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.

Time: 11:00AM – 3:00PM

Location: Below first bridge traveling west on route 6 and then in upper section of canyon before the second tunnel when traveling west from Golden.

Fish Landed: 21

Clear Creek 10/09/2015 Photo Album

Perform an internet search on what is trending in the United States, and one discovers Nobel peace prize, guns in America, and plopping beetles. Well, actually I added the last one, since it represents what is trending in my fly fishing life. I actually have to give credit to one of my readers, Matt, who commented that he downsized his Chernboyl ants and experienced improved success on Clear Creek.

After a tremendous day on the South Platte River on Thursday, I was anxious to visit a local stream on Friday. The weather forecast was very favorable for October 9, and I wanted to take advantage of every remaining opportunity before winter placed its icy grip on Colorado. South Boulder Creek continued to rush out of Gross Reservoir at 173 CFS, and my last visit to the Big Thompson was quite challenging. By process of elimination, I chose Clear Creek as my destination. Since Clear Creek Canyon was only a forty-five minute drive from my house, I took my time on Friday morning and departed at 10:00 and arrived at the paved pullout just beyond the first bridge when traveling west from Golden.

My last couple visits to Clear Creek have been disappointing. I generally expect to catch a lot of small fish on big attractor dry flies, but instead I experienced a large number of refusals, and I needed to cover a lot of stream miles to net a few fish. Part way through my last outing, I tried a Jake’s gulp beetle, and this yielded more success, although refusals were not totally absent. As I prepared to fish on Friday, I considered experimenting with the thingamabobber/level line nymph technique that salvaged my trip to the Arkansas River on October 2. Unfortunately this entails a fairly radical change to my normal fishing system, and I was not quite ready to make such a large commitment at the start of my day.

I chose to stop at the first bridge, as I knew from past experience that there was a nice trail on the south side of the creek. I intended to hike down this trail for 50 yards and then fish back to the bridge before breaking for lunch. My plan was to try dry/dropper and beetle plopping, and if these tactics did not prove to be promising, I would reconfigure my line with the thingamabobber/level line set up over lunch. Since I experienced exceptional success with a Charlie boy hopper, beadhead hares ear, and salvation nymph on the South Platte River on Thursday, I opted for the same trio of flies on Friday as I began fishing. The creek in this area is narrow and thus cascades rapidly over large rocks that create plunge pools and deep shelf pools.

Amazingly my first cast produced a six inch brown trout that gobbled the salvation nymph. Perhaps my Thursday hot streak on the South Platte was about to continue on Clear Creek. Unfortunately that was not the case, and I moved through some attractive pools and observed several refusals to the Charlie boy hopper. The pre-lunch period was not all bad news, however, as I landed a couple more small browns on the salvation nymph, but the catch rate was below my expectations, and I was troubled by the number of refusals. In addition I hoped to test the effectiveness of beetle plopping in case the nymphing tactic was in order, so I clipped off the dry/dropper flies and tied on a Jake’s gulp beetle with a peacock dubbed body.

Jake’s Gulp Beetle Did the Trick

Nice by Clear Creek Standards

The beetle generated enough interest between noon and 12:30 to convince me that it earned more time on my line after lunch. I landed two more browns to bring my count to five before I climbed the steep rocky bank and returned to the car for lunch. Before eating lunch, however, I drove west and parked in a pullout just beyond a tall solar powered street light. I found a flat rock ten feet below the rim of the highway and munched my sandwich while peering down at the creek that flowed fifty feet below.

The View from My Lunch Perch

The afternoon proved to be a coming out party for the beetle. I clambered down the steep rocky slope below the highway and began to plop my Jake’s gulp beetle in all the likely spots, and more often than not a feisty brown trout responded. Although I did not use a downsized Chernobyl ant, I did deploy a smaller terrestrial, so Matt’s advice paid huge dividends. Some refusals continued to be interspersed with takes, but I estimate that the ratio of success over frustration was five to one. Included in my afternoon fish count of sixteen were a couple twelve inch browns, and this is a lunker by Clear Creek standards.

One of the Larger Fish from Clear Creek

My greatest concern was my supply of gulp beetles. I tucked the original size 10 that Jake Chutz gave me in my fly box, as I hoped to keep it in reserve to use as a model for constructing my own copies. I tied three after the original gift fly excelled on the Big Thompson, and I manufactured three more before our visit to the South Platte River. The peacock dubbed body versions seemed to outperform the ones with claret bodies, and I was losing appendages on the peacock beetles at an alarming rate. By the end of my outing on Clear Creek, I set aside two peacock beetles with no legs for refurbishment, and I managed to finish out the day with my last size 12 model still intact.

Zoomed in on the Beetle

Friday on Clear Creek finally met my expectations. I landed twenty-one small brown trout, and they were eager consumers of the Jake’s gulp beetle. Many fish darted to the surface and slurped the beetle from positions tight to the rocky bank, but I also enjoyed success in the deep plunge pools behind midstream boulders. Toward the end of my time I even landed two or three trout by casting to a slow shelf pool on the opposite bank. I held my rod very high to keep the fly line off the water and avoid drag, and this allowed a natural drift, and the hungry trout responded.

Hopefully I will have a few additional opportunities to test beetle magic before the temperatures plunge. Thank you, Matt, for causing me to reevaluate my fishing methods.

Fish Landed: 21

Time: 1:30PM – 4:00PM

Location: Clear Creek Canyon between first and second tunnel where creek crosses to north side of route six.

Fish Landed: 8

Clear Creek 09/29/2015 Photo Album

Jane and I returned from our trip to Pennsylvania late Sunday night. I was exhausted from the travel and from sleeping in different places, so I relaxed on Monday and worked on a backlog of desk jobs. However, by Tuesday I was anxious to resume fly fishing in Colorado to take advantage of the dwindling nice autumn weather. I had two appointments scheduled for the morning, so I ate lunch at home and then threw my gear in the car and departed for Clear Creek. After a fifty minute drive that was extended by an accident on interstate 70, I turned into a wide pullout between tunnels one and two and prepared to fish.

Clear Creek was flowing at 50 CFS, and that represents a nearly ideal level for the small drainage that flows along route six. I chose my Orvis Access four weight rod and found a path down the steep bank to the edge of the river slightly upstream from where the Santa Fe was parked. Given the low flows and relatively clear water, I chose to fish a single dry fly and began with a Chernobyl ant. It did not take long before a feisty ten inch brown rose and smashed the Chernobyl, and I was pleased to enjoy an early success. Perhaps the Chernobyl would be attractive to the Clear Creek trout on Tuesday September 29.

First Nice Trout from Clear Creek

I continued to prospect with the large foam terrestrial, and a second brown trout charged the buoyant rubber leg ant and inhaled it as I set the hook. These two fish bracketed a long distance release, and I was beginning to think that I was in for some fast action. Alas, that was not the case, and suddenly the residents of Clear Creek began to refuse my offering. As this early afternoon scene was evolving, I realized that the fish were mostly tight to the rocky bank, and they seemed to emerge from medium depth holding positions. Cover, moderate depth, and slow velocity became the key characteristics for locations that yielded trout.

I was frustrated by the sudden streak of Chernobyl rejections, so I clipped it from my leader and replaced it with a hares ear parachute hopper. This attracted attention, and I managed to land one small brown trout, but it also generated far more refusals than takes, so I opted for yet another change. I stayed with the terrestrial theme and tied my sole Jake’s gulp beetle to my line. Except for the last half hour, this foam beetle with a small orange indicator remained attached to my leader and yielded four additional trout. Like the other catches, the beetle attackers appeared from protected locations along the rocks. The beetle takes were more subtle than what I experienced with the Chernobyl ant, as all I saw was a small dimple in the surface resulting in the disappearance of the small orange indicator.

Jake’s Gulp Beetle to This Fish’s Liking

In addition to the four landed fish, I accumulated a series of momentary hook ups. I am not clear if this was due to the quick subtle take, or if the fish were tentative in their bite, but I could have easily landed double digit fish had I converted a higher percentage of takes. I covered a considerable amount of stream in the process of landing the four beetle admirers, and it seemed like many very attractive spots failed to yield fish, so I once again made a change. I was curious if perhaps a nymph dropper might increase my hook ups, so I returned to the Chernobyl ant and added a beadhead hares ear dropper.

A Pretty Scene Close to Denver

The conversion produced one more small brown trout that hammered the Chernobyl, but the subsurface offering was ignored. By 4:30 the shadows lengthened across the stream as the canyon walls tightened, and this made it difficult to follow the low riding foam ant, so I called it quits and scrambled up the steep rocky bank. I found myself half a mile above my parking place, and this necessitated a brisk hike back to the car.

Eight fish in 2.5 hours is a reasonable catch rate, but for some reason I continue to expect easier fishing in Clear Creek. The fish are small, and the creek is not rich in aquatic insects, so I anticipate opportunistic feeding. Unfortunately my last three or four trips suggest that the fish of Clear Creek Canyon are nearly as selective as educated spring creek sippers. It is hard to ignore fishing that only requires a forty-five minute drive, so I expect I will continue to make the trip with abnormal expectations.

Time: 11:00AM – 3:00PM

Location: From bottom of Floyd Hill on the west side upstream a half mile.

Fish Landed: 11

Clear Creek 08/31/2015 Photo Album

After a weekend with no fishing I was once again anxious to cast some flies on Monday, the last day of August. Since the flows on Clear Creek were finally favorable after one of the longest run offs I can remember, I decided to give it a try. I also read a favorable report on the Front Range Anglers web site.

Since the drive is merely forty-five minutes, I did my normal morning workout and run before departing at 9:50, and I arrived at my chosen starting point by 10:30. I parked at the end of the Clear Creek bike path at the bottom of the west side of Floyd Hill. By the time I rigged my line and put on my waders and entered the water it was 11AM. The fisherman who filed the report on Front Range Anglers said he was receiving refusals on the larger attractor flies on his dry/dropper rig, and he suggested downsizing to compensate. I used this information to downsize from the beginning and tied on a size 16 elk hair caddis with a medium shade of olive body. The caddis did not have any hackle, but there did seem to be some snowshoe rabbit foot fur tied in as an underwing below the elk hair.

I did not generate any interest in the first two deep pockets, but as I moved away from the parking lot, the small caddis imitation began to produce. I landed five small brown trout in the first hour on the simple pattern. The tan elk hair wing was very visible, as it contrasted nicely with the clear water, and the body rode deep in the surface film, which apparently was what the trout were looking for. I even caught two fish by casting to the opposite bank and using a reach cast as learned from Jake Chutz of Montana Fly Company. This was a significant achievement given the very fast center current on trough-like Clear Creek.

Best Brown Trout from Clear Creek on Monday

After landing number five I foolishly snapped off the elk hair caddis and substituted a size 14 deer hair caddis with a gray body. This pattern generated a few refusals, but then yielded a sixth brown trout just before noon. Unfortunately I also broke off this fly on a tree, as I was reckless with my backcast, and this seemed like a good time to return to the car to eat lunch.

I70 Highway Sign Mars Natural Beauty of Clear Creek

After lunch I checked my boat box and found one additional medium olive elk hair caddis, so I added it to the fly box that I now carry in my wader bib. When I returned to my pre-lunch exit point, I crossed the river to work the bank between interstate 70 and the stream. I always gravitate to water that is more difficult for the average fisherman to access, and the north side of Clear Creek in this area meets that definition. I immediately tied on the same elk hair caddis that was on fire between 11AM and noon, but alas it lost its magical qualities. I covered a fair amount of water propecting with the elk hair with no action, and then I once again broke it off on a brittle dead weed behind me, when I attempted to execute a reach cast and a downstream drift to some slow water along the far bank. Again I became careless when I redirected my casts across rather than upstream and did not check what was behind me.

Since I needed to tie on a new fly, I decided to experiment with the dry/dropper approach that produced so well for me on the South Platte River on Friday. One never knows what the fish are looking for if one does not try different flies and varied approaches. On to my line went a Chernobyl ant, beadhead ultra zug bug, and salvation nymph; but these flies were only moderately successful. I spent an hour prospecting with the dry/dropper combination and managed to land only two small brown trout; one on the ultra zug bug and one on the salvation nymph. I also generated a couple momentary hook ups, but I covered the greatest amount of water with these flies and had minimal return.

Flowers Border Clear Creek

As the sky clouded up I decided to revert to dry flies in case the low light caused trout in Clear Creek to look for caddis. I tied on a size 14 stimulator with a body color close to the elk hair caddis, and then I added a twelve inch dropper and tied on a size 16 deer hair caddis with a light gray body. I rarely fish a double dry combination, but I tried it in the dim light so I could follow the large lead stimulator yet still track the more difficult to follow caddis.

This move proved to be moderately effective, as I landed three additional brown trout before quitting at 3PM. During this time I reached water that appeared more attractive as the creek channel narrowed, and this created more deep pockets along the bank. I suspect that I could have lured more trout to the surface, but my efforts were suddenly interrupted by a streak of lighting and then the loud clap of thunder only seconds afterward. The quick succession of light and sound told me that the lightning strike was nearby, so I hustled up the steep bank and walked back along the shoulder of interstate 70 while the wind picked up and the sky darkened. In order to reach the car I was forced to scramble down the steep rocky bank next to the highway and then cross the creek to the bike path on the other side. As I emerged on the bike path some more lightning brightened the sky and then sheets of rain began to pour from the clouds. I was prepared with my raincoat on, but the threat of another lightning strike kept me on edge until I reached the car.

Since the rain continued to pour from the sky in heavy quantities, I threw my rod, front pack, and backpack in the car and jumped in the driver’s seat clad in wet waders. I drove east on route six a bit to wait out the storm and hopefully sample different water, but when I turned right into the pullout below the gravel quarry, I could see that the creek was beginning to show color. It was a bit after 3PM, so I decided to call it a day and drove home in my waders.

I am grateful for landing eleven fish within an hours drive of my house, but Monday August 31 was also a frustrating outing. The fish were small and ridiculously easy to catch for the first hour, and then they became quite difficult in the afternoon. It just seems that small fish on a lightly pressured stream with flows finally at ideal levels should be more cooperative. But if fly fishing were too easy, I probably would not love it as much as I do.

Time: 2:00PM – 5:30PM

Location: Mile Marker 266.5 in Clear Creek Canyon

Fish Landed: 8

Clear Creek 04/28/2015 Photo Album

I was concerned that the steady rain of all day Sunday continuing into Monday morning raised the streams to levels that were not conducive for fishing. Another possibility was snow accumulations in the higher elevations that was now creating early run off, but when I checked the flows on the department of water resources web site, most of the local streams seemed to be at manageable levels.

Tuesday morning remained cool, but the forecast called for gradual clearing during the afternoon with the temperature rising to the low 60’s. I was very anxious to maximize my fishing time before snow melt became a significant factor, so I decided to make the short drive to Clear Creek Canyon in the afternoon. Jane and I biked to Coors Field to exchange our rain check from Sunday’s postponed baseball game for a future Rockie’s game and then stopped at Snarf’s for a delicious sandwich, so I was able to depart by 12:45, and I found myself on the stream fishing by 2PM near mile marker 266.5. I like this stretch of water because it runs on the north side of route 6 and, therefore, enjoys more sun than some of the narrower areas.

Near Starting Point – Quite Murky

When I looked down at the water I discovered that it was quite stained. The color approximated that of split pea soup, but the water level was a reasonable 66 CFS. For some reason dirty water always creates the illusion of higher flows in my mind, and I’m also somewhat intimidated by murkiness. I began fishing with a royal tarantula since it performed well for me on an earlier trip to Clear Creek, but on Tuesday it was not popular.

I decided to switch to a black Chernobyl ant, and I theorized that the black color would contrast nicely with the dense olive green color of the water. Since the Chernobyl was more buoyant than the tarantula, I added a 3.5 foot tippet to the bend and then attached a size 16 beadhead prince nymph. For the first 1.5 hours I worked these flies with the only change being an exchange of the prince for an emerald caddis pupa half way through the early time period. I succeeded in generating attention, but the five fish I landed were all foul hooked. It seemed that the fish were looking at the Chernobyl but not taking it, and when the fish appeared from the murky depths to inspect my fly , I set prematurely and dragged the fly into the fish.

I grew weary of the refusal and foul hook game, so I began switching flies. I tried a Cathy’s super beetle, a tan pool toy, and an olive size 14 stimulator, but I quickly realized that these flies were not even able to generate a refusal. I actually gave some thought to quitting, and I planned to blame my skunking on the dirty water, but for some reason I decided to try a different Chernobyl ant. The Chernobyl was creating interest, but it was not exactly what the fish were looking for, so why not try a different version? The first ant was relatively small, and the black rubber legs were short, so I found a size 10 foam imitation in my fly box that had longer brown rubber legs. These legs would be much more visible to a trout with the added advantage of offering more wiggle action.

Big Fly for Small Fish

I knotted the fly to my leader and decided to forego a dropper since that approach was simply increasing the odds of entanglement. My other significant change in strategy was to focus almost entirely on deep pockets bordered by large boulders along the bank. It seemed fruitless to cast to the faster runs away from the bank, and I did not see any competing fishermen so I could afford to cover a significant amount of real estate.

Slow Edge Pockets Were Productive

Success. Over the last two hours I rapidly worked my way upstream along the steep rocky left bank and plopped the Chernobyl ant into all the likely locations that matched my criteria. I landed eight trout using this approach, and I missed at least half this many as well. The fish were quite small and averaged 6-8 inches, but catching fish of any size was preferable to just exercising my arm and climbing over rocks. I was actually quite pleased that I persisted and solved the riddle enough to dupe fish in fairly adverse stream conditions.

Keeping ‘Em Wet