Time: 10:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: Upstream from the border with the RV park that was destroyed in the September 2013 flood

Big Thompson River 08/03/2016 Photo Album

After three consecutive days of outstanding fishing, I was due for a reality check, and today August 3 served that purpose. Hopefully today’s results are not a sign that I need to select tailwaters and high elevation headwaters over lower valley rivers and streams at this early juncture in August. The high temperature reached 98 degrees in Denver, so I suspect heat is the main explanation for my slow day on the Big Thompson River. The DWR web site displayed flows of 103 cfs, and this is actually relatively high for early August, so I cannot blame the challenging fishing on the amount of water.

103 CFS

I arrived at a pullout along US 34 approximately six miles below Olympus Dam at 10AM, and by the time I assembled and rigged my Orvis Access four weight and gathered my fly fishing essentials, it was 10:30. I began fishing with a size 14 gray deer hair caddis, and three fish in the wide relatively smooth starting pool found it to their liking. The moderate flows enabled me to cross at the wide starting point, and I love the idea of fishing along the bank that is away from the road, so I adopted this approach. As I slowly moved up the river prospecting with the small caddis, I upped my fish count to four, but then the fish began to ignore my offering.

The type of water may have had something to do with this, since it transitioned into faster runs and pockets. In an effort to make my fly more visible to me and the fish, I swapped the size 16 caddis for a size 14 stimulator with a gray body. This change did not tempt the stream residents, so I defaulted to one of my favorite lineups. I tied a size 10 Chernobyl ant to my line and dangled a 20 incher and salvation nymph below it. By 11:45 as I climbed the rocky bank to return to the car for lunch, I added one more small fish to my tally, after it struck the salvation nymph, as I lifted to make another cast.

I walked back to the Santa Fe and executed a U-turn and parked high above my lunchtime exit point. I sat on a large rock with a great vantage point, while I munched my sandwich, but I failed to spot any insects or fish. It is very unusual not to see fish in the deep pools of the Big Thompson River.

After lunch I continued from my quitting point, and within minutes I was perched at the tail of a long deep run that transformed into a wide pool. The entire area was 25 yards long and the pool covered the entire width of the river. I made some long angled casts to cover the lane along the opposite bank, and I noticed a refusal to the Chernobyl, and the brief glimpse suggested a decent fish. In the midsection of the pool, another fish flashed to the top fly. What could these fish be looking for?

It was a bit late in the season for green drakes, but I recalled encountering them in the Big Thompson in prior years, so I decided to test one. I knotted a Harrop deer hair green drake to my line, and it also generated a look but no take. Next I switched to a size 14 parachute green drake, and the large low floating mayfly created interest from three fish that elevated to inspect and then turned away. I had one more style to try, so I tied a size 14 comparadun to my line, but this was totally ignored. Since the parachute style prompted the most action, I reverted to it. I made a forty-five degree cast up and across, and as the parachute drifted across from me, a decent brown trout rushed to the surface and nipped the fly. I felt weight for a split second, and then the fish was gone. After this weak endorsement of my offering I wasted an excessive quantity of additional futile casts, before I finally conceded defeat and moved on.

The next section of water consisted of large pockets and deep runs. The green drake induced a couple more refusals along the edge, so I gave in to my instincts and returned to the dry/dropper approach. Unlike earlier I selected a tan pool toy as my top fly and added a beadhead hares ear and salvation nymph.

The Fly Is Almost Larger Than the Fish’s Mouth

It was now early afternoon, and the intense rays of the sun were shining directly on the Big Thompson River. It was quite warm and bright, and I regretted not selecting wet wading for this unusually warm summer day in the mountains. Over the two and a half hours between 1:00 and 3:30, I worked my way upstream and covered a significant amount of water. I limited my casts to three or four and then moved on. I also attempted to focus more on the banks, although the level of the river and the large population of rainbows should have supported fish in the attractive pockets and pools in other places.

A Legacy Fly Accounted for Two Fish

I feel fortunate to report that I increased my fish count to eleven before I quit for the day. Three fish grabbed the salvation nymph, and one aggressive bank dwelling brown smashed the pool toy. Part way through this period of slow action, I decided to experiment with some old flies that I carry in my fleece pouch and rarely tie on my line. I grabbed a long narrow gray wet fly with a copper rib and replaced the hares ear. Miraculously this fly accounted for two small rainbows that snatched it, as it drifted through a run of moderate depth. This was probably the most significant positive for my day on the Big Thompson River on August 3.

Fish Landed: 11

Time: 11:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: Downstream border of special regulation water near mile marker 73.

Fish Landed: 10

Big Thompson River 05/09/2016 Photo Album

Having finally conceded that emerging caddis on the Arkansas River were not on my list of 2016 fly fishing successes, I refocused my efforts on other local stream options. High temperatures in Denver in early May remained in the sixties, and this delayed the inevitable run off on Front Range streams. Realizing that I was living on borrowed time, I committed to take full advantage of my retirement status to jam as much fishing into the next couple weeks as possible. Monday was the beginning of promise fulfillment.

On Mothers’ Day Jane and I drove to Rocky Mountain National Park, and we completed several hikes in various popular sections of the park. During these travels I obtained a good look at the Big Thompson in Moraine Park and Cascade Creek along the road to Bear Lake. Both streams were a bit high but very clear. In addition Jane and I traveled along the Big Thompson River in Estes Park and also skirted the North Fork of the St. Vrain northwest of Lyons, CO. All the drainages mentioned remained in fine shape for fishing in advance of the inevitable high muddy snow melt.

On Monday morning I checked the stream flows and fly shop reports on the Big Thompson River in the canyon below Lake Estes, and all the information indicated that this was a solid destination for a day of fishing. I departed from my house at 9:45 and after a stop for gas made the two hour drive and arrived at the extreme downstream boundary of the catch and release water below Lake Estes. I parked facing west near mile marker 73, and I elected to assemble my Sage four weight rod.

The air temperature was in the low fifties so I pulled on my green Columbia fleece to provide added warmth. The fleece remained a critical part of my attire throughout the day, and I added a raincoat and my hat with ear flaps in the afternoon when numerous large gray clouds blocked the sun and held temperatures in the range requiring extra layers.

2013 Scoured the Vegetation

I read some blog posts from previous trips to the Big Thompson in late April and early May, and based on this review, I opted to begin with a single size eight Chernobyl ant. In 2015 at this same time, the solitary Chernobyl produced a solid day, and I did not want to over complicate my choices. Within the first fifteen minutes I generated two split second hook ups with the foam ant, but then the large attractor simply drew refusals. After four or five teasing looks with no take, I decided to experiment with some alternatives. First I tried a smaller size ten Chernobyl, and this also drew some inspections accompanied by rejection. Next I downsized again to a size 14 Jake’s gulp beetle. Although this fly looked more like a real terrestrial than the Chernobyls, it was soundly ignored.

I hoped to avoid the next step in fly experimentation, but several of the reports I read referenced success with dropper flies. I returned the size eight Chernobyl to the end of my line, and then I added a three foot dropper with an emerald caddis pupa attached. This combination finally delivered my first fish of the day at 12:30. I celebrated the success of the emerald caddis pupa by breaking for lunch.

Quite a Meal for This Little Guy

As I munched my sandwich on a large rock near the river, I observed two small blue winged olives. I was not surprised by this development because the sky was growing increasingly overcast, and perfect blue winged olive weather arrived. When I resumed my upstream progress, I added a Craven soft hackle emerger to my dry/dropper configuration. I was now certain that I had the correct combination of flies to accumulate some landed trout over the remainder of the afternoon. My last remaining hope, the ability to cross the river flowing at 97 cfs, finally reached fruition when I found a section with a wide and relatively shallow depth. I was now positioned to prospect the most attractive pools, runs and pockets on the side of the river away from the highway and less pressured by most fishermen.

A Nice Shelf Pool Produced a Rainbow

Between 1PM and 3:30PM I built my fish count to ten. I would be embellishing the truth to state that it was hot fishing, but my catch rate was steady. The entire lower section of the catch and release area belonged to me, and I took full advantage by moving quite rapidly from prime run to juicy hole. I disciplined myself to deliver only three to five casts depending on the quality of the location. Most of the landed fish were on the small side, but I also netted a twelve inch rainbow and a couple eleven inch brown trout.

Lots of Pockets and Pools

The overwhelming highlight of the afternoon unfolded when I reached a deep pocket where two currents merged. One small flow skirted below a large exposed boulder at the very top of the small pool. A larger run merged at an angle from the right. Initially I was certain that any resident fish would hold out in the deep pit in front of the merging currents, but my drifts through this area proved fruitless. The small run that flowed from the left was only two feet wide, and a small foam slick hovered just below it. I lobbed a cast to the left side so that the smaller current carried the flies along the edge of the foam and, wham, a fish nose appeared beneath the Chernobyl. I reacted with a swift hook set, and I was certain that the fish inhaled the ant.

The fish reacted to my quick lift by making a dive and then thrashing around the perimeter of the pocket. Either I connected with a decent fish, or I foul hooked a smaller trout when it refused the Chernobyl. I held my breath and maintained tension on the line as the fish slid downstream into some moderately faster water. I followed it for a few steps until I could lever the head above the surface and guide it to my net. Much to my delight the fish in my net revealed the emerald caddis pupa in its mouth, and a quick glance told me that it was the largest brown trout I ever caught in the Big Thompson River. In fact it was likely the biggest trout of any kind that I landed in the Big T. Once Mr. Brown settled in the net, I estimated that it was sixteen inches long, and it carried a decent amount of weight for its length.

Beautiful Fish

Monday proved to be a solid day on the Big Thompson. Ten fish landed in 3.5 hours of fishing represents a reasonable catch rate, and the Big Thompson trophy brown was icing on the cake. I moved about freely and used my dry/dropper method effectively. Three of the ten smashed the Chernobyl on the surface, two fish nabbed the soft hackle emerger, and the remainder were attracted to the emerald caddis pupa. Clearly Monday was solid justification for maintaining wellerfish.me, as my review prompted me to use the Chernobyl ant and the emerald caddis pupa. Four more weekdays remain in the current week, and the weather forecast improves with each additional day. I cannot wait.

Time: 11:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: A couple miles below Estes Lake before lunch and then below the first bridge after Noel’s Draw in the afternoon.

Fish Landed: 3

Big Thompson River 04/21/2016 Photo Album

After a surprisingly productive day on Boulder Creek on Wednesday, I was quite enthusiastic about the prospect of making another trip on Thursday. Based on my success on a recent visit to the Big Thompson and flows running at 35 cfs, I chose this fine Front Range stream as my destination. I did not bother to remove my fishing gear from the Santa Fe, so I saved the time of unpacking and packing before my back to back trips.

Thursday was forecast to be warmer than Wednesday, although high temperatures in Estes Park were projected to remain in the low sixties. I was prepared to depart by 9AM, but I decided to make one last minute check of the stream flow data. I was disappointed to discover that the flows spiked from 33 cfs to 49 cfs on Thursday morning. Based on history, I typically avoid fishing in rivers and streams immediately after significant change in water levels, and a 48% increase fit this criteria. Nevertheless, I rationalized that 49 cfs remained at a manageable level, and since the water is discharged from a dam, clarity would not be an issue.

I rolled into a wide paved pullout approximately two miles below the dam at 10:45AM, and I pulled on my waders and rigged my Loomis five weight rod, so that I was ready to step into the river by 11:00. I knotted a medium olive size 14 stimulator to my line, and beneath it I attached a salad spinner. This combination produced nicely on my previous trip, but on Thursday the trout showed no interest. I did observe a couple refusals to the stimulator, but then I was surprised to notice quite a few subtle rises in the beautiful run and riffles ahead of me. What could these fish be feeding on? I scanned the surface of the river, but no obvious food morsels were evident. I gazed at the air above the river, and all I saw were minuscule midges, but even this possible food source was quite sparse.

I snipped off the salad spinner and replaced it with a beadhead RS2. The fish were having none of my offerings, and they continued to feed fairly regularly. Perhaps they were attacking emerging caddis that spent minimal time on the surface? I swapped the stimulator for a size 16 olive brown caddis dry fly, and this once again elicited a pair of refusals. The behavior of these fish was maddening. Was a blue winged olive spinner fall in progress? I replaced the RS2 with a beadless size 20 soft hackle emerger, and I applied floatant to the body. Charlie Craven claims that the soft hackle emerger is often taken as a spinner cripple, so I was applying his theory to my current situation. Nothing. The fish continued to rise right next to my double dry fly combination.

In a fit of despair I stretched my seine across the opening of my net and held it in the water for a minute. When I raised the mesh cloth to examine the sample results, I witnessed ten to fifteen minute empty worm cases. I assumed these were midge larva or pupa, and the fish were eating emerging or adult midges. The cases were segmented so I opted to test a black zebra midge, as it approximated the correct size and presented a similar segmented appearance.

I resumed casting the size 16 caddis with the tiny zebra midge dropper, and finally after twenty casts, a small brown trout darted to the right and grabbed the trailing midge. Perhaps I unlocked the code? I resumed spraying casts throughout the attractive area in front of me, but I only succeeded in registering another fifteen minutes of arm exercise. Finally I decided to abandon the jaded fish in the pool in front of me, and I moved farther upstream. The small dry and dropper seemed futile in the absence of rising fish, so I made the switch to a fat Albert trailing a bright green caddis larva and zebra midge.

I progressed at a faster pace, but the fish again ignored my presentations, so I exchanged the zebra midge for a beadhead hares ear. As I sat on a midstream boulder to make the change, I spied some caddis, so I plucked one and observed a gray-olive body. This color reminded me that these adults typically emerge from a caddis worm that displays an emerald color, so I elected to exchange the bright green caddis for an emerald version. Alas, all these experiments failed, and as I reeled up my line, I remained mired at a fish count of one. In addition another fisherman arrived and assumed a position forty yards above me. With my upstream migration blocked, I concluded it was a perfect time to return to the car for a lunch break.

I stashed my gear and drove another couple miles downstream until I reached a favorite pullout just before the first bridge below Noel’s Draw. Here I quickly devoured my lunch, and then I grabbed my rod and hiked across the bridge and downstream for another .2 miles. I was unable to solve the hatch, and my favored dry/dropper technique was not producing. The only flies that produced interest were the stimulator and caddis, albeit refusals. Since I captured three adult caddis on the rock, I decided to experiment with a single caddis dry fly. I removed the three fly ensemble and tied a single size 16 olive brown adult caddis to my line.

A Brown Trout Sipped a Caddis from This Area

It was 1:30 as I began prospecting likely slow moving eddies and seams with the solitary caddis. The change in strategy was partially successful, as I landed two small trout on the caddis within the next hour. One was a small brown, and the other was a brightly colored rainbow. Both darted to the surface and smashed my small caddis in riffles that were two feet deep. I was confident I now knew the type of water that would produce more fish, and I had a winning fly on the end of my line.

Unfortunately I did not have the answers. I moved along popping the caddis to likely trout lairs, but the fish count remained locked at three. Admittedly I found it difficult to find similar moderate riffle water, as I encountered deep plunge pools and shelf pools, and these spots seemed barren of fish. Finally by 3:30 I was weary, and I lost all confidence, so I hooked the caddis to my hook keep and called it a day.

Perhaps the weather was too nice with virtually no clouds in the sky and bright sunshine during my entire visit to the Big Thompson River. A sudden spike in flows may have disrupted the feeding rhythm of the resident fish. More likely this fisherman was unable to find the key to unlock the feeding preferences of the trout of the Big Thompson River. Just when I thought I had fly fishing figured out, I was given a rude awakening. Once again I learned that change is constant in fishing, and success is a momentary state.

Time: 10:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: Approximately four miles below the dam.

Fish Landed: 19

Big Thompson River 04/13/2016 Photo Album

I suppose it is not rational to compete against a river, but that is the situation I found myself in on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. I visited the Big Thompson River the previous Thursday, April 7, and I felt like the river defeated me. I landed five trout in four hours of fishing, and I view that as a sub-par outing. In addition I made strategic errors, and I pledged to make adjustments and not repeat them. The low clear flows of the river got the best of me. My first shortcoming was my tendency to dwell in large pools where I could sight multiple fish. It never seems to work unless the fish are rising, and it did not prove to be successful last Thursday. Perhaps the greater flaw to my fishing style was my disregard for caution when approaching the stream. Darting fleeing fish were observed on numerous occasions, and this indicated my carelessness in wading and a failure to maintain a safe distance from likely fish holding locations. In reality the river did not conquer me, I defeated myself.

Wednesday was a perfect day for fishing. The high temperature reached 59 degrees and the wind was moderate. When I arrived at a pullout four miles below Lake Estes, I assembled my Orvis Access four weight rod and pulled on a fleece layer as the temperature was 51 degrees. I hiked downstream along the shoulder of the road and passed a private cabin on a bend, and when I reached the next seasonal residence, I cut down to the stream. Flows increased from 30 cfs to 40 since my last visit nearly a week ago.

Nice Water

During my previous visit I fished nearly the entire time with a Fat Albert and trailing nymphs, and I questioned whether an attractor dry fly might have worked. I decided to test this theory, and I knotted a gray size 14 stimulator to my line. Since the small stimulator is not as buoyant as a foam attractor, I opted to tie a size 20 salad spinner to a three foot dropper. The salad spinner is a black midge larva/pupa imitation, and the reports I read indicated that midges are prevalent in the morning. These two flies proved to be a fortuitous choice, as almost immediately I began landing fish. The Big Thompson rainbows and browns jumped all over the salad spinner, and I landed seven fish in the first hour. I was amazed at the reversal of fortunes. Unlike the previous week I moved at a brisk pace and sprayed three to five casts in the likely spots before moving on. One of the seven fish landed during the late morning pounced on the stimulator, but all the others snatched the small midge larva from the drift. I continue to be amazed at the effectiveness of minuscule midges, and the ability of trout to see these tiny morsels in the rushing flows of a cold mountain stream.

A Pretty Rainbow Early in My Day

A Stimulator Attacker

I was feeling rather euphoric after an hour of fast paced action, and some dark clouds rolled overhead from the southwest. I was actually concerned that I neglected to pack my raincoat, but the cloud never yielded more than a few inconsequential drops. The heavy cloud cover provoked some baetis emergence, and this event coincided with my approach to a long smooth pool just downstream from where the car was parked. I waded to the bottom left corner of the pool away from the road, and I paused to observe. Sure enough I spotted several extremely subtle rises in the light riffle. I responded by tossing some half-hearted casts to the tail of the pool, but as I suspected, this action did not elicit a response. I swapped the salad spinner for a RS2, as I hoped the trout would chase the small nymph form of the baetis, but they were also having none of it.

Productive Pool with My Car in View

By process of elimination I concluded that the fish were feeding on or near the surface. Once again I reacted, and this time of removed both nymphs and tied on a CDC olive behind the stimulator. I do not often use a double dry set up, but the CDC olive was going to be difficult to follow in the dim light, and I liked the idea of having a large leading dry fly to gauge the drift of the olive. The twin dry fly configuration proved to be a stroke of genius, as I moved my fish tally from seven to fourteen by 12:30 when I broke for lunch. I was not instigating a take on every cast, but it obviously worked often enough to gain my confidence. The game became one of spotting a rise and timing my cast to the cadence of the fish, although I picked up a few by simply blind casting to likely holding locations.

Needless to say I was quite elated with my success when I climbed the bank and returned to the car to grab my lunch and water. My day was a success regardless of what transpired in the early afternoon. I ate my lunch on some rocks above a large deep pool directly across from the car, and I noticed two rises during my twenty minute break. I filed this information in my memory and then walked back along the shoulder to my exit point. I resumed my position along the left bank just below a long downed tree branch, and I quickly landed another brown trout on the CDC olive. Unfortunately when I cast to the juicy riffles at the head of the long pool, I experienced two momentary hook ups, but this was a small setback after the hot streak of the morning.

Gorgeous Color on This Rainbow

Next I waded upstream to the large deep pool that I monitored while eating my lunch. Just as I expected, I landed a small brown from the center area where I noticed one of the rises. After releasing this fish I paused to scan for additional rises, but none materialized, so I made some prospecting casts to no avail. The blue winged olive hatch seemed to end temporarily, and the double dries ceased to draw interest, so I returned to the Fat Albert and nymphs system that yielded limited success the previous week. I chose a bright green caddis pupa as the top fly and a RS2 as the fly on the tip. I encountered a section of pocket water, and the change gave me hope when a brown trout snatched the caddis as it drifted tight to the roadside bank. This was a decent fish, but it escaped my grasp before I could snap a photo.

I moved again, and I quickly encountered a deep pocket. Here I tested my jigging and lifting technique that served me well on the Arkansas, and when I lifted the flies at the end of the deep slot, I felt a tug and landed a twelve inch rainbow. This fish sported spectacular color with many vivid black spots and a brilliant crimson stripe along its sides. Again the rainbow escaped my grip before I could snap a photo.

I wish I could report that the remainder of the afternoon yielded additional steady action, but that was not the case. I reached another long pool and once again I noticed a few sporadic rises. I cut off all my flies and tied on a single CDC olive, but I could not fool these fish into eating my fraud. I was guilty of dwelling in this pool far too long, but then I recognized the error of my ways and moved along as the stream curved away from the road. I reverted to the dry/dropper system, and finally in the last hour I landed number nineteen. It was a hungry rainbow that hammered the Fat Albert.

It was a fun day on the Big Thompson River in early April. My adjustments paid dividends, and I landed seven fish on a dry fly. The weather was cloudy, and this provoked a hatch, but it was not cold or wet enough to make life uncomfortable. Fly fishing in 2016 in Colorado is heating up, and this fly fishing blogger cannot wait to visit another stream in the near future..

Time: 11:00AM – 3:00PM

Location: Began just above flooded RV park and fished upstream to private water.

Fish Landed: 5

Big Thompson River 04/07/2016 Photo Album

I did not fall in the river, and the weather was beautiful, and I only lost one fly. These were the positives for Thursday on the Big Thompson River. Actually the river was quite clear although low at 30 CFS, and I spotted many fish. Unfortunately I only landed five fish in four hours of fishing, so my catch rate was sub par for my personal expectations, but all things considered, it was a fine day.

Starting Point

Thursday was the first day in 2016 where I fished comfortably, and the wind was present but not a significant deterrent. I also scored another first, but more on that later. I arrived at the pullout five miles below the dam in Estes Park by 10:30, and I was on the water fishing a few minutes before 11AM. The water was very low and clear, so I concluded that I could use the dry/dropper approach and effectively fish most locations. An indicator with a split shot would disturb the water excessively, but a large foam dry fly would land with a natural plop.

I began with a size eight Chernobyl ant, and below that I attached an ultra zug bug on a long three foot dropper. In the first half hour I hooked but did not land two rainbow trout, and one felt like a fish in excess of twelve inches, which is decent for the Big Thompson River. Before breaking for lunch at noon I landed two small rainbows on the ultra zug bug, but I spotted many fish that did not respond to my offerings. In fact quite a few fish darted from cover next to the bank as I waded upstream. I decided to be much more cautious in my approach after lunch.

The first location that I encountered after lunch was a huge long smooth pool. I paused to observe before making any casts, and I could see at least seven fish in front of me. They were hovering a foot or so below the surface, and it seemed that they were feeding on something in the drift. In the morning I noticed a few refusals to the Chernobyl ant so I exchanged it for a Fat Albert, and I added a RS2 as a third fly. Unfortunately the visible trout in the pool treated these flies like unappetizing flotsam, so I was forced to reconsider my approach. I decided to try a dry fly, and I knotted a light gray size 16 caddis to my line after removing the other ineffective imitations. This created a refusal from a small trout, but then it was soundly ignored as well.

Gorgeous Pool

Could the fish be accustomed to blue winged olives, and should I try one of my minute CDC olive flies? I decided to throw a double dry and tied a CDC olive to an eighteen inch leader attached to the bend of the caddis. I began shooting casts to the riffle at the head of the pool and allowed the dainty dries to dance along the seam toward the tail out and the smooth water. On the fifth cast I watched in amazement as a fairly large trout moved a couple feet and sipped something on the surface. I guessed that my flies were in this vicinity, so I set the hook, and a thirteen inch rainbow trout began thrashing angrily on my line. I maintained tension, and within a minute I maneuvered the prize catch into my net. The pretty silvery rainbow trout was probably my best fish on the season to date, and I induced it to sip my size 22 CDC olive. Needless to say I grinned, and I was quite proud of this turn of events.

Ready to Be Released

I moved on, but I did not see any BWO’s in the air nor did I observe rising fish. Continuing to prospect with the small dries seemed like a difficult proposition, so I returned to the Fat Albert, emerald caddis pupa, and soft hackle emerger. A small caddis landed on my hand at one point thus the caddis pupa offering, and I continued to believe that blue winged olives would make a strong appearance at some point. I fished these three flies for the remainder of the afternoon, and I managed to land two additional trout, both browns. I covered a huge amount of stream for two fish, but both registered another first for me in 2016. They both appeared out of nowhere and smashed the Fat Albert!

First Fish on Fat Albert Tied in Winter

I feel that the lack of a significant hatch was a factor contributing to my low catch rate on Thursday; however, fisherman error probably accounted for more of the slow action. I continually fight my obsession with thoroughness by forcing myself to move rapidly and to limit the number of casts to an area. Thursday was the perfect day to adhere to this principle, since I only saw one other fisherman on the stream, and that was just before my departure. Instead of constantly moving, I tended to dwell in areas under the false belief that I could change flies and eventually dupe the visible trout before me. It rarely happened.

I was also guilty of clumsily approaching pools and likely fish holding locations. I mentioned that I saw numerous fish scatter as I waded along the bank in the morning, and although I improved my approach in the afternoon, I have to admit that fleeing fish remained a common observance. Hopefully I can learn from my outing on the Big Thompson River and improve my performance on future visits.

Time: 10:30AM – 3:00PM

Location: Just above the fenced off and heavily signed private section after the first bridge below Noel’s Draw.

Fish Landed: 10

Big Thompson River 10/20/2015 Photo Album

I can feel the fishing season ebbing as the weather cools a bit, and along with the cooler temperatures, the availability of aquatic insects wanes. My thoughts increasingly turn to fly tying and building my inventory for the 2016 season. The weather forecast for the coming week projected rain and cool temperatures with highs in the mid-forties. However, the forecast for Monday and Tuesday suggested a continuation of the warm and dry conditions that blessed those of us who live in Colorado in 2015. I decided to take advantage and made the drive to the Big Thompson River below Lake Estes. My weather app did, however, indicate that rain could begin at 2PM, so I expected to register at least three hours on the river before inclement weather arrived.

Low Clear Flows on the Big Thompson River

On a previous trip I experienced decent success in a boulder strewn segment of the river below the first bridge after passing Noel’s Draw, so I decided to park at the downstream border of public access before encountering a small private stretch that was well marked with warning signs and barbed wire. In preparation for Tuesday’s trip, I reviewed several of my posts from fishing the Big Thompson River in previous years during a similar time frame, and these logs indicated that I enjoyed reasonable success using a size 16 olive-brown deer hair caddis. Another productive fly during an October 23 trip was the beadhead hares ear. This information prompted me to begin my day with a deer hair caddis on my line.

The temperature was in the low fifties as I began, so I pulled on my fleece hoodie. I chose to cast flies with my Orvis four weight, and I quickly scrambled down a short bank to the edge of the river just above the no trespassing signs and barbed wire fence. The river was very conducive to my style of fishing with numerous attractive deep pockets and runs, and I worked my way upstream making quick short drifts with the caddis. Researching my blog posts paid dividends, as I landed four trout in an hour and a half of fishing before I broke for lunch. Three were brown trout and one was a rainbow, and I was surprised by this ratio, as I expected the larger browns to be in spawning mode.

Same Fish Out of the Net

Among these four fish was a memorable scenario. I cast to a small nook tucked behind a huge boulder and within one foot of the far bank. I allowed the caddis to flutter down softly and created a small pile of coiled tippet to counteract drag. The dry fly sat motionless for an instant, and just as it was about to skate down the river, a twelve inch brown materialized and slashed the caddis. It was a fine fish by Big Thompson standards, and I was quite pleased to present my fly to a tough location, and then reap the reward of my efforts.

First Rainbow of the Day

A Nice Pool Ahead

During lunch I moved the car to a position above my exit point, and then I resumed fishing from where I quit. I managed to land one more trout on the caddis, and then for some strange reason, the fish of the Big T began to refuse the slender dry fly. I moved through a series of fly changes including Jake’s gulp beetle and a Chernobyl ant and beadhead hares ear dry/dropper combination. None of these flies produced as well as the caddis, so after I passed under the bridge, I reverted to the fly that brought prosperity in the AM. Unfortunately this move did not resurrect success, so I pondered my options. It was now the time of day when blue winged olives typically get active, and the sky was clouding up in the west, so I elected to go back to the dry/dropper approach.

Parachute Hopper Victim

I tied a parachute hopper with a hares ear body to the end of my line as the top fly, and then beneath it I knotted a beadhead soft hackle emerger. I prospected with these flies from just above the bridge until I was behind the first cabin next to the road at a large bend. Much to my surprise the parahopper yielded three trout and the emerger netted one. I covered quite a bit of water to attract these four fish, and contrary to conventional logic, tiny short pockets along the bank were productive, while juicy deep slow moving pools were fruitless.

When I turned the bend behind the cabin, I was facing west, and the lighting became quite difficult. I tried wading to the opposite bank, but this did not change the glare, and the only way to counteract it was to position myself upstream. The low flows of 34 CFS precluded this action, as the resident fish bolted for cover when anything disrupted their field of view while looking upstream. Given these difficulties, I decided to exit and walk back to the car, but along the way I stopped to observe a long smooth slow moving pool.

Rising Fish in This Pool

I patiently waited along the shoreline near the midsection of the pool, and after a few minutes I saw what I was hoping to notice. A subtle ring appeared adjacent to the current seam that entered the pool in the center twenty feet above me. I crossed to the opposite side of the river and tied on a size 22 CDC blue winged olive. Once more I waited as I scanned the river for a second rise, and after a bit, I spotted one in the riffle of the center current. I lobbed a couple casts, and it was very difficult to follow the lint-like fly in the riffled water and dim light, but on the third pass, a swirl appeared where I approximated my fly to be. I quickly reacted with a hook set and played a nice rainbow trout to my net.

Blue Winged Olive Sipper

I was very thrilled to have induced a trout to take my size 22 fly in very challenging conditions. Could I repeat this scenario? Once again I stood and watched, and sure enough I observed two more rises by separate fish on the opposite side of the main current seam. I carefully negotiated my way back to the bank next to the highway, and when I was properly positioned, I fluttered a cast to the spot where the lower of the two fish revealed itself. Again on the third cast a small fish rose, but before it sipped in my offering, it veered to the side and refused. Needless to say I was disappointed by this rude rejection.

But then I remembered there was a second rise farther upstream. I took a couple steps and then cast to the upstream target. I checked my cast high so the small morsel fluttered down with some slack, and splat, a fish nabbed the CDC BWO! I quickly lifted my rod and set the hook, and the fish streaked toward the center current. At this point I was disappointed to learn that the small rebel made a quick turn and slipped free of my size 22 hook. I was thwarted a second time, but I appreciated that my imitation fooled a second fish.

I rested the pool again for three or four minutes, but the fish were either spooked or no longer interested in feeding on surface naturals. The sky was getting darker and the wind was picking up a bit, and I wondered if perhaps the heaviest blue winged olive emergence was still ahead. I glanced at my watch and noticed it was 3PM, and I debated whether I should wait or begin my drive home. If I waited much longer, I would face heavy rush hour traffic in Denver. In the midst of these considerations, the sun reappeared, and this made my decision. I already increased my fish count by ten, and there were no guarantees of future hatch activity, so I reeled up my fly and returned to the car and prepared for the return trip.

On October 20 I landed ten fish and all of them except one rose to a dry fly. I experienced several memorable situations that involved success under technical circumstances. It was a fun outing late in the 2015 season, and I am thankful for the opportunity.

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.

Time: 10:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: Began .2 mile below the first bridge after Noel’s Draw and fished back up until I was nearly at Noel’s Draw

Fish Landed: 28

Big Thompson River 09/30/2015 Photo Album

I was a bit disappointed with my outing on Tuesday afternoon mainly because I felt that I should have landed more fish in conjunction with the distance I covered. I sought redemption by planning a day trip to South Boulder Creek, since the flows there were 132 cfs. Generally I desire South Boulder Creek to be in the 80 cfs range, so 132 cfs was a bit high, but I have experienced success at 180 cfs. Given the relatively low conditions on most Front Range streams, I actually looked forward to flows that were a bit higher.

On Wednesday morning I packed the car, but before I departed, I decided to make a final check of the stream flows. Denver Water is notorious for making sudden changes, and that is exactly what I discovered as I opened the DWR website. South Boulder Creek below Gross Reservoir was rushing down the canyon at 175 cfs. I was game for 132 cfs, but I was not in the mood for the spring-like conditions that would accompany 175 cfs, so I made a last minute adjustment and headed to the Big Thompson Canyon below Lake Estes.

I arrived at the wide pullout just above the first bridge after passing Noel’s Draw by 10:00AM, and by the time I donned my waders and rigged my Orvis Access four weight and stepped in the water, it was 10:30. The air temperature was 57 degrees and some large gray clouds covered the sky so I pulled on a fleece. I walked across the bridge and then strode along the shoulder until I was .2 mile farther downstream. I read some posts from 2012 when I fished the Big Thompson at the same time of the year, and I learned that a Chernobyl ant, beadhead hares ear, and salvation nymph were effective, so I tied on a Chernobyl and salvation and began prospecting the relatively low clear flows of 36 cfs.

Low Flows Expose a Boulder Field

First Catch of the Day

At these levels quite a few large boulders were exposed, but sufficient water remained to create some nice deep holes and pockets. It was not long before a pair of brown trout smashed the Chernobyl ant, and then a smaller cousin nabbed the salvation nymph in the swirling water behind a protruding rock. I was quite pleased with my early success, as I continued working my way upstream through the boulder field. Another small brown slurped the Chernobyl, and I was brimming with confidence. At this point, however, adversity decided to make an appearance. The Chernobyl became an object to observe rather than a tasty morsel.

A Second Chernobyl Victim

I concluded that the local trout were interested in terrestrials, but the Chernobyl was outside their size range, so I knotted a Jake’s gulp beetle to my line and began to plop it in likely locations. Almost immediately a ten inch rainbow reacted to the splash down in front of a boulder, and I was optimistic about my fly choice. For the remainder of the morning I landed three additional Big Thompson trout on Jake’s beetle, and then I broke for lunch. I advanced my fish count to eight by noon, and I was pleased to find a productive fly. I was concerned that my best fly was the one on my line, and I possessed no back up should it unravel or get lost on a tree branch.

First Rainbow Loved Jake’s Gulp Beetle

After lunch I resumed my progress upstream toward the bridge, but suddenly the beetle began to provoke refusals as well. I paused to consider my options and spied a few small mayflies fluttering above the stream. Given the overcast conditions, I expected blue winged olives, so I elected to revert to a Chernobyl ant, salvation nymph and beadhead RS2. These flies remained on my line as I fished up to and under the bridge, but they only produced one brown trout that nabbed the RS2 as it began to swing. The long dry spell convinced me that the trio of flies on my line was not what the fish were looking for, so I decided to perform another conversion. The thick clouds and heavy overcast indicated fast action, but I was missing out.

The Reverse Side

Jake’s gulp beetle delivered four fish in a short amount of time in the late morning, so I decided to return to that mode of attack. Quickly my fish count surged from nine to thirteen as I approached a nice long deep pool with a fast run along the upper third. Fish began to rise on both sides of the faster current, and they ignored my heretofore popular beetle. I took the plunge and clipped off the beetle and knotted a size 20 CDC blue winged olive to my leader. I shot a long cast half way up the pool on the left side of the center current, and I spotted a sip and reacted with a hook set and stripped in a feisty ten inch brown trout. Other fish continued to rise, but my CDC olive became radioactive, and the fussy residents of the stream avoided it.

I decided to abandon the picky eaters and moved on to faster pocket water. The tiny dry fly was not appropriate for this type of water, so I returned the beetle to my line and added a size 20 blue winged olive soft hackle emerger on a  2.5 foot dropper. This change proved to be magic, and I moved the fish count meter from fourteen to twenty-six over the remainder of the afternoon. This time period was approximately 1:30 until 3:00, and it coincided with the heaviest concentration of blue winged olives, although I would still characterize the hatch as light. Apparently there were enough nymphs and emergers to turn the fish on to my soft hackle, as it began attract their attention. I estimate that roughly one-third of my catch during this time frame resulted from the beetle, and the rest stemmed from the emerger.

Gorgeous Colors on This Jewel

At three o’clock the response slowed measurably, so I substituted a salvation nymph for the soft hackle, and this move enabled me to add two more small fish to the daily count. By 3:30 I was twenty yards below Noel’s Draw, so I used this as an opportunity to cross to the road and returned to the Santa Fe.

Wednesday was a very productive day, as I landed twenty-eight trout. It did not seem like exceptionally hot fishing, but the action was relatively evenly spaced over my five hours on the stream. Most of the trout were in the 6-12 inch range with the vast majority nine and ten inch fish. I estimate that one-third were rainbow trout and the remainder were wild browns. Once I chose the gulp beetle and soft hackle combination, I settled into a nice rhythm and moved quickly from one likely spot to the next with short drifts and rapid casts. With this successful outing in the books I am anxious for my first fly fishing adventure of October. Stay tuned.

Time: 11:00AM – 3:00PM
Location: Downstream from the end of the catch and release at Waltonia Road
Fish Landed: 12

Big Thompson River 04/29/2015 Photo Album

Three hours of fishing on Tuesday were merely a tease, and I was itching for a longer stint of fly fishing with enough time to sink into a nice steady rhythm. Since I made plans for a two day excursion to the Arkansas River with Danny Ryan on Thursday and Friday, I did not wish to commit to a long drive on Wednesday. I surveyed the local options and settled on the Big Thompson River. The Big Thompson was severely impacted by the September 2013 flood, and I read that significant mileage was now devoid of fish, but electroshocking results in the eight miles below Olympus Dam actually yielded higher fish counts than prior to the high water event. I fished the Big Thompson one time in 2014 with fair results, so I decided to make a second post-flood visit.

Prior to departing I checked the CDOT web site in case significant delays continued on the main arteries to Estes Park and the Big Thompson River. Sure enough the map displayed construction cones on route 36 between Lyons and Estes Park, and when I tapped the cone, I learned that seven miles of my favorite route were reduced to one-way traffic Monday through Friday. Armed with this valuable information I chose the slightly longer but unobstructed route through Loveland and along the lower Big Thompson River. The water between Loveland and Drake was significantly stained, and I began to worry that I made a bad decision, and I would be fishing in murky conditions similar to Clear Creek on Tuesday.

I was relieved to discover however that the source of the  turbid flow was the North Fork of the Big Thompson which entered at the town of Drake, and once I traveled above this confluence, the water appeared to be nearly clear. Even though I’d driven this way in May 2014, I was still shocked by the stark scene of a stream tumbling through a wide trough covered with large boulders with virtually no vegetation along the banks. The flood apparently scoured all the trees and shrubs, and vegetation has not yet repopulated the riparian corridor. The riverbed rocks were stained an amber color, and this color bled through the stream flow to create the appearance of rusty water.

Flood Destroyed Vegetation

When I reached the Waltonia Bridge at the extreme downstream border of the catch and release area, I pulled into a wide pullout and prepared to fish. I chose to use my Sage four weight rod for the comparatively narrow Big Thompson, and since the Chernobyl ant served me well on Clear Creek, I decided to offer it to Big Thompson fish. In fact I knotted the very same fly to my line that hooked all the Clear Creek fish. I began casting to pockets below the bridge and quickly moved to a position above the special regulation water. In a short amount of time I hooked and landed two tiny rainbow trout that were no more than three inches long. These fish caused me to suspect that the DOW stocked fingerling rainbows in an attempt to replenish the fish density after the flood. I began to have misgivings about my choice to fish so far downstream from Olympus Dam. How far downstream did the positive electroshocking results extend?

The One and Only Producer on Wednesday

Nice Beginning

In a deep slot behind a large boulder just above the bridge, I was somewhat reassured when a nice twelve inch brown darted to the surface and slurped the Chernobyl ant. At least I knew there were some fish in the lower portion of the catch and release water. After the brown trout I covered quite a bit of water with no action and once again doubts crept into my head. Perhaps the brown was an aberrant fish, and fish density was quite low? I observed a few caddis in the air, so I decided to cover my bases and added a three foot dropper to the Chernobyl ant and then added an emerald caddis pupa as the point fly.

Nicest Fish on the Day

For some reason the dropper caused the fish to refuse the Chernobyl, and the caddis pupa was drawing no interest, so I clipped it off and returned to the single foam attractor as my offering. With the air temperature now climbing, the fish became more active and I landed four more brown trout before breaking for lunch. I was now convinced that sufficient fish remained in this section of the Big Thompson River to keep me entertained, although I was puzzled that they were all brown trout. The Big Thompson historically yielded 60-70% rainbow trout. Were the rainbows congregated somewhere for spawning or did they not survive the flood as well as the brown trout? I could only speculate on this sudden shift in the species ratio of my catch on the Big Thompson.

After lunch I crossed to the bank away from the highway and resumed my upstream progress while adding seven more brown trout to my fish count. It was a beautiful day with mainly bright sunshine and a cloudless blue sky, and the high temperature peaked in the low 60’s. A slight breeze rushed through the canyon from time to time, but it never impacted the fishing.

Nice Fish Smacked Chenobyl Next to the Foam

The water I fished was nearly all pockets and plunge pools, and the lower catch and release area became my private domain. This allowed me to move quickly without any concern of bumping into other fishermen. I scrambled over rocks and moved from pocket to pocket while popping the Chernobyl in all the likely spots with typically three to five drifts. As I prospected in this manner, I held my rod high to keep the fly line off the water and prevent drag. The most productive locations seemed to be deep slow flows next to structure. Most of the time the structure was large bankside boulders, but occasionally a log or an irregularity in the bank served the same purpose.

After my fish count reached twelve, the fish became more tentative toward the Chernobyl, and I experienced a streak of four or five hookups that escaped before finding my net. It seemed the fish were barely nipping the fly, and my hook set consequently had minimal staying power. My son Dan texted me that he had success on Scott Creek in North Carolina with a woolly bugger below a thingamabobber, so I decided to experiment with his approach on the Big Thompson. It was a nice thought, but it failed to produce so I reversed everything and returned to a single dry, albeit a size 14 stimulator with a medium olive body. This fly failed to live up to the Chernobyl performance, and I was about to return to the black oversized ant when I checked my watch and noticed it was 3PM. I was feeling quite weary from rock climbing, so I decided to halt my quest for trout at twelve and returned to the car.

Wednesday was a fun day. Fly fishing was reduced to its simplest form as I moved frequently and often and used only a size 10 Chenobyl ant. Success was totally dependent on a stealthy approach, reading the water, and executing a drag free drift. I’ll be returning to the Big Thompson again during the 2015 season.

Time: 10:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Began above RV park at bend on Route 34 (RV park has been washed away)

Fish Landed: 10

Big Thompson River 05/02/2014 Photo Album

Unusually heavy and steady rain during September 2013 brought flooding to most of the rivers and streams that drain from the front range to the South Platte River. This included several of my favorite destinations, the Big Thompson River and St. Vrain River. I read a report on the Big Thompson River which stated that the fish population was unaffected, and in fact electroshocking surveys suggested that the eight miles below Lake Estes contained more fish than were present prior to the flood. The St. Vrain suffered more devastation than the other front range streams, and I saw a report that the North Fork below Buttonrock Reservoir would not reopen for fishing until 2015.

The greatest obstacle to fishing the Big Thompson seemed to be damage to the highways that provide access to Estes Park and the river below the dam. When I checked the stream flows on Thursday night as I considered options for a day of fishing on Friday, I noticed that the Big Thompson was actually running low at 40 cfs. Flows on other streams in the Denver area were already edging up with snow melt entering the picture. Before committing to the Big Thompson, I decided to make a phone call to Kirk’s Fly Shop in Estes Park to get information on the roads between Denver and the river. The young man that answered the phone told me that waits were consistently one half hour on route 36 from Lyons to Estes Park. He recommended taking an alternative route out of Lyons that looped south and then along the eastern boundary of Rocky Mountain National Park. When I asked about route 34 from Loveland to Estes Park, he suggested this as another good option as the construction waits averaged 5-10 minutes compared to longer waits on 36.

I decided to gamble on the route through Loveland and called my friend Lonnie Maddox to let him know I would be passing near his home. Lonnie said that he and Debbie would be home in the late afternoon, so we made plans for a short visit on my return trip.

Big Thompson Was Low and Clear on Friday

I got off to a reasonably early start at 8:45 and arrived at a pullout next to the river by 10:15 as I experienced a 10-15 minute wait at the entrance to the Big Thompson Canyon west of Loveland. As I drove west, I was a bit concerned because the river was chocolate covered over the first section from the canyon entrance to Drake, CO. Once I drove beyond Drake, however, the water clarity improved considerably until it became crystal clear where I stopped to begin my day. Low flows at 40 cfs and clear water suggested some skittish fish. The sky did have some high clouds off and on, so that helped a bit, but for the most part it was bright and sunny, and this added to the fishing difficulty. As always there were gusts of wind rolling down the canyon to make things more interesting.

Once I pulled on my waders and rigged my fly rod, I walked down the road twenty yards to the northern border of what used to be a RV park. The entire area that previously was filled with RV’s was now a sand beach with a few remaining platforms that were apparently solidly anchored during the flood. From the road next to my car I could see two or three fish in the clear pool below me, and I even spotted a rise or two. Because the water was so clear and low, I didn’t want to create too much surface disturbance, so I tied on a size 16 dark olive deer hair caddis and placed some long casts into the nice pool in front of me.

It wasn’t long before a brown trout smacked the caddis, and I landed my first fish of the day. Unfortunately as I cautiously moved closer to the deepest part of the pool, I could see quite a few fish in front of me, but they were showing no interest in my caddis. I turned my attention to a nice faster run that rushed by me ten feet to the right, and as my fly drifted along the inner current seam, a rainbow rose and slurped the caddis. It was a decent start to my day, but I could see a lot of remaining fish in the pool that were ignoring my offering. Perhaps they were tuned in to something subsurface such as an emerger or nymph.

Some attractive water beckoned above the pool that I dwelled in, and I didn’t want to jump to the dry/dropper method prematurely, so I moved on. I picked up the pace a bit and managed a third trout on the deer hair caddis before I looked at my watch and noticed it was noon and time to eat lunch. The car was quite close so I climbed the bank and grabbed my lunch and returned to the edge of the river to eat and observe. I didn’t really see any significant insect activity, so when I resumed I decided to try the dry/dropper method. The water that I was approaching was faster and appropriate for a nymphing method.

Pretty Big T Rainbow

I snipped off the caddis and tied on a tan pool toy and dangled an emerald caddis pupa and below that a bright green caddis pupa. For the next two or three hours I worked this three fly combination through all the likely runs and pockets as I progressed upstream and landed another five fish including several pretty bright rainbow trout in the 12-13 inch range. I enjoy this type of fishing where I’m constantly moving and prospecting the likely holding spots. The large buoyant pool toy was a pleasure to use under these circumstances as it easily supported two beadhead flies and was readily visible in the swirling riffles and currents.

Emerald Caddis Pupa Produced Two Fish

At 3PM I’d gone awhile without any action so I decided to make another switch. I noticed a few BWO’s fluttering about, so I downsized my top fly to a yellow size 12 stimulator and then I added a soft hackle emerger as a dropper. The soft hackle emerger is not as heavy as the larger nymphs and pupa, so I felt I could get away with the smaller top fly. I managed to land a trout on the yellow stimulator, but never had any success with the soft hackle emerger and eventually I clipped them both off and tried a Chernobyl ant with a salvation nymph. The salvation nymph proved to be a winner as I landed my tenth and last fish as I approached a forbidding barbed wire fence spanning the river with a sign that made it clear that no trespassing was allowed.

It was a beautiful spring day on the Big Thompson River, and I discovered that the trout do in fact remain despite the destructive forces of a flood. Fish apparently deal with natural disasters better than human beings. I drove back down the canyon with no construction stoppage on late Friday afternoon and then turned and drove a mile south from route 34 in Loveland and visited with Lonnie and Debbie for a half hour. Spring is finally arriving in Colorado.