Time: 10:30AM – 2:45PM

Location: National Forest

Beaver Creek 11/09/2026 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.

Once again Monday presented an opportunity for this fair weather angler to log a fly fishing day in the middle of autumn. I am not a cold weather fly fisherman, but the highs in most of the mountain locations were projected to reach the upper fifties to low sixties. I made plans for a day of fly fishing.

Better Light

I arrived at my chosen destination and parking lot by 10:00AM, and this enabled me to be perched along the small creek by 10:30AM. The air temperature, as I prepared to fish, was 51 degrees, so I wore my long sleeve undershirt, fleece hoodie and raincoat. I strung my Orvis Access four weight for this small stream adventure.

A Wonderful November Fish

To begin, I knotted a size 14 peacock hippie stomper to my line and then added a beadhead hares ear nymph on a 2.5 foot dropper. Between 10:30AM and 11:30AM, I progressed up the small creek, and I managed a couple temporary connections with two trout. I was concerned about my prospect for success, as I located a large flat rock and devoured my lunch.

Below Foam

The morning session took me through some fairly high gradient fast water with minimal holding spots, and I was having difficulty tracking the white-winged hippie stomper in the fast water and glare. One of the downsides of fishing late in the season is the low level of the sun and the associated shadows and glare. I decided to make a switch, and I replaced the hippie stomper with a mini chubby Chernobyl and trailed a size 14 beadhead prince nymph. I shortened the length of the leader from the bend of the chubby to the prince to around two feet. During the morning session I was hanging up frequently, and I felt I was not achieving a natural drift.

What a Sight

The move paid off, and I boosted the fish count to six over the next hour. All were rainbow trout, and all the trout chomped the prince nymph. In spite of this increased level of success, I still felt that some deep pockets and pools that held fish failed to produce. My gut told me that I should downsize my nymph, but I wanted the weight for rapid sinking, so I replaced the prince with an olive perdigon size 16.

Very Light Stripe and Cheek

Cast Between Branches

The change paid dividends, and over the remainder of my time on the creek I boosted the fish count from six to thirteen. All the fish nabbed the olive perdigon, and I notched a few nice rainbows from deep pools.

Foam Doughnut

By 2:45PM the temperature began to drop and the shadows blanketed the entire canyon. I was quite weary from scrambling over fallen logs and clambering over rocks, so I called it a day and returned to the car.

Bright Colors Here

What a Pool

Five of the landed rainbow trout were in the twelve to thirteen inch length range, with one possibly stretching to fourteen inches. They were beautiful wild trout with brilliant color schemes. The remainder were small trout in the six to eleven inch range, but given the time of year and the small window of comfortable temperatures, I was pleased with the results.

Will this be my last outing of 2026? It depends on the weather.

Fish Landed: 13