Time: 3:30PM – 5:00PM

Location: Upstream boundary with private water to Sylvan Lake Road bridge

Fish Landed: 2

Brush Creek 07/04/2014 Photo Album

Dave and Beth Gaboury invited us to join them for the Fourth of July weekend at their house in Eagle Ranch, CO, and we quickly accepted. Eagle Ranch is a beautiful development south of Eagle, CO in the valley between the town and Sylvan Lake. We packed our bicycles, fishing gear, and suitcases; and made the drive on the morning of the Fourth of July. Unfortunately we encountered heavy traffic from the bottom of Floyd Hill through the small tunnels east of Idaho Springs, but we eventually arrived at the Gaboury’s house on Founders Avenue by 1:15. After a quick lunch, Dave was ready to fish, so we put on our waders and threw our rods in the 4 Runner, and Jane drove us to Violet Lane. Our plan was to walk down the trail along Brush Creek in the open space area and then fish back to the Gaboury house.

When we arrived, however, there was a red pick up truck parked under route 6, so we elected to fish a different stretch of Brush Creek. Jane drove us back around the circle on Sylvan Lake Road and eventually dropped us off in Eagle Ranch where we could cross a field and meet the creek just above the private water. The stream was clear, but the level was still quite high thus offering few attractive locations to fish. Fish could only hold in spots along the bank where obstacles slowed the rushing water, and these were the locations that two fishermen covered in alternating fashion.

I began with a chubby Chernobyl and added a salvation nymph and emerald caddis pupa, and in a short amount of time Dave G. and I encountered a huge deep pool at a 90 degree bend in the river. I was standing on the bank just downstream of where the main current deflected off the bank and made a turn and then flowed beneath my position. Before I could cast I saw a fish rise twice and much to my surprise on the third drift of my flies, the fish rose and attacked the chubby Chernobyl. I made a quick lift and hooked the eleven inch brown, but it quickly managed to wiggle free. I was pleased to experience some quick action early in my fishing outing.

Next I moved forward eight feet until I was standing directly above the point where the current was swirling against the bank, so I tossed my three flies upstream and allowed them to drift along the edge of the current seam. I looked away for a spit second and when I returned my gaze, the fly was no longer visible. I quickly reacted with a hook set and felt the weight of a decent fish, but once again this fish escaped, and I was more disappointed than after the previous lost encounter.

I moved on and navigated through some muck that bordered a beaver dam and next found a small slack water area just above a point where the current once again deflected off the opposite bank. There was some tall grass hanging over a small bank next to the slow moving pool, and I thought I noticed a slight flash on one of my drifts. I kept working my flies until they were within an inch of the overhanging grass, and the Chernobyl darted causing me to set the hook and land a chunky 12 inch brown. This fish was not large, but I was rather pleased that I’d observed the subtle signs of his presence and coaxed him out of a difficult lie.

Nice Brown Landed on Friday in Brush Creek

Again I moved upstream to a nice 5 foot by 5 foot swirling pocket at the top of a long run. Dave G. advised me that he was having success with a beadhead hares ear, so I swapped the bottom fly to that proven fly and after quite a few casts, the top fly dipped and I hooked a nice 12 inch brown trout. Again I walked upstream along the edge of the water and found another possible holding area not far from the road. Here I hooked what appeared to be a decent sized fish, but it swam downstream to some heavy current, and instead of following along with the fish, I attempted to apply side pressure. This was a lapse in judgement and the battling brown trout snapped off all three of my flies. Needless to say, I was quite upset with my fishing abilities after this turn of events.

Dave G. Approaching

I took some time to reconfigure my line and tied on a yellow pool toy and another beadhead hares ear on a three foot dropper. I caught up to Dave G. just above the bridge, and while he fished a deep riffle, I went above him. But the water was rushing downstream in this area with no current breaks, so I circled back to a spot between the bridge and Dave G. where there was a short five foot wide and eight foot long pocket behind some large rocks. I flicked the yellow pool toy to the edge of some white frothy water, and I was surprised to see a substantial brown trout emerge from the bubbling water and snatch my fly. I immediately set the hook and the fight was on. The brown thrashed about in the pocket and moved from side to side, but then it slid into the faster current toward the middle of the small stream. I allowed the fish to swim downstream and let the line slide through my fingers until the trout paused 15 feet below me. I started to stumble along the bank to get next to the fish, but before I could take more than a step or two, the fish veered back into the heavy current, and at this point, my line went limp, and I’d once again lost a fish and two more flies. I was even more exasperated than after losing the previous fish, so Dave G. and I decided to call it a day, and we hiked back to the house to prepare for the neighborhood Fourth of July party.

Time: 10:30AM – 1:00PM

Location: Private water up to Sylvan Lake Road Bridge

Fish Landed: 4

Brush Creek 05/25/2014 Photo Album

Dave G. reserved the private water for Sunday so once again I would be exposed to fishing under snowmelt conditions. When I gazed at Brush Creek behind the Gaboury house on Sunday morning it appeared that the stream had risen even higher than the level we experienced on Saturday. In addition the sky was quite overcast, and it seemed inevitable that we would encounter rain at some point during the day. After a tasty breakfast of scrambled eggs and spinach, Dave G. and I once again prepared to fish.

Dave G. came up with a two car strategy for fishing the private water. Dave G. drove the BMW to the bridge near where we would end and parked it there, and then we both hopped in the 4 Runner driven by Beth. Beth took me to the entry point to Brush Creek below the private water and then dropped Dave G. off on the other side of the creek. By doing this, Dave G. was locked into the east side of the creek while I was committed to the west bank.

We began our fishing adventure at 10:30AM, and the foreboding clouds continued to build in the western sky. Dave G. was also out of red San Juan worms, so he was forced to experiment with the brown variety, and guess what? He began catching fish on the brown worms that I had rejected on Saturday because I didn’t think there was enough contrast against the brown water.

Pretty Flowers Along Stream on Sunday

Initially I used the red annelid worm as my top fly and returned to the orange and black woolly bugger, but once again I was not having any success while Dave G. landed a fish or two. The private water contains many more oxbow bends, and this actually provided more slack water where fish could gain shelter from the raging main current. At one long juicy slow moving stretch, I actually saw a fish rise and jump from the water in pursuit of some sort of emerger. This provoked me to try an emerald caddis pupa as my point fly, but I suspect I was overanalyzing at this point. I ran through a bunch of fly changes as my point fly including a prince nymph, 20 incher, egg fly and the caddis pupa.

Brown San Juan Worm

Once again my frustration was building when we arrived at a huge pool with an eddy in a 90 degree bend in the stream. Dave G. worked ahead of me, but it was here that I looked in my fleece pouch and spotted a pine squirrel leech that I purchased in Wyoming. I figured this fly would offer contrast, and it also offered the seductive wiggling movement that drives fish crazy. I replaced the caddis pupa and began lobbing the worm and leech combination to the current seam on the opposite side of the main current. Wham! The indicator dove, and I set the hook and felt the weight of a decent fish. Unfortunately in a short amount of time I discovered that the leech was embedded in the side of the head of the trout, and the fish wasn’t as big as I expected.

Pine Squirrel Leech

At least the fish was attracted to my flies in the murky conditions. I continued to drift the long slack water area between the opposite bank and the rushing main current, and in a brief amount of time the indicator paused, and I once again set the hook. This time I was relieved to discover that the brown trout had grabbed the top red annelid worm. I’d finally broken through and hooked and landed a trout during runoff! Had I been able to reach across the stream, I would have high-fived Dave G., but instead I moved on.

Over the remainder of our time on Brush Creek on Sunday I landed three more browns to bring my snow melt total to four. Three of the fish grabbed the red annelid worm and one took the leech. The one that hit the leech actually responded to a lift as I tried to avoid getting snagged on a stick.

A Nice Grip

As 1PM arrived the dark clouds hovered above us, and the wind kicked up, and some light rain began to fall. I was already wearing my raincoat for added warmth so I was prepared for the moisture. We crossed Sylvan Lake Road and prospected a spot that historically yields nice fish, but the deep run and pool of summertime was now a raging torrent with only a small pocket along the west bank that might hold fish. We gave this area a solid effort, but nothing was showing, so we reeled up our flies and stashed our gear in the BMW and returned to the Gabourys to escape the building rainstorm.

It was a fun day in the high and turbid waters of Brush Creek, and I now have confidence that I can catch fish in these conditions. I also resolved to learn how to tie pine squirrel leeches, as I’ve now discovered their effectiveness on several occasions.

Time: 2:00PM – 4:30PM

Location: Sylvan Lake Road to the beginning of the private water.

Fish Landed: 0

Brush Creek 05/24/2014 Photo Album

With snow melt still on the upswing on Colorado rivers and streams, would it be possible to catch fish in moving water, or should I be turning my attention to stillwater or travel to other locations such as Wisconsin or Pennsylvania where mountain snow melt is not a factor? My friend Dave Gaboury swears that it is possible to catch trout under the less than favorable conditions of high dirty water.

Beth and Dave live in Olathe, KS most of the time, but they also own a second home in Eagle, CO. They graciously invited Jane and I to join them and two other mutual friends for the Memorial Day Weekend. We quickly accepted, but I expected to mostly relax, eat, play games and undertake bike rides to get exercise. When I spoke to Dave G., however, he stressed that I should bring my fishing gear as we would do some fishing. I was skeptical, but he had done this before, and he was quite adamant that we would catch fish.

Jane and I departed Denver at 9:30AM on Saturday and arrived at Eagle, CO by noon. We made delicious sandwiches in the Gaboury kitchen, and then Dave G. asked if I was ready to fish. The sky was quite cloudy and overcast, but the clouds were high and didn’t suggest an immediate threat of rain. We put on our waders and configured our rods, and Jane drove us to our starting point where Brush Creek flows under Sylvan Lake Road at the northern end of Eagle Ranch. The creek was rushing rapidly toward the Eagle River and was the color of weak chocolate milk and came within 6-12 inches of the top of the bank in most places.

Dave G. Confident We Will Catch Fish

I was quite intimidated with these conditions, and I must admit that I had minimal confidence that either of us would hook, let alone land a fish. We began the ritual of playing hopscotch and fished our way along the right west bank. Every other time I fished Brush Creek, I could easily wade from one side to the other, but on Saturday we were locked to one side as it was too dangerous to cross. Dave G. suggested using two worm flies; an annelid style with red ribbing wrapped around the hook and bend and a classic red San Juan worm. I accepted his advice and tied one of each type of worm to my line beneath a thingamabobber and split shot.

Water Up to the Bank

It didn’t take long before Dave G. miraculously landed a small brown, but I continued hopping by him, and I didn’t experience any success. In fact within the first half hour I got snagged to the bottom twice and broke off both flies and the split shot. Dave G. suggested that I use 4X tippet to prevent frequent break offs, but I only had 3X, so I tied that on to my leader using a surgeon’s knot. Unfortunately I only had two red San Juan worms in my arsenal, so once I broke off the second one, I changed to a chocolate brown worm. When I stripped it in, I noticed that there was very little contrast in the brown murky water.

Meanwhile Dave G. continued to add to his fish count while my confidence slid to new depths. I decided I needed more contrast so I clipped off the brown San Juan worm and replaced it with a black woolly worm. This fly was at least 20 years old as I tied a few in Pennsylvania when I first began fly tying. Finally in a narrow relatively still area between the bank and the raging current I experienced a momentary hook up. I was attached to the fish long enough to lift its nose out of the water, but I could not determine which fly it took.

Another Drift

Because of the high water we were covering the stream quite rapidly as we continued to take turns in the fishable water, and there were large gaps in between. Finally I moved above Dave G. to a spot where he was confident I would catch a nice fish as he had hooked up with a brown in excess of 15 inches in this location previously. Much to my surprise as I lifted the line next to an exposed stick to make sure I wasn’t snagged, I felt some weight and set the hook. Immediately a nice fish began to thrash and fight to free itself. As the trout fought back and forth in the area between the heavy current and the bank, I enjoyed several views of it, and it surely was a fine brown in the fifteen inch range. Finally I felt I had tired it out enough to bring it to the bank in order to net, so I applied side pressure to keep its nose above the water and bring it across the current to where I was standing. Unfortunately the brown used its remaining energy to twist its head, and the hook came free. Not only did I fail to land a nice brown, but now I also didn’t know which fly enticed the finned foe.

Judging from the way the fish was fighting, I guessed that it was on the woolly worm. Since the woolly worm was an antique fly, I was concerned that the hook was too dull, so I clipped it off and replaced it with an orange and black woolly bugger. Unfortunately by now we were near our end point, the barbed wire fence that demarcated the beginning of the private water, so I only tested the orange and black woolly bugger for a short amount of time. When we reached the private water we both reeled up our lines and returned to the Gaboury house for snacks and cocktails.

End of Day Saturday at the Private Water

Dave G. did indeed prove that he could catch fish in the high muddy conditions characterized by runoff. I also managed to connect with two fish, but was not fortunate enough to bring them to my net. I did, however, now believe that it was possible to catch fish under adverse runoff conditions.

Time: 2:30PM – 6:00PM

Location: Junction of Brush Creek and the Eagle River to area behind Dave and Beth Gaboury’s house

Fish Landed: 10

Brush Creek 09/27/2013 Photo Album

Dave and Beth Gaboury, our friends from Kansas City, invited us to spend the weekend with them at their home in Eagle Ranch, CO over the last weekend of September. I managed to make great progress on my tasks at work, and Jane was able to take off on Friday so we made the drive to Eagle, CO on Friday morning. Upon our arrival we noticed that the house next to the Gaboury’s was for sale as well as another similar duplex unit down the street. Jane and I discussed buying a duplex unit during our previous visit on the Fourth of July so Jane called a realtor and set up appointments to view the homes on Saturday morning. Meanwhile Jane and I treated the Gabourys to lunch at the Dusty Boot in Eagle Ranch Village, and when we returned to the house Dave G. and I prepared to fish in Brush Creek.

Eagle Ranch Website

Once we were ready, we asked Jane to drive us down Violet Lane to a bridge over Brush Creek and then Dave G. and I hiked along the stream in the open space area to the junction of Brush Creek and the Eagle River. Dave decided to begin exploring Brush Creek, but I was interested in fishing the Eagle River at the confluence first. I put on a strike indicator and then tied on a weighted 20 incher and below that a hares ear nymph and worked the current seam where Brush Creek met the Eagle River. The Eagle River was the color of tea or coffee that had a fair amount of milk added to it, but Brush Creek was crystal clear, so the seam was quite obvious due to the offsetting colors. Unfortunately my plan did not pay dividends as I ran the nymphs along the seam from bottom to top with no results.

It was quite chilly Friday afternoon with temperatures climbing to 51 degrees, and I’m sure the high occurred while we were eating lunch as the wind was gusting briskly and dense gray clouds filled the sky above. I decided it was time to make my way up Brush Creek and find Dave G., but before doing that I clipped off the nymphs and tied on a Chernobyl ant and hares ear nymph. However, before wading up Brush Creek I decided to pop a cast or two into the pocket in the Eagle River that was just above the Brush Creek flume and on perhaps the fifth cast the Chernobyl paused and I set the hook and found myself attached to a hard charging 13 inch rainbow. This changed my outlook regarding the turbid Eagle River and I worked my way upstream along the right bank of the Eagle continuing to toss casts into the pockets and runs within ten feet of the bank.

Rainbow from Confluence of Brush Creek and Eagle River

Unfortunately my enthusiasm waned as I was not able to attract anymore fish from the Eagle so I retreated to the mouth of Brush Creek and waded upstream until I found Dave G. who informed me he had landed four fish already. Once we met, we played hopscotch up Brush Creek and in the process I landed eight additional fish beyond the Eagle River rainbow. A couple were small rainbows and the remainder were mostly chunky 12 and 13 inch browns with one 14 inch brown in the mix. I enjoy this type of small stream fishing with an attractor and nymph combination and moving along prospecting all the likely locations. Interestingly I was taking fish from obscure locations and in faster water than normal for brown trout, but I attributed this to the elevated flows resulting from the greater than normal precipitation in September 2013.

Eventually Dave G. and I met again just above the bridge where Sylvan Lake Road crosses Brush Creek and at this point the stream branched into two channels. Dave suggested that I fish up the right braid which carried more water than the left to a point where a gate can be opened to redirect the flow of the stream. He proposed circling around this water himself and beginning where the river merged again upstream. I covered this water with no success until I reached the gate that Dave described and just below the gate the channel split around a small island. One part of the current flowed along the bank and the other rushed straight ahead and through a short pocket and then merged perpendicular to the bank current before continuing downstream.

The Brown Came from This Spot

I dropped the Chernobyl into the short pocket and on the third cast it paused and I set the hook and found myself attached to a 16 inch brown. After a fairly long dry spell it was encouraging to land a fine chunky fish attesting to the benefit of persistence. Somehow the hares ear got embedded in the lip of the brown is such a way that I couldn’t extract it so I clipped it off and allowed it to remain as a badge of courage. As I struggled to remove the fly and then released the brown I immersed both of my hands in the frigid water, and afterward the combination of the plunging air temperature and the accelerated evaporation effect from the wind caused my fingers to curl and take on the rigid appearance of claws. I struggled to tie on another hares ear and moved upstream but at this point the wind kicked up even more and a combination of rain, hail and snow began pelting me on the back. Frozen hands and a driving snowstorm do not make for enjoyable fishing weather, so I followed the trail in pursuit of Dave G. but after a short while I noticed that the garage door to his house was open so I cut through the field and returned to the warmth of the house.

16″ Brown from Brush Creek

The fishing conditions once again were not amenable to human beings, but apparently quite favorable for fish. In spite of the adverse weather it was an enjoyable and productive afternoon on the Eagle River and Brush Creek.

Time: 1:00PM – 3:00PM, 6:00PM – 8:30PM

Location: Private water to Sylvan Lake Road

Fish Landed: 20

Brush Creek 07/06/2013 Photo Album

Dave G. called and reserved the stretch of private water for Saturday so we made plans to fish in Brush Creek for a second day, and why not with the excellent results experienced on Friday evening?

After breakfast Dave, Beth, Jane and I drove to Sylvan Lake State Park and explored the lake and adjacent campground. Jane and I had never been there so we hiked around the lake and then returned to the Gaboury’s house and grabbed some lunch. After lunch Dave G. and I put our waders on and geared up to fish the private water of Brush Creek. I took my phone along in a zip lock bag so I could call Jane or Beth for a pick up once we completed our afternoon fishing stint.

We began fishing just west of the private water and Dave G. was immediately into several fish. I began with the Chernobyl ant and beadhead hares ear and stayed with this combination the entire two hours we fished in the afternoon except for a brief period when I switched the hares ear for an emerald beadhead caddis pupa. The caddis pupa actually yielded a 14 inch brown, but Dave G. continued to have success with the hares ear so I reverted back to that productive fly. In the two hours we fished in the afternoon I landed 14 brown trout with two rising for the Chernobyl, one hitting the caddis pupa, and the remainder grabbing the trailing hares ear.

At one point I was walking through a muddy area on a high bank cautiously planting my feet so I would not slide. It appeared that beavers had been working this area as there were shallow troughs that connected the marshy field to the stream. As I stepped into one of the deeper channels I noticed movement and stared down to discover a trout in the one foot deep puddle. I waited for the muddy water created by my footstep to clear a bit and then was able to see a brown trout in excess of 15 inches. I reached down with my right hand and grabbed the brown and pushed it into my net and then walked to the rim of the high bank and released it into a nice large pool that Dave G. had already fished through. Why was this nice large brown landlocked in a tiny one foot deep trench? My only theory is that it ventured from the stream on a side channel created by beavers when the water was high due to run off and then the stream level dropped quickly leaving my friend landlocked. I felt good about returning this nice fish to Brush Creek and hopefully it will live to be caught and released by other fishermen in the future.

Dave G and His Fine Catch

The highlight of the afternoon was a 17 inch brown that grabbed the hares ear near the top of a run. The large fish immediately dove and shook its head then made a couple hard but short spurts downstream and back up until I scooped it into my net. Dave G. snapped some nice photos before I gently released the healthy brown back into the cold currents. Just prior to my highlight Dave G. landed a bright yellow 18 inch wild brown, and I was able to record some video and capture some nice fin and grin shots of Dave and his prize catch.

Dave W with His 17 Inch Brown

When we reached Sylvan Lake Road I called Jane and Beth for taxi service, and we waited only a few minutes before our ride appeared. Once again I took a late afternoon bike ride with Beth and Jane and upon my return, Dave G. and I prepared to fish again. We asked to be dropped off at the very same spot as the morning and covered the same private water and Eagle Ranch public water to the east. I once again began with the Chernobyl ant and hares ear, but after covering two attractive stretches with no results decided to switch to a dark olive deer hair caddis. This was partially prompted by my spotting a nice rise along a juicy deep run.

Initially I received a few refusals to the caddis, but then I noticed a couple little yellow sallies fluttering up from the water and added a yellow sally as a second dry fly below the caddis. I moved on and began receiving refusals to the yellow sally, but I stuck with the combination and eventually had a hot streak where I caught four on the caddis in short order. At this point I began to overanalyze. Dave G. switched from dry/dropper to a royal wulff and began to catch fish with regularity. I remembered using a royal stimulator on Brush Creek in the evening with great success, so I clipped off my two flies and tied on a royal stimulator. This brought me nothing but refusals, so I added the caddis that had produced as a second fly behind the stimulator.

I somehow managed to catch a small fish on the caddis, but more often than not, the fish were focusing on the royal stimulator that passed over them first and refusing it. I decided to join Dave and sorted through one of my boxes and found a royal wulff and tied it on. Almost immediately I landed a small brown, but this success quickly gave way to refusals. As the daylight waned, I removed my sunglasses and put on my regular lenses and pulled my headlamp on to my head. For some reason I clung to the idea that the royal stimulator would produce in the low light and I returned to it as my only fly. Of course it failed to hook any fish and before long it was 8:30 and we called for our rides and returned home for dinner. I’ll never know if sticking to the subsurface approach would have outproduced the dry flies.

It was still another great day on Brush Creek with 20 total fish landed including several in the 15 to 17 inch range.

Time: 4:30PM – 7:30PM

Location: Behind Gaboury’s house then junction of Eagle River and Brush Creek to Sylvan Lake Road

Fish Landed: 12

Brush Creek 07/05/2013 Photo Album

After a nice lunch at the Grand Avenue Cafe we all returned to the Gaboury house, and then I went for a bike ride with Jane. The sun came out, but there were still some fairly large clouds floating by and keeping it from getting too hot. Dave G. and I decided to fish the bottom stretch of Brush Creek from the confluence with the Eagle River back to the house, but before Dave G. was ready at around 5:30, I headed to Brush Creek where it flows directly behind the house. I probably spent half an hour covering this short stretch of water and managed to land two browns and experienced long distance releases on two additional fish. One of the landed fish was an eleven inch brown and the other a nice 14-15 inch chunky fish. The larger brown and one of the momentary hookups grabbed the beadhead hares ear as it drifted along the bank in a very tight narrow one foot band between the bank and the current. I’m always amazed when large fish hang out in these type of locations.

At 5:30PM Dave G. appeared behind the house so we had Jane drop us off at Violet Lane and hiked down a path to the confluence with the Eagle River. I kept the Chernobyl ant and beadhead hares ear from the morning on my line and prospected the Eagle River right below the confluence with Brush Creek for a bit with no action and then moved up into Brush Creek. After only 25 feet or so we encountered a place where the small stream split around a tiny island so I explored the smaller right channel where there was a deep rocky hole. When I cast tight against a rock and as I lifted the flies so they wouldn’t snag, I felt some weight and set the hook then landed a fifteen inch brown trout and then photographed it.

Brush Creek Brown Landed Above Confluence with Eagle River

We proceeded up the small stream playing hopscotch and circling around each other from one nice hole to the next. Not long after landing the fifteen inch fish, I lost my balance while standing in the middle of a riffle and sat back in the water inducing a wave of ice cold flow over the top of my waders. It was too early in our evening fishing venture to return to the house so I ignored the wetness and fished on and in fact settled into a nice rhythm and began catching fish at a steady rate. I landed another five trout as I worked under Violet Lane and route 6 and then upstream past the trailer park. Three snared the hares ear nymph and two smashed the Chernobyl ant on the surface.

By the time I reached the trailer park, the action slowed and Dave G. was up ahead so I skipped some water until I encountered a beautiful deep run that fed into a pool just above the trailer park. As I surveyed the water I spotted a rise in the center of the pool so I switched to a light gray caddis. I flicked a short cast across from my position and allowed the caddis to drift down the center current into the pool in the dim light and just as the fly reached the spot where I’d spied a rise, an eleven inch brown rose and slurped it in.

As this was unfolding I thought I spotted another rise across and slightly above my position. It was hard to determine whether it was a rise or riffle as it occurred at the tail of a secondary feeder run into the pool and there was a strong sun glare hitting the water. I cast my fly above the presumed rise and, wham, another twelve inch brown came to my net. Finally before leaving the pool I made an upstream cast to some slack water between the left bank and the main current, and a nice chunky thirteen inch brown attacked the caddis. I had taken three fish from this one area and all were fooled by the light gray caddis. Perhaps I was on to something.

I moved up under the Sylvan Lake Road bridge and approached a nice deep slick behind a rock in the center of the creek and flicked the caddis to the current seam. Another thirteen inch brown rocketed to the surface and sucked in the fraudulent caddis, and now I was pretty pumped thinking I unlocked the secret to some great evening hatch matching. Next I fished around a large horseshoe bend and covered what appeared to be some great water with a huge pool and some deep runs along undercut banks, but surprisingly this yielded no results. Later Dave G. told me he encountered several groups of fishermen in this area,  but I didn’t know this and probably should have skipped over the disturbed water.

After completing the horseshoe, the stream returned to the road, and feeling chilled because of the dunking and my watch displaying 7:30, I climbed over the fence and hiked back to the Gaboury house. In spite of the spill, it was a fun evening on Brush Creek.

Time: 10:00AM – 12:00PM, 5:00PM – 7:30PM

Location: Eagle Ranch Rd bridge to Brice’s land, Undercut bank through private water to Eagle Ranch Rd bridge

Fish Landed: 6

Brush Creek 07/14/2012 Photo Album

Dave G. called the landowners of a private stretch of Brush Creek and obtained permission to fish through it on Saturday, so that was part of our gameplan. Dave suggested that we fish Brush Creek from the Eagle Ranch Road bridge upstream to the southern end of the Eagle Ranch property in the morning, and then fish the private water in the evening, and I readily agreed to the plan. After a hearty breakfast with Beth and Jane, Dave and I prepared to fish, and Beth drove us to the bridge where we began fishing. We once again employed the hopscotching method and built cairns to denote where the upstream fisherman entered the water.

I began fishing the water closest to the bridge while Dave changed his flies from the previous outing. I decided to go with my standard starting pair of flies, a yellow Letort hopper with a beadhead hares ear nymph. I didn’t have any luck in the first short run so I moved up to a nice ten foot long pool. On the first cast I witnessed a refusal from a small fish and then on the second cast my trailing nymph snagged on a submerged stick. I waded into the pool to free my fly and disturbed it, so I moved on to the next stretch. This was very attractive water with a long 25 foot pool and the main current flowing along the grassy left bank.

I began casting to the lower part of the pool where it tailed out but didn’t have any luck, so I moved up a bit and was standing at the very bottom of the pool. I shot a few casts up higher in the slack water to the right of the current and again had no reaction. However on perhaps the third cast closer to the edge of the current a huge head appeared which engulfed my fly. I set the hook thinking the fish had taken the hopper, and the fish immediately arched above the water so I could see it was a nice football shaped brown. Next the brown shot to the left and headed for the undercut bank. I continued to apply side pressure and moved it away from the bank. By now Dave G. had come up behind me and was watching the ensuing battle. The brown kept trying to go under the bank, and I kept guiding it back out. After three or four of these episodes, the brown made an upstream run and then quickly stopped. I frantically reeled up line to maintain tension as I worked the fish back toward me, and then the torpedo shot by me and went five feet below. I could see by now that the fly was in the brown trout’s mouth. I pivoted around and worked the tiring fish back above me a bit and guided it up on some exposed midstream rocks and then slid the net underneath. I now noticed that the beadhead hares ear was lodged in the corner of the mouth. Dave G. hypothesized that the brown turned away from the hopper and grabbed the nymph on the downturn. Dave G. graciously snapped a nice photo of me holding my prize trout, and I returned it to Brush Creek to grow and be caught again.

Dave with Catch of the Weekend – 16 Inch Brown

Shortly after this experience I landed a twelve inch brown on the beadhead hares ear in a similar spot along a current seam near the left bank. I’d caught two fish within the first half hour, so I was feeling pretty optimistic about the remainder of the day. Alas, the action slowed considerably. I continued fishing and hopscotching for the next hour or so with no action. Dave G. meanwhile was picking up three or four twelve inch fish. Finally close to noon I hooked and landed a pair of seven inch browns, but then it became dead again. Much of the stream was shaded by cottonwood trees, but there were some long open stretches. The sun was now quite high in the sky and very intense, and I was perspiring as I walked the bank from pool to pool.

Upper Brush Creek at Eagle Ranch

When we reached another bridge, I asked Dave G. if we should quit. He had likewise experienced a long period of inactivity, so he decided to cast to a nice spot above the bridge and then we would adjourn to the house. I pulled out my camera and snapped a few photos of Dave working the stream, and then Dave G. called Beth on his mobile phone. We waited only ten minutes or so on a bench on a small corner park in the shade before Beth arrived and taxied us back to the house.

Intense

Some rain clouds moved in after lunch but we managed to enjoy a nice bike ride between 4 and 5PM. After the bike ride, Dave and I grabbed our rods and walked down the bike path to the stream above the first bridge to the visitor center and near a high cut bank. We began fishing the stretch of water next to a long undercut bank where I’d had great fun in July 2010, but I was unable to pound up any action. I had replaced the yellow Letort hopper with a Chernobyl ant and reattached the beadhead hares ear. Dave waited while I fished this usually productive stretch as he was certain I would need his services for photography. Unfortunately photo opportunities did not materialize and we moved on.

Not far from this starting point I ducked under a barbed wire fence running over the stream, and now we were both fishing the private water. Brush Creek makes numerous bends as it winds through this private land creating nice pools and runs in the process. We continued to leap frog over each other, but we did short stretches, therefore, no longer requiring the cairn building exercies. I spotted several rises so I switched to a bushy caddis and this prompted a smug refusal. Perhaps the fly was too large? I clipped it off and replaced it with a size 16 deer hair caddis with a light gray body. Sure enough when I placed the smaller imitation over the spot of the rise, I hooked and landed a twelve inch brown.

As we moved along, the sky remained overcast and I was certain we’d experience some fast action on the surface. At one point Dave G. wasn’t having much luck with the beadhead hares ear so he asked me what might be a good sufsurface fly to use as a dropper. He had showed me a box with numerous caddis pupa and larva flies on Friday so I suggested he try one of them since there were caddis present. This ended up being a great recommendation and Dave experienced some great action on the caddis pupa dropper including a 17 inch brown. The caddis pupa had a light olive body with a black thorax and white legs protruding from each side behind the head.

Meanwhile I spotted a rise at the very top of a run and close to the bank. I could see the side of the fish and it appeared to be a decent fish. I slowly moved closer and popped a cast a foot or two downstream from the location of the rise and immediately a twelve inch brown inhaled my fly. I quickly played it to my net and released. Was that the fish I observed? Perhaps I overestimated its size, but I decided to shoot another cast higher and above where I’d seen the fish. On the second cast a fish burst through the surface and grabbed my caddis dry. This fish felt heavier than the previous, but not as large as the 16 inch brown of the morning, as it shot downstream along the bank and then made a quick lateral move to go underneath. I held on and in a split second my line came flying back toward me with no flies attached.

The sudden force of turning had caused my surgeon’s knot that attached the tippet to the tapered leader to break. Dave G. had once again come up behind me and witnessed this dose of misfortune. I tied on another deer hair caddis and moved on but had only one more momentary hookup below some large beaver dams before arriving at the bridge where we’d begun our morning fishing. Dave G. continued to have decent success with his caddis pupa, but I was too stubborn to listen to my own advice and stuck with the dry fly under the mistaken assumption that a hatch would materialize.

It was 7:30 when we reached the bridge so we called Beth for another pickup and returned to the house for dinner.

Time: 1:00:PM – 4:00PM

Location: Sylvan Lake State Park Payment Location Upstream

Fish Landed: 19

East Fork of Brush Creek 07/13/2012 Photo Album

As has been the custom for the last several years, Beth and Dave Gaboury invited us to join them for the weekend at their second home in Eagle, CO. Dave and I were fishing buddies when he lived in Castle Rock, but eventually Dave moved to Kansas City for a position with an engineering firm there. For several years Dave would visit and we’d go on fishing trips, but in 2006 he and Beth purchased a home in Eagle Ranch in Eagle, CO. They visit fairly frequently and invite friends from various parts of the country to stay with them when they don’t have their family present.

Their house in Eagle Ranch is quite close to Brush Creek, a small tributary stream that flows into the Eagle River a mile or so below their house. It’s hard to pass up fishing Brush Creek because of the convenience of walking from the garage to the stream. Because of the drought and heat wave I was skeptical of fishing in the Eagle River and even Brush Creek, and the temperatures were forecast to be in the 90’s in Denver. Dave is a big fan of my beadhead hares ear nymphs, so I tied ten as a gift for him one evening before our scheduled visit. Jane needed to work on Friday, so I called on Thursday to let Dave and Beth know that I was taking off work and driving up from Denver on Friday morning. Jane would drive up separately after work on Friday.

I got off to a reasonably early start at 7:45 and arrived at Eagle Ranch at around 10AM. Unfortunately I called their land line in Kansas City on Thursday and they didn’t check it for messages, so they weren’t aware that I was arriving. When I knocked on the door, no one answered even though their car was parked behind the garage. I assumed they had gone for a bike ride or walk, and this proved to be correct. Within a half hour they both returned from a long morning walk and the three of us walked up to the town center and had a quick lunch at HP’s Market.

East Fork of Brush Creek

After lunch, since it was already approaching noon, Dave and I decided to drive up Sylvan Lake Road to the upper reaches of Brush Creek where we thought the fishing would be better in the peak of the warm day. It wasn’t as hot in Eagle as was expected for Denver and there was significant high cloud cover for much of the afternoon. I drove the Santa Fe so Beth could use her car to do some shopping and we drove the 10-15 miles to Sylvan Lake State Park and paid the day use fee and then parked at a pullout just above where the creek went under the road.

Dave uses his tenkara rod for fishing the small high mountain streams so he was ready to fish quite quickly. We decided to do the routine of leap frogging each other with the upstream fisherman responsible for building a cairn to mark his beginning point. I fished the stretch closest to the road while Dave moved upstream. I began with a size 12 heavily hackled stimulator with an olive body and immediately experienced three or four refusals from tiny brook trout in the tail of the pool. However, as I moved up the stream I picked up a few 6-8 inch brookies as well as some tiny specimen that were below my counting cut off. I added a beadhead pheasant tail in hopes that a trailing nymph might attract some larger fish, and did manage to land an eight inch brown among the first five fish landed.

Size of My Hand

As Dave and I hopscotched our way up the small stream I landed five more brook trout to reach ten. Most of the fish were rising to the stimulator, but a couple grabbed the trailing nymph. When I’d reached ten I decided to begin experimenting with different flies. I clipped off the stimulator and pheasant tail and tied on a Chernobyl ant for flotation and added a beadhead hares ear. The buoyant foam ant does a nice job of supporting the larger hares ear and again I was hoping to attract some larger browns and avoid the tiny brook trout.

Large Brown for These Waters

This strategy did in fact work, and I landed another nine trout over the course of the remainder of the afternoon. Three were brown trout with two being in the 12-13 inch range. I also landed a couple brook trout that were nine inches, and that is large for the colorful species in a small stream environment. Dave G. meanwhile was having great action with his long tenkara rod and a stimulator/flashback pheasant tail combination. By 4PM we’d covered quite a distance as we were hitting only the deeper attractive pools and leap frogging each other. We decided to call it a day and return to the house for liquid refreshments and appetizers while we waited for Jane to arrive from Denver.

Brookie Took Chernobyl

Time: 11:30AM – 1:30PM

Location: Eagle Ranch from Sylvan Lake Road upstream to first bridge

Fish Landed: 1

It was now late in October and I managed to come within nine fish of last year’s cumulative count. I have to admit this was on my mind as Jane and I prepared to drive to Eagle on Saturday morning to visit the Gaboury’s at their home in Eagle Ranch. My expectations weren’t high, but it would be nice to close the gap on last year’s numbers late in the season. Knowing Dave G’s love of my beadhead hares ear nymphs, I tied five new ones on Thursday night while watching the seesaw game six of the World Series.

Jane and I got off to a late start on Saturday morning and arrived at Eagle Ranch at 11AM. Dave and I decided to try Brush Creek directly behind his house for a couple hours and then re-evaluate when we returned for lunch. Beth and Jane planned to drive to Glenwood Springs for the afternoon. We put on our waders and strung our rods and hiked down the bike path until it intersected with Sylvan Lake Road at the western edge of Eagle Ranch. The stream level was ideal and higher than when I’d visited in mid-August. I told Dave I was going to try some streamer fishing, so he led me to a nice deep hole where the main current angled against the bank and then made a sharp bend.

I searched through my fleece fly pouch and decided to start with a muddler minnow. I pinched a split shot on the line a foot above the streamer and cast across the current and let the fly sweep through the heart of the pool. I worked the muddler across different distances and stripped in various ways, but nothing was moving for the fly. I wasn’t satisfied with the sink rate, so I clipped it off and tied on a different streamer that didn’t contain buoyant deer hair. This fly sank better but didn’t produce either, so I went to a third streamer, an orange body woolly bugger with a black tail. This fly looked good as the marabou tale undulated in the water, but once again no action resulted.

I moved on up the stream casting the woolly bugger to some additional deeper runs and pools, but I wasn’t seeing any fish and finally decided to give up on streamers and try a parachute hopper with a beadhead hares ear. By this time Dave G. and I became separated, and I wouldn’t catch up to him until I was nearly at the bridge that crosses the creek to the visitor center for Eagle Ranch. I covered a lot of water and finally in a riffle near the bridge, I hooked and landed a 10 inch brown trout. Dave G was just above me and I asked him how he’d done, and he replied that he’d landed one 10 inch brown near where I had just landed my first fish.

Time: 9:30AM – 12:30PM

Location: Private water to second bridge

Fish Landed: 5

Brush Creek 08/13/2011 Photo Album

Dave G. called the owners of some private land that covered both sides of Brush Creek within Eagle Ranch and obtained permission to fish on Saturday morning. Jane had arrived on Friday, and she and Beth were going to walk to some shops in Eagle during the morning while we fished.

Dave G. on Eagle Ranch Private Stretch

Dave G. and I set out walking on the paved path within Eagle Ranch. We walked a good distance south and then entered the creek just below the spot where I’d had so much fun by the undercut bank the previous summer. I tied on the gray Letort hopper and trailed a beadhead hares ear nymph. I decided to be much more cautious in my approach on Saturday and it paid off. When I approached long runs and pools, I cast from quite a distance below the lip. I also cast as close as I could to the bank. This was tough fishing and required long accurate casts tight to the bank. If I erred on accuracy, and I did a few times, I’d hook the tall grasses that lined the bank.

I managed to land five brown trout fishing in this manner. All were in the 12-13 inch size range so they were nothing to brag about, but I was still proud to land this many fish under such demanding conditions. I also had two hookups with fish that felt a little heavier, but I was unable to land. One of the trout took the hopper on the surface, and the remainder grabbed the subsurface beadhead hares ear offering.

While we were on the private land, the owner startled me and appeared out of nowhere. He asked if we had permission, and I replied that my friend Dave G. had called, and he should talk to Dave G. The owner’s name was Bill and he walked over to Dave G. who informed Bill that he had called and received permission from his wife. Everything was smoothed over, and we had a friendly chat with Bill.

Nicest Fish Landed on Saturday

Buttery Color

Meanwhile Dave G. was having less success than Friday, although by the end of our time he’d landed a couple nice browns and accumulated a similar count of trout. We returned to the house at 12:30PM and had a nice lunch and then relaxed before doing a bike ride in late afternoon. For dinner we drove south on Brush Creek Road to a resort called Adam’s Rib. Adam’s Rib was more luxurious than a Ritz Carlton in my opinion.

Dave G, Jane and Dave W on Bike Ride in Eagle Ranch

Eagle Sculpture at Adam's Rib