Category Archives: Fishing Reports

Fishing Reports

Trout Creek – 08/10/2017

Time: 9:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Along the Trout Creek Trail

Trout Creek 08/10/2017 Photo Album

Note: In order to protect small high country streams, I have chosen to change the name for a few. This particular creek happens to be one of them. Excessive exposure could lead to crowding and lower fish densities.

The alarm beeped at 5:30, and I left the house by 6AM. I packed the car with all the essentials the night before, so after a quick bite to eat, I packed my lunch and quietly departed. The planning and early start enabled me to pull into the parking area at the Trout Creek Trailhead by 8:30.  It rained heavily from the Eisenhower Tunnel, until I reached Vail, but the sky was blue, as I turned on to Red Sandstone Road. The dirt road was extremely muddy, and the Santa Fe was covered with red caked mud by the time I parked at the trailhead. After putting on my waders, I gathered my gear and assembled my Orvis Access four weight, and finally I was on the trail by 9:00. I hiked for thirty minutes, and then I cut down to the stream and began my day.

The air temperature was in the upper forties, but I knew I would be too warm, if I hiked with an extra layer, so I stuffed my raincoat in my backpack for extra warmth if necessary. When I waded into the stream, it was evident that flows were down compared to my previous visit on 7/25/2017.

A Dense Stand of Fireweed

On the 7/25/2017 trip I fished a gray stimulator nearly the entire time, so on Thursday I began with a peacock body stimulator. My supply of gray versions was dwindling, so I hoped to learn that the fish were not discriminating regarding body color. I fished with this fly for ten minutes through some slow moving smooth pools, and then I also tested it in some faster pockets, but it failed to encourage even a look. I concluded that the body color was important, so I swapped the peacock for a gray body, since that was a proven producer on the earlier trip. On Thursday gray was not in favor. Maybe yellow was a winner, since I saw a few yellow sallies in the air? Nope. After a decent trial period it became obvious that the yellow stimulator was avoided like the plague.

I continued moving upstream, and I was certain that I advanced to water that was rarely fished, once I vacated the slow pools where I began. Tamped down grass and weeds were obvious clues that other fishermen visited the starting area, but the banks appeared to be untouched, once I progressed one hundred yards upstream. Where were the fish? Even looks and refusals were absent, and that was very unusual for Trout Creek.

Better Lighting

I decided to try a nymph approach, so I tied on a size 10 Chernobyl ant and trailed a beadhead pheasant tail. Finally I registered two small brook trout and breathed a sigh of relief. A small brown grabbed the pheasant tail in a fast run almost immediately after the nymph entered the water, and I reached three fish for the first hour of fishing. I continued on with the two fly offering, but once again quality pools and pockets failed to deliver any looks. In another desperate attempt to solve the code, I abandoned the dry/dropper and returned to a medium olive body stimulator, and this fly enabled me to land two small brown trout to improve my fish count to five.

Lunch Log

I remained locked on five for quite a while, and I sat down to eat my lunch at noon on a nice flat rock with the fish counter stable at five. After lunch I decided to experiment with a green drake. I spotted a few on July 25, so perhaps the local trout had long memories. First I tried the Harrop hair wing version, because it floats high and is easier to follow in the turbulent currents compared to the comparadun and parachute styles. Two brown trout crushed the Harrop hair wing, and I cautiously raised my expectations, but my optimism was fleeting, as the Harrop floated through a series of attractive spots without inducing even a look.

Another Gem

When this occurred on Tuesday I switched to a parachute green drake, and I copied the move on Thursday. I tied the very same parachute green drake to my line that produced nearly twenty fish on Tuesday, and surprisingly it delivered three, and the fish count climbed to double digits. I was now perched on ten fish in a couple hours of fishing, but I was not pleased with my Trout Creek experience. The fish were very small and consistently in the 6-9 inch range, and they were all brown trout with two or three small brook trout in the mix. Where were the gorgeous cutbows, cutthroats, and rainbows that served as eye candy on my previous trip? In order to land the first ten fish I covered an enormous amount of stream real estate, and quite a few prime pools failed to yield even a look or refusal. I could not get into a rhythm, and consequently I spent an inordinate amount of time changing flies.

Pool and Foam Equals Fish

Because the parachute green drake delivered three small trout from marginal shallow pockets, I relied on it for a fairly long window of time, but empty casts became the norm, and several fish elevated and looked and then returned to the bottom of the stream. In addition the body was waterlogged and required constant dabbing and drying. Finally the fly got snagged on a stick, and when I yanked it free, the parachute hackle climbed up the wing post. This was a definite hint that I needed to retire the parachute green drake.

Nice Colors

I paused and pondered my options. I tried the dry/dropper with the large Chernobyl, but perhaps a more realistic terrestrial would be a more enticing option. I knotted a Jake’s gulp beetle to my line and added a salvation nymph as a dropper, and I began plunking the foam beetle in likely holding spots. Early in this game a brook trout smashed the beetle, and once again I convinced myself that I solved the riddle. Again I was mistaken. I cycled through quite a few changes to the dropper including a beadhead hares ear, ultra zug bug and emerald caddis pupa; but none of these generated interest. Meanwhile a couple fish snubbed the foam beetle, and I my frustration level once again surged.

The beetle/dropper episode convinced me that nymphs were a waste of time, and the small stream residents were clearly focused on food morsels floating in the surface film. Perhaps the low clear water dictated going to a small realistic fly? I considered a parachute ant, but I was reluctant to engage in an eye exam in the shaded light of the narrow canyon. Instead I plucked a light gray size 16 deer hair caddis from my fly box. Success. After I embraced the caddis as my Trout Creek fly of choice, the fish counter improved from eleven to twenty-five. Most of these landed fish favored the light gray version, but I also netted a few using a size 16 dark olive deer hair caddis, and in addition a size 14 dark olive muggly caddis duped three. The muggly caddis eaters were actually a bit larger than the average fish landed on the day.

Caddis Favored by This Brookie

Looks Like a Muggly Caddis in the Lip

I lost two of the light gray caddis to hemlock branches, and I harbored concern over the adequacy of my size 16 light gray supply, so I tried a dark olive body for awhile. It did produce a couple fish, but then the hackle unraveled, and I elected to experiment with the muggly caddis. The muggly yielded three or four fish, but then the dry fly without hackle became partially waterlogged, so I exchanged it for another muggly with a light gray body and a light tan snowshoe rabbit fur underwing and an elk hair wing. This fly was very visible, and it fooled one trout, but then trout grew disinterested.

During the last thirty minutes of fishing I reverted to one of the remaining light gray size 16’s, and it once again delivered several netted fish. How can a 25 fish day be disappointing? It took place over six hours, and I covered in excess of .5 miles of water including some very high quality deep pools and pockets. The size of the fish was generally in the six to nine inch range with a couple that extended to ten or eleven inches. On July 25 I also landed a few small fish barely over the six inch cutoff, but the average size was more like 9-11 inches with a few big boys in the twelve and thirteen inch range. On Thursday I landed one rainbow and one small cutbow, and all the other fish were brown trout or brook trout. I loved the variety of fish species on the earlier trip, and the lack of diversity was the most disappointing aspect of the August 10 outing. Of course I endured the requisite quantity of long distance releases, and several seemed to be some of the larger fish on the day. I learned over time that this frustration is a necessary part of small stream fishing.

I Love the Look of Ledge Rocks

I covered new water, and aside from the fishing, the landscape was spectacular. I passed through high moss covered rock walls and climbed over and around numerous beautiful waterfalls. At ten o’clock as I stood in the stream changing flies, an elk cow and calf suddenly appeared from behind a huge boulder on the left side of the stream. I immediately grabbed my camera case, but once they splashed into the stream, the cow saw me, and they quickly jogged up the hillside on the south side of the creek.

Best Waterfall of the Day

In summary I enjoyed another fine day on Trout Creek. The lower flows and clear water increased the challenge, but I eventually made the adjustment and downsized to a small caddis and experienced some success. I pretty much had the place to myself, and that is always a positive for me. I discovered that hiking the extra miles from the parking lot pays off in terms of fish numbers, size and diversity. I will keep this in mind, when I make my next excursion to Trout Creek.

Fish Landed: 25

Spectacular Color on This Little Guy

South Boulder Creek – 08/08/2017

Time: 11:00AM – 4:30PM

Location: Below Gross Reservoir

South Boulder Creek 08/08/2017 Photo Album

Readers cannot see me, but I am still smiling from my day on South Boulder Creek. Today was a strong affirmation of the value of these blog posts, so let me explain.

I noticed last week that Denver Water finally lowered the releases from Gross Dam to 144 CFS, so I committed to making the trip in the near term. Today, Tuesday August 8 was that day. Knowing that South Boulder Creek was my destination prompted me to search my blog for all the log reports that detailed my fishing trips to the small tailwater northwest of Golden. The common thread on nearly all the August visits was green drakes. Green drakes hatch in the freestone rivers and streams in Colorado from the middle of July until the end of July, but their emergence seems to be delayed in tailwaters such as the Frying Pan River and South Boulder Creek. I suspect this circumstance is related to the cold bottom releases from the upstream dams.

Before I departed on Tuesday morning I checked my fly box and reviewed my selection of green drake imitations. I carry three styles, and I never know which one will fool the wild trout. I counted my comparaduns ribbed and not ribbed, parachute green drakes and Harrop hair wing green drakes; and I concluded that I possessed adequate quantities of each. With this inventory task completed I set out on the short drive to the parking lot above the stream near the outflow from the dam. I followed the directions on my map application on my iPhone, and this route reduced my driving time to 58 minutes. I generally allotted 75 minutes for my previous route that tracked on I70, CO 58, and CO 93.

Needless to say I anxiously anticipated my day on South Boulder Creek; however, my spirits sank a bit when I pulled into the parking lot and realized I would have significant company on Tuesday, a weekday no less. Eight vehicles were parked in the small lot, and I snagged a spot on the northern edge, a rarity for me on a weekday. As I pulled on my waders and strung my Loomis five weight rod, the fishermen on either side of me met with another angler who appeared to be the leader of the threesome. The head guy was alarmed by the number of cars in the lot, and he proposed that they move and “fish the inlet”. I could only assume that he was proposing a drive to the Gross Reservoir parking area accompanied by a one mile hike to the inlet where South Boulder Creek enters the reservoir. The two followers agreed, although it seemed to me they were reluctant to do so. That eliminated two cars, and now I had six remaining vehicles to be concerned about.

I proceeded with my preparation and decided that I would hike as far as the higher flows would allow in order to escape the unexpected crowd of fishermen. The air temperature was in the upper fifties, and the sky was mostly clear, as I began my descent of the steep trail to the creek. A large yellow sign at the top of the trailhead notified of bridge construction and warned to expect delays. I thought this was odd, as the only bridges were two pedestrian spans over South Boulder Creek.

When I reached the edge of the creek, I was pleased to learn that 144 cfs (I later learned when I returned home that the flows were actually reduced to 90 cfs on Tuesday morning) was very manageable for wading, and my expectations surged a bit. I crossed the stream below the small island near the beginning, and as I forded the wide relatively shallow area, I spotted a truck on the lane on the other side. I generally climb on to the bank in the area posted as private, but because of the activity, I waded along the edge until I reached the gate that signifies public access. I glanced back at the truck, and it was backing down the lane, and I assumed that it was transporting materials to be used in the bridge repair. This raised my concern that I should not have crossed, since I now needed to cross the pedestrian bridge to reach the downstream areas that I targeted for my day of fishing.

Fortunately when I approached the bridge, it was apparent that the work had not yet begun, and I breathed a sigh of relief, as I was on my way to farther penetration of the Walker Loop. I passed three solo fishermen on the upper water, so that accounted for three of the cars in the parking lot. Another fisherman waded into the creek in the boulder section downstream from the bridge, and eventually I ran into a man and woman together not far below the place where the fisherman path diverges from the Walker Loop trail. As near as I could tell, these were the last anglers that originated from the parking lot.

A Good Place to Start

When I created a decent distance from the last anglers encountered, I cut down to the water and began my day with a tan pool toy, beadhead hares ear nymph, and salvation nymph. The water before me was exceptional with an abundance of pockets and runs of moderate depth. I managed to land a couple small brown trout on the salvation nymph, but I was not satisfied with the start of my fishing day. Aside from the landed fish, the pool toy hopper attracted significant attention in the form of refusals, and this distracted from the subsurface offerings.

I decided to rectify the situation, and I moved to a size 14 medium olive stimulator. Initially this enticed a couple of small brown trout as well, but then it became an object to be inspected but not eaten. The fish count stood at four, albeit small fish, when I spotted two green drakes, as they fluttered skyward from the stream. The combination of this observation and my review of the blog posts, which documented green drake success in August, convinced me to attach a Harrop hair wing to my line.

A Pretty Rainbow

Once again the change initiated some initial success, as two trout slashed the bushy mayfly imitation, but then the refusal cycle reappeared. In hindsight I believe that the fish that chose to eat, were in faster riffles; whereas, those that rejected the fly occupied slow moving pools. I was convinced that the green drakes were favored by the South Boulder Creek trout, but the Harrop version did not meet their specifications. I scanned the green drake section of my fly box and plucked a size 14 comparadun with no rib. This fly was effective on the Cache la Poudre River in July, so I tied it to my line and took a deep breath. The comparadun presented a more slender profile, and several fish liked the lean look allowing me to build the fish count to ten. However, fish that ate the large mayfly imitation were fewer than those that refused or elevated to look with no follow through. In addition to the irregular performance of the the fly, it became saturated with water, and even my best efforts to dry it were increasingly futile.

Quality Pockets Ahead

I decided to sit on a log to eat my lunch. I pondered my next move, while I observed the quality deep pool and run next to my dining area. I landed ten fish in my first hour, and yet I was dissatisfied with the production of my fly choices. How could this be? An experienced fly fisherman would know the feeling of fishing through high quality water that assuredly contains decent fish, yet somehow coming up empty, or the takes are accompanied by an overabundance of refusals and brief hook ups. That sentence accurately described my state of mind.

I remembered the blog entries, that I read the night before, and I recalled the documented success of the parachute green drake imitations that eventually unraveled. After lunch I followed through on my recollection and replaced the comparadun style with a size 14 parachute green drake. This version contained a white wing post that enhanced visibility and a maroon thread rib on the abdomen. I tested the fresh dry fly in the deep pool, and after a small fish rejected it in the fast center section, I lobbed it to the shelf pool on the far side. Success! A decent brown trout streaked to the surface and crushed the fake. Similar success greeted my fly changes earlier in the day, so I resisted a celebration.

Escape Is Not an Option

The celebratory restraint was unnecessary. I moved upstream, and over the next 2.5 hours I experienced some exceptional dry fly fishing. The fish counter clicked frequently and moved from ten to thirty-six, and all the fish were fooled by the parachute green drake. In fact two flies produced all the fish, and the first one accounted for 75%. During this time I noticed additional naturals, but the hatch was not obvious, and I spotted very few rising trout. Western green drake hatches are notoriously sparse, but the size of the meal makes up for the reduced quantity of insects. The trout were definitely tuned into green drakes.

My Main Producer

It did not seem to matter what type of water I cast to. Riffles were absolute producers, and the seams of deep runs were also worth exploring. I was stunned to see several fish flash downstream for several feet to intercept the large dry fly before it tumbled over the lip of the pocket. In one case a brown trout bumped the fly twice and then finally grabbed it before it escaped. At the point where it inhaled the drake, it was five feet downstream from its initial inspection. That is due diligence although not very effective, if the goal is to avoid getting hooked in the mouth. Four or five times I lost sight of the fly, as it got tugged under by the currents, so I lifted and felt the weight of a fish. These subsurface takes resulted in some of the larger trout on the day, and it seemed like the rainbows were more likely to nab drowned green drakes than brown trout.

So Pretty

Parachute Green Drake Snack

By 2:30 some dark clouds appeared overhead accompanied by the sound of distant thunder. I pulled on my raincoat during lunch for added warmth, so I was prepared for precipitation, and I continued fishing as light rain commenced. Suddenly a flash of light brightened the sky, and a clap of thunder followed shortly thereafter. This meant the lightning was close by, so I quickly climbed some rocks and found a refuge next to a tall rock wall that leaned toward the north and provided a slice of protection from the rain. I waited impatiently for fifteen minutes until three o’clock, and then the sky brightened in the west, and the sounds of thunder faded.

My Storm Refuge

I returned to the creek and resumed casting the parachute green drake, but my second imitation also became waterlogged, and the fish were not responsive. The rain eventually stopped, and the sun emerged briefly, and this stimulated a wave of insect activity. I observed a couple green drakes, but an abundance of smaller mayflies now took center stage. I continued prospecting with the waterlogged parachute green drake and added a few more fish, but I began to wonder if perhaps this was a time when trout might favor the active nymph stage of the pale morning dun. I quickly converted to a two fly dry/dropper with a yellow fat Albert on top and a salvation nymph as the dropper. The theory was not correct. The fish ignored this approach, so after twenty minutes of flailing the water with no reward for my efforts, I reverted to a green drake.

A Closer Look

During my 2016 green drake interaction, I used the comparadun with success after the parachute versions unraveled, so I gave this ploy another try. It did not pan out, and my watch indicated that it was 4PM, so I decided to begin the long forty minute hike back to the parking lot. As I was trudging along on the trail, I stopped at several favorite pools to make some last ditch casts. At the first prime pool I encountered, I noticed a few rises along the right side. I floated the green drake comparadun in the vicinity, but this merely encouraged an inspection. I suspected that pale morning duns were prevalent, so I converted to a size 16 light gray comparadun. The third drift of the slender PMD imitation prompted a subtle take, and I hooked and landed a pretty ten inch rainbow.

I turned my attention to the shelf pool on the other side of the strong center current. A small fish showed itself with several splashy rises at the tail, but some downstream drifts failed to entice another rise to my fly. It was at this time that a swarm of mayfly spinners hovered over the pool and the area I was casting to. They did not appear to be touching the water, but several fish rose while this mating event developed. Maybe some strays touched down ahead of the main orgy? I replaced the light gray comparadun with a cinnamon version and mashed down the deer hair wing so that some deer hair spread to the side of the thorax. This was my attempt to match a pale morning dun spinner, but it did not succeed. While executing casts in this same pool, I spotted another pair of green drakes. Perhaps I abandoned the big boy too soon? I tied the green drake comparadun back on my line, but they shunned it as well, and I surrendered to the pool and moved on.

Light Gray Comparadun Victim

My last stop was the long deep pool between the pedestrian bridge (which now displayed signs on both ends warning of delays) and the path that ascends to the parking lot. I was shocked to see this perpetually occupied location vacant, so I stopped to make a few exploratory casts. I once again knotted the size 16 light gray comparadun to my line, and it rewarded me with two rainbow trout in the ten and eleven inch size range. I ended my day with three rainbow trout that sipped the comparadun to reach thirty-nine fish.

What a wonderful day on South Boulder Creek! All but the first two fish ate dry flies, and the action on the parachute green drake was superb. Tuesday was a testament to my commitment to my blog and to tying my own flies. In all likelihood had I not read about my success with green drakes on August 4, 2016, I would not have converted to the parachute green drake. Tying my own flies allowed me to capitalize on my experience and many prior interactions with green drake hatches to produce three different styles, and the parachute version became the favorite on Tuesday. I foresee a return trip to South Boulder Creek in my near future. In fact after chronicling my day, I am ready to return right now.

Fish Landed: 39

Boulder Creek – 08/07/2017

Time: 1:00PM – 3:30PM

Location: Boulder Canyon

Boulder Creek 08/07/2017 Photo Album

I was weary of driving long distances to fish as was the case in the previous week, so I decided to go local on Monday. Flows on Boulder Creek recently dropped to 74 CFS, and the small stream west of Boulder, CO was absent from my 2017 itinerary, so I planned to give it a try. Unfortunately when I woke up on Monday morning, I heard the constant trickle of rain, as it drained down the spouting. When I looked outside, the picture was even worse with low gray clouds shrouding the Denver area. I checked the weather report for Boulder, and it indicated rain and thunderstorms off and on for the remainder of the day. This was not encouraging, and I debated devoting Monday to some procrastinated indoor chores.

It was only misting, when I departed on my daily run, but halfway through the jog the mist transformed to drizzle, and by the time I returned to the house the precipitation was classified as steady rain. I took my time showering and then prepared my lunch, and when I looked to the west, I noticed the sky remained gray, but it was definitely brighter, so I took the plunge and made the drive to Boulder. My best case scenario was getting in some fly fishing. My worst case outcome was a picnic lunch in the car next to Boulder Creek.

I drove up the canyon a good ways, and parked at a wide pullout with a sign about a historical wildfire. It was noon when I arrived, so I sat in the car protected from the misting rain and devoured my light lunch. After lunch I grabbed my Orvis Access four weight and pulled on my waders and fishing backpack and front pack, and I was prepared to fish. I wore my fleece and raincoat and pulled my hood up over my New Zealand billed cap, and I was as waterproof as I could be.

Just as I began walking down the highway, two fishermen returned from the creek and climbed into a Subaru Outback parked at the western end of the parking area. I was concerned that I would be fishing in the wake of these recent waders, but I concluded that I was headed downstream, and by the time I returned to the area they vacated, the fish would be back to their normal habits.

Boulder Creek on a Rainy Day

After walking a short distance along the shoulder of the road, I angled down a steep bank and tied a Chernobyl ant, beadhead hares ear, and salvation nymph to my line. I began casting these flies to likely holding spots, and in the early going I accumulated temporary hook ups, refusals and looks but not landed fish. These fish were supposed to be gullible, so what was going on? Eventually I landed a couple fish on the hares ear, but this was after covering a significant number of promising holes. The fish seemed to be ignoring the nymphs, as they focused on the Chernobyl, but they were unwilling to close their mouths on the fake foam terrestrial.

I finally conceded that my initial fly choices were not desired table fare for the Boulder Creek trout, and I replaced the three flies with a medium olive body size 12 stimulator. This fly enabled me to land a couple more small brown trout, but then it also became a thing of interest but not something to eat. I considered going back to the Chernobyl ant, but then I recalled my success on Friday with Jake’s gulp beetle. Why not give it another trial? I tied on a size 12 beetle and added a beadhead hares ear dropper, and my optimism soared. Early on the beetle attracted two refusals, and then I suffered through another lull with no action.

Needless to say I was rather frustrated. It was raining lightly with heavy cloud cover, and these sort of cool overcast conditions generally portend excellent fishing. The flows remained above average, and generally the trout are not as skittish and remain opportunistic after enduring the high flows of run off. I must mention, however, that the water was quite clear, and I spooked numerous fish, when I approached a pool or pocket too quickly or clumsily.

My best run of near action consisted of some momentary hook ups on the Chernboyl at the outset, and two of these fish appeared to be a bit larger than the small fish that I landed. I returned to the dry/dropper approach with a size 10 Chernobyl ant, beadhead emerald caddis pupa, and beadhead pheasant tail. The caddis pupa and pheasant tail produced on St. Louis Creek, so why not test them on relatively small Boulder Creek?

Crashing Water

I allotted a decent amount of time to these flies, but they failed me. Once again I noted a couple refusals to the Chernobyl, and the nymphs were totally shunned. Something had to change, but what should I try next? The clouds were growing darker and the wind kicked up a bit, and I was fairly certain that more rain was a near term reality. I decided to make my last stand with a size 16 light gray deer hair caddis. Fish were looking to the surface, and caddis are generally always present, and the light gray deer hair caddis is a solid general pattern that covers a lot of bases.

Little Guy

Well it worked. In the remaining half hour I landed three small brown trout on the caddis. A few refusals were in the mix, but the imitation was apparently close enough to convince three fish to eat. I considered replacing the caddis with a light gray size 16 comparadun, in case the trout were tuned into pale morning duns, even though I did not see any, but the density of the rain increased, and I decided to call it quits and seek the shelter of the Santa Fe. I seemed to recall a mention on the Front Range Anglers web site of pale morning duns emerging in the late afternoon. I suppose this theory will need to be tested on another day.

Caddis Lover

Seven small brown trout in 2.5 hours of fishing is not a stellar outing. I was admittedly expecting better fishing in the rainy overcast conditions on a stream that historically produced relatively easy action. I suppose I should celebrate being able to fish in adverse weather conditions, and landing seven fish was actually icing on the cake. Hopefully the weather clears, and I can return to more typical summer conditions for the remainder of the week.

Fish Landed: 7

St. Louis Creek – 08/04/2017

Time: 2:30PM – 5:00PM

Location: Just above the Fraser Experimental Forest headquarters.

St. Louis Creek 08/04/2017 Photo Album

What now? I had a few hours available to salvage my fishing trip of Friday, August 4. I surrendered to the Colorado River near Parshall, and I considered options for the remainder of the day. The upper Williams Fork above the reservoir was relatively close, although that choice required a longer return drive. I fished Willow Creek along CO 125 briefly while camping at Denver Creek quite a few years ago, and I recalled landing some brook trout, but my fishing skills were weaker then than now. Two possibilities along the return drive were St. Louis Creek west of Fraser, CO and the North Fork of Clear Creek west of Empire, CO. St. Louis Creek appealed to me because I never fished there, and it was more distant from a main road than Willow Creek or the North Fork of Clear Creek. More distance equals less pressured in my book.

I entered Fraser Experimental Forest in my maps app, and my iPhone directed me to the headquarters located across from St. Louis Creek. The directions were accurate, and I backed into a narrow space between two trees, and I quickly prepared to optimize my remaining time on August 4. I remained in my waders, but I broke down my Sage five weight, and now I chose my Loomis two piece five weight, since it was a shorter rod and better suited to the narrow creek surrounded by trees and bushes. These actions allowed me to wade into the water by 2:30.

So Pretty

The sky was now cloudy, and consequently the air temperature dropped, although I remained comfortable in my long sleeved Columbia fishing shirt. The flow was strong although not excessively high, but excellent clarity prompted me to begin my day with a medium olive body size 12 stimulator. This fly was light and fluttered down on the surface without creating much disturbance, yet it was buoyant and easy to see. I began prospecting all the likely refuges for trout, and immediately encountered two long distance releases and a couple refusals. I persisted, however, and after ten minutes I landed a tiny four inch brook trout. This scenario unfolded for twenty minutes, and I eventually landed a couple char that were barely over the six inch mark required to increment the fish counter. Every countable fish was matched by twice as many momentary hook ups or fish too small to count.

Began with an Olive Stimulator

Another Jewel

After another series of refusals I decided to downsize, and I tied a size 16 light gray deer hair caddis to my line. This proved to be a solid move, and I landed more fish, although the size of the brookies remained modest. The caddis was quite popular with the fish, however, and the fish tally climbed to seven. I hoped that the larger deeper pools would yield bigger fish, but fantasy did not become reality. By four o’clock some light rain descended, but not enough to get out my raincoat, and I pondered my next move. I was very curious to experiment with a dry/dropper in this small creek, so that is what I did. For the top fly I knotted a Jake’s gulp beetle to my line, and as a single dropper I attached a beadhead pheasant tail.

Best Pool on the Creek

The experiment was a success, and I landed eight more brook trout to push the count to fifteen before I retired at 5PM. The last hour was a blast, as I splatted the beetle and pheasant tail in all likely trout holding nooks of St. Louis Creek. Three aggressive brook trout attacked the beetle, and the rest snatched the pheasant tail from the drift. The size of the fish actually improved a tad, as I landed an eight inch battler and a couple seven inch jewels. And they were indeed gems, as the colors sparkled in the sun, and they displayed bright orange blotches along their underside.

Best Fish of the Day

2.5 hours on St. Louis Creek was just what the doctor ordered after a tough outing on the much larger Colorado River. Each cast offered the chance of a pretty surprise. My greatest difficulty was staging the brookies for photos without the aid of a net, as the holes in the my net were too large for the tiny fish.

Fish Landed: 15

Colorado River – 08/04/2017

Time: 10:00AM – 1:30PM

Location: Kemp-Breeze Unit below Parshall

Colorado River 08/04/2017 Photo Album

During 2007 through 2009 I experienced the halcyon days of the upper Colorado River near Parshall, CO. I visited the public access points in this area seven times during this time frame, and each provided hours of hot action. Pale morning duns, caddis and blue winged olives hatched regularly; and my fly box contained the flies that enabled me to record outstanding days with fish counts in the upper teens and low twenties. The quality of fish was also exemplary with many trout that measured in the fifteen to twenty inch range.

During 2010 I made one visit to the scene of some of my favorite fishing excursions, but I only managed to land seven fish, and the abundant hatches that encouraged surface feeding from the resident trout never materialized. In subsequent years I returned and experienced similar disappointing results.

As I considered my fishing options for Friday August 4, I recalled the wonderful hatches and excellent fishing during the halcyon period. I decided to retrieve my fishing logs from the archives, so I could do some analysis. Perhaps I stumbled into a late July/early August mayfly hatch that was not pale morning duns, and visits after 2010 took place outside this window of opportunity? Sure enough when I reviewed the 2007 through 2010 log reports, I discovered that all the visits took place between July 28 and August 5. Subsequent trips were either earlier or later than the historically productive time frame.

There was only one way to test my theory, and that was to make another trip in 2017 on August 4. I actually printed the fishing log entry for August 5, 2008 and read it a second time, since I planned to use it as a template for my attempt to reinstate the upper Colorado River as a favored summer fishing destination. I packed the car the night before and departed Denver by 7:05AM, and this placed me at the Breeze Unit parking lot by 9:15. Several cars preceded me, and as I was assembling my Sage One five weight, a guide and clients arrived and parked behind me. The upper Colorado is a mosquito haven, so I doused myself with insect repellent as soon as I stepped outside the car, but for some reason the population seemed diminished compared to prior experience.

Wide Open

I tromped down the path and cut through some trees, so that I emerged next to the river above a duck blind and handicapped platform. A group of fishermen with guides were one hundred yards upstream, and another angler was positioned below the handicapped platform, while his wife or significant other monitored his movements from the wooden deck. The structure of the river was a bit different compared to my recollection, but a nice deep run began just above my position and then continued downstream to a point below the handicapped platform.

The flows were in the 380 CFS range, and the sky was bright blue and devoid of clouds. The temperature was in the low sixties when I began and probably peaked at around eighty degrees. I observed the water in front of me for a bit, and other than a few random caddis, I saw nothing that suggested that dry fly fishing would be successful. With this observation in mind I knotted a size 10 yellow Letort hopper to my line and then added a beadhead hares ear nymph and beadhead salvation nymph. The Letort hopper was a concession to the throwback nature of the outing.

I made numerous drifts along the deep run, but my efforts provided no evidence that trout were present. As is usually the case, the Letort hopper became saturated, and since it was not enticing fish, I swapped it for a yellow fat Albert for improved visibility and buoyancy. Not wishing to encroach on the gentleman below me, I decided to advance to the top of the deep run and then cross to the opposite side. During my fun years, I enjoyed some of my best action in the riffles and deep runs between the strong center current and the south bank, and I intended to explore the area in 2017.

Once I crossed to the midpoint, I angled downstream so I could begin in the shallow section where the river fans out above a small island across from the platform. My memory flashed images of large brown trout feeding on dry flies in the shallows in the success years, and I was unwilling to discount a repeat. I prospected the dry/dropper systematically beginning in the shallows and worked my way upstream to the point where the fast water entered the extended run and riffle section. I sprayed four or five casts across the targeted area, and then I carefully waded four steps and repeated the exercise. Halfway through this process the velocity of the center current accelerated, and each step became a challenge, but I persisted so that I could cover the sweet spot between where I stood and the bank.

The top one-third of this section looked absolutely exceptional. The depth was four to six feet and the current was moderate. Surely hungry fish selected this attractive area as their home. I began to see more caddis dapping on the surface in the top segment, so I removed the salvation nymph and replaced it with an emerald caddis pupa. Inexplicably after significant effort I covered the entire fifty yard quality area without so much as a refusal. At the very top a narrow deep slick extended for twenty-five feet below a large exposed rock, and this represented my last chance to extract a reward for my morning persistence. I flicked a backhand cast to the middle of the narrow slot, and after the fat Albert drifted a couple feet it paused, and I reacted with a lift and felt myself attached to a thrashing fish. Could this really be happening? After a brief fight, I guided a twelve inch brown trout with an emerald caddis pupa in its lip into my net, and I snapped a few photos in case this was my last fish of the day.

After Two Futile Hours

It was now between 11:30 and noon, and I began to search for a lunch spot. Both banks were covered with tall grass, and that translated to mosquito disturbance, and I hoped to avoid that eventuality. I looked downstream and noted the small island and decided that the rocks at the point would be a solid lunch perch. It took me a few minutes to wade downstream, but I eventually arrived and enjoyed my snack.

Downstream Look at Island and Platform

While I crunched my carrots I began to see several rises in the shallow section between the deep run next to the wooden deck and the island that served as my lunch counter. Initially I dismissed the fish as small fish, but then I resolved that any rising fish was better than none. After all I was in the prime hatch time period according to my printed August 5, 2008 log, so perhaps this was the beginning of something bigger.

I hurriedly finished my lunch and then reconfigured with a solitary size 16 light gray comparadun also know as the money fly. I was playing the 2008 rewind to the maximum. I dabbed some floatant on the body and flicked the mayfly imitation, so it drifted over the location of one of the rises, and in an instant a fish flashed to the surface and inhaled the fraud. I could not believe my eyes, as I set the hook and engaged in a tussle with a nice thirteen inch brown trout. So much for my small fish theory.

A Riser Fooled

Over the next thirty minutes I landed another feisty thirteen inch brown along with a smaller version to improve my fish count to four. I envisioned a replay of 2008, but alas the rising ended, and the brief sparse hatch disappeared. I never saw an actual mayfly, but the sudden feeding action indicated that it must have taken place. By 12:30 I finally acknowledged that the hatch was over, and I considered my next move. Perhaps if I waded upstream to the riffles, I could spot more subtle rises and cast to them with my size 16 comparadun?

Another Money Fly Chomper

I did exactly that, but zero fish revealed their position, and I managed no success, as I prospected the money fly over relatively shallow riffles. While the hatch evolved, two new gentlemen arrived, and they located on the north side of the long riffle with the deep center current. They were somewhat below the top one-third section that appealed to me in the morning, and I decided that I would like to check out the quality area again but with a dry fly approach. I walked along the edge of the river until I reached a place where some thick bushes stretched over the water, and this forced me to wade a bit deeper to avoid them. As soon as I stepped on the upstream side of the bushes, I was surprised to see two fishermen sitting on the bank eating their lunch. They were perfectly positioned to fish the area that I was targeting, so I executed a reversal and retraced my steps along the fringe of the river.

I found a place to cross to the bank where I began my day, and as I did so, the two fishermen below me decided to call it a day. We exchanged greetings, and then I advanced downstream to where it all began in the morning. I stopped and observed the long deep run hoping to witness some subtle rises, but none appeared. The 2008 report documented that the hatch ended at 1PM, and the remainder of the afternoon was relatively slow. The air temperature was quite warm, and the sky was clear blue, and I sensed that tough fishing would rule the afternoon. I decided to cut my losses and moved to a small cold mountain creek with less discerning more opportunistic fish.

My experiment was over, and I concluded that for some reason the heavy hatches of late July and early August were largely a historical event. It is true that I only sampled one day, and perhaps different weather would spur more action, but for the future I plan to avoid the upper Colorado in July and August, while I seek other destinations with a recent record of success.

Fish Landed: 4

Busk Creek – 08/02/2017

Time: 12:30PM – 2:30PM

Location: Upstream from Turquoise Lake Road

Busk Creek 08/02/2017 Photo Album

“You win some; you lose some” Unknown

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained” Benjamin Franklin

What could these quotes have to do with my fly fishing adventure on Wednesday, August 2, 2017? The highlight of Wednesday was the hike, that Jane and I completed to Timberline Lake near the western tip of Turquoise Lake.

We found a nice campsite at the Father Dyer Campground, one of many campgrounds along the eastern shoreline of Turquoise Lake on Tuesday night. We lived in Colorado for twenty-seven years, yet we never spent any time in the Turquoise Lake Recreation Area, and we corrected that shortcoming on Tuesday and Wednesday. We were both surprised by how close the eastern side of the lake is to Leadville, as my iPhone maps application indicated roughly three miles and eight minutes, and this proved to be correct.

On Tuesday evening I met Jane at the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center along Harrison Avenue in Leadville, and we then parked our cars on Seventh Avenue next to a large church. We decided to walk up and down the main street to scope out possible eating establishments, and then we returned to the Periodic Brew Pub on Seventh for a craft beer. While strolling north on Harrison, we noticed some dark clouds and heard distant thunder, so after draining our brews, we drove Jane’s car to a parking lot near Manuelita’s Cantina. We enjoyed some tasty chips and salsa, and we each ordered and consumed pork tamales, while the skies opened and flushed sheets of rain on the high elevation mining town.

We waited out the storm, and then Jane dropped me off at my car, and we followed the aforementioned map app directions to the Father Dyer Campground. We cruised Baby Doe first, but as a result of its close proximity to the lake, it was nearly full. Campsite number twenty was our choice, and it provided a nice amount of space, although the table and ground were quite saturated from the recent storm.

Best View

Before embarking on the fishing/camping venture, we reviewed the National Geographic maps for the area, and we spotted a four mile round trip hike to Timberline Lake. This became our destination for Wednesday, so after packing up our gear including a wet tent, we drove seven miles along Turquoise Lake Road to the western most point along the lake. We stopped several times along the way to check out overlooks and snapped a few photos.

Five Inch Waves

The trailhead coincided with an access point to the Colorado Trail, and six cars preceded us to the parking lot. We departed at 9:40 and returned by noon. The climb was gentle for the first mile, but the topography shifted to challenging steeps for the second half. The climb was well worth it, as the small lake nestled among Rocky Mountain peaks was spectacular to behold. We snapped a few photos and found some perches on the large rocks and enjoyed some snacks, before we said goodbye to the beauty and the wind.

Indian Paintbrush

Upon our return to the trailhead parking lot, Jane and I ate our lunches, and then Jane departed for her return trip to Denver. I meanwhile prepared for my fishing adventure for the day. When I planned the trip, I debated between trying the Reddy SWA south of Leadville or Busk Creek. Busk Creek was a small high mountain stream a mile or two south of the Timberline Lake trailhead. Since we were within minutes of Busk Creek, I decided to give it a look.

I returned to Turquoise Lake Road and turned right, and after passing May Queen Campground I passed over a small tumbling creek. Two cars were parked near the stream, and a couple was posing for a selfie on a large boulder just above the road. I continued beyond the stream and executed a U-turn, and parked in a narrow pullout twenty yards past the stream. The weather on Wednesday was quite variable, as it vacillated between sunny and mid sixties and cloudy and cool. I debated wet wading and finally took the plunge and pulled on my quick-dry pants and wading socks. I rigged my Orvis Access four weight, and I was set to explore new water.

One of the Better Places on Busk Creek

I surveyed the terrain west of the road, and I noticed a dirt path that climbed a steep bank and then continued into the evergreen forest. Rather that returning to the stream crossing and disturbing the selfie creators, I scrambled up the bank and hiked for fifty yards, and then I cut through the forest to the stream. As I expected, the creek was no more than ten feet wide in most places, and the high gradient manifested itself with a series of fast runs, pockets and plunge pools. Clearly this was going to be fast paced fishing with a few casts in likely spots and constant movement.

I started my quest for mountain trout with a size 14 yellow stimulator, but it was soundly ignored. I was not certain if this testified to a lack of fish, or if it was a rejection of my fly choice. I crossed the small creek to the north side, and here it was evident that quite a few folks had preceded me, and I suspected that many were fishermen. This observation was clear from the wear of the path and obvious creekside casting platforms.

After fifteen minutes of fruitless casting, I paused, and as I pondered my next move, I spied two large green drakes that cruised skyward from the surface of the tumbling stream. What a fortuitous discovery! This made my choice easy, and I quickly knotted a Harrop hair wing green drake size 14 to my line. The observation paid off as I landed a small brown and then a second brown that stretched to ten inches. I was not sure I would land more fish, so I snapped a quick photo and moved on.

Pretty Little Brown Trout

I was feeling rather smug about spotting the green drakes and making the change, but then I suffered through a lengthy lull with no action. The stream was so fast that even the few pockets that I prospected were rather marginal, so I continued on with the green drake hoping that I would encounter some larger trout holding pools. As these thoughts were passing through my brain, some very dark clouds moved in from the southwest, and this was accompanied by distant thunder. I decided to demonstrate uncommon preparedness, and I slid into my raincoat. The move was just in time, and sheets of rain descended upon my wide brimmed hat and rain coat. Of course I was wading wet, so it seemed kind of pointless to keep my upper body dry while standing in water, but I needed all the warmth I could gather.

Nice Little Shelf Pool

A flash of lightning startled me, so I retreated back along the path to a place under an overhanging cliff, and I waited there for five minutes until the sky brightened in the west. I returned to my exit point, and in a short amount of time I approached a gorgeous wide deep pool. My first thought was that this was the prime spot on the entire drainage, and consequently it absorbed the attacks of all manner of bait, spinner and fly fishermen. What were the chances of landing a fish here? I cast the green drake to all the corners of the pool, but as I expected no reaction was forthcoming.

This Pool Produced the Oversized Brown

Just prior to reaching the pool, I began to consider a dry/dropper approach, and given the quality water in front of me, I decided to give it a try. I removed the green drake and tied a size 12 Chernobyl ant to my line, and then I extended some tippet off the bend and attached a beadhead hares ear. Surely any self respecting wild trout could not resist my beadhead hares ear nymph. I lobbed a backhand cast to the left side of the pool, and as expected it drifted unmolested to the tail. Why not go for the jugular? I flipped a second cast to the current that ran through the core of the pool, and the Chernobyl drifted at a moderate pace over the deepest area and approached the tail. As I looked on, a sizable fish materialized from the depths, and it quickly turned its head in the vicinity of my trailing nymph! In a nanosecond my brain recognized what happened, and I lifted the rod tip and found myself attached to a fourteen inch brown trout in a tiny mountain stream near Turquoise Lake. What a thrill!

Monster for Tiny Busk Creek

I cautiously played the fish as it charged about the confined space, and then I slid my net beneath the small stream Goliath. I could not believe my eyes. I snapped a few photos and released my prize catch and proceeded up the steep creek with renewed optimism.

I was sold on the Chernobyl/hares ear combination, and I attacked the deepest holes and pockets with elevated enthusiasm. The hares ear managed to attract one more small brown trout, and then I suffered through an hour of futility. Another series of dark clouds passed overhead, and the wind kicked up, and short periods of light rain returned. My hands morphed into curled claws, as the evaporating moisture created a cooling effect. In truth the quality of the water was very marginal, as the flow rushed downhill and bounced through a never ending boulder field. I combined all these factors with my extreme discomfort from wading wet in fifty degree temperatures with no counterbalancing effect from the sun, and I decided to hustle back to the car.

Upon my return I quickly jettisoned the wet clothes, and initially I planned to spend the next couple hours at the Reddy SWA. However, as I began to drive back to the east, I looked at my watch and realized that it was 3:15. By the time I reached the SWA parking lot and pulled on my waders, it would be at least 3:30, and that allowed merely another hour or two of fishing. Logic overcame my desire to fish, and I made the return drive to Denver. Judging from the weather that I encountered on the two hour drive, I made the correct decision.

If I were to return to Busk Creek, I would probably drive on the Hagerman Pass road until it meets Busk Creek, and then I would hike farther from the starting point to get away from the easy to access pressured areas. In all likelihood I will never return to Busk Creek, and going forward I will refer to it as Bust Creek. I managed to land a gorgeous fourteen inch brown trout, and I only invested two hours, but the effort and adversity did not justify the results. I ventured, but I did not register a gain. In this case I lost, but I will continue to explore new areas to widen my fly fishing destination options.

Fish Landed: 4

Arkansas River – 08/01/2017

Time: 11:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: Hayden Meadows

Arkansas River 08/01/2017 Photo Album

Landing 26 fish on the Cache la Poudre River on Monday was enjoyable, but I craved the deep bend of a more substantial fish, as I contemplated my next fishing trip. July 26 on the Arkansas River lingered as a recent memorable outing, particularly fooling brown trout with a size 14 green drake imitation. The large Harrop hair wing style was easy to follow on the surface of the river, and the trout moved quickly and confidently to crush the fake version. Although I was certain that the gray drake hatch was waning, I pondered whether the stream residents would continue to respond to a well presented imitation.

The Hayden Meadows area was the draw, but the salesperson at the Orvis store, where I purchased my new reel, sang the praises of the Reddy State Wildlife Area on the west side of US 24, and this information also attracted me to a return trip to the upper Arkansas River south of Leadville. I checked out my National Geographic maps of the area, and I identified a nice hike that began from the western end of Turquoise Lake. The Turquoise Lake Recreation Area featured quite a few campgrounds, and I convinced Jane to join me on Tuesday evening for dinner in Leadville and camping at Turquoise Lake. I bribed her with a commitment to accompany her on a four mile round trip hike to Timberline Lake on Wednesday morning.

Testing the Phone Camera

I packed most of the car on Monday evening, after I returned from the Cache la Poudre, and this enabled me to arrive at the Hayden Meadows northern parking lot by 11AM. I considered exploring Reddy SWA, but I opted to save the new stretch of water for Wednesday afternoon after our hike. I assembled my Sage four weight and departed on the two track dirt lane, and in a slight deviation from July 26 I hiked for twenty minutes in an effort to begin farther downstream. It was warm and sunny, and the temperature peaked in the upper sixties at the high elevation river. Flows were comparable to July 26 although a bit lower, as I was able to cautiously cross at selected spots, where wide shallow riffles reduced the strong velocity.

Wide Riffle

Since it was 11:30 by the time I entered the river, I decided to go directly to my Harrop hair wing green drake. It was a bit early compared to the previous Wednesday, but I theorized that the large mayfly imitation might serve as an attractor, since the hatch even a week ago was very sparse. My optimism soared, when I spotted a solitary gray drake, while I was attaching the hair wing to my line. Unfortunately this represented my sole gray drake sighting for the day.

The green drake imitation generated a couple refusals early on, so the fish were tuned into something similar, but I began to fear that it would be a tough day. There was no hesitation from the Hayden Meadows fish on July 26, so why the reluctance on August 1? Perhaps the Harrop was a bit too bushy or perhaps the trout were really locked on smaller caddis with a similar profile? I switched to a size 14 gray stimulator, and the smaller fly produced a look, but no take.

Lunch Spot

After half an hour of fruitless casting I sat down on some rocks and ate my lunch, while I contemplated my next move. The mental sifting led me to shift to a dry/dropper featuring a yellow fat Albert, iron sally, and salvation nymph. The nymphs yielded five nice brown trout on July 26 before I migrated to the Harrop green drake, so perhaps my application of the dry fly was too early in the daily feeding cycle.

First Fish

From 12:30 until 1:30 I landed three brown trout using the dry/dropper method. The first fish was one of the best on the day; a fifteen inch bruiser that gulped the salvation nymph. Somehow during the fight the iron sally wrapped around the head of the brown, and this made the battle extra challenging. Another of the three early afternoon fish was small, and the third was a decent twelve inch specimen. Hayden Meadows brown trout seem to be pound for pound tougher fighters than other brown trout in the Rocky Mountains.

At 1:30 I began to worry that I was missing out on drake action, so I converted back to the Harrop style fly. Although the hair wing did not produce in a manner similar to July 26, I managed to net five additional browns. One was a carbon copy seven incher, but three measured in the eleven to thirteen inch range, and the last one on the day was another hard fighting fifteen inch brute. I cast to a narrow slow moving band of water along the bank from above. On previous casts drag commenced within seconds, but in this instance I managed to create a pause which enabled the fly to hover next to the seam in a tantalizing fashion. The brown could not resist the large mayfly about to escape, and it flashed to the surface and crushed the tempting morsel. The visual take was clearly the highlight of the day.

Vivid Deep Colors

I fished on for another forty-five minutes, but the water seemed increasingly dead as the afternoon slid by. At 3:30 I was uncertain how far I was from the parking lot, and I did not wish to be late for my rendezvous with Jane in Leadville, so I reeled up the green drake and hooked it to my rod guide and found my way back to the car.

Tuesday August 1 was clearly inferior to July 26, but two of my catch were larger than anything that found my net the previous week. As I was stashing my gear at the car, a young Department of Wildlife gentleman appeared, and he asked me a series of questions for a survey. When I communicated to him that I landed eight brown trout with two in the fifteen inch range, he volunteered that I caught 80% of the trout landed in Hayden Meadows that day. His surveys found only two other fish caught on August 1, so while eight fish in four hours is average on my scale, my numbers were quite acceptable based on the DOW survey. More importantly it was a gorgeous first day of August with cool temperatures and spectacular fourteeners in the background.

Fish Landed: 8

Cache la Poudre River – 07/31/2017

Time: 11:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: Upper Landing to Stevens Gulch

Cache la Poudre River 07/31/2017 Photo Album

I could not bring myself to pack the car with fishing and camping gear on Monday, so I decided to make a foray into the local Front Range streams. Unfortunately when I reviewed the DWR stream flow charts, the status of the local drainages remained largely unchanged. Bear Creek was an option, but I desired something larger in scale. South Boulder Creek was down to 185 CFS, and that is quite high for the small tailwater west of Golden, CO, but I considered giving it a try. Once again the most viable options were the North Fork of the St. Vrain and the Cache la Poudre River. I fished the St. Vrain on Thursday July 27, so I elected to take another trip to the Cache la Poudre. My previous three visits were very productive, so why not revisit a known quantity.

During my previous experience on the Cache la Poudre, the morning was relatively unproductive, so I completed my normal morning exercise routine before I departed at 9:10. In one minor deviation from past practice I decided to experiment with new water, and since the new locale was east of the Pingree Park area, the trip was shortened a bit. I arrived at the Upper Landing Picnic Area by 10:30, and I stepped into the water across from the parking lot and began fishing by 11AM. I chose my Loomis five weight in order to test my new Orvis Battenkill disc drag reel.

A woman was sitting in a lawn chair on a gravel beach next to a nice shelf pool, so I asked her permission to fish. She quickly voiced her approval, and I tied a medium olive size 14 stimulator to my line. I was not more than five feet in front of her, when I spotted a small rainbow trout, as it sipped the stimulator, and I quickly guided the pretty seven inch fish to my net. After I released the small gem into the river, a man appeared, and he began talking to the woman in the chair. I gathered that he left his fly rod at home, and he stood on the beach with a relatively heavyweight spinning rod. I took the hint and quickly moved upstream and vacated the quality shelf pool to the newly arrived gentleman.

Edge Fishing on July 31

Small Guy Near Start

In the hour between 11AM and noon I moved quickly from pocket to pocket, and I incremented the fish counter to six before I sat down on a flat rock and ate my sandwich, carrots and yogurt. Although the catch rate was excellent, the fish were on the small side for even the Poudre, and I felt that I cast to some quality locations that did not yield fish, and I was fairly certain that trout existed in these attractive locales.

Before resuming my casting I took advantage of my break, and I reconfigured my line with a three fly dry/dropper set up. I chose a size 10 Chernboyl ant as the top fly, and then knotted the beadhead hares ear and salvation nymph beneath the large foam attractor. These three flies served my purposes admirably over the next 3.5 hours, as I lifted the fish tally from six to twenty-six. Three of the netted fish smacked the Chernobyl ant on the surface, and 75% of the remaining landed fish gobbled the salvation nymph. The remainder nabbed the upper offering, the hares ear nymph.

Rainbow Liked Chernobyl

The action was not as frenetic as my last session on the Poudre, but it was steady and kept me focused. I adhered to my three to five cast rule, and in the process I covered the left bank from Upper Landing to Stevens Gulch. This is likely .5 mile or more of shoreline. Quite a few of the trout attacked the nymphs, as I lifted at the tail of a run to make another cast, and another popular tactic was to cast across to a nice slot and then allow the nymphs to swing at the end of the drift. As this solid day of fishing unfolded, it was accompanied by quite a few temporary connections. I estimate there was one long distance release for every two fish that rested in my net.

Decent

Nice Water

At 2PM I waded near a section that looked particularly attractive, and it was bathed in sunlight thus providing excellent visibility. Even though I did not observe green drakes in the surrounding environment, I was curious to discover if a large juicy drake would tempt the resident river dwellers. I removed the three flies that served me quite well, and I replaced them with a size 14 Harrop hair wing green drake. Initially two fish refused the bushy mayfly imitation, but then a nice eleven inch brown trout crushed it in a fairly shallow pool next to the bank. Perhaps my move would pay off after all. Sadly my optimism was misplaced, as two or three refusals followed the release of my solitary green drake eater.

The experiment taught me that the fish were looking toward the surface, so I returned to the medium olive size 14 stimulator. This fly produced six takes in the late morning, so why not give it an encore? It was worth a try, but the twenty minutes of drifting the stimulator failed to induce even a look or refusal. I was now in the middle of a series of quality deep runs and pockets, and not wishing to waste an opportunity, I returned to the Chernobyl ant, hares ear and salvation. The green drake experiment took place while I rested on a fish count of eighteen, and the resumption of dry/dropper prospecting lifted the count to its final resting place of twenty-six.

So Vivid

By 3:15 I reached the Stevens Gulch day use area, so I turned right and traveled along a paved entry lane to a wide gradual beach that served as a launching point for whitewater rafters. As I ambled to the water, I looked downstream and noticed a short elderly angler at the very tail of the large pool. In order to provide space I began casting my flies at the very top of the pool where a series of choppy rapids entered. I sprayed five drifts to this area, with each one farther toward the middle of the river, but the fish were either not present or not interested in my flies.

I applied my rule and moved to a small marginal pocket below some shrubs, and I hooked a cast beneath the limb, and when I lifted to make a second cast, I felt some weight and landed an eight inch brown trout. Several bushes extended over the river tight to the bank, so I began to circle inland with the intent of resuming my upstream progression, when I noticed the same elderly fisherman that was positioned forty yards below me at the tail of the large pool. He had just moved into position ten feet above me, and I concluded he was not aware of my presence, so I shouted, “I’m here”. I expected he would apologize and give me some space, but instead he replied, “I see you”, and he resumed his preparation to cast. I was more dumbfounded than angry at this point, so I reeled up my line and hiked back to the car. In excess of fifty miles of river exist on the Cache la Poudre, and this angler felt compelled to cut in ten feet above me. Sometimes the thought process of other human beings is very perplexing.

After I reached the car, I stashed my gear and drove east beyond Stove Prairie to a segment of the river that was wide with a long fast riffle structure. I surmised that I could fish the narrow ribbon of slow water along the bank, so I geared up and walked to the base of the long fast section. Before resuming the edge fishing, I prospected around some large exposed boulders where the river angled away from the highway, but this was not productive. The clock was ticking toward four, and I wanted to prospect the left bank, as I was certain that few fishermen endured the hassle of sliding down the steep bank through thick bushes to fish relatively unattractive water. My light pressure theory may have been correct, but twenty minutes of tough wading and casting rewarded me with only one more nine inch brown.

Typical

The one fish I did land resulted in the loss of my two nymphs. When I hooked the spunky brown trout it raced downstream past a large submerged block-shaped rock, and the trailing nymphs snagged the rock on the side away from me. I waded close to the fish and lifted it above the water and swooped my net under it. Somehow this action caused the leader to break above the first nymph, and all that remained was the Chernobyl ant. I reached my hand around the rock, but I could not feel any line or flies, so I added them to my lost inventory.

Monday was an enjoyable day on the Cache la Poudre River. Twenty-six fish is a solid tally for five hours of fishing, and the action was relatively steady throughout the time on the river. I encountered only a couple other fishermen, and I proved that other sections of the river besides the Pingree Park special regulation area could provide decent results. Unlike my previous visits, I observed very few insects, but the above average flows seemed to please the trout, and they continued to feed opportunistically.

Fish Landed: 26

North Fork of the St. Vrain Creek – 07/27/2017

Time: 11:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: Below Buttonrock Dam.

North Fork of the St. Vrain Creek 07/27/2017 Photo Album

After fishing in three different rivers between July 24 and July 26, I decided that I needed to choose a local destination for my next venture. Friends visiting from South Carolina were arriving as guests on Friday, so Thursday offered the best opportunity to sneak in another day of fishing; the fourth successive day of the week. After three great days during the first half of the week, I was skeptical that a Front Range stream could provide comparable enjoyment.

I checked the DWR water graphs, and I determined that the Cache la Poudre River and North Fork of the St. Vrain Creek were my best options. The Poudre was tempting, since I logged three very successful days there in July 2017, but it was a longer drive and involved a higher risk of traffic snarls. The NF of the St. Vrain was chugging along at 110 CFS, and that is high for the relatively small stream northwest of Lyons, CO. After weighing the pluses and minuses I finally settled on the St. Vrain, since it involved only a one hour and fifteen minute drive, and I was anxious to try something new. I convinced myself that I could edge fish the stream, if the flows were high enough to concentrate the fish along the banks.

Churning St. Vrain Remains High

I departed my house in Denver by 8:40, and this delivered me to the parking area at the trailhead to the North Fork by 10AM. I quickly put on my waders and fishing gear, and then I assembled my Orvis Access four weight and began to hike up the dirt road. The weather was rather warm with the temperature already in the high seventies when I departed at ten o’clock, and the stream was indeed high but clear. As I examined the segment of water next to the parking area, I concluded that it was not high enough to concentrate the fish along the bank, and midstream current barriers also provided sufficient shelter from the high flows.

I hiked for twenty minutes, and at that point I angled down a steep bank to the creek. I tied a Chernobyl ant to my line along with an ultra zug bug and a beadhead hares ear nymph, and I began to prospect a succession of deep slow moving pools. Within the first five minutes a fish elevated and inspected the Chernobyl ant, but then it returned to its holding position at the tail of the pool. On another later drift I watched a fish as it moved slightly to its right as the nymphs passed by, but once again the inspection did not lead to a take.

I gave up on the first pool and moved on to several equally attractive areas along the left bank. In each place I spotted fish, but they seemed to be hugging the bottom, and they completely ignored my three fly offering. I was pleased to observe so many fish in water that I skipped since the 2013 flood, but I was equally frustrated that I could not connect. I swapped the ultra zug bug for a salad spinner, since the fish seemed to snatch something from the subsurface drift occasionally, and a midge larva or emerger is a good bet in these circumstances. No dice. Next I exchanged the salad spinner for a size 20 RS2, but this fly was equally ineffective.

I reconsidered my approach, and I recalled that a fish elevated to look at the Chernobyl ant at the start of my casting. I decided to test a size 14 gray stimulator. The ploy was worth a try, but it simply resulted in casting practice. I concluded that I was dwelling on the sighted fish in deep water, and one of my cardinal rules is to keep moving, so I climbed the bank and hiked farther up the road.

Point Where Second Outlet from Dam Enters

Previous trips to the North Fork of the St. Vrain taught me that two outlets from the dam exist, and roughly a mile of water exists between the two releases. I decided to seek lower volume above the second release pipe, and I reached this spot by noon. Twenty yards above the gushing conduit a small cluster of trees bordered the creek, so I skipped to that spot and consumed my lunch.

Lunch View

I estimated that one-third of the North Fork flow was derived from the second outlet pipe, so I now confronted a stream carrying two-thirds of the downstream volume, and this was a welcome change. Counterbalancing this positive, however, was the relatively steep gradient, which created a series of rapids, fast riffles, pockets, deep runs and plunge pools. I quickly concluded that the gray stimulator was not the preferred approach, and I reverted to a three fly dry/dropper setup. I substituted the yellow fat Albert for the Chernobyl ant to obtain maximum floatation to support an iron sally and salvation nymph. These flies connected with fish almost immediately, and they remained on my line for the duration of my stay on the small tailwater.

First Fish Was This Small But Brilliant Rainbow Trout

I advanced into dry/dropper prospecting mode, and I had a great time. I delivered two to five casts depending on the quality of my target area, and then I moved on to the next likely fish holding locale. The fish count climbed from zero to fifteen before I quit just below the dam at 3:30. The sky remained mostly clear, and the air temperature peaked in the eighties, but the forecast thunderstorm for 2:45 never arrived. I spotted a pale morning dun or two and a handful of blue winged olives, and although the mayfly activity never spurred surface feeding, it did seem to increase the aggressiveness of the fish between 12:30 and 2:30.

One of the Better Fish Next to a Wildflower

The fish were small, with the largest perhaps reaching twelve inches, but most measured in the seven to nine inch range. Roughly 40% responded to the iron Sally, and the others latched on to the salvation. During the active two hour time slot, several fish stopped the drift of the fat Albert, when they attacked the trailing nymphs. Throughout the afternoon the top producing technique was to cast across the strong midstream current to slow moving slack water along the opposite bank. I held the rod tip high to keep the fly line off the water and allowed the foam indicator fly and the nymphs to sweep downstream along the bank. If executed properly, this approach generally resulted in a strike near the downstream border with faster water. The brown trout were suckers for the nymphs, as they began to swing away from the bank. During the course of the afternoon, I probably lost more fish than I landed. I attributed this unfortunate circumstance to the small mouths of the stream residents.

Slicks Behind Rocks Produced

Although Thursday did not measure up to the early week outings, it did satisfy my need for a local day of fishing. I managed to partially solve the puzzle, as I landed fifteen fish. The first hour raised the specter of a skunking, but a lunch break and change of scenery made that a distant concern. I hit the fly fishing pause button in order to catch up on this blog and attend to some pending errands. More adventures lie ahead during the first week of August, I am sure.

Fish Landed: 15

A Surprise Rainbow on the Return Hike

 

Arkansas River – 07/26/2017

Time: 10:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: Hayden Meadows

Arkansas River 07/26/2017 Photo Album

Jane and I packed up our wet campsite on Wednesday morning, and Jane returned home to dry out the tent, canopy and tablecloth, while I embarked on yet another day of fly fishing adventure. On July 12, 2016 the apparent absence of fish on Half Moon Creek caused me to alter my plans, and I salvaged my day with a visit to the Hayden Meadows area of the north Arkansas River. Since I was positioned at Hornsilver Campground north of Tennessee Pass, I was in striking distance of the same section of the Arkansas River Headwaters Area, so I decided to give it another trial.

I climbed Tennessee Pass and passed through Leadville and arrived at the northern parking lot by 9:30. The Department of Transportation was doing road work in the area where one turns to access the parking space for Hayden Meadows, and as I prepared to fish, a group of wader clad fishermen were standing in a circle in the larger lot by the trail that leads to the stocked lake. I could hear guides calling out instructions to the students. I was concerned that this crowd would descend upon the river in a short amount of time, so I elevated my usual preparation pace. I selected my Loomis five weight rod, and I quickly tromped down the dirt road toward the bridge that crosses the river.

Two other cars were parked in the same area as me, and a woman returned from walking her dog, so that accounted for one of the vehicles. As I began ambling down the two lane dirt road on the west side of the river, I passed a lone fisherman, and that explained the second car. I decided to hike for twenty minutes, and I was fairly certain this would distance me from the fly fishing class in the western lot. This was the second instance in 2017 that I crossed paths with a fly fishing class.

One of the Mountains to the West

The air temperature was cool for July as the thermometer registered sixty degrees, and large gray clouds covered most of the western sky. During my time on the river, the temperature never exceeded the mid seventies, and the gray clouds blocked the sun seventy percent of the time. The river was clear and 220 cfs translated to a rapid pace, and I was unable to cross until I reached a place where it divided into multiple smaller channels.

Inside Shelf of the Bend

I adhered to my plan and hiked for twenty minutes, and at that point I cut sharply to the left and bushwhacked through some tall grass and wild shrubs until I encountered the river. I began fishing with a chubby Chernobyl with a mustard colored body, an emerald caddis pupa and a beadhead hares ear nymph. It took me awhile to understand the productive water type, but eventually I learned that the dry/dropper produced the best results at the tail of long slicks behind large rocks and at the downstream end of the inside seam of a bend. This knowledge enabled me to tally five landed fish between ten o’clock and noon, when I paused for lunch. The first fish was an eight inch brown that snatched the emerald caddis pupa in a small marginal seam along the bank. The others were nice brown trout in the 12 – 13 inch range, and these hungry fish grabbed the hares ear at the tail of deeper slots behind obstructions in the middle of the river. I exchanged the chubby Chernobyl for a yellow fat Albert within the first twenty minutes to obtain better visibility in the low light conditions.

Not Bad Start to the Morning

Mosquitoes were initially a severe nuisance, but after I sprayed my neck and hands with insect repellent, they seemed to fade. I chose a lunch spot that was away from the tall grasses and shrubs in order to avoid stirring up another mosquito nest. While I crunched my carrots, I observed a nice deep run along the bank just upstream, and I noted two dimpling rises. I was unwilling to attribute this surface feeding to small fish, and once I was properly geared up, I removed the dry/dropper configuration and adopted a single dry fly method. I saw one small pale morning dun attempting to become airborne, so I opted for a size 16 light gray comparadun, and I placed five casts over the scene of the dimples. I received no verification that my fly selection was appropriate, so I stripped in the comparadun and pondered my next move.

As I cast the PMD imitation, I saw the second large lumbering drake of the day. The ArkAnglers web site identified these as gray drakes, and I wondered if a large drake imitation might tempt the local stream dwellers. I also noticed quite a few small blue winged olives, but I was reluctant to go that route in the dim light and glare in relatively fast water. I gazed in my fly box and selected a size 14 green drake comparadun.

I gave up on the lunch time riser, and slowly waded to the top of the narrow ribbon of slow water along the bank. I paused, and as I looked on, I could see the back fin of a decent fish, as it plucked something from the surface in some swirly currents. I fluttered the comparadun to the location of the sighted fish, and I was unable to follow my fly, so I lifted and felt the momentary weight of a fish. It was only a split second, but I was certain that I pricked the sighted fish, and I knew that there would be a temporary pause in its feeding regimen.

A Harrop Deer Hair Green Drake

I moved on, and the comparadun generated a refusal, so I decided to try a size 12 2XL medium olive stimulator. I recalled that a stimulator was effective on July 12, 2016, and I hoped to recapture the year ago success. I persisted with the stimulator for ten minutes, but it was not attracting any interest, so I once again paused to consider my options. I studied the green drake section of my fly box, and I focused on a set of Harrop green drakes, that I tied over the winter. These flies presented a stimulator body and wing form, but the colors were much more imitative of green and gray drakes. I grabbed one and replaced the stimulator.

Creating a Nice Sag

The choice proved to be a clear winner. The fish counter climbed from five to fifteen over the remainder of the afternoon, and the Arkansas River trout loved the Harrop green drake. Many of the netted fish streaked two or three feet downstream to intercept the high riding drake before it could escape or tumble into faster water. The takes were direct and confident. The most difficult aspect of the afternoon fishing was finding the right type of water to fool the brown trout. Nearly all of the ten afternoon drake chompers were in the five foot band of slow moving water between the bank and the heavy current. Quite often I executed a reach cast and then allowed the fly to float downstream, and a brown trout appeared from the depths and confidently smashed the Harrop green drake.

Keep Them Wet

Needless to say, I had a blast. For the second day in a row, I fished primarily a single dry fly and avoided all the hassles related to casting three flies among willows, bushes and windy conditions. Once I stumbled on the favored fly, it was a matter of covering a lot of water in order to find the prime spots where brown trout opportunistically pounced on a large bushy drake imitation. The greatest challenges were the dim light and frequent glare, and the repeated cycle of absorbing water from the fly and then dipping in dry shake. When the wings of the Harrop deer hair drake became wet and matted, the fly seemed to lose effectiveness.

Lunch View

By 3:15 I encountered another fisherman, and I soon learned that I bumped into the fly fishing class. In the .5 mile area below the bridge near my starting point I counted at least eight fishermen. I used this as an excuse to circle around the group, and I reached the bridge and then returned to the car. I am not sure how long the drakes will continue to entice Hayden Meadows trout to the surface, but I would welcome another opportunity to float my Harrop hair wings in the area. Fishing large dry flies to willing trout is a rare treat.

Fish Landed: 15