Time: 10:30AM – 2:30PM

Location: Between Morrison and Evergreen

Bear Creek 07/15/2024 Photo Album

I had a commitment which required me to leave our house in Denver by 5:00PM, and additionally I needed time for a shower, a change of clothes and time to pick up dinner. In order to complete this timeline, I needed to quit fishing no later than 3:00PM. This constraint, in turn, dictated that my fly fishing outing on Monday needed to be nearby. With high temperatures projected to reach 95 degrees, the Front Range offered few good alternatives.

My friend, Nate, provided some positive reports on Bear Creek, so that became my choice. I arrived at a small pullout along the winding road beyond Morrison at 10:15AM, and this enabled me to approach the creek by 10:30. The temperature, when I began, was 86 degrees, but I decided to bypass wet wading, because I was unsure of the terrain and vegetation. I was a bit warm during my time on the creek, but I was not unreasonably uncomfortable.

Clear and Moderate Flows

For my rod I selected my Loomis two piece five weight, as I expected to toss dries and dry/dropper, and I like the slower action for that chore. The Loomis is also 8.5 feet long, and I viewed that as advantageous in the narrow confines of the canyon with an abundant quantity of  overhanging branches.

To begin my search for trout I chose a peacock hippie stomper trailing a beadhead hares ear nymph. In the early going I covered a significant amount of stream, and I landed two small brown trout. One took the hares ear and the other smacked the stomper. I also noticed a couple swirling refusals to the hippie stomper. Most of the action was on the surface, so I swapped the hares ear for a size 16 light gray deer hair caddis.

Unfortunately for me, these flies were not attractive to the fish, if in fact there were fish in the stream. I say this because I observed very little evidence of trout in the form of looks, sightings, or refusals. After an hour of fishing, I encountered a waterfall, so I climbed the north bank and circled above the falls. I gazed upstream, and I was faced with a narrow canyon with rock walls on both sides. Should I attempt this section? I decided to give it a try and figured it offered the advantage of light pressure, as most anglers would not undertake the difficult wade.

Narrow Canyon

I carefully edged along the rock wall using small ledges for foot placement, and I survived the riskiest portion of the upstream migration. Once I was on solid ground, I evaluated the creek structure, and I concluded that the narrow streambed created deep runs and plunge pools, and my small dry fly offerings were probably not the proper choice. I sat on a rock and re-rigged with a size 8 pool toy hopper, beadhead hares ear, and beadhead salvation nymph.

I worked my way upstream methodically and generated a pair of refusals to the hopper, before I made an errant back cast and snagged a tree limb. The branch that possessed my flies was higher than I could reach, so I unhooked my wading staff from my belt to allow extra extension. I used the staff to strafe the branch a couple times, but it was not moving or hooking the fly, so I dropped it, and resorted to tugging on the upper nymph, and this in turn snapped off the salvation nymph. But wait a minute, did I say I dropped the wading staff? Remember it was no longer attached to my wading belt. Upon realizing my mental lapse, I saw the wading staff bobbing down a white water cascade thirty yards downstream. I swore at my stupidity and began the mental task of making the best of a lost wading staff. I was already resolved to quit fishing in order to construct a new staff during the afternoon, since I planned to fish again on Tuesday.

Recovered Wading Staff

I was not about to undertake additional challenging wading in the narrow canyon without a staff, so I ascended a steep bank and walked back along the road to the car. Could the staff have gotten lodged somewhere between my exit point and the car? it was a long shot, but I now had the rest of the afternoon available, so I decided to complete a search. I stuffed my rod in the car and scampered down the dirt path and followed the fisherman path along the creek. Along the way I found a branch of the correct length and commissioned it to walking stick duty.

I constantly inspected the banks and scanned for my wading staff, particularly where I noticed a collection of natural branches. Eventually I arrived at the waterfalls, and just below the falls there was a huge jumble of sticks and branches collected from the high flows of run off. I did not see my staff among them, but I was unable to view the collection above some large rocks near the opposite bank. I marched up along the shoreline for a short distance, and I spotted the end of a long cylindrical object. Could it be? Yes, it was my wading stick. I used my makeshift staff to cross the creek and carefully negotiated the stick jumble, until I could retrieve my three dollar broom handle. I was elated!

I returned to the car, and now that I had my safety net to lean on, I decided to explore a different section of Bear Creek. I continued west through the canyon, and I was blown away by the number of pullouts occupied by fishermen. I had no idea that tiny Bear Creek receives such an enormous amount of pressure. I can always tell a heavily fished area by the extent to which the paths are worm, and heavy usage was definitely evident, where I fished.

Same Stream, Different Look

Best Fish of the Day

After a short drive I found a parking space, and I grabbed my rod and gear and ambled directly to the creek. I sat in some tall grass next to Bear Creek and downed my lunch, and then, since I lost the salvation nymph on my dry/dropper, I converted back to a hippie stomper and deer hair caddis. I progressed upstream for the next two hours and managed to land four additional trout to up the fish count to six. One of the trout was a rainbow, and the other three were browns. Midway through this period, the stomper dominated with refusals, so I exchanged it for a size 16 light gray comparadun, and this combination did the heavy lifting. Of the four landed after lunch, one smacked the comparadun and the other three gobbled the caddis.

Next to Grassy Clump Was Brown Trout Home

Camouflage

On this hot day in July, the recovery of my wading staff was easily the highlight. My largest trout was probably the eight inch rainbow, so size was not a positive. But given Nate’s recent skunking, I felt somewhat relieved to catch a few fish under very difficult hot and sunny conditions. It is only the middle of July, and I am already considering limiting my fishing to higher elevation streams and tailwaters. Stay tuned.

Fish Landed: 6

Competing Angler