Time: 9:30AM – 3:00PM

Location: Between MM 8 and 9

Bear River 08/25/2016 Photo Album

On Thursday morning I woke up and discovered frost on the windshield of the Santa Fe, thus providing evidence that my days of camping and fly fishing in 2016 are waning. Fortunately I chose a site that faced east, and once the sun appeared above the horizon, the air temperature quickly climbed. I was quite impressed with Bear Lake Campground and hope to return in the future to introduce Jane to the eastern edge of the Flattops. After breakfast I packed the camping gear, and surprisingly I was ready to depart for fishing by 8:30.

Since I was not prepared to begin my day of stream fishing at 8:30, I stopped and scouted Bear Lake. When I gazed at the area of the lake above the outlet, I noticed quite a few rings, so I hurried back to the car and grabbed my fly box, frontpack, net and fly rod. I hastily returned to the lake and made 5-10 casts to the scene of the rises, but the gray stimulator was refused three times. I suspect the rises were tiny fish, and before I could cast to different sections of the lake, the wind kicked up and transformed the mirror smooth surface into small riffles. Since I was simply killing time before advancing to Bear River, I was only interested in fishing to visible fish, so the wind encouraged me to return to the car, where I stashed my rod and gear and then drove over the rough washboard dirt road back toward Yampa.

Below Yamcolo Reservoir the road diverges from the stream for a mile before it resumes its path in close proximity. I drove slowly and scanned the creek, as I searched for another section with relatively easy access at the end and start, but separated by a mile of water that required extra effort to fish. I found such a stretch between mile marker nine and eight. A crude gravel lane angled to the left and led into a disbursed camping zone. This was the same starting point that Steve Supple and I used in October 2014, and I remembered having reasonable success.

I parked off to the side of the road and pulled on my waders and wading boots, and I was set for another day of small stream high elevation fishing. I walked down the dirt lane as it continued for another .2 miles, until I reached a crude bridge that was constructed with particle board. The unique distinguishing characteristic of the bridge was a taut wire that stretched from bank to bank and served as a basic hand rail. I entered the creek just above the makeshift bridge and began working my way upstream.

The weather between 9:30 and noon was quite pleasant, as the sun appeared and warmed the air temperature to the low sixties. The size 14 gray stimulator remained on my line from Wednesday, so I extended its tenure for another 2.5 hours. My commitment to the trusty gray stimulator paid off in a big way, as I landed thirteen fish during the morning, and then it broke off on a fish just before lunch. After ten fish the front collar hackle shrank to one wrap, although I am not certain how this happened without totally unraveling. Despite this small disability, the stimulator yielded three additional fish before passing into the dry fly graveyard. Most of the morning fish were in the 6-8 inch range; however, I also landed two twelve inch brown trout to keep my optimism high. The same gray stimulator accounted for four fish at the end of the day on Wednesday, so in total it delivered seventeen fish. I wish that all of my flies produced that many fish during their brief lives!

The thirteen landed fish included several brook trout and a couple rainbows, so this positioned me a cutthroat short of the grand slam. The morning was great fun, as I did a better job of skipping marginal water, and focused on spots that displayed greater depth, since most of the fish and particularly the larger fish came from this type of water. This discipline meant I covered an extensive amount of stream, since Bear River contains many wide shallow riffle sections.

After lunch I continued with the stimulator theme, but I replaced the gray version that broke off with one with a red body. Surprisingly between 12:30 and 1:30 I did not catch a single fish. The red stimulator generated refusals with no takes, so I exchanged it for a size 14 with a medium olive body. This was a great looking fly with perfectly wound tan and grizzly hackles, but it also failed to entice the Bear River trout.

Desperate for some action, I shifted to the dry/dropper approach. The streambed narrowed ahead, so the water contained numerous deep pockets and runs. This was the perfect water type for nymphing with a dry/dropper rig. I began with a Charlie boy hopper trailing a salvation nymph, and eventually I added a hares ear nymph. The move paid off somewhat as I added four more fish to the count between 1:30 and 3:00. The catch rate was much slower, but several of the fish were noteworthy.

Number 15 in the count was a small cutthroat, and this fish enabled me to record a second trout grand slam within days of doing the same on Piney River. Another high point came when I hooked and landed a fourteen inch rainbow that snatched the trailing salvation. This proved to be my best Bear River catch during my two day trip.

Shortly after netting the rainbow, I lobbed a cast to a deep but small pocket along the left bank. As the hopper slowly drifted away from the upstream rock, it dipped, and I immediately set the hook. This prompted a large torpedo to leap completely out of the water, and then the fish streaked downstream. I released line and allowed the Bear River monster to run, and then it paused. I quickly made some strides downstream to gain some ground, and then the rainbow resumed its escape run, and my excitement evaporated as the salvation nymph parted from my line.

Number 16 was a special surprise as a thirteen inch brown appeared and chomped on the Charlie boy. This was the best brown trout of the day and the only action created by the hopper.

By 3 o’clock I reached a section that was near the gravel road, as I could hear campers and trucks rumble by. I was quite tired and the creek ahead appeared to be additional wide shallow unappealing water, so I took advantage of my proximity and waded across a shallow beaver pond and then ascended a steep bank to reach the edge of the road. A Department of Parks and Wildlife truck was parked at my exit point, and there was a display describing all the attractions of the Bear Lake Area.

Thursday was a fun day, but the pace of action in the afternoon slowed immensely. Bear River is an interesting fishery. The national forest stretch below Yamcolo Lake is high gradient, and fishing this type of water involves a lot of difficult wading to find the productive locations. The fish are primarily small brown trout, but enough fish in the 12 – 15 inch range exist to sustain interest and offset the boredom of empty drifts and challenging wading. I will probably return, but not in 2016.

Fish Landed: 17