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

Time: 2:30PM – 6:00PM

Location: Below Yeoman Campground

Fish Landed: 8

East Fork, Brush Creek 08/12/2011 Photo Album

I was pretty frustrated with my lack of fish in the morning and fortunately Dave G. suggested we go higher up to the East Fork of Brush Creek. After a good lunch we put our waders back on and jumped in the rental car and headed south on Brush Creek Road. When the road enters Sylvan Lake State Park, the stream splits into an East and West Fork. The West Fork comes out of Sylvan Lake, but we chose the East Fork and drove another 3-4 miles to a pullout near some yurts that can be rented. We paid our fee and began fishing where the stream came close to the road. The stream at this location had a lower gradient and was surrounded by low shrubs so casting was fairly open with much room for backcasts.

Dave G Shows Trout Caught with Tenkara Rod

Dave G. brought along his new Tenkara Japanese rod. It telescopes down to a couple feet long. To use it, one grabs the tip and pulls it out to 12 feet long. The length of the line is equal to two times the length of the pole and there is no reel. It is basically a sophisticated version of cane poling.

Dave Tries to Capture Line in Wind

I began first and switched things up with a Chernobyl ant trailing a beadhead hares ear. In the first nice pool I experienced three or four refusals to the Chernobyl before finally landing a small brook trout. I fished this combination for a bit, but soon switched the Chernobyl ant for a gray body Letort hopper. I landed a couple brookies and then Dave G. landed a nice brown on his stimulator. Shortly after Dave’s fish I hooked what felt like a decent fish in a very small plunge pool, but the fish charged into a small nook and wrapped me around a branch and escaped.

Nice Fish Landed by Dave W

I managed some small fish on the beadhead hares ear, but I was covering a lot of very attractive water with minimal success, so I tied on an olive body deer hair caddis dry fly. This proved to be a success, and I landed a pair of quite nice browns for the size of the stream on the caddis. In both cases I approached from the side and stayed quite a ways back from the stream and flicked my fly into a nice clear pool. The fish confidently appeared from the depths and inhaled the size 16 caddis.

Nice Fish for Small Stream

We went through a section that contained more rocks and trees and eventually came to an open area where we could see the road. It was close to quitting time so we decided to cut across the meadow to the road and hike back down the road to the car. By this time I’d landed eight trout, a couple brook trout and surprisingly the remainder were browns. Dave G. had described this small stream as predominantly a brook trout fishery.

Aspens Blanket Hillside

As we hiked down the road a couple in a white pickup truck came by and asked if we wanted a ride. We accepted the lift, and I threw my rod in the back of the pickup truck and sat on the tailgate. When we arrived at our car, Dave G. showed the driver his Tenkara rod and the driver was quite amazed by the simplicity of the concept.

Time: 9:30AM – 12:30PM

Location: Cottonwood area above second road crossing in Eagle Ranch

Fish Landed: 1

Brush Creek 08/12/2011 Photo Album

Our friends Dave and Beth Gaboury invited us to join them at their second home in Eagle Ranch. I was in a good position at work, so I called and informed Dave that I would leave Thursday and stay Thursday night so we could fish on Friday. The Eagle River flows had dropped to high 400’s so I feared fishing on the Eagle would be tough. In addition the weather forecast was for hot weather and no precipitation.

When I talked to Dave, he had set up a schedule to fish the upper section of Brush Creek on Friday morning as it was at least covered by a canopy of cottonwood trees. Since this stretch was at the southern end of Eagle Ranch, we had Beth drop us off and then scheduled for her to pick us up at 12:30. Brush Creek was at August levels unlike many other small streams in northern Colorado. I began fishing with a parahopper but wasn’t getting any looks. Dave G meanwhile hooked and landed two decent browns on a beige body stimulator. I added a beadhead hares ear and sometime during the first hour picked up a small brown.

The stream was too small to fish in parallel so we took turns leapfrogging around each other. When one of us entered the stream above the other, we built a small cairn (pile of rocks) so the trailing fisherman would know the water had already been covered. Unfortunately the water was low, and it was difficult to walk up and around without being in the vision of the upstream fish, and I believe this may have affected our success.

Dave Marks Where He Entered Upstream

Dave G. landed a couple more small browns and then we both suffered through a long dry spell until just before we quit for the morning. Near the end of our upstream migration Dave G. tied on a renegade and landed five trout, two decent sized browns. Unfortunately we couldn’t experiment more with the renegade as we needed to meet Beth at the appointed time of 12:30.

Time: 7:00PM – 9:00PM

Location: Eagle Ranch

Fish Landed: 6

Brush Creek 07/10/2010 Photo Album

Dave G was adamant that we were going to fish Saturday evening in spite of protestations from our wives. Dave G had discovered a place with a three foot undercut bank, and he wanted to experiment with a mouse fly tumbling off the bank. I was skeptical that this tactic could work in a small tributary stream such as Brush Creek. Call me a doubting Thomas.

We finished our Thai curry noodle bowl dinners and did some clean up then headed to the stream. We hiked upstream on the path from the house beyond the bridge over the creek and then another .2 miles or so then cut down to the creek. I tied on the usual Letort hopper trailing a beadhead hares ear. Dave was using a Purple Haze trailing a beadhead pheasant tail. Once again we hopped from pool and run to pool and run. I was giving Dave first crack at each attractive stretch of water, but he was staying back from the water so I could try my flies after he’d taken first shot.

Dave was getting quite a few refusals to the Purple Haze on his first casts to new water. My combination wasn’t doing a thing, and I had little confidence that this would change. There were quite a few caddis flitting about as daylight faded so I tied on a bushy size 14 caddis with a palmered body. This provoked at least a refusal. Perhaps they liked the caddis concept but I needed to go smaller? I replaced the bushy caddis with a sparse light gray deer hair caddis on a size 16 hook. Nothing. Finally we neared the two long runs that Dave was targeting with his mouse. Dave G moved up ahead to work the mouse, but suggested I try something darker to contrast against the sky. I searched my fly pocket and came upon a size 14 royal stimulator that I’d tied several years ago out of the Scott Sanchez book. The fly had a 2XL hook with peacock herl body and a red floss section in the middle. A hackle was palmered over the body and a white calf tail wing swept back over the body down wing style.

I noticed a small soft area of water against a three foot high bank on the opposite side of the main current. I figured Dave hadn’t touched this water, and perhaps I could get a decent downstream drift by positioning above the slack water and feeding down to it before the main current grabbed my line. I was right. On the third cast a 12 inch brown slashed at the stimulator, and I landed my first fish of the evening.

Next I moved upstream to the first of the long runs that Dave was targeting. The next half hour or so turned out to be some of the most memorable fishing ever. The sun had just dropped below the horizon and daylight was waning. Some birds (nighthawks?) with wide wings and white stripes on the wing were flying frantically back and forth up and down the stream eating insects and adding to the excitement. First I tossed the royal stimulator to the tail of the run and wham I was hooked to a powerful brown. I landed it quickly and dried my fly. The only thing that limited my fish count over the next half hour or so was the time it took to play and release the powerful browns I was catching. In almost every case the trout slashed my fly, and when I set the hook they rocketed upstream and beneath the undercut bank. Only strong side pressure prevented losing the fish. In every case the royal stimulator was embedded deep in the mouth of the fish, an indication that they were taking the fly with confidence. When I’d landed the fifth fat brown, I asked Dave G to photograph me. I offered him the stretch I’d been fishing and one of my flies. He declined the fly, but did swap runs with me.

I moved to the last run before the private boundary and promptly landed a 13 inch brown. The royal stimulator had now produced fish in three separate locations so it was beyond fluke status. When I returned to the first run with the deep undercut bank, Dave G accepted my royal stimulator offer, but struggled to thread the eye with the waning light and a poorly tied fly. I’d crowded the head with the calf tail wing and also closed it with head cement. Dave held his light while I managed to thread the hook eye and tie a clinch knot. Alas, the calf tail fibers were pulling free due to all the handling and poor workmanship on my part. Dave G got in a few casts, but the lack of white wing for visibility and the fact that I’d already pulled four fish from the water provided difficult circumstances. We called it an evening and returned to the house. Wow!

Time: 10:30AM – 12:00PM

Location: Eagle Ranch

Fish Landed: 1

Brush Creek 07/09/2010 Photo Album

As I drove from the Arkansas River through Leadville and on to Eagle on Thursday evening, the weather grew clearer. I could see that the Eagle River was clear and a bit high as I followed it down the valley to Eagle, CO. I stayed overnight with my friends the Gaboury’s, and Dave suggested we fish Brush Creek in Eagle Ranch in the morning then hit the Eagle River near Edwards in the afternoon. Friday turned out to be a gorgeous day from a weather standpoint with relatively clear skies and temperatures in the upper seventies or low eighties.

Dave G. and I were ready to fish by around 10:30, so we hiked down the path behind their house and entered the water downstream. Brush Creek is kind of small for two fishermen, so we decided to alternate attractive pools. Dave was catching small browns on a beadhead pheasant tail, but I wasn’t having any luck whatsoever. I was using a yellow Letort hopper trailing a beadhead hares ear, beadhead green caddis, copper john, and beadhead pheasant tail. We reached a point where the creek divided into two channels with roughly equal volume, so Dave G. took the north side and I explored the south. There was some caddis buzzing about, so I made yet another fly change and tied on a size 14 beadhead prince nymph. Halfway through the south channel just below a bend and in a seam, my hopper disappeared, and I hooked a nice brown that probably measured around 15 inches. I photographed the fish while holding in my hand as there was tall vegetation all around and no good spot to place the fish.

I continued fishing the south channel and met up with Dave. We moved rather quickly now as Dave G. wanted to try a stretch .3 miles upstream where he’d caught some very nice browns on previous outings. There was one spot that Dave had already fished with a refusal to his stimulator where I hooked three fish, but only landed a very small brown that didn’t meet my minimum length for counting. After this I thought perhaps the prince was the magical fly to turn things around, but alas, it didn’t produce again. We called it quits around noon and returned to the house for lunch.