Time: 2:00PM – 4:00PM

Location: .5 mile from parking lot off of route 188

Fish Landed: 6

Castle Creek 06/13/2015 Photo Album

After our challenging single track bike ride on Saturday morning, Jane and I returned to the campground and recharged our batteries with a tasty lunch. After a bit of relaxation, I suggested that we explore Castle Creek below Deerfield Reservoir. The trail map indicated that there was a fisherman parking lot with walk-in fishing in Kinney Canyon, so we decided to explore this area.

We drove around the north side of the reservoir and arrived at the designated parking lot by 1:30PM. Four vehicles already occupied the lot, and Castle Creek meandered through a meadow next to the parking area. The sky clouded up and a slight breeze ruffled the grass in the fields nearby. Jane planned to hike to the dam and back, so initially I grabbed only my backpack, frontpack, net, rod and reel. The stream appeared to be small albeit running bank high, so I assumed I could fish without wearing waders.

Flows Were High but Clear

We hiked through a gate and proceeded another .5 miles until we reached a point where the bank between the road and the stream was manageable for a safe descent. As I stood on the road overlooking the scene, I realized that the stream was quite high and over the banks in many places creating a marshy environment. I knew I would regret not having waders, so I reversed direction and returned to the car while Jane continued her hike to the dam. As I climbed into my waders, the sky darkened and a few raindrops fell, so I pulled my Marmot raincoat on for warmth and protection. I retraced my steps to the point where the stream curved near the road, and this time I descended to a large bend. The first half mile section of Castle Creek from the parking lot was characterized by many twists and bends as apparently some stream improvement work had been completed.

Finally I arrived at the edge of the creek with my Orvis four piece four weight rod, and I began my venture with a Chernobyl ant and a beadhead hares ear nymph. Because of the the deep water conditions I used a three foot long dropper off the Chernobyl. I progressed upstream for a bit around several large bends and finally hooked and landed a brightly colored but small brook trout on the hares ear. Despite this success I was dissatisfied with the results, so I converted to a copper john and ultra zug bug below the ant. This did the trick, and I landed five additional trout over the remaining 1.5 hours on Castle Creek. Three of the landed trout were browns, and two more brookies nestled in my net.

A Pretty Native Brown Trout

At 2PM the sky grew even darker and the wind picked up, so I switched the Chernobyl ant for a pool toy for better visibility in the low light. Around this same time period I observed a wave of little yellow stoneflies in the air, and I read that a hares ear is a reasonable imitation of the yellow sally nymph, so I swapped the copper john for a hares ear. Despite this astute analysis, the last five fish all inhaled the ultra zug bug. So much for matching the hatch.

The most productive locations were at the bends in the creek. The banks blocked the rushing water enough to create slower deep spots where the fish could avoid the heavy current. Toward the end of my upstream movement, the creek grew much straighter, and this resulted in many fewer fish holding spots. A fisherman was forced to hike much farther between probable holding locations.

Another Brown

I did not want to over extend my fishing time on the first day, so at four o’clock I returned to the car and found Jane trying to stay warm and avoid the wind by huddling in the passenger seat in the car. Six fish in two hours on a small stream with high water was certainly encouraging, and this was accomplished without having any local knowledge of insect activity. Perhaps the Black Hills escape would pay off.