch, it is a very effective imitation, but it also performs admirably throughout the season.

Closer

My 02/22/2021 post does an excellent job of discussing all things olive caddis. I mention using it in a double dry configuration, and in this post I would like to reinforce the effectiveness of this strategy. During the 2021 season I tossed a hippie stomper and olive deer hair caddis quite frequently with excellent results. A bushy stimulator combined with the olive deer hair caddis was another killer combination.

Nine Size 16’s

I also tend to knot a deer hair caddis on my line, when I approach a lake, and I am not sure what to try. The small and sparse deer hair caddis seems to be a food item that stillwater residents are familiar with, and they respond accordingly. Sometimes the high mountain trout grab the caddis even though they are primarily feeding on small items such as midges and ants.

After I counted my backup supply, I manufactured nine additional dry flies for 2022. Bring on the caddis.

Olive Stimulator – 03/05/2022

Olive Stimulator 03/05/2022 Photo Album

Olive is a third favorite body color for stimulators. On several occasions I used an olive stimulator successfully during a green drake hatch. The body color matches, and the dense hackles create the illusion of rapid wing movement. The wing angle deviates from the traditional mayfly upright style, but when green drakes are struggling to get airborne, the wing position may be a secondary consideration.

Opposite Side

My post of 01/29/2020 does a nice job of providing additional background information regarding stimulators. Check it out.

Trout Candy

My supply of olive stimulators was somewhat depleted, so I generated an additional four for the 2022 season. I am quite anxious to break these in on some wild western trout in the near future.

Gray Stimulator – 02/23/2022

Gray Stimulator 02/23/2022 Photo Album

My post of 1/29/2020 does an excellent job of updating on my favorite applications of the gray stimulator. It also describes some of the pitfalls to avoid while tying stimulators, and a review of Charlie Craven’s video on www.charliesflybox.com will ensure that any tier avoids these missteps.

Excellent

Stimulators comprised a large proportion of the flies in the fly box that I lost last September, so I turned to the vise and cranked out six additional size 14’s. Gray is a favorite all around body color for me, as it seems to work well across a broad spectrum of natural body hues of stoneflies and caddis. I produced six additional heavily hackled flies for the upcoming season.

Zoom the Pile

Yellow Stimulator – 02/22/2022

Yellow Stimulator 02/22/2022 Photo Album

If you click on my 02/21/2017 post on the yellow stimulator, you can read an interesting narrative about some of my early success with this fly. My devotion to this fly endures six years later, and I examined my supply and churned out another batch of four to increase my inventory to adequate levels.

Yellow Stimulator

The yellow stimulator in sizes 14 and 12 are especially effective during yellow sally and golden stonefly emergences, and these tend to peak in the late June until mid-July time period; however, I often knot one of these bushy imitations to my line outside the prime yellow stonefly time period. Guess what? They work throughout the season.

Hair Stacker Added

Stimulators are not exceedingly difficult to tie, but some precision at several key points can improve the output significantly. No tier is more precise in their instruction than Charlie Craven, so I usually review is tying video, before I dive into stimulator production. His method follows the classic approach including using fine wire to bind down the palmered hackle. I personally do not like applying wire to a dry fly, so I skip that step and tie in a saddle hackle in front of the tail and wind forward. Otherwise, i follow his steps without deviation.

Klinkhammer BWO – 02/21/2022

Klinkhammer BWO 02/21/2022 Photo Album

Background information and a materials table may be found in the following two posts: 03/06/2021 and 02/23/2020. I lost my fly box during 2021, and this put a dent in my supply of Klinkhammer BWO’s, so I devoted some hours to replenishing my supply with six additional versions.

A Thing of Beauty

My primary BWO imitation is the CDC BWO, but on occasions where the trout ignore the CDC style, I resort to Klinkhammer BWO’s. Sometimes it produces, but at other times it is also avoided. I concluded that the tough blue winged olive days occur when the wind is strong, and the adult mayflies bounce and skip on the surface of the river. It is very difficult to imitate the erratic movement with a fly, but I have on occasion prompted a response with a quick twitch or lift in front of a sighted trout. Even after forty years of fly fishing, I continue to experiment and learn new tricks.

Six New Klinks

CDC Blue Winged Olive – 02/18/2022

CDC Blue Winged Olive 02/18/2022 Photo Album

My post of 02/21/2019 covers much of the basics of this fly. This small baetis imitation continues to be my most productive fly for fooling trout during the spring and fall blue winged olive hatches. The comparadun style allows it to ride low in the water column; and, thus, it imitates adults and emergers. During very windy days; however, it often loses its effectiveness, and for this reason I also stock a supply of Klinkhammer emergers and soft hackle emergers. I theorize that the trout pick off emergers below the surface because the adults get swept away by the wind in rapid fashion.

Trout Food

Last year, however, I formed a new theory on this windy day conundrum. During wind gusts the adults skitter across the surface, and my observation suggests that perhaps the trout look for small insects with a lot of movement. For this reason I may tie up a few fully hackled blue winged olives to create the illusion of tumbling wind-blown food morsels.

15 New Ones

When I counted my supply of size 22 CDC BWO’s, I discovered that I was a bit low, so I churned out fifteen additional copies. These should keep me in adequate supply over the coming season. In addition I produced five new size 24 CDC BWO’s in case some of my lack of success during hatches results from the presence of very small mayflies.

Chubby Chernobyl – 02/12/2022

Chubby Chernobyl 02/12/2022 Photo Album

Just what the world needs, another large foam dry fly. That is an apt description for the increasingly popular chubby Chernobyl. My post of 02/08/2022 provides ample links to all things chubby, and I recommend that you inspect it, if you are intrigued by this awkward looking fly.

A Spikey Version

The chubby Chernboyl looks like a classic Chernobyl ant when viewed from below; however, the angler’s view is an image of a large clump of white poly yarn. Initially when I used this fly I was turned off by the tendency of the poly to get saturated with water, but after observing some guides, as they applied fly floatant to the wing, I found the solution to my limp wing misgivings.

Trout View

Over the past two seasons I placed a chubby on my line more frequently than a fat Albert, and I have experienced some success with it. My confidence began during several trips to the Yampa River in a previous June, when large fish crushed the gangly imitation bearing an ice dub tan body. Of course this was a development that I could not ignore, so I tied a batch.

Side View

I counted my supply of these monsters, and I realized that I had adequate quantities of the large attractors with yellow, gray, and green bodies; but I did approach my vise to manufacture three additional versions with ice dub tan bodies. Hopefully these flies will attract hungry trout during 2022.

Purple Haze – 02/12/2022

Purple Haze 02/12/2022 Photo Album

Once again during the 2021 season a guide exposed me to the effectiveness of the purple haze. I floated the Rio Grande in the vicinity of Creede, CO for three days in late June, and the purple haze proved to be exceptionally productive on one of those days. To read more about my initial introduction to this interesting dry fly, check out my post of 02/15/2021. This post contains a materials table and some success stories from the summer of 2020.

The Better Side

Aside from my guides’ knotting the purple haze to my line, I actually chose it myself on a few occasions, and it accounted for several fish. I was impressed enough to approach my vise to create five additional models for the upcoming season. The official instructions from the creator of the fly call for using a purple floss style thread for the body; however, I deviated from the recommendation and utilized purple dubbing. I suspect the trout will not care. Will 2022 be the year when the purple haze becomes a mainstay in my dry fly attractor box. Stay tuned.

Cool Looking Fly