Boulder Creek – 02/07/2025

Time: 1:40PM – 3:30PM

Location: City of Boulder, CO

Boulder Creek 02/07/2025 Photo Album

As I looked ahead at the weather, I noticed the high temperature in Denver, CO on Friday, February 7, 2025 was predicted to be 65 degrees. Could this be my first day of fly fishing in 2025?

I reviewed my Weather Underground app for potential fly fishing destinations, but I quickly learned that high winds were the prevailing weather for Friday. South Boulder Creek was windy and cold, and Clear Creek’s display showed a similar circumstance. I shifted my attention to the South Platte River, and Cheesman Canyon, Deckers and Eleven Mile Canyon were  facing high wind velocities. The only locales that seemed to dodge the gusting wind forecast were Boulder Creek and Bear Creek, and I quickly settled on Boulder Creek due to its proximity.

Low and Clear at the Start

The air temperatures were not expected to reach the fifties until noon, so I decided to play pickleball in the morning and then make the short drive to Boulder. I prepared my lunch on Thursday evening and gathered up some of my essential fly fishing gear, but I was not fully committed in case the wind became a factor in Boulder as well. By the time Jane and I returned from pickleball, it was 12:15PM, so I quickly packed the remainder of my necessary gear, and I consumed my standard lunch. One of the items that I retrieved for my initial fishing outing of 2025 was my new pair of Simms wading boots.

Site of the First Fish of 2025

I arrived at my chosen parking lot in Boulder by 1:25PM, and this enabled me to perch my new boots along the edge of the creek by 1:40PM. I wore my Under Armour long sleeve insulated shirt, my fishing shirt and a fleece layer, and I was actually dressed too warm, as the thermometer peaked at 65 degrees. Boulder citizens and students were out in mass enjoying the unseasonably warm winter day.About to Release Number One

I chose my Orvis Access four weight and marched to the edge of the river near a bridge and began my upstream migration. The water was quite low and clear, although I was unable to check the flows due to ice and snow on the gauge. I tied a peacock hippie stomper to my line, and when I attempted to extend leader from the bend of the stomper to add a nymph, I discovered that my 5X spool only held four inches. This forced me to remove my frontpack and backpack, as I searched the backpack pocket for a new spool. It was there, and I swapped it with the empty spool on my tippet minder, and I added a beadhead hares ear nymph on a two foot leader.

Run Next to Overhanging Bank Produced

For the next two hours I proceeded upstream through some very shallow stretches and along a few ice shelves, as I prospected the two fly dry/dropper. The two hours actually exceeded my expectations, as I landed two brown trout that gobbled the hares ear. The first trout was a respectable twelve inch fish, and number two was eight or nine inches. Nevertheless, I was quite pleased to begin 2025 with a two fish day in February.

Little Number Two

I skipped the shallow sections and searched for faster moving riffles and runs at the entry point to deep pools. I was forced to stay back and execute long casts in order to avoid spooking any fish in the thin water. Both my catches came from the type of water I just described.

Friday was a spectacular day in February, and I managed to land a pair of fish to begin the new year. Hopefully I will not have to wait too long for another mild day, but I am certainly prepared to do so.

Fish Landed: 2