Time: 12:00PM – 2:30PM

Location: Canyon downstream from Estes Dam

Big Thompson River 11/04/2025 Photo Album

A forecast high of 77 degrees in Denver prompted me to complete a last gasp fly fishing excursion. I was not interested in a long drive, so I considered Clear Creek, South Boulder Creek and the Big Thompson River. According to my weather sources, highs of 62 were expected at all three spots. My intuition suggested that I should visit South Boulder Creek; however, I was averse to making the one mile hike to and from the creek, so I settled on the Big Thompson instead. Spoiler alert. It was a lackluster day.

I arrived at a pullout by 10:45AM, and I quickly prepared for a day on the river. The flows were tumbling along at 25 CFS, and the stream was low and clear, but it looked promising nonetheless. The dashboard temperature was 56 degrees, so I slipped on my fleece hoodie and assembled my Loomis two piece five weight. I like the slower action of the Loomis, and I expected to toss a dry/dropper most of the day.

I crossed the highway and found a fairly friendly route to the river, and then I knotted a Jake’s gulp beetle to my line. The beetle produced well on my last trip to South Boulder Creek, so I was anticipating a repeat on a different Front Range stream.

I completed two desultory casts, and then I decided to move to more attractive pools, but when I stepped with my left boot, it slipped and shot backward. I tipped forward and stopped my fall by bracing with my right hand, but it was not before a small amount of water spilled over the top of my waders. I felt the dreaded trickle down both legs, and then the wetness, as my right sock absorbed liquid. What now? I was wet and chilled, and I barely began to fish.

Had it been the summer, I would have fished on, but I was concerned about the cooler temperatures of autumn, so I scaled the bank and returned to the car. First I removed my fleece hoodie with a drenched right sleeve. Next I removed my undershirt and replaced it with a long sleeve version. I pulled off my waders and turned them inside out and placed them on the hood of the Telluride to dry in the sun. I removed my long underwear and socks and pulled on a dry pair of each. I wanted to provide adequate time for the inside of the waders to dry, so I ate my lunch early, and sure enough, after eating, the neoprene booties were dry, and I pulled them on and resumed my fishing. The sleeve of my fishing shirt was a bit wet, and the front pack was also showing the effects of being submerged, so I pulled on my raincoat to guard against additional soaking from the front pack.

Glare and Shadows Were a Challenge

I wish I could say it was worth it. I began fishing in earnest at noon and continued until 2:30, The beetle was ineffective, so I removed it and replaced it with a peacock hippie stomper and then added an olive perdigon on a two foot dropper. The perdigon registered two small trout barely beyond my six inch minimum for counting. I covered quite a bit of stream real estate to log two small fish, so I added a beadhead hares ear nymph hoping that it would extend the depth of the drift and attract more action.

Small Jewel

The move worked somewhat, as I raised the fish count from two to six by the time I quit at 2:30. The four additional trout were only slightly longer with the biggest extending to eight inches. It was a lot of casting for minimal return. I moved back and forth between the two banks, and the shade and sun glare were alternating hindrances to catching fish. Deep pools were not productive, although I continually attempted to cash in on their appeal.

Productive Spot

I fished around a large bend in the stream and continued into a canyon stretch. I was hoping that the canyon was not as easily accessed by anglers, as it required more rock hopping  and difficult wading, and I did manage to land four small trout, but it was not close to the unpressured bonanza that I envisioned. On the day, three of the landed fish were brown trout and three were rainbows. In the last hour I connected with two or three fish that felt slightly larger, when the flies began to swing at the tail of the run or pool, but in every case I only felt the weight of the fish for an instant.

Foam Pool

Tuesday was a bonus day for this fair weather angler, but it probably convinced we to refocus my efforts on stocking my fly boxes for 2026.

Fish Landed: 6

Time: 11:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: Below Lake Estes

Big Thompson River 10/07/2025 Photo Album

After a non-fishing weekend in the Flattops, I was anxious to resume my sampling of western waters in 2025. I made plans to fish with my friend, Nate, on Wednesday, so I was reluctant to make a long drive on Tuesday, and I decided to visit the Big Thompson River. The flows were a favorable 51 CFS, and the high temperature was expected to peak around the mid-fifties, which is in my tolerable range.

I arrived at a pullout in the canyon below Lake Estes a bit after 11:00AM, and I quickly geared up with my rod choice being my Sage R8 four weight. The dashboard registered 51 degrees, and the sky was quite overcast. I judged that the sun’s rays would not be warming things up to a great degree, so I wore my Under Armour long sleeve undershirt, fishing shirt, North Face light parka, and raincoat. For head gear I pulled on my billed hat with earflaps. I was concerned that I dressed too warm, but I was glad to have the layers throughout my day on the stream.

Not a Bad Start

My day can be divided into three segments. The first was the morning, when I deployed an amber ice dub chubby Chernobyl, an olive perdigon, and a salvation nymph. I used these flies for thirty minutes before lunch and netted a couple small rainbow trout.

Nice Pocket

After lunch I switched to a peacock hippie stomper and trailed a size 14 caddis in a double dry arrangement. In the first session the chubby attracted a few refusals, so I concluded that the trout were looking to the surface for their food; and, thus, the double dry. The hippie stomper accounted for one fish as did the caddis, but the two surface flies followed the lead of the chubby Chernobyl and produced quite a few refusals. By 2:00 the fish count rested on seven, but I suffered a long dry spell, so I modified my approach for segment three on the day.

Another Respectable Brown Trout

I replaced the hippie stomper with a tan body mini chubby, since trout were attracted to the chubby Chernobyl in the early session, but refused to eat. I bet that a smaller chubby with a tan body might generate improved effectiveness. Next I downsized the trailing dry fly to a size 16 deer hair caddis with an olive body. The small caddis yielded a trout, but, otherwise I was no better off.

Slots Along the Far Bank

I noticed a few tiny blue wing olives in the air, so I reverted to a dry/dropper with the mini chubby leading an olive perdigon and size 22 sparkle wing RS2. This combination produced a few fish to elevate the fish count to ten. During this time the most effective technique was an across stream cast, and then I held my line high to keep the fly line off the water, while the flies drifted downstream, and I completed the maneuver with a lift. This action seemed to spur the interest of the fish.

Better Side

By 3PM the sparse hatch was over, and I once again endured a slump, so I exchanged the RS2 for a bright green caddis pupa. The caddis pupa and the mini chubby fooled a pair of fish, and I ended my day by 3:30PM with the count at twelve.

Nice Little Pool

After fishing the last pool, before I quit, I looked up and was a bit startled to encounter a young fly fisherman. He was playing a fish, and his rod was in a significant bend. He asked if I could net the fish for him, so I waded within range, but as I approached, the fish dove under a large exposed boulder. The young angler climbed on the rock and reached down and pulled the leader away from the rock and freed the fish. By now I was within range, and I could see that the fish was foul hooked, so I scooped it into my net. The young man thanked me and quickly announced that he forgot his net. He said that the fish hit the dry fly on the second cast, and it was his first trout landed in Colorado. I asked him where he lived, and he said Pennsylvania, and I told him I was also from Pa. He was from the western part of the state, and he was in Loveland, CO on a job and searched on line for a nearby stream. I was pretty happy for the young man and his early success.

Tuesday was a so-so day on the Big Thompson River. I managed to hit double digits, but the fish were small. Six of the landed fish were browns in the nine to eleven inch range, but the fish count also included a bunch of six and seven inch dinks. I was never able to find a consistently productive fly or combination. It seemed like the fish were not selective, but they also were not very hungry. I was pleased to record one more day with reasonable weather before the winter cold moves in.

Fish Landed: 12

Time: 11:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: In the canyon below Estes Park

Big Thompson River 10/25/2024 Photo Album

I somehow strained my knee playing pickleball last Friday, and I then aggravated it on Monday, so I decided to steer clear of that fun activity for a while to hopefully encourage healing of my aging body. I discovered, however, that hiking in a straight ahead direction did not create discomfort during my hike into South Boulder Creek, and then I tested it again on a 4.8 mile hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. Since I was refraining from pickleball, and the weather forecast for Friday was reasonably favorable, I decided to undertake another day of fly fishing.

Originally I planned to make the journey to Eleven Mile Canyon, but in the final analysis, I was averse to making the long drive. South Boulder Creek on Tuesday was enjoyable, but again I was reluctant to endure the one mile hike up a steep hill at the end of the day. On October 15 I visited the Big Thompson River and experienced reasonable success, and the flows remained at 23 CFS, and the projected high temperature in Estes Park was 61 degrees. The Big Thompson became my destination.

I arrived at a wide pullout in the catch and release section by 11:00AM, and the dashboard thermometer registered 48 degrees. I countered the unaccustomed chill by wearing my Under Armour long-sleeved thermal undershirt and my light down coat. For headgear I chose my billed hat with earflaps, and I tugged the flaps down for the start of my day of fly fishing. I chose my Loomis two piece five weight as my casting tool, and I was perched along the edge of the stream by 11:30AM.

Black Ghost

Cheech Leech

I read many articles extolling hot streamer fishing in the fall, so I decided to commit to that fly fishing methodology. I crimped a split shot to my line eighteen inches above the terminal offering, which was a size eight black ghost to start my day. I persisted with streamers from 11:30AM until 12:15PM, when I paused for lunch. I cycled through the black ghost, a Mickey Finn, and a cheech leech; but I observed nary a follow. I executed upstream, up and across, across and down, and swings and dangles at the end of the drifts, but nothing proved effective. I also varied the speed of the retrieve and experimented with twitches and pauses. Nothing.

Prime Spot Did Not Produce

After lunch I abandoned the streamer concept, and tested a double dry approach. I knotted a peacock hippie stomper to my line and then added a size 14 stimulator with a rust body. I also read many articles about the October caddis, and the stimulator was my attempt to imitate that popular autumn food morsel. Nothing.

During this entire time I was fishing in the shadows, and I was very thankful for my layers and earflaps. The chill would have been much more acceptable, had I been able to land a fish. I did manage to temporarily hook a trout on the hippie stomper during this time period, but it escaped after an acrobatic leap above the surface. No luck with streamers and minimal action with double dries suggested another change, and I went to a dry/dropper. The hippie stomper remained in place, and I added a beadhead hares ear nymph and salvation nymph on a relatively long dropper.

This gambit was also a failure. I temporarily hooked a minnow sized brown trout on one of the nymphs, but otherwise the subsurface offerings were essentially a nuisance. At one point the nymphs drifted beneath a large exposed boulder with a ledge, and I was unable to dislodge them, so I waded next the rock. I tried to use my boot and my wading stick to free the nymphs, but eventually I defaulted to reaching my left arm down to unsnag the flies. I should have broken them off, because I now had saturated layers up to my elbow, and this condition simply added to my discomfort while fly fishing in the shadows. The only positive was the near absence of wind.

Site of First Fish

Rainbow Kicked Things Off

I looked upstream, and I noticed that the Big T made a 90 degree bend, and the area beyond the bend seemed to be bathed in sunshine. I skipped the remaining shaded stretch and advanced to sunlight. The nymphs were not producing, so I returned to the double dry method. In this case I stayed with the hippie stomper, but I swapped the stimulator for a size 14 light gray deer hair caddis. The stomper/caddis combo has historically proven to be a winner.

Number Two Was This Nice Brown Trout

Shallow Run Along the Rocks Produced

Alas, the two flies worked their magic once again. Between 2:00PM and 3:30 I notched five landed trout. The first one was a nine inch rainbow, and the last four were brown trout. The brown trout were all relatively respectable fish for the Big T, with a couple stretching the tape to a foot long. Two of the landed trout nabbed the caddis, and the others were attracted to the hippie stomper. I was actually a bit too warm while working my way upstream in the bright sunshine. Along the way I noticed a gravel depression, and a trout that was wiggling in an effort to eject eggs, so spawning was evident. Before I recognized the redd for what it was, I made a cast of the dry flies, and a fish elevated and nipped at one of the flies. It actually looked like it was fending off something invasive and not making an effort to eat.

Another Fine Brown Trout

Foam Was Home

All my landed fish came from slower moving areas such as eddies and slow pools that bordered the bank or were adjacent to faster current seams or large sheltering rocks. I regard Friday as a success. I experimented with different approaches and eventually found a double dry combination that was reasonably effective. Catching trout on dry flies in late October is a positive in my book. The fish count lagged, but once I solved the riddle, the fish were fine quality trout. Future outings in 2024, however, will probably take place on tailwaters. It was amazing how much the action slowed between my last outing on October 15 and today.

Fish Landed: 5

Time: 11:00AM – 2:45PM

Location: Canyon below Estes Park

Big Thompson River 04/12/2024 Photo Album

Another fabulous early spring day was forecast for Friday, April 12, and I decided to take advantage for a day of fly fishing. After the long drive on Wednesday to the Arkansas River, I was averse to making a trip in excess of two hours, so I focused on South Boulder Creek and the Big Thompson River. Both locations projected high temperatures in the low sixties, and flows were favorable on both streams. South Boulder Creek was running at 44 CFS and the Big Thompson rolled along at 55 CFS. The fly shop report suggested blue wing olives were present on the Big Thompson, and South Boulder Creek necessitated a fairly arduous return hike, so I chose the Big Thompson.

I arrived at my chosen pullout by 10:40AM, and this enabled me to be positioned along the stream casting by 11:00AM. I used my Sage R8 four weight, and I wore my North Face light down parka. I began my day with a tan ice dub body chubby Chernobyl and a beadhead hares ear nymph along with a salvation nymph. Within the first fifteen minutes I hooked and landed a small brown trout that was barely over six inches, but as I reached for my net that is usually dangling behind me, it was absent. This sent me into panic mode, and I began to plan a trip to a fly shop in Estes Park to buy a new net. Before resorting that rash solution, however, I decided to retrace my steps to the car if necessary. Did I fail to clip it to my retractor at the car? I was fairly certain that was not the case.

I waded back down the river a short distance to the small island, where I began, but it was nowhere to be found. What if it wasn’t properly clipped and fell in the river and floated downstream? Next, I waded back to the bank on the US 34 side of the river, and then I followed my path back to the highway. I scrambled up some large rocks, and I was extremely pleased to spot my net five feet off the asphalt. What happened? I inspected the net and discovered that the eye screw that goes into the handle pulled out; and, sure enough, clip that snaps into the retractor remained in place with the eye screw dangling from it. I pulled the eye screw out and twisted it back in the hole on the end of the net, until it was very secure, and I returned to the point, where I was interrupted. What a relief to recover my net in a fairly short amount of time.

Between 11:30 and 2:15 I prospected the dry/dropper arrangement, as I worked my way upstream, and I landed two additional small trout to finish the day at three. I was quite disappointed with this performance, however, I had my opportunities for a better outcome. I actually connected with nine fish, but six managed to evade my net; and, of course, the escapees felt like the better fish. By one o’clock I expected to see some blue wing olive activity, so I abandoned the salvation nymph and replaced it with a sparkle wing RS2 size 22. I suspect that my long distance releases after this fly change can be attributed to the small hook size.

By 2:00PM I reached private water, so I returned to the car and drove downstream a mile or two to another favorite location. Unfortunately an angler was in the pool that I targeted, and a car was parked in my normal spot, so I rolled downstream a bit farther. I gathered all my gear and hiked down the road a tenth of a mile or so, and I resumed my quest for trout. I was curious to experiment with a smaller dry fly, so I removed the dry/dropper offerings and transitioned to a peacock hippie stomper with a size 16 olive-brown body caddis. I flicked these flies to likely locales particularly along the bank and large protective boulders, but the fish were having none of it. By this time the sun was bright in the sky, and the temperature elevated, and it seemed as if the trout were lulled into sleep mode. When I reached a point, where the channel narrowed and created deep plunge pools and fast runs, I called it quits and climbed the steep boulder strewn bank and then ambled back to the car.

Friday was a disappointing day for this avid angler. Three trout landed in three hours of fishing is rather abysmal, and the size of the trout was lacking as well. In spite of these results, I was motivated by the fairly steady action created by temporary connections, and these fish raised my interest, because they felt larger and fought harder. I have no explanation for my poor conversion ratio of hook ups to netted other than the small hook size of the RS2. The R8 rod carries a softer tip than most of my other rods, so perhaps I need to strengthen my hook set power lift. The weather and the beauty of my surroundings were a distinct positive.

Fish Landed: 3

Time: 11:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: Canyon below Lake Estes

Big Thompson River 10/10/2023 Photo Album

Last week on a trip with Amy and Jane to a relatively remote area in Colorado, I relapsed into my gastrointestinal illness. I was in a difficult situation, as there was only a couple outdoor hotspots, where I was able to obtain cell phone reception, and the closest pharmacy was thirty miles away. Fortunately I was able to connect with the office of my primary care physician, and we used scheduled call back times to generate a prescription at the closest town. Jane and Amy made the 1.5 hour roundtrip on Thursday, October 5, and this enabled me to initiate my dosage that same day. Although I missed two days of highly anticipated hiking with my wife and daughter, the medicine kicked in and alleviated my concern over the four hour return drive on Saturday.

By Monday I was feeling close to normal, and with another very fine autumn day forecast for Tuesday, I made plans for another fly fishing adventure. My initial thoughts revolved around South Boulder Creek, but when I checked the flows, I noted that they elevated from 5.6 CFS to 80 CFS in one single twist of the valve on Monday, so I was concerned that the dramatic change would impact the willingness of the trout to feed. I am convinced that large changes in stream levels require a period of adjustment for the cold water inhabitants. I moved on to look at other Front Range possibilities. I settled on the Big Thompson River, as the flows were 60 CFS, the high temperatures in Estes Park were in the 65 degree range, and fly shop reports were favorable. Based on past experience, I knew that 60 CFS represented nearly ideal flow rates.

Deep Run

I arrived at the highway pullout by 11AM, and the air temperature was 57 degrees. I wore a long sleeved undershirt, but that was the extent of my layering, as I was convinced that the temperature would quickly warm to comfortable levels. For my casting tool I chose my old Sage four weight, and after I hiked down the road a decent distance, I waded into the river (more like a creek) and began fly fishing at 11:30AM. To start my advance on the local trout population I armed my line with a size 8 tan pool toy hopper, a salvation nymph and a beadhead RS2. Quite a few flying grasshoppers flushed from the roadside vegetation, as I strolled along the shoulder of the road, and this prompted my choice of the pool toy hopper. Fall baetis hatches are prevalent on Colorado streams; and, thus, the RS2 nymph assumed a position on the end of my line.

In the first thirty minutes I progressed a short distance upstream, and I managed to fool one small six inch brown trout on the salvation nymph, before I adjourned for my lunch break on a wide flat rock in full sunshine. I also momentarily hooked a better fish on the hopper and temporarily connected with a smaller finned resident on one of the nymphs. Three refusals to the hopper were also part of the morning experience.

Nice Pastel Colors

After lunch I decided to downsize, and I replaced the hopper with a peacock hippie stomper while allowing the other nymphs to remain in place. In a short amount of time a small rainbow trout grabbed the hippie stomper, but then I suffered through an extended period with only stomper refusals to show for my efforts. I paused to reevaluate, and I concluded that the nymphs were not a desired food source, as nearly all the interactions with trout were on the surface. I nipped off the nymphs and replaced them with a size 14 light gray deer hair caddis on a twelve inch dropper. The stomper/caddis combination yielded a small brown trout that grabbed the caddis; however, most of the activity involved refusals to the hippie stomper.

Looks Promising

Respectable Brown Trout

Edge Water Produced

I removed the distracting hippie stomper and settled on a solitary deer hair caddis as my offering. I focused my casts to the small slow pools along the edge of the river, and I was rewarded with four very nice brown trout. This portion of my day elapsed between 1:00PM and 2:15PM. Eventually the caddis began to generate refusals as well, but I observed fairly frequent rises to surface foods that were too small to detect. I suspected a mid-afternoon blue winged olive hatch, so I clipped off the caddis and replaced it with a CDC BWO.

Recovering

Rising Fish in This Area

The transition to the CDC BWO occurred, as I approached a long smooth pool that spanned the entire riverbed, and sporadic rises appeared throughout the pool For the next hour I cast the CDC BWO to rising fish, and I managed to boost the fish count from seven to ten. Two of the landed fish were medium sized browns; however, one was a very respectable chunky twelve inch rainbow. I made a significant number of casts throughout this time period, and the fish were by no means competing for my fly. Quite a few regular risers absolutely ignored my fly, and quite a few more looked at and refused the small CDC puffs. I swapped the CDC BWO for a soft hackle emerger fished with floatant on the body, but this ploy was ineffective. Near the end of my time on the water I converted to a size 22 CDC BWO with a small medium dun hackle, and this duped the rainbow trout, but it was also refused and ignored as frequently as the CDC BWO without hackle.

Flipped Around

By 3:30PM I progressed to the top of the run and pool, so I retreated along the south bank and crossed at the shallow water near the tail. The shadows lengthened across the river, and the absence of the sun’s rays sent chills through my back. I could have added my raincoat for an extra layer of warmth, but I attained double digits, and it was 3:30 and time to make the drive home.

Tuesday was a fun bonus day of fly fishing after another bout of illness, and I appreciated it. The action was not fast and furious; however, I managed to reach double digits, and at least four of the trout measured in the eleven inch range. Fishing dries in October is always appreciated, and I managed to formulate tactics to net a few nice fish with the caddis along the banks of the river. The weather is supposed to cool significantly over the next few days but then return to warmer temperatures Sunday through early next week. Perhaps I will post another fishing report before the cold weather moves in to stay.

Fish Landed: 10

Time: 10:30AM – 2:00PM

Location: Below Lake Estes

Big Thompson River 07/26/2023 Photo Album

After a fairly strenuous day on Tuesday that involved a fair amount of hiking in the heat and wet wading, I was reluctant to embark on a long journey on Wednesday. For this reason I reviewed all the stream flows on nearby Front Range streams, and I concluded that the Big Thompson River in the canyon below Lake Estes was my best bet. The flows were on the high side at 124 CFS, but the fly shop reports indicated that the fishing was decent. The high flows were actually a positive to buffer warming water temperatures from the soaring heat wave.

Starting Point

I arrived at my chosen pullout by 10:15AM, and this enabled me to be on the river fly fishing by 10:30AM after assembling my Loomis two piece five weight. The air temperature was 77 degrees, and it climbed to 86 degrees, before I ended my day at 2:00PM. I decided to wear my waders after wading wet on Tuesday, since very little hiking was involved with the road running along the river. When I was prepared, I hiked down the highway a short distance to a place that did not present no trespassing signs. I cut to the river and rigged my line with a peacock hippie stomper and size 16 light gray deer hair caddis. Within the first thirty minutes I landed five trout and witnessed numerous temporary connections. Three of the landed trout mashed the hippie stomper, and the other two nipped the caddis. Four of the five were wild browns, and one was a small rainbow trout.

After the hot fishing in the first hour, I encountered a private property and no trespassing sign, so I quickly retreated to the highway and skirted the private plot, until I was just upstream. I reentered the river just below a gorgeous deep pool, and I resumed my prospecting approach with the double dry presentation. The action slowed appreciably, and I was shutout in my pursuit of trout, before I claimed my lunch break at 11:45AM. I suspect that my first section of the river was assumed to be private and skipped by most fishermen; and, therefore, the fish were less pressured and more aggressive toward my flies. Of course, another explanation might be the time of day, and the late morning water temperature was in the prime feeding range.

Sweet Spot

After I fished the attractive hole on the upstream side of the private water, another fisherman appeared thirty yards above me. Needless to say I was not enthusiastic about his presence, so I gathered my rod and quickly circled around the intruder. In fairness to the upstream angler, he probably was not aware of my presence, until he waded into the river. I gave him fifty yards of space and cut back to the river across from where my car was parked. The well worn path to the river suggested that the easy access section received a high degree of fishing pressure, but I continued fishing nevertheless.

Near the End of the Day

I ate my lunch next to the river and observed the pool, but insects were not in abundance. An occasional yellow sally fluttered skyward, and small caddis could be disturbed from the streamside bushes and willows. My slow stint before lunch caused me to adjust my approach, and I switched to a dry/dropper, with a classic Chernobyl ant as the surface fly and a salvation nymph on the dropper. The Chernobyl accounted for a small rainbow, but the nymph was totally ignored. I pondered the lack of action and decided to go deeper and added a prince nymph. For the next thirty minutes I applied the dry/dropper methodology with intense focus, but two nymphs were treated the same as one. As this story developed some dark clouds arrived in the southwest sky, and the change in weather blocked the sun and dropped the air temperature.

Two on Caddis Below Overhanging Branch

As I continued my upstream migration, I moved beyond the pullout for the Santa Fe and reached a section, where the river divided into two branches around a long narrow island. I began on the left braid, but when I reached the midpoint, the stream above me was characterized as a wide fast moving riffle, so I crossed the island to the braid next to the highway. I declared the Chernobyl dry/dropper a failed experiment, and I reverted to a double dry with a size 14 yellow stimulator on the top and an olive size 16 deer hair caddis trailing. This combination enabled me to reach ten fish landed by the time a second storm cell arrived and chased me off the water. I had the most success with the double dry tight to the bank and at the tail of runs of moderate depth. Two decent browns smacked the caddis, as it began to swing at the tail of a smooth pool under an overhanging branch. I am sure this was a spot virtually ignored by fly fishermen prior to my arrival.

A streak of lightning and the nearly immediate sound of thunder motivated me to hustle back to the car. I arrived just ahead of the rain, and, in fact, I was forced to pull on my rain jacket as I pulled off my waders. Wednesday was a challenging day. I blasted off to a fast start with five fish landed in the first hour, but the catch rate stalled in the early afternoon, until I worked the edges with a dry/dropper. I was actually quite proud to be able to advance the fish count to double digits in spite of the lack of insects and high air temperature. The size of the fish was lacking with one brown trout perhaps stretching to twelve inches. I find myself yearning for another high elevation creek now that the daily air temperatures have climbed into the nineties and upper eighties.

Fish Landed: 10

Time: 11:00AM – 2:30PM

Location: The canyon below Estes Park

Big Thompson River 10/19/2022 Photo Album

Admittedly I was very excited to watch game two of the NLCS between the Phillies and Padres, and this may have distracted me from fly fishing. The Phillies have been my favorite team since my early childhood. I can remember sneaking my transistor radio into bed with me and listening to the woeful Phillies of the early sixties, when I was supposed to be sleeping. On the other hand my day of fishing on the Big Thompson River is probably better explained by the lack of insect activity and the bright blue sky that yielded pleasant autumn weather for the fisherman, but not much insect activity for the fish.

I chose the Big Thompson, because it represents a relatively short drive from Denver, and the flows were adjusted downward to 45 CFS three days ago. I favor Big Thompson flows in the 50 – 100 CFS range, and 45 CFS was close to the bottom. I used to believe the Big T harbored a fairly high ratio of rainbow trout, but fishing experiences since the big flood of 2013 have caused me to reconsider that opinion. At any rate I was looking for a higher proportion of rainbow trout over brown trout to offset the spawning effect, and I felt the Big Thompson had more bows than other Front Range options.

Perfect Riffle Water

I made the drive to the canyon below Estes Park without incident, and the air temperature was 51 degrees, as I rigged my Loomis two piece five weight and prepared to fish. My starting point featured a long and wide, slow-moving section, so I knotted an olive-brown size 16 deer hair caddis to my line and began making long upstream casts. I covered the entire thirty yard stretch with one refusal to show for my efforts, and then I adjusted my approach to an olive body hippie stomper and retained the caddis on a one foot dropper. Once again the trout gave my choices a resounding rejection.

The water type shifted to faster runs and pockets around exposed boulders, so I once again made a change, and this time I opted for a tan size 8 pool toy hopper with a beadhead hares ear trailer and a zebra midge. A solid fifteen minutes of prospecting with the dry/dropper failed to ignite the interest of the fish, and I exchanged the zebra midge for a size 22 olive bead. This fly is as basic as it gets with a silver bead and an olive thread body. The trout rejected this combination, and as noon rapidly approached, I once again swapped the olive bead fly for a sparkle wing RS2. Finally in a deep pocket a barely six inch brown trout nipped the RS2, and I was on the scoreboard with one trout. The first hour of fishing was very inauspicious.

Since I was near the car at noon, I climbed the boulder strewn bank and ambled back to the Santa Fe. I threw my gear in the back of the car and drove downstream for a couple miles before I parked in a pullout facing west. The portion of the canyon that I planned to fish after lunch ran tight to steep canyon walls, and I was fearful that I would be forced to fish in the chilly shadows. I debated traveling farther down the river to a point that was more open, but I decided to remain, because I remembered some nice pools in the area, in case blue winged olives made an appearance.

Beauty over Size

I retained the three fly system that included the pool toy hopper, hares ear and RS2 for the next 1.5 hour, and I was rewarded with frustration and one very pretty ten inch rainbow trout that nabbed the RS2 in a small eddy downstream from a large bankside boulder. Along the way I swapped the hares ear for an ultra zug bug, in case the rainbow trout desired more flash, but this idea failed to turn around my fortunes. By 1:45PM I arrived at a long wide riffle that spanned the entire river, and I was certain that this was prime dry fly water. I removed the dry/dropper and revived the olive hippie stomper with a size 16 gray deer hair caddis. A couple refusals reinforced the idea that the trout were tuned into the surface, and eventually I found a taker in the form of a ten inch brown trout.

Eager Brown Trout

I continued upstream for another fifty yards, and the hippie stomper and caddis attracted a bit of additional attention in the form of refusals and a temporary hook up, but the action was very sporadic, and I never saw signs of a BWO hatch or insect activity of any form. Toward the end of this period I exchanged the caddis for a size 22 CDC BWO in case the trout were looking for upright wings, but that move proved as futile as my others. By 2:20PM my mind was preoccupied with the baseball playoffs and bored with fishing, so I climbed the bank and meandered back to the car.

A three fish day in 3.5 hours was rather pathetic, however, the weather was outstanding and the scenery and drive were spectacular. I listened to the Phils take a lead on the return drive, but once I got home, they unraveled and stumbled to an 8-5 trouncing. Oh well, they won game one and return to Philadelphia with a split of their away games. I still like their chances.

Fish Landed: 3

Time: 11:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: Below Lake Estes in the canyon

Big Thompson River – 10/03/2022 Photo Album

My day of fly fishing on Monday, October 3, 2022 can be characterized as one of frustration. My initial plan involved a trip to my favorite local stream, South Boulder Creek below Gross Reservoir. In preparation for the trip I checked the stream flows on the DWR web site, and the news there was favorable with the valve delivering 76 CFS, which is as close to ideal as it gets. The weather was tolerable with a high in the upper fifties and afternoon clouds with rain commencing at 3PM. I searched my South Boulder Creek posts for early October, and I found one for October 15, when I landed twenty-nine trout using mostly a dry/dropper system. All systems were go except for a check on Gross Dam road. During my last trip, I encountered a sign that notified travelers that the road would be closed the two days after my passage. Was it possible that the road would be closed again and would my access be blocked? I looked up the Denver Water customer service number and made a call and spoke with a representative named Lindsey. She did not have that information, but she gave me the number of the Gross Reservoir ranger, and she suggested he was likely to have road closure information.

I waited until 8AM and called Ranger Don, but my call was forwarded to voicemail. A long recorded message informed the caller that the South Gross Dam Road was closed for the duration of the project, but I concluded that this was the dirt road that I met at a T intersection, where I turned right to cross the creek and access the Kayak parking lot. I asked Ranger Don to return my call, but the request was never fulfilled, so I embarked on my original plan.

I followed my normal route to Coal Creek Canyon, but when I approached the turn off to Crescent Meadows, a large road construction sign announced that Gross Dam Road was closed on October 3 and 4. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. I actually anticipated this, but I was unable to gather the necessary information to avoid the wasted trip. I decided to change my plans and reversed my direction to CO 93, and I followed the road through Boulder, CO and eventually on to the Peak to Peak Highway and Estes Park. Upon my approach to Estes Park, I turned right on Mall Road, and then I shortcut to US 34 and followed the two lane to my chosen pullout.

Scene of Hot Start

The air temperature was sixty degrees, so I pulled on my fleece hoodie, and I proceeded to gear up with my Loomis two piece five weight. I used the Loomis in the Flattops, and I liked the feel for casting dry flies and dry/dropper rigs. I hiked down the road a bit and then cut perpendicular to the river, and then I rigged with a tan size 8 pool toy hopper, beadhead hares ear nymph and beadhead salvation nymph. I tossed the three fly dry/dropper upstream to a moderate depth run, and instantly a fish grabbed one of the nymphs, but it quickly escaped. A second cast to the left resulted in a foul hooked brown trout, and then a third cast yielded a small brown trout to my net. After the first thirty minutes of fly fishing I recorded two foul hooked fish, two temporary hook ups and four landed trout. The fourth brown crushed the hopper and then twisted the nymph droppers into a wicked snarl, so I spent a ridiculous amount of time untangling and retying the flies. In the process the one remaining functioning zipper on the drop down foam pocket in my frontpack broke, and the pad remained in the down position permanently. This was a significant nuisance to casting and line management, and since it was 11:45AM, I returned to the car to eat lunch and develop a temporary fix to my frontpack.

Innovated Front Pack Fix

After lunch I searched through my fishing bag, and I found a 2.5 foot long lanyard from a Bucknell reunion that I saved for just such an occasion. I wrapped the lanyard around the frontpack and knotted it in the back. The drop down foam patch was now locked in the upright position, but the strap was low enough to allow me to pull the zippers on the main frontpack compartment to open and close. I walked back down the road to a spot above the no trespassing signs and above my exit point before lunch, and I resumed prospecting with the three fly dry/dropper. The torrid pace of interaction with trout that I enjoyed before lunch slowed to a snails pace, as I managed to increment the fish count by two small fish in spite of covering some very attractive pools, pockets and moderate riffles. Of course this section of the Big Thompson flowed right next to the highway, but I was certain that decent trout inhabited the catch and release water.

Nice One

When I reached a point, where I was opposite the Santa Fe, I climbed up the short but steep boulder strewn bank and threw my gear in the car and drove downstream another mile to another favorite spot. At this location I marched directly to a nice pool with a deep run that split the river into two excellent shelf pools. I paused and observed for a bit, and as some heavy cloud cover blocked the sun, I noticed a few sporadic rises. Before departing the first fishing location, I reconfigured my line with a double dry that featured a peacock body hippie stomper and olive-brown body size 16 deer hair caddis. I sprayed some casts to the area of the observed rises, and I was rewarded with a couple refusals. The time of year and overcast conditions suggested blue winged olive activity, so I replaced the caddis with a CDC blue winged olive, and once again a pair of refusals ensued.

Given the high flows of 123 CFS, could the trout be focused on active nymphs and emergers? I decided to try a deep nymphing approach, and I invested time in converting my set up to a New Zealand yarn indicator, split shot, hares ear nymph and classic RS2. I circled back down the river to where my car was parked, and I worked my way back to the pool by drifting the nymphs along the slow moving band of water along the south bank. The deep nymphing ploy failed to pay dividends, until I reached the large pool, and here I waded directly to the top where the strong main current entered. I began drifting my nymphs along the seam, where the main current met the slow moving pool, and I picked up two brown trout on the nymphs. One nabbed the RS2, and the other nipped the hares ear.

I finally cracked the afternoon code, so I persisted upstream to an area that contained some very attractive deep pockets, slots and runs, but the nymph rig was not productive, so I decided to revert to a three fly dry/dropper rig. If I was not catching fish, I at least wanted to use a method that I preferred. For this dry/dropper system I opted for a size 8 classic Chernobyl ant, a size 12 prince nymph, and a hares ear nymph. In a deep slot between some exposed boulders, the Chernobyl disappeared, and I raised the rod and found myself connected to a thrashing twelve inch rainbow trout. The rainbow snatched the prince nymph from the drift, and I was convinced that I found the answer to the riddle. Unfortunately after another ten yards of probing, the Chernboyl snagged on a stick, and the high flows prevented me from wading into a rescue position, so I applied direct pressure and popped off the three flies.

A Favorite Pool

I was in a state of frustration, and the sky was growing progressively dark with rain nearby, so I decided to call it a day at nine fish landed and began marching back along the shoulder to the car. As I passed the large pool, I decided to scramble to the midsection in case more blue winged olives were making an appearance. Sure enough, I spotted several very sporadic rises in the wide and shallower lower portion of the pool. I grabbed my line and added a two foot 5X section and knotted a size 22 CDC BWO to the end and began casting across and down to initiate downstream drifts. Over the next twenty minutes I sprayed casts over a twenty yard area and managed to land two aggressive brown trout of nine and eleven inches. By 3:30PM light rain began to fall, and rather than removing my backpack and frontpack to access my raincoat, I simply ambled back to the car and quit for the day. The rain increased in intensity, as I removed my gear and waders, and I drove through four sessions of heavy downpours and strong winds on my return trip.

Best Rainbow

I managed to salvage eleven trout from the Big Thompson River on Monday, October 3. None of the fish exceeded twelve inches, but I was quite proud to land two on dry flies. Why did the first half hour begin with such hot action? I have no answer other than the fact that the first stretch was more away from the highway and perhaps less pressured. I remain very anxious to return to South Boulder Creek, so I will pursue a source of information for road closures of Gross Dam Road between Coal Creek Canyon and the Kayak parking lot.

Fish Landed: 11

Time: 11:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: A couple miles below the dam.

Big Thompson River 04/18/2022 Photo Album

I reviewed the weather and flows on several Front Range streams for a trip on Monday, April 18, 2022, and I eventually settled on the Big Thompson River below Lake Estes near Estes Park. The air temperature was 41 degrees at the start of my day, but it eventually rose to the low sixties. For most of my time on the river it was sunny and windy, and I wore my fleece hoodie and light down coat along with the New Zealand billed cap with earflaps.

Pocket Water Ahead

I began my search for gullible trout with a yellow fat Albert plus a beadhead hares ear nymph on a dropper and beneath that an ultra zug bug. In the early going I landed a small brown trout that nipped the ultra zug bug, but then I suffered an extended fish drought. I paused for lunch at noon with the fish count stalled on one.

On the Board

Nice Wide Pool

After lunch I continued through some promising water with no results, so I changed my strategy. I concluded that the large size 8 fat Albert was too impactful for the 33 CFS flows. While eating my lunch, I noticed a few random rises in a nice pool with a deep center cut run, so I switched to a peacock hippie stomper trailing a CDC BWO. I tossed out a cast, and a sip and set produced a brown trout for number two on the day. I wanted to persist with the CDC BWO, but even with the leading hippie stomper it was difficult to track in the faster water, so I swapped the olive for a size 16 olive-brown deer hair caddis. The caddis nailed a fish, but then it became the object of refusals, and I was forced to reevaluate my strategy.

Nice Size for Big T

For the remainder of the afternoon I switched between the CDC BWO and the caddis and boosted the fish count to twelve. In many cases, the caddis produced refusals, but at least it allowed me to identify the position of a target catch. I then re-armed with the small CDC BWO, and fooled the previously picky eater. This model did not yield fast and furious action, but steady fly fishing was nonetheless a result. I was proud of my ability to accomplish a degree of success with the “bait and switch” strategy.

Another Fine Pool Beckons

I noticed only very sparse blue winged olive activity between 1PM and 2:30PM, but even that disappeared over the final hour. I tried a yellow size 14 stimulator in conjunction with the stomper during this time period, but it was not an answer.

A twelve fish day under cool and windy conditions with virtually no cloud cover was very satisfactory. The Big Thompson remains a solid return candidate during the pre-runoff time frame.

Fish Landed: 12

Time: 11:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Below Lake Estes

Big Thompson River 10/29/2021 Photo Album

Combine a weather forecast featuring highs in the low sixties in Estes Park with a fine outing on Monday, 10/25/2021 and the desire of a beginning fly fisherman to squeeze in another trip before the wintry winds become prohibitive, and what do you get? The combination yielded another trip to the Big Thompson River in the canyon below Estes Park with my new fly fishing companion, Howie. Monday’s visit elevated my optimism, and I was convinced that the rainbow trout of the Big Thompson would satisfy Howie’s appetite for at least one wild Colorado trout.

Fishing Pair

I picked up Howie at 9:30AM, and this enabled us to park in a pullout four miles below Estes Park by 11:00AM. The air temperature was sixty degrees, and, much to our delight, that exceeded the forecast. The section where we began was bathed in sunlight, but I chose to wear my raincoat as a windbreaker, although I soon discovered that I was over dressed for this delightful late fall day in the Rocky Mountains. I told Howie the plan was to alternate fishing, and in this way I would remain close by for assistance, but I could also log some fly fishing time.

Focused

Unfortunately our starting point was a long slow-moving shallow pool, and we were mesmerized by a few rises and an abundant quantity of darting trout, as I stepped into the water. I immediately recognized that tossing a dry/dropper would create excessive disturbance, so I rigged Howie’s line with a size 16 olive-brown deer hair caddis. I suggested that he begin at the bottom of the pool and fire long casts directly upstream, but in retrospect, we should have skipped the entire area. The whole exercise was extremely challenging, and as if the distance casting and skittish nature of the fish were not enough, gusting crosswinds made the adventure futile. I occupied a position along the left bank and began shooting long casts with a hippie stomper and caddis, and even my many years of experience offered no advantage. I was just as unsuccessful as Howie.

We finally moved on and prospected upstream for another 75 yards, before we returned to the car for our lunches. which we grabbed and munched next to the river across from the Santa Fe. During the pre-lunch time Howie encouraged me to work ahead of him, and he voiced the goal of me catching one fish, before we would break for lunch. I decided to take him up on his offer only because I wanted to apply my rapid fire dry/dropper experience to the enterprise in hopes of discovering an approach that would yield results for both of us. When I finally reached a nice section where the canyon narrowed to create some very attractive deep runs and plunge pools, I temporarily hooked a fish tight to a rock with one of my nymphs, and then I connected with a rainbow for a half second on the hippie stomper. I knew it was a rainbow, because it immediately leaped above the water and shook free from the foam dry fly.

Howie Looking for Trout

After lunch we drove west toward Estes Park to another spot that delivered positive results in the past. I was now tossing the hippie stomper with an ultra zug bug and beadhead hares ear, and I modified Howie’s line to include a size 16 Chernobyl ant with an orange body and a size14 2XL nymph with a tinsel abdomen. These were both in his box, and he wanted to try some his flies. I gambled that the locals might be drawn to something different from the usual offerings.

We scrambled down a steep rocky bank to a gorgeous deep pool, and we both saw quite a few nice fish cruising along both shorelines. Howie positioned himself at the bottom left tail of the pool and began lobbing casts to all the feeding lanes. Unfortunately the fish showed no interest in the Chernobyl and nymph menu items, but he persisted with the tantalizing presence of visible fish prodding him on. Meanwhile I covered the next forty yards of pocket water, and I was convinced that it would produce a hungry fish or two; but, alas, Friday was proving to be a far different day than Monday. After fifteen minutes of fruitless casting, another angler appeared twenty yards above me. He was a large man with a gray ponytail, and I was immediately angered for being high-holed. but then I reconsidered and concluded he did us a favor by driving us from unproductive water. I gave him the benefit of the doubt that we were out of sight deep in the canyon and behind some large boulders.

A Big Grin

I returned to check up on Howie, and he informed me that he had some good news and bad news. The good news was that he tied on two new flies himself. The bad news was that he hooked some tall grass along the opposite bank and broke off the Chernobyl ant and flash nymph. I carefully moved upstream a bit to some shallower water that fed the pool and crossed to search the tall grasses. He remembered that the break off occurred within a twelve foot section, and he also felt that the fly was at eye level. I systematically moved along the bank and visually searched for an orange Chernobyl. How hard could it be to see a size six foam attractor? Well, it was hard. I covered the entire section without success and then returned to the upstream border and began scanning the dried grass a second time, but during round two I gazed lower toward the edge of the river. Much to my surprise at the halfway point I spotted the sun reflecting off a thin section of monofilament, and I followed the line upward, until I found the oversized ant dangling from the tip of a dried stalk of grass. It was a forest from the trees situation, as the ultimate landing spot reached out over the stream, and I was looking at the dense clumps of grass that grew vertically along the bank.

We hoofed it back to the car and stashed our gear and drove west to one of the places that I fished on Monday. I knew there were fish in this spot, so failure to catch them could only be attributed to our flies or abilities. I parked above a bridge, and we walked along highway 34 for 50 yards, until we dropped down a short rocky bank to a gigantic pool with a nice center cut deep run. I converted Howie back to a dry dropper rig that featured a hopper Juan as the surface fly and an ultra zug bug on a three foot dropper. By now I was tossing the hippie stomper, ultra zug bug and a size 18 black stonefly nymph imitation.

We took both sides of the pool, and I was shocked to learn that nary a fish showed interest in our flies. I never even saw a fish or rise, and this was highly unusual for this prime pool on the Big Thompson River. Next we moved above the pool and began to prospect some deep pockets and runs. Howie hooked a branch on the bank that bordered the highway, and this misfortune morphed into a nasty tangle. I worked it for a bit, but two very tight wind knots developed, and Howie volunteered to address the mess of his own doing, so I acquiesced and handed the line off.

The Area That Produced

Deep Colors

While Howie puzzled over the monofilament snarl, I advanced upstream at a fairly rapid pace. The river in this area was entirely covered by shadows, and the air temperature in the shade seemed to plummet ten degrees. I quickly popped three to five casts in likely fish dens, and within ten minutes a small rainbow latched on to the ultra zug bug, and I was on the scoreboard with the first fish of the day. For the next thirty minutes I worked the deep runs and pockets, and suddenly the river came to life with hungry trout. I landed four more wild finned residents, and the late afternoon catch included two brown trout and three rainbows. The last two fish were easily twelve inch gems.

Upper Productive Stretch

Scarlet Gill

A few attractive deep runs remained, and I was satisfied with my late salvage effort, so I turned my attention to Howie. He had gained ground on me, and he was positioned twenty yards downstream. I called out and motioned him to join me on the north bank. When he arrived, I examined his flies, and a triangular loop remained on the hopper Juan, so I snipped it and removed the small section of knotted line. I lengthened his dropper to three feet and knotted an ultra zug bug to the point. As I did this, I realized that I was done fishing for the day, and I could have just handed him my rod, but in hindsight, the large hopper Juan was more easily tracked than the hippie stomper in the dark shadows and fast churning current.

A Second Look

I switched into guide mode, and Howie showed me some much improved casting, as he prospected a pair of marginal slots in the middle of the river. Next, however, we approached a very promising deep slow moving slot that flowed along the south bank. Howie expertly tossed the hopper to the top and allowed it to drift through the prime holding water. On the third such pass with the dry/dropper, the hopper plunged, and Howie reacted with a swift hook set. Before the whoops and hollers could escape my mouth, however, the brightly colored rainbow leaped a foot above the surface and tossed the ultra zug bug back to the depths. Howie and I were sorely disappointed with this turn of events, but we persisted.

A Jewel

We moved through a few more deep runs in the middle of the river, and then we came to a moderately promising pocket. The current angled toward us and then sped up and churned downstream, until it reflected off a large exposed boulder. I pointed this out to Howie, and I predicted that if a trout called this pocket home, it would be in the bottom third, where the current ran past the rock. Howie was ready, and on the third drift the hopper paused, and Howie lifted the rod tip and connected with a ten inch brown trout. There was no messing around, as my fishing companion hoisted the wild thing of beauty into my net. We snapped copious quantities of photos and exchanged fist bumps and gently released the little brown trout to live another day.

The Man and His Fish

What an ending to what seemed to be developing into a very disappointing day! I managed to land five trout including a pair of twelve inchers, but I was more thrilled to see the wide grin on Howie’s face, as he landed his first trout in Colorado. The rainbow that escaped along with the brown trout that he landed gave him a small taste of the fun that lies ahead, if he continues to hone his fly fishing skills.

Fish Landed: 5