Time: 9:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Began on dirt road to Grandpa’s Retreat and fished above mile marker 71 and then moved to the area where there is a very large pullout on the south side of the highway around a mile below Noel’s Draw.

Fish Landed: 11

Big Thompson River 10/06/2015 Photo Album

Just short of a week ago I enjoyed one of my best days ever on the Big Thompson River. Certainly a return trip on Tuesday October 6 would produce another memorable outing. That was my thinking, as I left the house and drove to the Big Thompson River below Olympus Dam. The air temperature was in the high 40’s when I arrived a bit after 9AM, so I chose to wear my fleece layer and my New Zealand hat with the ear flaps folded down. I can assure you that I was not overdressed.

Since I did not wish to fish the exact same segment that I covered the previous Wednesday, I drove farther downstream and pulled over in a small pullout along US 34. After I climbed into my waders, I rigged my Loomis five weight rod and then walked along the highway to a dirt road that angles away from the river before it reaches Grandpa’s Retreat. A large camping van was parked across the dirt road as if it was intentionally barricading access to Grandpa’s Retreat, so I dropped down the rocky bank fifteen yards from the intersection of the driveway and the highway.

I decided to test a Chernobyl ant and a hares ear nymph, as I began to prospect some very attractive pools and runs near the starting point, but the flies went unmolested. In fact I progressed around the bend so that I was next to the highway and away from the gravel road, and I did not even see evidence that fish were present in this portion of the Big Thompson River. Finally after a half hour of fishing I landed a small brown trout that savored the hares ear. Next I approached a spot where there was a nice deep run, and as the Chernobyl drifted along the main current, it attracted looks from two fish. The sight of fish provoked me to make a large quantity of futile drifts through the moderate depth run, but the fish were apparently aware of my presence. I pivoted around and plopped the Chernboyl in a short choppy pocket, and once again a fish floated up to take a look and then spurned my fraudulent food offering.

An Early Brightly Colored Big Thompson Brown Trout

Perhaps the trout were interested in midge larva? I added a zebra midge as a third fly, but the size 22 morsel was soundly ignored as well. An hour elapsed, and it was 10:30 on my watch, so I concluded that perhaps the baetis nymphs were getting active. I substituted a RS2 for the zebra midge, and this paid off with a decent brown trout. The pattern of changing flies and covering an abundance of water continued until I stopped for lunch at 11:45. By that time I landed four trout including the two already described. A decent rainbow rose to a Charlie boy hopper after I replaced the Chernobyl, and another small brown trout nabbed a soft hackle emerger from a riffle.

I Exited for Lunch at Mile Marker 71

I exited the river for lunch at mile marker 71, and then after lunch I continued moving upstream past some aging cabins on the left bank until I reached some private water along Brown Trout Lane. I actually fished in private water for a bit since I did not see a sign down by the stream, although as I walked back to the car, I noticed signs along the road above the twenty yard section that I fished. Where the river moved away from the road, it deflected off a large vertical rock wall and created a long deep pool. A trail of small bubbles denoted the current line, and I drifted the dry/dropper flies with the Charlie boy on top along the current seam for the entire length. I spotted at least five refusals, so I took some time to swap the hopper for a Jake’s gulp beetle, but the change was not rewarded. In fact the beetle failed to generate any interest whatsoever during the morning and early afternoon time period despite its superstar performance on the same river on September 30. How quickly the conditions shift! I did manage to land two nice rainbows during the post-lunch time period, as they smacked the Charlie boy, and this moved my fish count to six. I was convinced this would be my final tally.

A Nice Chunky Rainbow

The sky remained partly cloudy throughout the morning with more sun than overcast, however I was anticipating rain since my Weather Underground app projected a 90% chance of rain by 1PM. It did not happen by one o’clock, but the lighting diminished and the sky darkened, and the wind picked up. This change in conditions prompted me to pull my raincoat on over my fleece. Just as I reached the no trespassing sign along Brown Trout Lane, I observed quite a few dimples in a huge pool on the other side of the private line. I was tempted to toss some casts into the private water while maintaining my position on what I assumed was public land, but I thought better of it and returned to the car and drove back toward Estes Park. I hoped to find the nascent hatch in a public location farther upstream.

I elected to stop just below an area where a very wide pullout exists on the opposite side of the highway among a grove of tall cottonwood trees. The stream here was characterized by many large boulders, plunge pools, deep pockets and faster runs. I was searching for water more similar to that which delivered superior results on September 30. By now the sky was quite black, and I felt a few drops of rain, so I flipped the hood of my raincoat up over my New Zealand hat with ear flaps. I had a beetle on my line with a soft hackle emerger on a 2.5 foot dropper, and I diligently covered some very attractive pockets around the many rocks. I was certain that this would yield some aggressive feeders, but it did not.

Approaching a Nice Pool

I rounded the bend and reached a nice long smooth pool that was quite close to where I parked the Santa Fe, and as I paused to observe, I did in fact notice several rises throughout the pool. I removed the dry/dropper configuration and tied a CDC blue winged olive to my line. For the next hour and a half I fished the tiny dry fly to rising trout in the pool that I was in plus another nice stretch of deep water just above. Seeing my fly in the dim light was quite a challenge, but I did manage to land five trout during the hatch time period. I also experienced a few momentary hook ups and a host of splashy rejections. The number of casts per fish probably averaged thirty, and I spent a fair amount of time dabbing and drying the CDC wing which became saturated frequently due to the intensifying rain. I actually used three different CDC BWO flies in an effort to maintain some level of dryness in the soggy conditions.

Tuesday proved to be a difficult day on the Big Thompson River, which only six days earlier lured me into a state of euphoria with a twenty-eight fish day. On that earlier day the trout gobbled my Jake’s gulp beetle like children eating chocolates in a candy store. I knew there was a threat of rain, and I anxiously anticipated the clouds since those conditions generally foreshadow a strong blue winged olive hatch. My wish was fulfilled, and I managed some success, but the fishing was not nearly as productive nor easy as the beetle plopping of six days prior.