Category Archives: Fishing Reports

Fishing Reports

South Platte River – 8/30/2011

Time: 11:30AM – 4:30PM

Location: Wildcat Canyon

Fish Landed: 2

South Platte River 08/30/2011 Photo Album

Several months ago Rob Costantini, and friend and former co-worker at Air Products, informed me that he and his family were vacationing at a dude ranch in Colorado and then doing some sightseeing. He asked for suggestions and I described a loop that started in Estes Park and ended in Colorado Springs as their departure flight was from the Springs. Rob asked if I’d mind guiding them for a day of fishing, and I agreed to join them on Tuesday, August 30 after I returned from Oregon and the last day before they returned to Pennsylvania.

I gave Rob a few options and despite the caveat of a three mile hike in and out, he selected the South Platte River in Wildcat Canyon. I agreed to meet the four Costantini’s at the Embassy Suites in Colorado Springs where they were staying at 7:30AM on Tuesday. Vanessa, Rob’s wife, was accompanying but not fishing and Tim (15) and Rachel (13) would fish along with Rob. Unfortunately when I spoke with Rob on Monday, he revealed that he fractured a shoulder bone on the first day of their vacation at a dude ranch. This meant Rob would be able to hike with us, but he would not be able to fish.

Injured Dad

Rob and Vanessa purchased sandwiches and we took off in my Santa Fe. I provided rods and waders and wading boots for Rachel, as Rob told me that Rachel wore a size 7 women’s shoe. We stopped in Woodland Park at a fly shop and rented waders and boots for Tim. Tim and Rachel were fortunately under the age where a fishing license is required. We continued on route 24 to Lake George and crossed the river and made a right and drove to the Platte River trailhead. After applying sunscreen and stuffing all our gear in backpacks we were off on the trail. It was a pretty warm day but we hiked to the river without stopping.

When Tim and Rachel put on their waders and boots we discovered that Rachel wore size 9 women’s shoes and her feet plus waders would not fit inside the boots. I had a spare pair of socks, so we improvised and Rachel wore socks and wading boots and waded wet in her shorts. Once we were set with our gear, Tim and Rachel and I hiked down the path along the river to an attractive starting point. The flow was 131 cfs and actually quite ideal for late August.

Before we began fishing I provided some casting instruction to Tim and Rachel. Tim looked quite competent for a novice caster, and Rachel improved as I stressed waiting on the backcast, not moving the rod too far, and keeping the wrist straight. Once we waded into the river, I worked with Tim first to get him going. I started him with a yellow Letort hopper, but that wasn’t attracting interest so I added a beadhead hares ear nymph as a dropper. It wasn’t long before Tim hooked and landed a small brown trout on the BHHE.

Tim with Early Trout as Rachel Watches

Once I felt Tim could fish upstream by himself, I worked with Rachel. I tied on a Chernobyl ant and dropped a beadhead pheasant tail below. Rather than using the dry fly false casting technique I’d taught her, I showed her how to do a roll cast as it was simpler and the foam fly did not require drying. The transition was difficult as I’d taught Rachel too well to stop her cast high, and now I wanted her to follow through and almost touch the water with her rod tip. In spite of the change up, Rachel began putting some nice casts upstream and in a nice riffle of moderate depth the Chernobyl dipped. Rachel also didn’t quite understand the concept of hook set, but it didn’t matter as the small brown inhaled the pheasant tail, and Rachel eventually stripped the little guy in for a photo.

Rachel Smiles with First Fish Ever

We continued moving up the left bank, and in somewhat deeper water another somewhat larger brown hooked itself and Rachel was on the scoreboard for a second time. I left Rachel below a sweet pocket where we could observe some fish and returned to help Tim. I swapped out Tim’s hopper for a Chernobyl ant as well and helped him cover some water, but it was now close to 12:30PM, and I was feeling pretty hungry so we climbed the bank and hiked back to the home base where we feasted on our sandwiches.

Number Two for Rachel

While we ate our lunches some gray clouds appeared to the west, so I stuffed my raincoat in my backpack before we hiked back down the path to a point approximately where we’d ended before lunch. After lunch Rachel worked the left bank and Tim the right. At one point I was with Rachel and she cast into the juicy pool across from our home base. A nice 12 inch brown gobbled her fly and took off when Rachel realized she had a fish attached to her line. But alas she failed to maintain tension on the line, and this in combination with a lack of hook set enabled the fish to free itself. I left Rachel in a great position and returned to help Tim fish the right side of the large pool.

Tim Tilts Net to Show His Trout

We picked up a couple fish on the beadhead dropper and then we reached the attractive pool next to our base of operations. Rob was on the shore taking copious amounts of photos and spotting fish for Tim. We worked part way up the pool with the dry/dropper, and I began to see small blue wing olive mayflies slowly rising from the pool. I decided to set Tim up with a pair of nymphs including a small beadhead RS2. Rachel was getting a bit weary of the fishing, so she returned to the log and rested and that left me one on one with Tim.

I tied on a bright green caddis pupa and beadhead RS2 with a split shot and strike indicator and instructed Tim on how to work the top of the pool. In the next hour or so Tim landed four nice brown trout each progressively larger with the last one being around 11 inches in length. The trout were hitting the small RS2 rather aggressively and Tim was doing a great job of setting the hook and landing fish. Tim told me that seven was the most fish he’d ever caught in one outing, and in fact more fish than he’d caught cumulatively in his life. Rachel had never fished before let alone caught anything.

The Last and Largest Catch

In the course of demonstrating line control and casting to Tim, I landed two small browns earlier in the afternoon.

The Entire Wildcat Canyon Team

Deschutes River – 8/24/2011

Time: 6:30AM – 8:00PM

Location: Maupin to end of dirt road

Fish Landed: 2

Deschutes River 08/24/2011 Photo Album

I’ve always been drawn by the allure of the Deschutes River and in particular catching a steelhead. When I withdrew from the Hood to Coast Relay due to an injury to the outside of my right pelvis, I decided to fly to Oregon early and book a guided fishing trip on the Deschutes. Amy’s friend in Portland, Aaron Tersteeg, agree to join and recommended a guide service. I called Deschutes Canyon Fly Shop and booked a steelhead trip for August 24. The shop informed me that my guide would be Gil, and we needed to meet him at 5:00AM. Because of the early meet time, Aaron booked a room in the Deschutes Hotel in Maupin for Tuesday night.

Aaron was detained somewhat on Tuesday night, but we left Portland at around 7:30. We stopped in Sandy and purchased some food for breakfast on Wednesday. We arrived at the hotel on Tuesday night and set our alarms for 4:30 Wednesday morning and immediately went to bed.

We were up on time on Wednesday morning and drove to fly shop where we met Gil a bit after 5AM. We transferred all our gear to Gil’s truck and left for the launch point. As we were driving north along the river, we realized we hadn’t transferred wading staffs, and Gil felt these were essential, so we did a U turn and returned to Aaron’s car for the staffs.

Now we had everything so we covered the same road and continued to a dirt section and then to the boat launch. The sun had not yet crept over the canyon rim, so it was still very low light as we began. In fact the sun would not appear in the canyon until around 9:30AM. This was the point of the early start as steelhead prefer low light conditions to bite on flies.

Our Guide Gil at Start of Deschutes River Float on Wednesday

We drifted downstream a bit until we came to a spot where there was a nice long riffle of moderate depth. The Deschutes was flowing at 4,250 cfs. This is very high flows by Colorado standards, but Gil said it was ideal and normal for this time of year. Gil also reported that quite a few steelhead had already migrated into the Deschutes from the Columbia. Many apparently detour to the Deschutes but ultimately return to the Columbia and swim further up that river to spawn. We were fishing to summer run steelhead and it was early in the season.

Gil Coaches Dave

Aaron got out first and fished the top half of the run while I started at the middle and fished to the end. We would continue sharing water like this for the remainder of the day, but alternating between the top and middle. Gil pulled two huge two-handed spey rods from the boat and began instructing Aaron on the casting process. Once Aaron was set up he took me down the river a bit and walked me through the same process.

A Spey Cast in Progress

When the river was flowing left to right, the cast began with a sweep of the rod tip across the front of the body, and then a pause. Next I swept the rod back across the front of my body and then back to vertical with my left hand against my ribs and right hand just off my right shoulder. The last move was a powerful roll cast which shot the line out and across the water. Gil stressed the key of pulling down with the left hand hard and using the left to generate more forward thrust than the right arm. Once the line was out I made a huge upstream mend and then gradually pointed the rod tip at the line depending on how fast the current was. The fly was allowed to swing down and across to a point below me. When the swing was complete, I took three or four steps downstream and repeated everything over again. If the river was flowing right to left there was an added step of flinging the line upstream before beginning the across the front of the body sweep.

Osprey Against Blue Sky

We repeated this whole process over and over during the morning. Drift in the boat to a good area, get out of the boat, perform the casting steps, take three or four steps, get back in the boat at the end of the target area, and drift to a new spot. As we drifted downstream we covered some runs where we could see steelhead darting away from the boat, so we knew there were definitely fish in the river. There were a few bank bound fishermen but very few competing guides and fishermen.

Gil and Aaron Drift Down to Pick Me Up

Getting Closer

At around noon Gil began looking for one of his favorite lunch spots, but we discovered two drift boats pulled up on the beach so moved further downstream. Not much beyond the preferred spot Gil pulled the boat up on shore, and we prepared for lunch. Gil unfolded a table and spread a tablecloth then carried sandwiches and potato salad and chips to the table. By now the sun was directly overhead and beating down mercilessly on the three of us. Aaron removed his waders, but I used bad judgment and kept mine on. As we ate Gil asked us to look to the west and a bank of gray clouds was forming on the horizon. By some act of mercy, the clouds rolled in and blocked the sun just as we prepared to resume fishing after lunch. We were spared the intense desert heat over the remainder of the afternoon as the clouds blocked the sun much of the time.

Gil Spreads Out the Feast

We’d drifted downstream for another couple hours when we came to a spot with a long side riffle on the west bank. It was around 3:15 when I got out first and began fishing at the top of the run. This run wasn’t quite as deep and fast as others. I’d probably worked down through three or four cast repetitions when all of a sudden a fish hammered my fly. By the way, we used the most ridiculously gaudy flies you could imagine. Mine was pink and red and silver tinsel in a long skirt around the shank with an articulated hook extending beyond the end of the skirt. The fly had heavy beadhead eyes on the front. At any rate, the fish hammered the fly and stripped line from my hand and pulled out the slack that I accumulated for shooting casts. The fish’s first move was to jump and clear the water. I’d called to Gil who grabbed the giant net and was quickly making his way up the bank, and he and Aaron were awed by the jump. I was happy about the hook up, but frankly the huge spey rod made fighting and landing the fish much less exciting than what I’d experienced on my Alaska trip with my 6 weight fly rod.

Dave Raises His Solitary Steelhead from Net

The fish now shot upstream and above me as I quickly stripped line to maintain tension. When it got above me it crossed back and forth several times and then just as Gil arrived it made one more spurt directly upstream. Once that move stopped I applied pressure and brought it toward the bank where Gil slide the net beneath, lifted and landed my first steelhead. It was a beautiful fish with pink sides and the steely cheeks that give the treasured fish their name. Gil estimated the fish to be 26 inches long, but because of the size of the net and the rod, it didn’t seem as much of an accomplishment as the 24 inch fish I’d landed in Alaska. But I was quite excited nonetheless after a fishless morning, and I’d about given up hope of catching any.

Estimated at 26"

Gil took my camera and snapped a photo as I was about to lift it and then a portrait style of me holding the fish. I asked him to take one landscape style as my electronic picture frame cuts off the top and bottom of portrait style photos. Once photos were over Gil gathered the fish to gently release, but before he could lower it to the water, the fish made a huge leap and jumped into the river and swam away. Gil told me my steelhead was a native and therefore needed to be released. Hatchery steelhead may be kept and can be recognized by clipped fins. We high fived, and I took a deep breath and resumed covering the water.

Overhanging Grass in Late Afternoon

We continued floating and fishing relentlessly. As the sun dropped beyond the canyon rim to the west the water was covered in shadows. I noticed a pretty decent hatch of tiny mayflies with a light yellow olive body and then as the daylight waned caddis began to flutter everywhere. There were some sporadic rises by resident trout and on one of my swings I felt a bump and brought to hand an eight inch rainbow trout.

Dense Caddis Cluster

By 6:30PM we stopped at another side run and I climbed out to fish the top section. This run was narrower than most and the current faster as I began covering the water. There were some trees near the mid-section between me and Aaron. The water was swift but then quickly slowed to almost a still pool so I was having issues with the heavy fly getting hung up on the large submerged rocks directly below me as I took my three steps before recasting. After this happened two or three times, I got lodged on some rocks again and allowed the line to float beyond the snag and generated a massive yank to free the flies. But as the fly resettled something grabbed it and began ripping line out downstream. Because this was a variation from the swing method I’d been employing all day long, I made a tactical error and grabbed the fly line streaking from my rod. In a split second the steelhead continued and snapped off the fly. It is hard to describe the disappointment when you’ve fished hard all day, and finally get an opportunity for a second fish and make an error.

Gil Watches Aaron Cover Water

We continued fishing in the fading light in some runs that Gil described by name and mentioned as some of the best on the river. I was re-energized after the blunder but gradually faded as the clock ticked toward 8PM. By 8 Aaron and Gil were sitting on the bank watching me, and I was feeling extremely fatigued from casting the big spey rod and stumbling over slick slimy rocks all day long. I announced an end to the day and we snapped some photos on the west bank and then climbed back in the drift boat and floated to the take out.

Gil and Aaron Relax While I Fish

Gil and Dave with Spey Rods at End of Day

Aaron and Dave

We returned to Maupin via the rough washboard dirt road and transferred everything back to Aaron’s car. I suggested that Aaron drink a Red Bull for the return drive, but he felt alert. We made it back to Aaron’s house by midnight and hit our beds by 12:30AM. It was quite a day.

Clackamas River – 8/23/2011

Time: 9:30AM – 2:30PM

Location: Milo McIver State Park and then water above Fish Creek near raft launch

Fish Landed: 4

Clackamas River 08/23/2011 Photo Album

Because of a pelvic injury I dropped out of the Hood to Coast Relay, but agreed to be a van driver for the van that included Amy, Dan, Kirk and Brady. Therefore I made plans to fly to Portland, OR the Monday of Hood to Coast week. I arranged for a day of guided fishing on the Deschutes River on Wednesday, August 24.

I arrived in Portland on Monday August 22 and met Amy at St. Honore. On Monday evening Amy and I met Aaron and Jessica for dinner at their house. I stayed with Aaron and Jessica, and Aaron was my partner for the guided fishing Wednesday. Amy and I went to the Northwest Flyfisher Shop in Portland and I purchased some flies and got a recommendation from the young man at the fly shop on where I could fish on Tuesday. He recommended the Clackamas River at Milo McIver State Park.

Clackamas River Viewed from Start of Fishing

On Tuesday morning I set out on a 45 minute drive to McIver State Park. It was foggy and drizzling most of the trip, therefore, I wore my raincoat as I embarked on my fishing. I parked at the Riverbend parking lot and climbed down a steep path and then walked down along the river for quite a ways to a point where I could cross to a small island. I tied on an olive body stimulator with a white wing and then added a beadhead hares ear dropper. I tossed this from the point of the island to a slow current seam that ran along the bank under some overhanging tree limbs. This didn’t produce any response, so I moved to the long run that ran on the larger channel on the north side of the island. I noticed a couple refusals from small fish on this current seam but it didn’t generate any takes.

Screechy Bird Overhead

I decided to go deeper and switched to a strike indicator with a split shot beadhead hares ear and then a beadhead pheasant tail. This produced and I landed three fish large enough to count on the beadhead nymphs in the mid-section of the run. I also landed numerous tiny rainbows less than five inches. The action ended as I moved to the top half of the run so I waded back across to the southeast shore and up to the next run at the head of the pool. I worked several riffles with no action when I came to a long pool around the main large bend below the parking lot.

Fisherman in Nice Sized Clackamas River

At some point I lost my hares ear and pheasant tail and tied on a large caddis larva imitation I purchased along with a beadhead hares ear. I went to the top of the narrow run that angled through the long wide pool and fed some drifts along the current using the stack mend style. On one of these drifts, a fish attacked the caddis larva as I stripped line back to recast, and I landed the largest fish of the day around 11 to 12 inches.

I climbed back up the bank and walked in the grass through the park to a point where I could scramble back down a steep dirt bank. At the base of the bank the river swept around a bend and smashed against a vertical rock wall and deflected on an angle back toward the middle of the river. I ran some stack mends along the current in this area but didn’t achieve any positive results so I climbed back to the park and decided to move upstream since I couldn’t really see what the river looked like around the large bend.

When I returned to the rental car a young man and his dog were getting out of a truck and preparing to fish. He told me that four countable fish was actually good for the Clackamas at this time of year. I asked him about the water upstream and he recommended above Fish Creek and told me how to take a shortcut to get there.

I exited the park and followed his directions and found signs for Fish Creek. I made a right turn and crossed the Clackamas and parked in a convenient lot above Fish Creek. I put on  my backpack and frontpack, but as I began walking out of the lot I noticed a sign saying the lot was a fee area. I’d seen numerous pullouts along the highway, so decided I didn’t want to pay $5 and returned to the car and removed my packs and exited the parking lot. I returned to the highway and drove a short distance until I saw a series of nice pocket water stretches from the highway.

Clackamas Above Fish Creek and Raft Launch Point

I pulled into a large bumpy turnout that was an informal boat launch area and prepared to fish. I walked downstream to a point where there were some nice pockets along the bank. I had a yellow Letort hopper and beadhead pheasant tail and began flicking casts in the pockets. I worked my way up along the bank doing this for the next hour or so. While fishing a group arrive and inflated a raft and launched. I caught 5-10 tiny fish using this method, but they were all five inches or less and not worth counting. My guide on the Deschutes told me these were probably steelhead and salmon smolts. My last stop was a huge clear deep pool and I rigged up with nymphs for this water. I had a couple momentary hook ups as the fly swung, but nothing landed before I called it quits and headed back to Amy’s house.

Crystal Clear Flows on Hot Tuesday

Taylor River – 8/20/2011

Time: 1:00PM – 4:00PM

Location: .25 mile below mile marker 16 between Lottis Creek and Cold Spring

Fish Landed: 10

Taylor River 08/20/2011 Photo Album

Friday evening Jane arrived after work and we had subs and chips for dinner. We played a game of cards and went to bed so Jane could test out her new down sleeping bag. On Saturday morning after breakfast, we drove down the road four miles and parked at the Summerville trailhead and did a 1.5 hour hike. We returned to the campground for lunch and then I headed to the river to fish while Jane drove to Crested Butte.

Jane by Beaver Ponds

I drove back up the road to a point slightly further downstream from where I’d begun on Friday. Unlike Friday Saturday was sunny and warm with very little cloud cover as I began. Similar to Friday I began working the likely spots within ten feet of the bank with the yellow Letort hopper and BHHE. I caught several small browns in the 7-11 inch range. Between 2 and 3PM some gray clouds moved overhead and I saw a couple BWO’s but never any rises. I added an RS2 to the BHHE and managed to land one fish on the RS2. During this time I covered water that was rushing wildly through a narrow passage with large rocks. This created some fairly deep pockets along the bank, and I experienced a couple hookups that I wasn’t able to land. These fish felt larger than the typical fish or I had foul hooked smaller fish. I’ll never know. I suspect I was covering water that most fishermen skipped around. One of the fish broke off both flies below the hopper.

Typical Taylor River Scene

Toward the latter part of the afternoon I came upon a small deep side pool in an indentation in the bank. I approached slowly and spotted a fish within a foot of a large boulder. I carefully slid down off the bank and positioned myself behind the boulder and fish and off to the side and flicked a short cast above the boulder. As the hopper drifted along the rock, the fish rose and put its nose against the hopper but didn’t take. I made a second cast, but too far out, then gently lifted and flicked it above but very close to the boulder. As the flies were above the fish, I gently lifted my rod and the fish grabbed the BHHE, and I landed a pretty 12 inch rainbow.

Wild Red Raspberries Along the Stream

I moved on and began to cover the same water I’d fished the previous day. Once again in a nice shallow run that angled toward the bank, a nice brown sipped in the BHHE, and I played a nice chunky brown to the net and photographed it. This would be my last fish of the day, as I planned to return to camp to see if Jane wanted to take a bike ride. The sky was clouding up and there was some thunder and lightning as I returned to the car.

Length of the Net Brown Was Last Catch on Saturday

Jane Next to River Saturday Evening

Taylor River – 8/19/2011

Time: 2:00PM – 6:00PM

Location: Between Lottis Creek Campground and Cold Spring

Fish Landed: 16

Taylor River 08/19/2011 Photo Album

Jane was anxious to do another camping trip before summer was over so we decided to spend the weekend on the Taylor River below Taylor Reservoir. I returned from my trip to Philadelphia to see a Phillies game and visit with college friends on Thursday afternoon and packed the car on Friday morning and took off by 8:40AM. I drove southwest on US 285 and then through Buena Vista and over Cottonwood Pass and down to Taylor Reservoir. We planned to find a campsite at Lottis Creek, but I soon discovered it was closed for reconstruction.

It was quite overcast and cool Friday morning and this weather continued throughout the day until late afternoon when the sun appeared. I decided to continue on the road to the next campground and look for vacancies. I cruised through Cold Spring and there appeared to be one opening. Should I take it? I was familiar with Lodgepole and it was a few miles down the road, so I decided to check it out before returning to Cold Spring if nothing was available. I turned into the first entrance at Lodgepole and found the last site, number 15 was open until August 23. Perfect. I removed the dish and food bins and water container and camp stove and prepared a quick lunch. A sign told me that the campground host would be around to collect the fee, so I left my things at the site and returned to the car and drove up the road to a spot less than a half mile below Lottis Creek.

Lodgepole No. 15 Campsite

I parked in a large pullout and prepared to fish and then hiked down the road a bit to a place where some trees had been thinned out and I could see down to the river. I cut down and waded in along the edge. The Taylor was still flowing at 395, and only the edge could be reached. Over the course of Friday and Saturday I fished no more than ten feet out from the south or roadside bank. I tied on a yellow Letort Hopper and a beadhead hares ear and began probing the pockets, pools and runs where the velocity was slow enough to harbor trout. I picked up a few small browns on the beadhead hares ear, and as I hoped I began to see a few BWO’s rising slowly from the water around 2:30 or so. I added a RS2 to the BHHE, and this produced a couple browns in a beautiful long deep run below a wide rock.

Nice Brown Trout in Taylor River Friday

I began to see some fairly frequent rises along the current seam and a few other places so I clipped off all my flies, and tied on a CDC BWO. I fished this vigorously throughout the run while fish were rising, but they were having none of it. Next I resorted to a strike indicator, split shot and a BHHE and RS2. I worked this through the run from top to bottom with a dead drift and also swing and only foul hooked one fish. Finally I abandoned the nice spot and moved on. The water above the long deep run wasn’t conducive to nymphing, so I switched back to the yellow Letort hopper and BHHE and began landing fish again.

Rod Balanced While I Take Fish Photo

Toward the late afternoon as I moved up closer to the point where the river ran within ten feet of the road, I began to have more success. First I landed a beautiful brown that measured the length of my net. The brown moved a few inches to grab the trailing BHHE in a fairly shallow side channel. I was quite surprised to see such a large fish appear in such thin water. In the last hour I landed two beautiful rainbows also extending the length of the net. The first and largest fell for the BHHE, but the second engulfed the hopper. There was a deep pocket behind a rock with an eddy pulling my flies back against the rock. I saw the fish come up to inspect the hopper, but I reacted too quickly and pulled it out of the pocket. I rested the water a bit while I dried the hopper and on the second or third subsequent cast, the rainbow reappeared and inhaled the hopper.

Bruiser Rainbow from Taylor River

Beadhead Hares Ear in Corner of Mouth

On the afternoon, two fish were landed on the RS2 and the other 14 mostly took the BHHE with perhaps three or four hammering the hopper.

Another Large Rainbow Late in Day Friday

Clear Creek – 8/15/2011

Time: 2:00PM – 5:30PM

Location: Upstream from Philadelphia Mills Access and then from trailer park upstream east of Idaho Springs

Fish Landed: 13

Clear Creek 08/15/2011 Photo Album

I enjoyed the success on Clear Creek, and I was caught up at work, so I decided to leave work at noon on Monday and return to the water Dan and I fished on Sunday. I arrived around 1:30 and was on the stream at around 2PM. I remained on the frontage road and fished water upstream from where Dan and I ended on Sunday. This water was faster and required more edge fishing than the previous day.

I began with the gray Letort hopper and had a few refusals before finally hooking a fish. Eventually I added a beadhead hares ear and worked my way upstream mostly fishing the pockets and slots along the south bank. By 3PM I’d covered a quarter mile or so and landed 8 browns between 7 and 10 inches long. Most of the browns took the hopper, but several grabbed the hares ear. It seemed the hares ear worked better in the faster runs and the hopper produced in the slower water along the edge.

Small Clear Creek Brown Trout

I spotted one green drake shortly after I began fishing and tied on a green drake I’d bought at Taylor Creek Fly Shop in Basalt, but this didn’t produce. Next I tried a comparadun I’d tied with an olive CDC body. I promptly hooked this in a spruce tree on my backcast and had to tear it off along with a large portion of my tippet. The green drake ploy didn’t seem to work, so I tried a yellow Letort hopper and BHHE.

At 3PM I decided to go back to the car and drive east beyond Idaho Springs. I exited I70 at the last exit going east and drove on the frontage road over a hill. I came to an intersection with a trailer park ahead of me and a dirt road that turned left and went underneath I70. I liked the idea of fishing Clear Creek on the north side of the interstate so I parked along the dirt road and went down the rocky bank. I immediately caught a couple small browns plus a few too small to count in some tiny pockets tight to the rocky bank.

Interstate 70 is 50 Yards Away

Action slowed however as I reached the overpass and some sweet water around the bend north of the overpass produced only refusals. I switched to a size 14 olive body caddis and this enabled me to land three more browns as I covered quite a bit of water north of the Idaho Springs landscape maintenance facility.

Clear Creek – 8/14/2011

Time: 1:00PM – 5:00PM

Location: Philadelphia Mills Open Space Area west of Idaho Springs

Fish Landed: 9

Clear Creek 08/14/2011 Photo Album

Dan called while I was in Eagle and wanted to fish on Sunday, so I suggested we could meet in Idaho Springs and fish in Clear Creek on my return trip. As I drove along Clear Creek on my way to Eagle I observed that the stream was still somewhat high but clear as its name suggests. I was hoping that the fish would still be hungry from the protracted snow melt.

Jane drove on ahead to Denver, and I met Dan at a parking lot near interstate 70 in Idaho Springs. We transferred Dan’s gear to my car and drove west on route 6 paralleling the interstate. We turned into the open space and crossed an old bridge and parked. We both got into our waders, and although I noticed some dark clouds to the west, I eschewed my raincoat. We hiked back across the bridge then along the shoulder of the road heading back east until a point where the stream bends and runs along the road.

Dan started with a Chernobyl ant with a beadhead hares ear, and I tied on a gray Letort hopper with no dropper. Almost immediately I experienced several refusals to the hopper and then hooked and landed a small fish. Meanwhile nothing was looking at Dan’s Chernobyl, so we tied on a yellow Letort hopper and paired it with the BHHE.

Brown Trout from Clear Creek

After we’d changed Dan out, there was a spot with an overhanging branch. I attempted to shoot a cast back under the branch and succeeded only to see a refusal to my hopper. On a subsequent cast I looped my line over the branch, and as the hopper dangled above the water, a trout leaped and tried to grab it. Next I cast further upstream and hooked another branch. I wasn’t able to free the fly, so I suggested that Dan make a cast while I held my rod and line back so as not to interfere with his cast. Sure enough he flicked a cast under the branch and a small brown rose up and smashed his hopper.

The fly change worked and Dan began landing browns on the hopper. The river spread out near the bend and afforded us the ability to fish together in parallel. Dan took the north shore and I remained on the more shaded south bank. I watched Dan make an expert cast within a foot of the bank near some evergreen trees and a nice brown rose and took his fly.

Dan Perched on Rock in Clear Creek

As this was taking place I noticed two lumbering green drake naturals buzzing up from the stream. Also the dark clouds were moving closer. I clipped off my hopper and tied on one of the bushy green drakes I’d bought at the Conejos River Angler shop. This was a magical move as I landed a couple fish on the first cast. It started to rain lightly, and I called for Dan to come over so I could tie a green drake on his line. He came over, and I tied on the second and last bushy green drake that I’d purchased. I told him to test it in a nice long pocket above us, and a fish immediately rose and smashed it.

Now the intensity of the rain increased, and I told Dan I was going to return to the car and get my rain coat. As I walked along the road, it rained pretty hard and my fishing shirt was saturated by the time I got to the car. I removed my shirt and went with my T-shirt with my raincoat on top of it. I grabbed Dan’s net, raincoat, and a vial of white powder for drying flies and returned to where Dan was positioned. I fully expected him to report that he’d landed three or four fish on the green drake while I was gone. Unfortunately he announced that he’d snapped the fly off on the first fly that rose and then tied on a bushy caddis and landed a fish on that fly.

Of course the rain ended when I got to the car, and the storm clouds were replaced with partly cloudy skies and occasional sun. When the weather changed, the fishing also deteriorated. We worked the stream a bit more, and I landed a couple fish but the shadows and sun glare made it difficult to follow our flies. Eventually as we neared the bridge, we saw another fisherman, so we exited the stream and hiked back across the bridge. I suggested we go upstream from the parking lot and fish for another hour until 5PM so we scrambled over some large boulders on the steep bank just below interstate 70.

We got to a spot where the river spread out and there was a nice long smooth pool on the opposite side so we waded a bit beyond midstream and made some casts. Dan got a refusal on his Chernobyl, and I had one on my fly. I saw several mayflies that looked like PMD’s so I tied on the gray comparadun and flicked it out near a rock and let it drift the bottom half of the pool. At the very tail a small brown sipped it in. We made a few futile attempts in the pockets above the long pool, but as 5PM approached we decided to call it a day and return to Denver.

Brush Creek – 8/13/2011

Time: 9:30AM – 12:30PM

Location: Private water to second bridge

Fish Landed: 5

Brush Creek 08/13/2011 Photo Album

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

Dave G. on Eagle Ranch Private Stretch

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

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

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

Nicest Fish Landed on Saturday

Buttery Color

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

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

Eagle Sculpture at Adam's Rib

East Fork, Brush Creek – 8/12/2011

Time: 2:30PM – 6:00PM

Location: Below Yeoman Campground

Fish Landed: 8

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

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

Dave G Shows Trout Caught with Tenkara Rod

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

Dave Tries to Capture Line in Wind

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

Nice Fish Landed by Dave W

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

Nice Fish for Small Stream

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

Aspens Blanket Hillside

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

Brush Creek – 8/12/2011

Time: 9:30AM – 12:30PM

Location: Cottonwood area above second road crossing in Eagle Ranch

Fish Landed: 1

Brush Creek 08/12/2011 Photo Album

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

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

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

Dave Marks Where He Entered Upstream

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