Time: 10:30AM – 3:00PM

Location: National Forest

Beaver Creek 07/24/2024 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.

Great Place to Start

After two days of non-stop action with small brook trout, I was anxious for something different, and Wednesday proved to be the answer. I fished Beaver Creek previously, so I knew it was primarily a brown trout fishery.

Off and Running

I arrived at the small parking lot at the trailhead by 10:00AM, and the dashboard thermometer registered 71 degrees. The sky was devoid of clouds, and I was certain that Wednesday would be a hot one. I grabbed my Sage R8 four weight and prepared it for a day of fly fishing. I replaced some missing salvation nymphs and beadhead hares ear nymphs in my fleece wallet, and I departed for the creek.

Wide Section

As I surmised, my hike generated quite a bit of perspiration, but the cold water was very welcome. I began my day with a size 8 tan pool toy hopper, a beadhead hares ear nymph and a salvation nymph. In the early going I landed two brown trout in the twelve to thirteen inch range and another smaller brown. The largest of the trio crushed the hopper, while the others snatched the hares ear.

Pleased with This One

Another Brown Trout Prize

After my initial run of success, things slowed down, so when I reached five trout landed, I switched to a dry fly approach. Initially I utilized a size 12 yellow stimulator, and it delivered some smaller brown trout, but I prospected some very attractive pools with no results, and i lost confidence in the stimulator. I decided to continue with a dry, so I added a twelve inch dropper and attached a purple haze. The haze nabbed another small brown, but then both flies went unmolested in several nice pools, so I replaced the purple haze with a size 14 parachute green drake. Once again I was disappointed with the results, so I paused for lunch on a nice wide log next to the creek.

Quite a Pool

While eating lunch I pondered my next move. Clearly the fish were looking toward the surface for their source of nutrition, so I swapped the double dry for a peacock hippie stomper. The stomper is always reliable, so why not on this creek? I did not persist with the nymph earlier, so I decided to give it a second chance. I added a 2.5 foot 5X dropper and knotted a beadhead hares ear to my line.

Deep Frothy Hole

Tough Wading Ahead

The stomper/hares ear combination stayed on my line for the remainder of my time on the stream, and it produced outstanding results. The fish count ascended from seven to twenty-eight, and quite a few of the afternoon trout stretched the tape to twelve and thirteen inches. Of course, some small brown trout also found my net, but the average size of the trout was clearly superior to the morning session. Both flies yielded positive results, but I estimate the the hippie stomper accounted for roughly 70% of the fish; whereas, the hares ear was nabbed 30% of the time. One ten inch rainbow mysteriously landed in my net, and all the other fish were brown trout. As always, refusals and temporary hook ups were part of the equation, but I simply shrugged them off and moved on at a steady pace knowing that some of the trout would recognize my offerings as food.

Best on the Day

Nondescript Home of Best Fish of the Day

I clocked my return hike on my activity tracker, and I covered .5 mile while fly fishing. Wednesday was an enjoyable day in an utterly spectacular setting. The creek was clear and cold, and enough fish favored my offering to produce quantities of trout. My final fish was a fourteen inch brown trout that crushed the hippie stomper from what appeared to be a marginal location. I also tallied a thirteen inch brown in the early going, and quite a few spunky twelve inch fish were in the mix. Catching brown trout in small mountain creek was a nice break from the repetitiveness of catching small brook trout. Of course, I will never turn down brook trout, however, adding different species is always fun.

Fish Landed: 28