Time: 11:00AM – 3:00PM

Location: Between Tunnel 1 and 2.

Clear Creek 09/01/2016 Photo Album

Clear Creek continues to be an enigma to this fisherman. On Auguist 5 I visited the small stream near Idaho Springs, and I experienced a disappointing day, but I attributed it to the rafting traffic. I vowed that I would not return until the flows dropped to the 50 – 80 cfs range, as I felt that the rafting trips would no longer be viable at that level. On August 19 I revisited a section in Clear Creek Canyon west of Golden, and my persistence was rewarded with a fifteen fish day. On this delightful outing the fish responded to Jake’s gulp beetle in a big way.

The August 19 trip gave me the confidence to journey to Clear Creek once again on September 1. I fished the Colorado River on August 31, and I did not wish to undertake another extensive drive, so the 45 minute spin to Clear Creek appealed to me. When I departed my house at 10AM, the sky was overcast, but before I arrived at the pullout across route six from Clear Creek, the sun burned off the haze and clouds. In fact, the weather developed into fairly adverse conditions with the bright sun in a clear blue sky, and the temperature climbed to 85 degrees in the canyon.

Clear As Its Name

I elected to use my Loomis five weight, since I hoped to toss large foam attractors, and the slow action Loomis accommodates this form of fishing quite well. I packed my lunch and raincoat and dropped down a steep rocky embankment to the edge of the creek. From previous experience I knew the water next to me was heavily fished, so I waded along the edge to the point where the bank becomes very high and steep. I was certain that this unfavorable terrain was a deterrent to most fishermen.

I will not bore the reader with all the details of my movements. I will simply state that I fished from 11AM until 1:30PM and did not land a single fish. During this time I presented a size 10 Chernobyl ant, the same Chernobyl with a hares ear nymph dropper, a size 10 Jake’s gulp beetle with a peacock ice dub body, a size 16 gray caddis, a size 10 gray parachute hopper, and a size 10 tan Charlie boy hopper. None of these flies produced a fish; not even a tiny trout beneath the six inch minimum. There were occasional looks, but even these were few and far between. Even on my worst outings on Clear Creek I normally see a preponderance of looks, refusals, long distance releases and spooked fish, but on Thursday these engagements with trout were largely absent.

I knew from past experience that abundant fish resided in the area that I was fishing. I blamed my lack of success on the high bright sun, clear sky and warm temperatures. I concluded that the trout were hunkered down in deep oxygenated refuges, so I modified my approach. I knotted a size eight fat Albert to my line for buoyancy, and then I added a beadhead hares ear and a salvation nymph. With this alignment of flies I focused my casts on deep runs, current seams and large pockets in an effort to reach the hypothetical hangouts of the trout on a warm bright day.

Second Fish Was Bigger

It worked to some extent, as I landed a small brown on the hares ear and then another somewhat larger brown trout on the same fly. Both fish snatched the dangling nymph from deep areas along current seams. I suspected that I discovered a strategy to salvage the first day of September, but that was not the case. I endured another long slump and a few refusals to the oversized fat Albert. The fat Albert had a yellow body, so I surmised that perhaps the trout were looking for a yellow sally or small hopper with a yellow body.

Side Look

I followed up on this thought by changing my offering to a size 12 yellow stimulator. I cast this fly to many attractive spots with no response, but then I lofted it to a current seam at the edge of a nice riffle of moderate depth. In a flash an eleven inch slender brown surfaced and crushed the stimulator. Given the absence of action I was extremely careful, and I quickly played the prize fish to my net. Could the stimulator be the answer?

Zoomed in on the Last Fish of the Day

I moved farther upstream with the bushy yellow attractor on my line, but it no longer appealed to Clear Creek trout. Once again I paused to assess, and I remembered the small yellow hopper idea, so I knotted a size 10 yellow Letort hopper to my line. I applied floatant to the dubbed body and prospected some likely locations, but only a cautious look from a small trout in a narrow slot resulted. What else could I try?

I recalled that the fish did not respond to Jake’s gulp beetle until the afternoon on August 19, so I gave the foam beetle one more try. Once again I selected a version with a peacock ice dub body, but I downsized to a size 12. I plopped it in numerous likely places, but again the casting proved futile. My digital watch displayed 3 o’clock, and I was approaching the steep rocky area just before Tunnel 2, so I decided to cut my losses and called it a day.

The water was clear and the flows were 80 cfs, which I consider nearly ideal for late summer on Clear Creek. I can only attribute my slow day to the weather and the variable disposition of Clear Creek brown trout. The close proximity and abundant public access will likely lure me back to Clear Creek, but the timing will certainly be in late September, after the temperature range falls into the autumn pattern.

Fish Landed: 3

Time: 10:00AM – 3:00PM

Location: First bridge after tunnel 1 and upstream

Clear Creek 08/19/2016 Photo Album

I endured three consecutive single digit fishing outings punctuated by a blanking on the South Platte River on Wednesday. Was I losing my touch, or was I a victim of the August doldrums, when hot sunny days and the absence of aquatic insect hatches doom a fly fisherman to empty drifts and miles of futile wading?

My sister and brother-in-law returned to Pennsylvania on Thursday, and Jane scheduled tennis for Friday, so I had an opportunity to search for answers. I packed the car with my gear and made the brief drive to Clear Creek Canyon. My visit to Clear Creek on August 5 was mainly an exercise in frustration; however, the other local options offered various issues as well. On August 5 I concentrated my efforts on the water above and below Idaho Springs, and on Friday August 19, I occupied Clear Creek Canyon. I was hopeful that the shift in venue would yield improved results.

Clear Creek Starting Point

I parked just beyond the first bridge crossing of Clear Creek above Tunnel One and assembled my Orvis Access four weight rod. As I was preparing to fish, I heard a loud voice ring across the narrow canyon, and I automatically looked up to the side of the canyon wall directly above and across from me. There I spied a young rock climber, and he continued to shout. I was unable to discern his monologue, but I could not spot any fellow rock climbers, so I wondered if he was attempting to communicate with me? This was a passing thought, before I concluded that other climbers were below him, but a small rock ridge blocked them from my view.

Indian Paintbrush

Friday morning was cool with the thermometer hovering in the low sixties, as I crossed the road and climbed over the guard rail to access the path that led me one hundred yards below the bridge. When the trail faded, I found myself amidst an area covered with a green invasive vine species, so I used this as an excuse to carefully pick my way down the bank to the edge of the creek. The flow remained in the upper nineties, and the creek exhibited a tinge of discoloration most likely originating from the area upstream where work continues on the Clear Creek Bikeway. I viewed the off color water as a positive, as it most likely enabled closer approaches to fish holding locations.

Nice Start

Close Up of the Productive Morning Fly

I tied a size 10 Chernobyl ant with longer than normal rubber legs and a pink indicator to my line and began casting to likely trout lairs. Ten minutes elapsed with no action, and visions of Wednesday crept into my head, but then I lobbed the foam imitation to a small foam covered nook next to a rock, and an eleven inch brown trout slammed the fly. I was relieved to remove the possibility of a fish count of zero from my list of worries. For the remainder of the morning I covered the section of the stream below the bridge and landed three additional browns to raise the fish count to four. Four fish in two hours of fishing was average, but given my previous four sub-par outings, I accepted my catch rate as improvement. The size of two of the brown trout was actually above the norm for Clear Creek, so that added to my satisfaction. Of course all was not perfect in my small world of fly fishing, as frequent refusals and temporary hookups marred perfection.

Too Fast for a Pocket Water Enthusiast

After lunch I decided to experiment with alternative flies with the hope of reducing the refusal rate. First I tested a size 10 Cathy’s super beetle, and the large foam rubber legged imitation yielded one fish, before it also generated looks and refusals. Next I downsized a bit more to a size 12 Jake’s gulp beetle with a red underbody. This terrestrial fraud provoked a few refusals from likely small fish, so I once again paused to evaluate the situation. It was relatively clear that the fish were looking toward the surface for food, but what would match their appetites? The Chernobyl ant worked in the morning, so perhaps I needed to give it more time.

I knotted a different attractor ant to my line that displayed shorter legs and a chartreuse indicator, and in case the fish were also opportunistically tuned into subsurface nymphs, I added a beadhead hares ear on a three foot dropper. This arrangement accounted for one small brown trout, but after covering quite a few delicious pools, I concluded that the dry/dropper was not the answer. What should I try now? I was actually approaching a state of despair, as the day was evolving into another experience similar to the Big Thompson when the fishing turned off in the afternoon.

It was late August, and the only aquatic insects available were small caddis that fluttered up from the streamside rocks as I passed by, but this source of food was not on the water. I was convinced that terrestrials were the answer, and I had not yet tested a grasshopper or ant. I removed the dry/dropper components and replaced them with a parachute hopper with a gray hares ear body. I experienced success with this fly previously on Clear Creek, and it likely represented my most realistic hopper imitation. I gave the hopper a fair trial, but unfortunately, similar to Jake’s gulp beetle, it simply created a few uncertain looks from the residents of Clear Creek.

Jake’s Gulp Beetle Size 10 with Peacock Ice Dub Body

At this point I sat down and pondered my plight. In 2015 Jake’s gulp beetle was my savior on several occasions. I tried one earlier, but it possessed a red body. How many natural beetles display red underbodies, and in reality I tied the red versions as attractors and not imitators? I decided to revert to a Jake’s gulp beetle, but this time I chose a size 10 with a peacock ice dub body.

Beetle Showing

Guess what happened? Over the remainder of the afternoon I pushed the fish counter from six to fifteen as the Clear Creek denizens gave the beetle a solid thumbs up. I scrambled over the large boulders that bordered the narrow section of Clear Creek and dropped the beetle in all the likely pockets and pools in front of me. Certainly there were some refusals, but overall it was evident that the trout found the peacock beetle to their liking. As this turn in fortune was transpiring, some large gray clouds emerged in the western sky, and as three o’clock approached, I cringed at the distant sound of thunder. I needed to return home in time to prepare for the Cubs vs Rockies game at Coors Field, so I interpreted the thunder as an alarm, and I quickly climbed the steep rocky bank and returned to the car.

Pretty Clear Creek Brown Trout

My timing was good but not perfect, and sheets of rain descended just as I removed my waders and wading boots. I sat in the car for ten minutes until the heavy rain subsided, and then I packed up my belongings and returned to Stapleton. Friday evolved into a fun day, as I finally found the key to unlock the jaws of the Clear Creek brown trout. I climbed from a valley of despair after lunch to a state of elation, once the beetle tempted numerous trout. I was grateful for a fifteen fish day in late August.

Fish Landed: 15

Time: 12:30PM – 2:30PM

Location: Stairstep area west of Idaho Springs and area just upstream from I70 bridge that crosses the stream below Floyd Hill.

Clear Creek 08/05/2016 Photo Album

Clear Creek is an enigma. I attended a presentation at Blue Quill Anglers in March several years ago, and the speaker vouched that Clear Creek trout are easy pickings. He proclaimed in his talk that a fly fisherman simply needed to tie a large foam attractor to one’s line and fish only the edges, and this approach yielded prodigious quantities of fish. I have rarely found this scenario to be true, and Friday August 5 reinforced my opinion that Clear Creek is a tough proposition. The fish were extremely picky, and the few that I landed were quite small. Despite my complaints, I continue to return since I do have productive days, and the proximity is difficult to overlook.

When I checked the flows on Thursday, Clear Creek at Lawson was running at 113 cfs. I knew from prior experience that this was high for early August, but I was also certain that edge fishing was possible. Perhaps the higher flows served as a buffer against the ninety degree temperatures that settled over Colorado during the previous week.

After three consecutive days of fishing, I took my time on Friday morning and followed my non-fishing routine by going for a run and doing my workout. I did not depart from Stapleton until 10:30, and this placed me at the pullout just west of Idaho Springs by 11:30. Friday’s weather was cool and overcast similar to Thursday, but the threat of rain seemed more imminent. For this reason after I ate my lunch and assembled my Loomis five weight, I reached in my fishing bag for my raincoat. Uh oh. I realized that I left it on the drying rack in the bedroom and neglected to stow it back in my bag. Instead I pulled on my light fleece and prayed that it would not rain. I decided to fish until 3PM or the until the rain drove me from the creek, whichever came first.

An Early Afternoon Fish

At the same presentation at the Blue Quill Angler I learned of the stairstep area just west of Idaho Springs. The young expert on Clear Creek suggested that this area was public and productive, and I never tried it, so Friday was the day. I scrambled down a very steep path very slowly, and when I reached the creek, I encountered a wide segment of water. At fifteen yard intervals man-made rock dams spanned the stream, and these created riffles and runs that expanded into fairly shallow flats and pools. These structures were staggered through the entire section that I fished on Friday before I moved downstream.

A Fast Trough

I began with a size 8 Chernobyl ant since I bought the notion that any large foam attractor would catch fish. It did not, but several refusals caused me to downsize to a size 10, and then a size 12 Jake’s gulp beetle. None of these surface flies induced a take, although they all prompted refusals. At some point I added a beadhead hares ear on an eighteen inch dropper, and this fly accounted for a few small brown trout. In fact, the hares ear hooked all five small brown trout that I landed during my hour and fifteen minutes west of Idaho Springs.

Unlike most of the other places that I fish on Clear Creek, the deepest and most attractive spots were in the center of the stream below the man made rock dams. I was unaccustomed to casting to spots other than right along the bank. In retrospect I probably should have abandoned the dry/dropper technique and instead experimented with indicator nymphing or even a streamer. I observed virtually zero insect activity, and the overcast cool weather and higher than normal flows perhaps suggested a deeper presentation to the Clear Creek trout.

Best Fish of the Day

After an hour and fifteen minutes of disappointing fishing, I decided to move downstream below Idaho Springs to the location just above the I70 bridge that spans Clear Creek. From past visits I knew that this stretch of water offered numerous nooks, pockets and eddies along the rocky bank, and brown trout love to hold in these areas. I made the quick four mile drive to the Boulder exit and parked just above the bridge. Several vans with trailers designed to transport inflatable rafts were parked in this area, so this should have been a clue.

I ignored the rafting warning signs and walked along the bike path a short distance. As I remembered, the shoreline contained numerous deep holes, but the dry/dropper offering failed to attract any fish. In fact I only spotted a few during my hour of fishing, and this is quite unusual for this segment of Clear Creek. As I worked my way upstream spraying two or three casts to each likely holding position, a flotilla of rafts drifted by. Clear Creek is a narrow creek, and certainly the large inflatable watercraft were visible to the underwater residents of the stream. I blamed the rafting industry for my lack of success between 1:30 and 2:30, and I reeled up my fly and called it quits early.

Five small fish in the 6-9 inch range did not represent an interesting outing, so I plan to avoid Clear Creek until the flows drop to the 50 – 100 cfs range. This level would likely deter the rafting industry and also make the fish more accessible. Despite the disappointing day on Friday, I cannot complain about the first week of August, as I enjoyed two fantastic days on Piney River and South Boulder Creek. Days like Friday are what make the sport challenging. If every day were easy, more people would be fly fishing, and I would complain about crowded rivers and streams.

Time: 11:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: Downstream from Hidden Valley exit below Idaho Springs.

Clear Creek 05/18/2016 Photo Album

Adverse weather moved into Colorado on Sunday evening, and this placed a temporary halt on my fishing ventures. Rather than stewing over the cool wet conditions, I used the weekend and Monday to rest, and Tuesday Jane and I took full advantage of the cool temperatures by visiting Arapahoe Basin for some late season skiing. Conditions were actually quite good for May 17, and generous quantities of snow remain on the high elevation slopes. Jane volunteered to drive on our return trip, and this afforded me the opportunity to inspect Clear Creek where it runs along interstate 70. It was a bit high but clear on Tuesday afternoon.

On Wednesday morning I reviewed the stream flows on the Front Range streams, and this exercise revealed that Clear Creek was flowing at 133 cfs. This is a bit high but within the 50-200 cfs range that generally suggests manageable fishing conditions. Since I had first hand knowledge based on our return trip from A-Basin, I opted to make the short trip to Clear Creek. On Tuesday I observed that clarity was decent, and this information is difficult to obtain over the internet.

I left the house at 9:30 on Wednesday morning, and I pulled into the pullout along the frontage road south of Interstate 70 off the Hidden Valley exit by 10:30. I quickly jumped out of the car and looked down at the stream and determined that it was in decent condition. The flows were obviously higher than the 50 cfs level that I encountered during my most recent visit to Clear Creek in the canyon, but the creek was only slightly discolored with decent visibility along the edges. Clear Creek is essentially a huge trough, and it is a waste of time to toss flies anywhere but right along the bank, so edge clarity is all that matters.

I quickly pulled on my waders and assembled my Sage four weight. A large black cloud was gathering to the west, so I added my fleece and raincoat and then threw my lunch in my backpack. I planned to hike down the bike path to the spot where the creek makes a bend, so returning to the car for my sandwich was not an option. After a twenty minute brisk hike on the path, I found a nice open area to approach the stream. I glanced at my watch and noticed it was 11:45, so I decided to eat next to the stream before beginning my quest for Clear Creek brown trout.

I began my afternoon by tying a fat Albert to my line, and then I added a beadhead hares ear nymph on a two foot dropper. These flies were on fire on the South Platte so why not test them on Clear Creek? Very quickly I discovered that the small brown trout were mesmerized by the fat Albert, but they chose to inspect but not eat the large foam attractor. After fifteen minutes of frustration, I clipped off both flies and tied on a size 10 Chernobyl ant. The fish actually chomped on this fly, but the first three or four were on my line only temporarily before they somehow escaped. Refusals and long distance releases upped my frustration level, but eventually a small brown gulped the Chernobyl ant, and I had my first fish of the day.

First Decent Fish on Wednesday

I discovered that my successful fish landing ratio improved if I paused for a couple seconds after I observed a fish slurp the foam ant. This took quite a bit of discipline, but restraint did improve my catch rate. The other key discovery was the water type that held brown trout willing to smash a surface fly. Basically the entire stream could be ignored except for very slow moving deep pockets right next to the bank. I landed eighteen brown trout over the course of the afternoon, and once I found the formula for success, I simply moved quickly and dapped or flicked the Chernobyl ant to tiny pockets or slack water along the bank. Many fish dashed from their hiding spots beneath rocks to snatch the foam fly within six inches of shore.

Fishing Next to the Interstate

The first Chernobyl ant rolled around the hook shank a bit, and I was concerned that this explained why a high percentage of hooked fish were able to shed the fly. After I reached six fish, I exchanged the first Chernobyl for a newer imitation that I tied during the past winter. This version was more solidly secured to the hook shank, and I feel that my landing ratio improved after this switch.

Perhaps Best Fish of the Day

At one point around 2:30 another dark cloud appeared to the east, and I heard the rumbling of thunder in the distance. The storm tracked southeast of my position, so I did not need to exit for safety, but a short period of light rain justified my decision to wear a raincoat.

Mmm. Radioactive Ant.

By 4PM I fished my way back to the Santa Fe, and I was quite weary from carefully climbing over large slippery rocks, so I called it quits. Twenty fish has a nice ring to it, but eighteen is not bad for a freestone stream on May 18. The Chernobyl ant worked its magic as long as I placed it in preferred fish holding neighborhoods.

Fish Landed: 18

Time: 12:00PM – 4:00PM

Location: Half a mile upstream from Tunnel 6.

Fish Landed: 8

Clear Creek 05/10/2016 Photo Album

Day two of my fly fishing blitz in advance of the inevitable snow melt in Colorado unfolded on Clear Creek on Tuesday May 10. The DWR web site indicated flows of 89 CFS at Lawson, and I knew from experience that this is a manageable level for fishing. The graph did not portray any significant fluctuations within the last four days, so that was another positive. My only concern was clarity, but I decided to make the drive and discover first hand what the stream conditions were. A 9:30AM appointment with the doctor dictated that I fish in a local waterway, and Clear Creek is the closest, and all the factors indicated that it was a relatively safe bet.

I departed from Stapleton at 11:15 and arrived at a pullout roughly .5 mile west of Tunnel 6. The water was fairly murky at the eastern end of the canyon near Golden, but the turbidity gradually diminished as I drove westward and passed several sites where construction equipment was disturbing the earth in the process of building a bike path along the creek. The path will be a future recreational asset once completed, but heavy equipment is playing havoc with stream clarity on the eastern end of the popular stream in the present.

The weather was similar to Monday with more clouds than sunshine. The temperature never surpassed the mid-fifties, so I wore my fleece and raincoat as a windbreaker. The likelihood of rain was real, so I also wore my brimmed hat with ear flaps in the event I needed to pull my hood up. A fair amount of stain was present in the section that I planned to fish, but the rocks and stream bottom were visible throughout the creek, and I rarely fish any portion of Clear Creek other than the edge.

Typical Water and Santa Fe Within View

Once I assembled my Orvis Access four weight rod, I marched along the shoulder of route six for .2 mile, and then I dropped down the bank at a location where some nicely spaced boulders provided a natural stairway. I was optimistic that a solitary Chernobyl ant would draw hungry Clear Creek trout to the surface, so I knotted one to my line and began prospecting the pockets and shelf pools along the right bank. Very little time transpired before I discovered that the Chernboyl created refusals. I was looking for commitment not curiosity, so after four or five juicy spots yielded only inspections of the huge ant, I elected to make a change. The emerald caddis pupa caught the attention of the trout on the Big Thompson on Monday, so perhaps the Clear Creek fish were aware of emerging caddis as well.

It was a great thought, but the addition of the dropper did not change my fortunes, so I paused and pondered my next action. Surely caddis were present during May, but I did not wish to default to the small size 16 deer hair caddis just yet. I looked through the dry fly section of my fly box and spotted the size 14 stimulators that I carefully tied during the winter. A peacock body stimulator was my choice, but I was unable to locate one, so instead I slid a gray version from the foam slit and tied it to my line. This fly possessed the same shape and triggering characteristics as a caddis, but it was larger and floated better than the deer hair varieties.

Fooled by a Stimulator

My choice proved to be excellent. I landed seven small trout over the remainder of the afternoon on the gray stimulator. This may sound like some hot fishing, but in reality it was quite difficult. I covered nearly a mile of stream and made hundreds of casts to deliver these fish to my net. The most vexing challenge was the wind which blasted down the canyon in typically unrelenting fashion. In many cases the air currents pushed my light dry fly back to my feet, but more frustrating were the situations where a cross wind thwarted my attempts to place the stimulator in the sweet spot of a small pocket. Whereas normally from a short distance I can drop a a dry fly precisely where I intend on the first cast, on Tuesday such placement necessitated four or five casts, as it was impossible to anticipate the impact of the cross wind on the resting spot of my fly.

Persistence was the name of the game, but it was not easy to endure refusals, wind, and obstinate fish. The large deep pools and eddies once again failed to deliver feeding fish, and the most productive areas were deep still pockets next to large rocks along the bank. In addition a few appeared in riffles over moderate depth, but the steep Clear Creek gradient did not present much of this type of stream structure.

Nicest Catch on the Day

Near the end of my day an errant backcast caused me to donate a gray stimulator to a young tree, so rather than replace it with another copy, I experimented with an olive brown muggly caddis. This fly does not feature hackle, but instead it is constructed with an underwing of snowshoe rabbit foot hair. This fly floated quite nicely, and a spunky brown trout found it desirable in some moderate riffles. Unfortunately number eight was my last fish of the day, and the muggly caddis lost its magic over the last half hour of fishing.

It was great to visit a stream within a forty-five minute drive from my home, and eight fish over four hours represented my average catch rate. I am certain that I could have achieved double digits with more favorable wind conditions, preferably no wind at all, but any day of stream fishing on May 10 capitalizes on borrowed time.

Time: 11:45AM – 2:00PM

Location: Mile marker 266.5 and then upstream

Fish Landed: 2

Clear Creek 11/09/2015 Photo Album

After two nice days at the beginning of last week, the weather in Colorado finally turned toward an expected seasonal cold snap from Wednesday through Saturday. We avoided snow at our house in Stapleton, but the mountains and many towns along the Front Range experienced their first significant snowfall of the season. I used the adverse weather to augment my fly supply by tying ultra zug bugs and hares ear nymphs.

On Sunday and Monday however a break in the approaching winter pattern encouraged me to make yet another fishing trip. I preferred a trip to South Boulder Creek or the Big Thompson, but these two streams were trickling from their dams upstream at 11 CFS. I’m not sure what the water managers are up to, but these levels are quite low. Clear Creek continued to register flows of 30 CFS, so I chose to make yet another trip to Clear Creek Canyon.

A high in the low sixties in Denver translates to air temperatures in the low fifties in the canyon, so I took my time getting ready to depart on Monday morning. By 10:30AM, however, I judged that the weather would be tolerable, so I departed Stapleton and made the short thirty minute drive to mile marker 266.5 in Clear Creek Canyon. I prepared to fish by assembling my Orvis Access four weight, and then I ate my lunch because I planned to scramble down the steep bank to fish and did not wish to climb back for lunch and then descend a second time.

Starting Point. Mostly Clear.

By 11:45 I finished my lunch and found a relatively gradual path from the rim of the highway to the floor of the canyon. I  was pleased to discover that the water was ninety percent clear, but still tinged with some slight sedimentation presumably from the trail construction a few miles upstream. The clarity was much improved compared to my visit on the previous Monday.

I began fishing with a Jake’s gulp beetle, but this choice failed to arouse any interest in the first ten minutes, so I made a change. I pledged to not dwell on an unproductive fly excessively since my window of prime fishing time was only 2.5 hours. I removed the beetle and knotted a parachute hopper to my line and then added an ultra zug bug on a two foot dropper. I moved upstream quickly prospecting likely pockets with no reaction from the trout to my twin offering until I reached an area where the most attractive water was along the north bank. I waded to the middle of the river to position myself to cast to a very juicy deep pool that bordered the far bank.

A Very Nice Clear Creek Brown Trout

The lower section of this bank pocket did not produce, but when I flicked the tandem into the short top pocket, the hopper darted sideways, and this provoked a solid hook set. I was pleased to see a fine brown trout thrashing on my line, as it tried to eject the ultra zug bug from its lip. When I netted my catch, I was pleased to note that it was eleven or twelve inches and one of the nicer brown trout that I ever extracted from Clear Creek.

I moved onward and worked my way up the right bank, as I now suspected that it received less pressure and might be more productive in the challenging late season conditions. I cast to three or four promising deep runs with no success before I approached a spot that contained some very slow moving water. This section failed to yield any fish, but right above it a deep run angled at a ninety degree angle from the stream toward the north bank. I placed a few casts in the slow water along the side of the current, and then dropped a cast at the top of the small run. As I lifted to recast after a short drift, I felt weight and set the hook and landed a second brown trout that was slightly smaller than my first catch.

A Second Brown

I now theorized that the best spots were the very slow moving pools and pockets. My feet were starting to feel like stumps due to the very cold water, so I conjectured that the snow from the previous week melted and caused the water temperature to drop. The cold water caused a reduction in the metabolism of the fish, and in order to save energy they migrated to the parts of the creek that contained less current to battle.

This was a great theory, but I was never able to confirm it, as I continued working my way upstream, but I never landed another fish before I decided to convert to a streamer at 1:30. In reality I never encountered any water that was slow moving and along the bank, so perhaps my thought process was accurate, and I never found the proper conditions to confirm.

A Short Section in Sunshine

At any rate I was feeling quite chilled and bored with the lack of hook ups, so I decided to devote the final thirty minutes to stripping a streamer. I switched to my sink tip line and tied a conehead cream colored sculpzilla-style streamer to my line and began working the deep pools and pockets. The bait imitation looked great as it zigged and zagged through the deep areas, but I never attracted even a follow to my fake sculpin. At two o’clock I called it quits and scrambled up the steep bank to the road.

Close Up

It was a tough 2.5 hours of fishing, and I felt quite fortunate to land two decent fish. I am hopeful that the early snow melt will pass, and that some additional warm days will allow me to increase the fish counter before the end of 2015. I am also considering exploring tailwaters, since they will not be affected directly by early season runoff.

Time: 12:00PM – 3:00PM

Location: Just upstream from Tunnel 6.

Fish Landed: 10

Clear Creek 11/02/2015 Photo Album

The calendar flipped to November, and the time changed to standard time, but the weather remained more like September than the middle of autumn. Jane and I visited Santa Fe for Halloween weekend and had a great time doing things that did not involve fishing, but now that we were back in Denver, I had to take advantage of the unseasonably warm temperatures.

I had a haircut appointment for Monday morning, so this forced me to get a later start than I would have preferred. During daylight savings time I reasoned that the prime fishing time period was between noon and 3PM. Now that we rolled the clock back an hour, 11AM until 2PM became the interval of the day that I ideally hoped to fish, but the best I could do on Monday was to begin by noon.

As predicted, the air temperature peaked in Denver at 75 degrees, and this translated to the low sixties in Clear Creek Canyon. I chose to fish in Clear Creek for the third consecutive time because of its proximity and because my preferred alternative, South Boulder Creek, continued to flow at a ridiculously low 10 cfs. Because productive fishing time is limited to only three to four hours, I wanted to avoid a long drive during the late season time period.

I hoped to continue fishing upstream from mile marker 263 where I ended my time on Thursday of the previous week, but as I approached the turnout, I came to a stop in a line of traffic. Apparently route six was confined to one lane of traffic due to road work. I was right next to the parking spot just beyond mile marker 263, so I made a quick U-turn and prepared to fish. I pulled on my waders, but before I strung my rod, I gazed down over the bank to check out the water. Much to my chagrin it was the color of split pea soup, and there was minimal visibility along the edge. I was about to fish anyway, but then I thought better of it, and threw my gear back in the car with the intention of moving.

My first inclination was to check on South Boulder Creek. It had been a week since I last looked, but when I fired up my iPhone and went to the DWR site, I was disappointed to learn that the tailwater continued to run at 10 cfs. This is quite low, so I turned my thoughts to other options. On one previous visit to Clear Creek I was able to fish in moderately clear water farther downstream despite high turbidity in the area where I was now located. I was about to attempt this strategy again, but then I considered driving upstream to a point hopefully above the construction.

Clear Creek Canyon

This then was what I did, and I discovered that path construction continued quite a ways, but eventually I passed through Tunnel 6 and glanced down to some beautiful crystal clear water on the north side of the highway. I pulled off on the wide shoulder at the first safe opportunity, and it was not long before I walked down the worn path to a point just downstream of the tunnel entrance. This was actually a very pleasant setting, as the tunnel blocked the sound of the steady stream of traffic, and I felt much more remote than my other haunts on Clear Creek.

Impressive Pool

I tied on a gray pool toy and an ultra zug bug dropper and began to prospect the tantalizing pools and pockets in front of me. Numerous deep plunge pools populated the stretch that I fished on Monday, but the offset was the increased pressure. I was fairly confident that this area was more popular than the mile marker 263 area, as the well worn path and large number of boot prints were obvious clues.

Tasty Ultra Zug Bug Fooled This Guy

I fished with the dry dropper combination from noon until 3PM and landed ten small trout. I was surprised to net six rainbows and four browns, as Clear Creek historically yielded nearly all brown trout. Perhaps it was the segment of the stream farther upstream that explained more rainbow trout, or maybe the DOW stocked small rainbows to build up the fishery, but the rainbows were all barely over my six inch minimum limit that I require for increasing the fish counter. Most of the landed fish gobbled the trailing ultra zug bug, although I had quite a few refusals to the pool toy, and three or four incidents where a fish nipped the hopper imitation. I am not sure if the hopper was too large for their small mouths, or if the fish were giving me an aggressive refusal. I did manage to land two or three fish that threw caution to the wind and hammered the hopper.

Lots of Small Rainbows Like This Today

Nice Brown Slurped Pool Toy

Just before my last hour of fishing, I lobbed the pool toy to a nice deep pocket in the middle of the creek, and as the hopper drifted slowly toward the tail, a nice eleven inch brown trout shot to the surface and smashed the imitation. This was the best fish of the day and also the most visual take, and I was grateful for this late season surface action.

By 3PM the shadows extended across the entire stream, and a chill settled in the canyon. The evaporation effect of my wet sun gloves caused my fingers to curl and ache, so I decided to call it a day. I am not a huge fan of cold weather fishing, so ten trout landed on November 2 is a major bonus. Tuesday November 3 is expected to be another warm day, so I may make another appearance on a Colorado stream, but the rest of the week is forecast to be highs in the fifties. The fly tying bench seems to be a pleasant alternative for the remainder of the first week of November.

Time: 11:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Clear Creek Canyon between mile markers 263.5 and 263.0.

Fish Landed: 21

Clear Creek 10/29/2015 Photo Album

Back to back days on Clear Creek? Why? The weather forecast for Thursday was a mirror image of Wednesday, so I concluded that I could experience a replica fishing day. I felt a bit unfulfilled on Wednesday mainly because I fished over the same unproductive water twice and thus wasted a chunk of my time. I theorized that I could have landed more fish, and with a similar temperature day on Thursday, I had an opportunity to test my assumption.

I enjoyed my normal morning exercise routine, as I now realized that the best fishing was from noon until 3PM, so there was no need to rush to the cold shadow-covered stream in the narrow canyon. I arrived at a pullout near mile marker 263.5 by eleven o’clock, and by the time I assembled my Loomis five weight and climbed into my waders, it was 11:30. Even though I arrived later than Wednesday, the temperature remained colder and registered 48 degrees on my dashboard just before I turned off the engine. This prompted me to dress with an Adidas pullover and fleece layer on top, and I wore my New Zealand hat with ear flaps.

On the Scoreboard

I found a rock strewn route down the steep bank near the exact location where I stopped fishing on Wednesday, and I started my day with flies similar to how I ended the previous day. My top fly was a pink pool toy, and the dropper was the ever popular ultra zug bug. I chose the pink pool toy since I desired a very buoyant and visible top fly, and foam and pink satisfied these requirements. I began prospecting my way upstream just as I had on my previous trip, and I landed three small brown trout by 12:15. This was a reasonable catch rate, however, I was not enjoying the experience to the same degree as one would expect because my hands were curled and burning. They needed to get wet in order to release my catches, and the brisk wind and cold temperatures combined with evaporation to create a numbing ache.

Without the Sounds of Vehicles, It Looks Like a Remote Setting

I decided to take a break and eat my lunch while the sun had an opportunity to warm the air a bit. In the past I discovered that my body chills when I am hungry, so hopefully devouring lunch would help to overcome the cold extremities. The lunch break strategy seemed to work, as I did not suffer aching hands during the remainder of my day on Clear Creek. I climbed back down the steep bank and resumed my upstream progression. I continued to land fish, but I also sensed that I was passing through productive water with no looks, so I paused and added a third fly to my line. Of course I chose my workhorse salvation nymph. This proved to be a great move, and during the remainder of my time I landed an additional eighteen fish to bring my October 29 tally to twenty-one. I estimate that half the fish ate the ultra zug bug, and the others chomped the salvation nymph. It seemed that the ultra zug bug performed on the dead drift while the salvation excelled in situations where I lifted the flies or allowed them to swing.

A Rare Clear Creek Rainbow Trout

The fish were mostly small, but a twelve inch aberration surprised me, and a few slender but feisty eleven inch browns joined the mix. Three or four were small rainbow trout, and I cannot remember the last time I caught a rainbow in Clear Creek. My fishing consisted of my preferred approach with mainly short rapid fire casts to attractive deep pockets and runs. I moved quickly and limited my drifts to three to five depending on my assessment of the quality of the location.

Decent Fish

Between one and three it seemed that the fish peaked in aggressiveness. During this time I discovered that I could cast to shelf pools and slow moving areas on the opposite side of the stream with great success. I held my rod high to keep the fly line off the water and allowed the dry/dropper to slowly creep through the slow pool next to a fast deep run. Quite often the drift of the subsurface nymphs was interrupted by a flash and erratic movement of the hopper, and this prompted a swift hook set from yours truly. This tactic was particularly welcome during a period when the sun was shining directly downstream, and this caused a glare on the water along the right bank directly above me.

Head Shot with Fly

By 3:30 I landed my nineteenth fish, and I now decided to target twenty fish for the day. I cast to a small moderate depth pocket, and as the hopper drifted to the tail, a fish appeared and put its nose against the foam fake. I overreacted and set the hook causing my flies to rocket over my left shoulder. I knew this could not be a positive event, and it was not. I turned around and discovered the hopper and two nymphs wrapped around a branch on a tree on the bank. There was a slender rock in the water beneath the tree, so I balanced myself on it, and pulled the branch down to inspect. Unfortunately this act caused the dropper flies to break free from the pool toy. I systematically stared at all the branches above in an attempt to spot the ultra zug bug and salvation, but my treasure hunt failed.

I shrugged my shoulders and muttered to myself that it was time to quit, and I hooked the pool toy to my rod guide and reeled up the slack line. The tippet section that was knotted to the bend of the grasshopper remained, so apparently the flies broke at the knot that attached the ultra zug bug. As I walked toward the bank, I decided to take one more look at the branch from a different angle, and much to my amazement I spotted the small ultra zug bug dangling an inch below one of the branches. I made a mental note of the location, and climbed the slender perch a second time and managed to break the twig and unraveled my two treasured flies.

Pretty Ending Point

With this good fortune behind me, I knotted the ultra zug bug back in its previous position, and I returned to the small pocket that instigated the whole episode in the first place. I tossed a cast to the top of the pocket, and as I lifted the flies to cast again at the tail, I felt the weight of resistance. I stripped the line and held tight and landed an eight inch brown. It was likely the culprit that refused the pool toy fifteen minutes ago and caused the fly retrieval adventure. I closed the loop, gained vengeance on my tiny tormentor, and registered fish number twenty.

I continued a bit longer with my lost and found flies and managed one more small trout. It was now close to four o’clock and the velocity of the wind increased while the shadows lengthened across the water. My hands reminded me that the temperature was dropping as darkness lurked around the corner, so I once again hooked my flies to the guide and climbed the steep bank to the shoulder of the highway. I discovered that I was at mile marker 263.0, and I fished roughly .5 mile from my starting point over a four hour period.

Once again the fish were relatively small, but the afternoon was totally entertaining as the trout attacked my flies, and my mind rarely wandered to other topics. I now know that the prime fishing period is noon until three o’clock, although this will shift to 11-2 after we turn the clocks back on Sunday morning. The 2015 fishing season continues, and I suspect I have a few more adventures in front of me.

Time: 10:30AM – 2:30PM

Location: Downstream from mile marker 263.5.

Fish Landed: 11

Clear Creek 10/28/2015 Photo Album

High temperatures in Denver were forecast to be in the mid-60’s for the last week of October, and Wednesday was expected to be the best day with less wind and no precipitation, so I decided to designate October 28 as my fishing day. My last two visits to Clear Creek produced double digit fish counts, so why not give it another try since it only required a 45 minute drive to the canyon area.

Jane decided to accompany me, and we targeted the parking lot at Mayhem Gulch so that Jane could hike the trail, while I fished in the creek that was across the highway. Unfortunately we discovered that excavation work was in progress on a bike trail along Clear Creek in this area, and we were uncertain whether fishing was allowed. Rather than risking encroachment on a temporarily closed construction zone, we jumped back in the car and drove east to a pullout just beyond mile marker 263.5. I agreed to return to the drop off spot by 12:30, so Jane could use the car to revisit Mayhem Gulch and complete a hike, while I tested the waters of Clear Creek two miles downstream.

Nice Deep Runs Like This Produced

I began my fishing outing by walking east on the shoulder a bit until I found a place where the slope of the bank was manageable for a safe descent to the stream. Clear Creek was flowing at 40 cfs, and the water was tinged with some sedimentation perhaps from the excavation work taking place upstream. The clarity however was adequate for my purposes, and in fact the murkiness probably helped shield me from the resident trout. The air temperature at 10:30 was in the low fifties and the sky was overcast with some high clouds.

I tied one of my new red bottom Jake’s gulp beetles to my line, and embarked on a late season fishing adventure. I plopped the beetle in a host of likely spots for fifteen minutes and only managed to land a tiny brown trout that was four inches long. I concluded that red was not a popular color with the local trout, so I swapped the size 10 beetle for a size twelve version with a peacock dubbed body. Another fifteen minutes through promising trout water failed to deliver any results, so I paused and reevaluated my approach. The water was quite cold and the cloudy sky allowed minimal solar warming, so I decided to offer some subsurface candy to the Clear Creek fish.

I tied a hares ear parachute hopper to my line and then added a beadhead ultra zug bug on a 2.5 foot dropper and resumed prospecting the pockets and runs on the right side of the creek. A short amount of time passed before I landed an eight inch brown that snatched the ultra zug bug on the lift. I heaved a sigh of relief knowing that I was on the scoreboard and a skunking was no longer a possibility. Although I was pleased by this advancement in my fortunes, it seemed I continued to cover a lot of attractive spots with no action, and I considered ending my fishing day at 12:30.

Parachute Hopper to the Liking of This Fish

Another ten minutes transpired, and then I approached a nice deep pool where the main current angled against the bank and then curved back toward the center of the creek where I was standing. I made five or six nice drifts along the current seam with no evidence of fish, and then before I moved on, I lobbed a short cast to some still water next to a large midstream boulder. Suddenly a flash appeared from a location deep in the pool right next to the boulder, and I quickly set the hook and stripped in a nine inch brown trout that crushed the hopper. My outlook was improving.

Hopper Snacker

Pretty View

Onward I moved, but I should add here that movement was not effortless. The stream bed was populated with numerous smooth boulders and the upstream construction deposited a thin film of brown sediment everywhere. Each step was a cautious experiment in traction. Despite this adversity, I began to connect with small brown trout with greater frequency. By the time my digital watch displayed 12:25, I registered seven fish landed in 1.5 hours, and I was brimming with confidence that the hopper and ultra zug bug combination could deliver more fish in the afternoon. The last five fish chomped the zug bug, and all were browns except for one six inch rainbow.

Nice Spots

I scrambled up the steep embankment and found Jane parked just east of the 263.5 mile marker sign. We executed a U-turn and drove west to the Mayhem Gulch parking lot, where I enjoyed a brief lunch with my lovely wife. We sat next to our car in the parking lot using our camp chair and stool, but the wind kicked up, and the sun was reluctant to appear. A bit of warmth would have added comfort to our lunch setting.

After lunch I added a second top layer and my New Zealand hat with ear flaps, as I felt a slight chill during the morning, and I determined that a windbreaker was required. Jane drove me back to my exit point, or so I thought, and we agreed to rendezvous again at 2:30. This provided me with another 1.5 hours of fishing, and I hoped to double my fish count. Once again I found a reasonably safe place to scramble down the steep slope, and I resumed prospecting with the hopper/dropper technique. Unfortunately 45 minutes elapsed, and I was still affixed to a fish count of seven.

I was baffled by this turn of events, when I reached a nice pool, and as I evaluated my approach, I realized that it was the same place where I landed the second brown trout on the parachute hopper in the morning. Somehow I chose the wrong landmark as my reentry point, and I wasted 45 minutes covering the same barren water that shut me out during the morning. I shrugged and stepped out of the  water and climbed over rocks until I eventually reached my true exit point for lunch.

In the remaining 45 minutes before my committed quit time I landed four more browns, and all consumed the ultra zug bug. The catch rate was slower that my noon time hot streak, but the size of the fish was improved despite less attractive water. The top producers were the riffles at the top of pools and the slow water next to these current seams. Toward the end of my fishing time I began to skip the tail sections and marched directly to the head of the pool with improved results.

Some Color Remains

At 2:30 I hooked the ultra zug bug to the first rod guide and carefully picked a path up the steep bank to the road and then returned to the drop off point where I found Jane. She arrived fifteen minutes early in case I decided to avoid the cold and cutting wind that began to rush down the canyon. The intermittent blasts did in fact become a significant factor in the last thirty minutes, but I persevered until the agreed upon meeting time.

Double digit fish on a cool autumn day in late October was certainly a positive experience, and I now know that the ultra zug bug can fool fish, and that the dry/dropper method is productive late in the season. I suspect that the final chapter of my fishing during 2015 is not yet complete.

Time: 12:00PM – 3:30PM

Location: .5 mile before the second tunnel when traveling west through Clear Creek Canyon from Golden.

Fish Landed: 14

Clear Creek 10/12/2015 Photo Album

Although I had a great time fishing with my companion Danny on Sunday October 11, I was aching for more action than what I experienced on the Blue River. I relished my day on Clear Creek on Friday, so I decided to spend another day there on Monday. The tug is the drug, and I was in need of more drugs.

A front moved through Denver on Sunday night, and this caused a fifteen degree drop in the air temperature throughout the day. I was not anxious to begin fishing in the tight heavily shaded canyon early in the day, so I performed my normal exercise routine and finished a four mile run before I departed. I arrived at a pullout .5 mile before the second tunnel at 11:30 and elected to eat my lunch rather than lug it down the steep bank to the river.

It was a bit chilly in the shadows where the car was parked, so I decided to wear my fleece over my fishing shirt for added warmth. I expected to toss terrestrials most of the day, and my slow action Loomis five weight handles this task quite well, so that was the rod that I rigged. Once I was ready, I hiked back down the shoulder of route six until I was at the spot where I quit on Friday. I very carefully scrambled down the steep boulder field and began fishing back upstream on Clear Creek. The stream at this point was bathed in sunshine, and I quickly determined that the extra layer of fleece was excessive, but I did not wish to spend time wrapping it around my waist, so I remained toasty for the first couple hours.

The Tail of a Nice Pool in the Foreground

On Sunday night I refurbished three Jake’s gulp beetles that lost their legs in the heat of action on Friday, and then I tied two new ones from scratch. These beetle versions were produced with peacock dubbed bodies, and I tied one on to the end of my 5X tippet and began to prospect the creek. I covered several decent holes in the first fifteen minutes without any success, but then a small brown zoomed to the surface next to a large rock and sucked in the beetle. This broke the ice, and I moved upstream at a steady pace and picked off eight more creek dwellers that craved Jake’s gulp beetle. It was fast paced action, and I loved every minute of it. If I remained stealthy and plopped the beetle in places where the current was slow enough to allow the trout to expend minimal energy, I generally received a favorable response.

A Nice Early Catch on Jake’s Gulp Beelte

By 1:30 I reached a point where shadows extended across the entire stream due to the extremely tight canyon walls. I attempted to continue my upstream movement and managed to catch a fish or two when I instinctively set the hook despite not seeing my fly. I knew however that the dim light would lead to frustration, so I climbed up the steep bank and walked back to the car. I decided to drive west and stop at the next section of the creek that was bathed in sunlight. This plan led me through two tunnels that were spaced fairly close together, and approximately a mile above the second tunnel I encountered a section of the stream on the left side of the highway that was mostly in sunshine.

A Solid Clear Creek Catch

The bank here was short and less steep, so I scrambled over the boulders and began to cast the gulp beetle along the edge and next to large rocks. The creek in this area was quite turbid, and the water displayed a light brown-olive shade. There was very little visibility, and I was quite disappointed with this turn of events. I carried on for ten minutes by prospecting the very edge of the creek, but it became apparent that the fish were unable to see my fly in the murky flow. I ended in a very nice slow moving deep pool, and when this failed to yield any signs of a fish, I decided to cut my losses and move back downstream. I theorized that some sort of excavation or road construction was causing the silt in the water since there was no sign of rain or precipitation in the western sky. I was now concerned that the muddy water was slowly moving down the creek, and that I would encounter it again in my next fishing spot to the east.

The Gulp Beetle Tastes So Good

I returned to the Santa Fe and turned around and drove east to a nice shaded pullout on the south side of the highway a short distance above the first bridge west of Golden. Once again I scrambled down a rocky bank, and much to my amazement I discovered that the water remained just as clear as it was when I fished closer to the second tunnel after lunch. I remain baffled over how the creek cleared significantly in the two miles between the third tunnel and the first bridge.

Nice Fall Color Arriving

I accepted my good fortune and began to work my way up the stream by plopping the beetle in all the likely locations. I am sure that the stretch of water I was now covering received much more pressure than that fished in the early afternoon, but the stream was bathed in sunshine, and I was able to follow the small orange indicator foam on my beetle.

I fished from 2:00 until 3:30 in this manner and upped my fish count to fourteen. The beetle continued to produce, but the takes were accompanied by many more refusals. I estimate that there was one refusal for every two fish that slurped the fake beetle. Also in the mid-afternoon time period the wind became a significant negative factor. I was having great difficulty punching casts into the headwind, and it became almost impossible to plop the beetle with slack to counteract the drag that was created by the wind.

Despite the negatives related to lighting and wind, I enjoyed another pleasant trip to Clear Creek. Fourteen fish in 3.5 hours represents a decent catch rate, and it is difficult to complain when only a 45 minute drive was required. Jake’s gulp beetle continues to be my hot fly in the fall of 2015.