Category Archives: Fishing Reports

Fishing Reports

Arkansas River – 09/05/2014

Time: 10:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: Chafee – Fremont County line

Fish Landed: 34

Arkansas River 09/05/2014 Photo Album

Over the last four or five years the Arkansas River has grown to become my favorite stream within a day trip of Denver. The quantity and size of fish has improved, and the ratio of rainbow trout has increased, but perhaps the greatest attraction to this large river is the abundant amount of easily accessible public water. Because of the size of the river, I can avoid other fishermen even during popular times such as during the caddis hatch in the pre-runoff period.

Arkansas River From RR Tracks

Unfortunately for some reason I did not experience any productive days during the early season in 2014. I did visit the river for some solid edge fishing in early July, but even that trip did not deliver the hot fishing I expected. As Labor Day passed, I was anxious to return to my favorite river, and Friday September 5 was the opportunity. Would I be disappointed once again?

Bugs All Over the Flowers

Jane loves the Angel of Shavano Campground, and it is situated at the trailhead for climbing Mount Shavano, so we planned a long weekend camping trip to that location. Unfortunately the weather forecast called for a high probability of rain on Thursday, Friday and Saturday so we debated whether we should cancel our plan or forge ahead. We chose the latter course and packed the car and took off by 5PM on Thursday. As we drove southwest on highway 285, we could see dark clouds to the southwest, and sure enough as we reached Poncha Springs and began driving west toward Monarch Pass we encountered light rain.

By the time we reached the campground it was dark and raining lightly, so we quickly found site number 12 along the creek and assembled our tent. It rained most of the night, and when we woke up on Friday morning, it was quite bleak and dreary with mist and fog shrouding the entire narrow valley. The forecast suggested even a higher chance of rain on Friday, so we decided to eat breakfast and pack up everything except the tent.

Jane, being the wonderful wife that she is, dropped me off at the Chaffee – Fremont County line along highway 50 where I gathered all my essentials for a day of fishing. Jane then returned to the campground and completed one of her favorite hikes to the Blanks Cabin along the Colorado Trail on the way to Mount Shavano. When she returned, she earned wife of the year honors as she rolled up the still wet tent and tarp and packed everything into the Santa Fe. She then drove to the pull out where I was dropped off and enjoyed the remainder of her afternoon reading along a busy highway and waiting for me to finish my fishing.

I meanwhile descended the bank at the county line and crossed the river to the opposite shore where I climbed the steep bank to the railroad tracks and walked east until I was quite a distance below the small island that is one of my favorite spots on the entire river. The sky remained quite overcast and the air temperature was in the low 50’s as I began at 10AM. The flows were at 380 cfs, and this level is actually lower than average for September 5 despite a high snow pack and more than average rain during the summer.

Nice Stretch of Water

The river looked spectacular, as it was crystal clear and low enough to allow coverage of almost any location I wished to explore. I debated which rod to use, but eventually opted for my Sage four piece four weight. I also considered using the thingamabobber nymph set up that I learned from Taylor Edrington, but when I saw the low clear flows, I elected to begin with a dry/dropper rig. I began with a Chernobyl ant trailing a beadhead hares ear and a salvation nymph. This three fly combination has become my preferred choice for beginning my fishing in 2014.

Early Brown on Beadhead Pheasant Tail

It worked well, and I accumulated seven fish in the first hour while covering some very attractive deep runs and slower moving side pools. When I reached the bottom tip of the small island and worked up along the south side, I added a few more small fish, and these were included in my seven count. I considered converting to something smaller for the small channel that runs along the north side of the island, but my initial flies were performing well, so I stayed with success. Unfortunately the nymphs snagged on rocks in the nice pockets at the bottom of the right channel, and this forced me to disturb the water and spook several decent fish.

Parachute Hopper Duped This Guy

I moved to the tail of the nice deep pool at the lower end of the channel and began lobbing the Chernobyl and nymphs, but the fish were having none of them, and I knew that there were plenty of fish present. I decided to switch gears, and I tied on a yellow sally and dropped a beadhead RS2 off the bend. I began to see an occasional blue winged olive fluttering up from the river surface, so I felt the fish might be tuned in to the active BWO nymphs. Unfortunately this theory did not prove out at this point in the day, so I made another change and tied on a parachute hopper with a hares ear body, and below that large fly I added the beadhead hares ear and a soft hackle emerger.

My success rate went through the roof, and I landed twelve more trout as I worked my way up through the right braid around the island. Initially the parachute hopper was drawing refusals, but then I enticed some fish to grab the hares ear, and by the time I reached the top of the island, all three flies were producing. The fish were somewhat smaller than what I experienced on some previous trips to this area, but they were +12 inches on average, and the two that slurped the parachute hopper were quite nice and measured in the 15 inch range.

A Very Fine Rainbow

When I reached the top of the island, I decided to cross the river to fish a very juicy deep run where the river deflects off a large vertical rock wall. Here I landed a gorgeous fifteen inch rainbow in the oxygenated white water at the head of the riffle, and then I followed that with a 14 inch brown that grabbed the hares ear on a downstream drift next to the rock wall. I was at 21 as I glanced at my watch and realized it was approaching 1PM, and I had committed to returning to the drop off point by one o’clock for lunch in case Jane was back from her hike. Since I was near the side of the river that bordered the road, I continued across to the shore and climbed a path to the highway and returned to the county line.

I had my lunch in my backpack, so I found a nice location and perched above the river on a high rock wall and observed the water as I ate. As I gazed at the deep pool below me, I spotted two decent fish, and they were sipping something small from the surface on a fairly regular basis. One fish appeared to be a large rainbow, and it held in a steady position and drifted up occasionally. The other fish tended to move about and covered a twenty foot area from the head of the pool to a spot right below my lunch spot. I could also see that there were very tiny mayflies drifting in the current, so this was probably driving their feeding behavior.

Pink Striped Rainbow

When I finished my lunch I grabbed my rod and decided to make some casts to the deep pool below me. I targeted the rainbow since it was stationary and easier to fish to. I stripped out a bunch of line and began lobbing casts above the fish, and on several drifts it looked at the parachute hopper but scoffed at my offering. Next I began drifting my flies ten feet above the position of the fish, and then when the hopper was just over the fish, I lifted in an effort to imitate an emerging blue winged olive with my trailing soft hackle emerger. Miraculously on the tenth drift and lift, the rainbow reacted and snatched my fly. I now scrambled down a steep path while stretching my arm out to keep pressure on the rainbow, and eventually I maneuvered on to a small beach and brought the fish to my net. It was a very nice seventeen inch rainbow, and I snapped a photo for the archives.

This disturbance scattered the other fish, so I retreated to the car and hiked back along the highway and carefully picked my way back down the path that I used to exit the river for lunch. Once I was at river level I crossed back to the north bank and began working my way upstream along the right bank. The rest of the afternoon was spent prospecting with the three flies to all the likely pockets, runs and pools. Because the water level was low, I was able to explore areas toward the middle of the river, but despite my ability to cover more of the river, the pockets next to the bank were the most productive.

A Very Nice Wild Brown Trout

The action in the afternoon was steady but not as frequent as the morning session; however, the slower catch rate was more than offset by the larger size of the fish. After an hour or so I grew weary of continually drying the dubbed body of the parachute hopper, so I replaced it with a tan Charlie Boy hopper. I simply wanted something more buoyant, and I was not catching many fish on the top fly. What a move! Five of the last six fish slurped the foam hopper confidently, and these fish put up spirited battles before sliding into my net. They were all fish in the 13-15 inch range. I covered a lot more water during this time period, but I was rewarded for my persistence and stealth.

Stretched in Front of the Net

By 3:45PM I was in a position across from the county line, and I could see Jane seated in her chair behind the Santa Fe. I continued on upstream for a bit and skipped the long deep pool, and then I prospected some nice pockets. Unfortunately by this time the sun was lower in the sky, and it created a difficult glare on the water, so I decided to call it quits.

Rainbow in the Net

Friday September 5 turned out to be my best trip to the Arkansas River in 2014 and perhaps one of my best visits ever. Thirty plus fish in a day is always a positive, but at least ten fish were in the 14 – 15 inch range and 25% were rainbows, and this combination of factors elevated this outing to outstanding. The dry/dropper technique was on fire, and I love fishing using this method. September fishing is typically the best of the year, and it is off to a grand start in 2014.

Stretched Out to 15″

Jane’s Roadside Campsite

South Boulder Creek – 08/30/2014

Time: 10:30AM – 3:00PM

Location: End of path back to the boulder area along the fisherman path

Fish Landed: 15

South Boulder Creek 08/30/2014 Photo Album

South Boulder Creek is rapidly becoming my home water. I can drive from my house to the parking lot below the dam in one hour so it meets the proximity criteria that is associated with home water. Intimacy with the stream is the other factor cited in descriptions of home waters, and with each visit this summer, I am gaining more knowledge of the nuances of fishing South Boulder Creek. Having said that, the only constant in fly fishing is change.

After returning from whitewater rafting on the Arkansas River and fishing in the South Platte River, I needed to spend a full week at work in order to catch up. A few unexpected glitches forced me to work on Thursday and Friday, so I was in dire need of some river therapy, and I scheduled a rare weekend fishing day on Saturday. It was Labor Day weekend, so I was concerned that the local streams would be unusually crowded. The flows on the Big Thompson River and South Boulder Creek were attractive, and I selected the latter since it was a shorter drive, and the Big Thompson attracts more out of state tourists due to its proximity to Rocky Mountain National Park.

I got off to a reasonably early start in an attempt to beat the crowds, but the parking lot was already approaching capacity with five or six pickup trucks and cars present as I pulled in at 9:30AM. Perhaps I did not get an early enough start. It was a very nice late August day with the temperature reading at 71 degrees as I stood in the parking lot and prepared to fish, and the high temperature probably reached 81 in the middle of the afternoon before some large clouds rolled in. The flows were at 125 cfs, and this level is a bit high resulting in slightly more challenging wading than ideal levels between 80 and 100 cfs, but I have fished at higher flows, and 125 is certainly enjoyable.

South Boulder Creek Near Start on Saturday

I hiked down the path on the north side of the stream as far as I could until it faded into dense bushes and vegetation, and then I found a faint spur that allowed me to reach the creek further downstream than any previous visit in 2014. I’m very intrigued with the idea of crossing and bushwhacking even further downstream, but I need to get an even earlier start to satisfy this curiosity. As I hiked along the path, I passed quite a few fishermen on the upper .5 miles, but miraculously the entire lower stretch appeared to be void of competing anglers.

I tied on a parachute hopper as my first fly simply because it was readily available in the small fly box that is attached to the strap of my frontpack, and also because I had a hunch it might produce. I began my day by working downstream to some short but deep pockets on the edge of the creek below me, but this strategy did not produce. Perhaps I spooked the fish because of my presence upstream? This may have been the reason for the lack of production from the parachute hopper, so I left it on my line and reversed direction and worked upstream popping the large dry fly into some juicy pockets and deep runs. Alas the hopper just wasn’t attracting fish even after giving it the benefit of the doubt, so I clipped it off and attached a size 12 stimulator with a medium green body. A stimulator with a gray body had been a top producer for me on two previous trips to South Boulder Creek earlier in the season.

Pretty Rainbow

The stimulator finally generated a rise, and I hooked and landed an eight inch brown trout, but I continued to be disappointed with my ability to attract fish in some very attractive locations, so I replaced it with a green drake comparadun. It was still early in the day for green drakes, but a similar fly was on fire in my previous visit, and large juicy green drakes sometimes draw fish to the surface at all times of the day. Once again these thoughts were sound in theory, but proved to be flawed in reality. I did manage to hook one decent rainbow that rose in a deep run along a current seam, but then refusals became the ongoing pattern. At least fish were seeing the green drake as a food source and checking it out.

Pretty Speckled Rainbow

After an hour of focused fishing, I landed two fish, and I was dissatisfied with dry fly fishing so I elected to make a more dramatic change and converted to the dry/dropper method of fishing. I defaulted to my standard Chernobyl ant and beadhead hares ear with the addition of a salvation nymph, and I began to prospect all the likely spots. This move turned the tide, and I landed eight more fish before breaking for lunch at 12:30. I had a blast moving along quickly and popping casts into likely holding spots, and I picked up fish with rapid regularity. Much of my success came from less obvious pockets particularly when I lifted the flies at the tail before they spilled over a faster chute.

Nice Water Along the North Bank

At 12:30 I approached a beautiful long run and pool and fished up to the midpoint until I saw a nice spot on the bank to sit and eat lunch. As I munched my sandwich, I observed quite a few yellow sallies slowly fluttering above the water and landing in the bushes. I thought about returning to a single dry yellow Sally or lime green trude after lunch, but I was having solid success with the dry/dropper approach, so I stuck with the method that was producing.

Afternoon Brown

After lunch I resumed fishing the long pool, but amazingly the top half did not yield any fish. Between 1PM and 2:30PM I landed five more fish and hooked but did not land at least another three. My catch rate fell off, but the size of the fish improved as evidenced by the fact that most of the afternoon trout that rested in my net were in the 10-12 inch range. For one memorable stretch in three successive small pockets along the left bank, I spotted rainbows holding in front of a large submerged boulder. In each case there was a deep depression in front of the rock, and the fish was a foot or two out from the bank. Because I could see these fish, I allocated more than the usual three casts, and when I lacked success with a dead drift, I began to deploy a lift in front of the nose of the fish. In all three cases persistence and the lifting technique resulted in a hook up on the salvation nymph. It was very gratifying to spot the fish and devise a tactic to entice a take.

Nicest Fish of the Day

It was a fun day although the fishing action slowed measurably from 2:30 until 3:00, and this window coincided with the warmest portion of the day. As I walked back to the parking lot, I stopped at a few places and made some casts, and as I was doing this, some large clouds moved in from the west and blocked the sun. This change in light intensity provoked a sparse BWO hatch, so I swapped the salvation nymph for a size 20 soft hackle emerger. I paused to fish a small pocket as I made my final crossing of the stream and managed a momentary hook up with a brown. I’m guessing this fish slammed the soft hackle emerger on the swing, and perhaps I could have enjoyed additional success by imparting movement to the soft hackle, but I was tired and satisfied with my day, so I climbed up the bank and made the final steep ascent to the parking lot.

Great Water Ahead

South Platte River – 08/22/2014

Time: 10:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: From point where the canyon narrows back toward the campsite where we stashed our gear.

Fish Landed: 23

South Platte River 08/22/2014 Photo Album

The South Platte River below Lake George remains one of my favorite spots to get away from it all. The size of the fish is a bit lacking, but the location is remote, and there are a large quantity of fish, and I love the solitude. My son, Dan, is also a fan of the South Platte, and he was back in town for a week before resuming classes at Fuqua Graduate School, so we scheduled a day on the river.

We camped at Round Mountain Campground on Thursday night and withstood some light rain. We woke up at around 7AM on Friday morning, and after a quick breakfast we drove the eight or nine miles required to arrive at the trailhead. It was quite overcast as we hoisted our packs on our backs and began the three mile hike to our typical staging area where we pulled on our waders and strung our rods. The sky was even darker than when we left, so we both decided to wear our rain jackets, and this proved to be a smart decision as it drizzled and rained lightly off and on during our morning fishing.

Dan Ties on His Starting Flies

South Platte at 200 CFS

I never fished this stretch of the South Platte River when flows were above 180 cfs, so I was a bit concerned that it would be difficult since the DWR web site registered 200 cfs. However, as we approached the water it appeared that the higher flows would not be an issue. Nice deep pockets were visible as usual, and there were spots where a fisherman could carefully cross to the opposite bank. In fact Dan accepted that challenge and worked his way across so he could fish the east bank while I patrolled the west side. We both began with a Chernobyl ant and beadhead hares ear, and we probably should have offered something different to see what the fish might be looking for, but based on past experience we were confident that these flies would appeal to South Platte River trout.

Dave’s First Fish

I quickly began picking up fish on the hares ear, and Dan was also recording a nice quantity of hook ups, but for some reason they were resulting in long distance releases. By the time we decided to break for lunch at 12:45PM, I accumulated sixteen fish landed, and quite a few were in the 6-8 inch range although a few larger rainbows and browns were in the mix. As Dan and I hiked back to the informal campsite that served as our staging area, the intensity of the precipitation increased from an intermittent drizzle to a steady light rain. It was not enough to prevent us from continuing, but enough to soak our raincoats and hats.

Dan Displays an Early Catch

When we arrived at the staging area, we met a group of four campers/fishermen who had just arrived after completing the three mile hike. They were setting up their tents for a long weekend stay, and we chatted with them while we consumed our lunches. They were from Colorado Springs, and we noticed both fly rods and spinning rods in their arsenals. Dan and I finished our lunches and said goodbye to the campers and hiked back down the path to the location where we exited before lunch. It was 1:30 as we resumed fishing in the rain.

Dave Pulled a Nice Brown from Small Gap Between Log and Rock

Dan once again negotiated a crossing, and I resumed prospecting the pockets along the right bank, but the action was slower than that which I experienced in the morning. I reached some gorgeous deep runs and decided to abandon the dry/dropper and try the indicator nymph method. Initially I fished a beadhead hares ear and a RS2, and in a deep narrow slot I brought at least four fish to my net as the trout hammered the hares ear as I lifted toward the tail of the drift. I shouted to Dan that deep nymphs were on fire, so he found a place to cross, and I set him up with the same configuration that I was using except I used a soft hackle emerger instead of the RS2 as his bottom fly.

A Nice Afternoon Brown Trout

The nymphing technique worked reasonably well and allowed me to land seven more fish in the afternoon session. The catch rate was down, but the fish were on average larger; however, I felt the fish landed in 2014 were smaller than my experience on previous trips. As usual my nicest fish of the day may have been the one that escaped. I hid behind a huge exposed boulder and flipped the nymphs above and into some nice riffles over moderate depth. As the indicator angled away from the boulder and floated toward the bank, it shot sideways, and I set the hook. This provoked a bright rainbow trout in the 13-14 inch range to launch from the stream, and in the process it tossed my flies from its lip.

The indicator nymph system required deeper water than the dry/dropper set up as the splash of the indicator was enough to spook fish in the more shallow pockets along the edge that produced fish in the morning. Despite the flows of 200 cfs, more edge pocket water became available as I waded upstream than deep runs and seams that matched the deep nymphing technique.

Dan Looks Back Amid Rain Showers

We decided to quit at 4PM just as a decent hatch of tiny size 24 BWO’s began. I also observed two quite large mayflies that appeared to be yellowish in color, and speculated that they might be flavs. In addition one or two pale morning duns may have been in the mix. I would have liked to stay longer to see what sort of aquatic emergence developed; but the rain, feeling chilled and Dan’s need to prepare for an early flight on Saturday trumped this desire.

Despite the rain and higher than normal flows, it was another fun day on the South Platte River. I always enjoy spending a day with my son, so catching a bunch of fish in a remote setting is merely icing on the cake. We both experienced a lot action although the size of the fish was down a bit, but the important thing is we caught fish and had a great time. I may try one more trip to this section of the South Platte River if the flows drop to the 80-120 cfs range.

Lake Crescent – 08/12/2014

Time: 4:00PM – 5:15PM

Location: West of La Poel picnic area

Fish Landed: 0

Lake Crescent 08/12/2014 Photo Album

Jane and I returned to the parking lot by way of the Sol Duc Trail and found a picnic table where we consumed our lunch. We brought our swimsuits along in case we decided to stop at the Sol Duc Hot Springs, but we did not have much information about this experience. After a six mile drive on the narrow dirt road we found a relatively close parking space and entered the lobby of the spa where we found a sign displaying the prices. An adult all day pass was $12.25 and a senior pass was $9.00. We felt these were reasonable, so we made the purchase and spent an hour in the hot springs. There was a regular swimming pool and three round hot tubs with several rows of lounge chairs off to one side.

The water was a pleasant hot temperature and the air smelled like sulfur as is typically the case at natural hot springs. We began soaking in one of the smaller pools and then moved to the largest one that was distinguished by a bubbling fountain of hot water in the center section. After an hour of soaking and people watching, we exited the pool and grabbed our towels and used the locker rooms to shower and dress.

As we left the Sol Duc Hot Springs, I asked Jane if she would mind if I fished in Lake Crescent for an hour or two before we returned to Forks. I remembered that a fairly dense blue winged olive hatch occurred between 3PM and 4PM on Monday, and I was curious to find out if it might happen again. Jane agreed with my proposal, so we drove east again until we reached the La Poel picnic area where we turned left and circled the small peninsula to the next to last table.

Blue Color of Lake Crescent on Tuesday Afternoon

Jane decided to read, and I prepared to fish in a small cove that was just west of where we parked. I tied on the same stimulator that fooled three cutthroats on Monday and began making long casts parallel to the shore again, but on this Tuesday I was unable to land any fish. The mayfly hatch never materialized, and I spotted only a few sporadic rises. I did manage one momentary hook up, but for the most part, it was a lot of casting and waiting with no reward. At least I achieved some closure after rushing away from some decent action on Monday afternoon.

Water Fished on Tuesday

Sol Duc River – 08/12/2014

Time: 12:00PM – 2:00PM

Location: Above Sol Duc Waterfalls

Fish Landed: 15

Sol Duc River 08/12/2014 Photo Album

While speaking to the gentleman at Waters West on Monday, I also asked if there were any streams where I might catch some resident fish in Olympic National Park in early August. The voice on the other end of the phone was quick to reply that the Sol Duc River held fish, although at the current low flows, a fisherman needed to cover a lot of water and search for deep runs and pockets. With warm temperatures forecast through Tuesday before clouds and rain were expected to move in on Wednesday, Jane and I decided to drive up the Sol Duc River valley and explore the attractions in that area of the park. Needless to say I threw my fishing gear in the rental car.

The drive from Forks to the Sol Duc River valley involved going east on highway 101 toward Lake Crescent similar to our trip on Monday. However, before reaching the western end of Lake Crescent, we needed to execute a sharp right turn, and then we drove south for approximately eighteen miles to reach the trailhead for the falls. Highway 101 crossed the Sol Duc River four or five times between Forks and the turn off, and it was evident that the river was quite low, and I understood the Waters West comments regarding covering a lot of water in search of fish. As we drove south along the valley in Olympic National Park, the streambed narrowed, and I became more optimistic regarding the likelihood of finding some fish.

Salmon Cascade on the Sol Duc River

On our way to the trailhead to the falls we encountered a pullout where we could view the salmon cascade. Unfortunately we were too early for the fall salmon runs, but the narrow ribbon of churning water was a pretty sight along the way. We continued on and after we passed the Sol Duc Lodge and campgrounds, we turned on a narrow gravel road and proceeded an additional six miles until we reached a large oval turnaround with parking on both sides. Signs indicated that we had arrived at the trailhead for the Sol Duc Falls. The map indicated that one could hike along the eastern side of the river, cross at the waterfalls, and then return to the Sol Duc Lodge on the western side.

Sol Duc Waterfalls

Jane and I were undertaking a less ambitious challenge as we planned to hike to the falls where I would fish, and Jane would branch off on one of several side trails. I was the only person dressed in fishing waders and carrying a fly rod as we departed the parking lot for the .8 mile hike to the falls, and consequently I was feeling a bit abnormal. The hike was relatively easy, and we arrived at the bridge within twenty minutes and paused to take a few photos. Initially Jane and I hiked upstream along the right bank, but the trail seemed to fade and there were numerous campsites scattered about the area. I do not generally like to fish near campgrounds and well worn paths, so I suggested we cross back to the opposite side and find the Sol Duc Trail and hike further upstream.

Jane and I retraced our steps and made a sharp right turn at a shelter and then hiked uphill for .25 miles. The trail was beginning to move away from the river, so I decided to negotiate a steep descent through some large evergreens. I called out to Jane, and she waited and watched me carefully pick my path down the steep slope. Finally after some bushwhacking, I parted the bushes and stepped into the river. I pulled my line through the rod guides, and took a few steps into the stream, and then looked downstream to see where I was. I was quite surprised to discover that I was forty yards above the waterfall bridge! I had expended a ton of energy and risked injury on the steep slippery hillside to return to the spot that I could have easily waded into from the campground on the opposite bank. Sometimes I am prone to overanalyzing situations.

With that ridiculous adventure behind me, I shifted my focus to fly fishing. I read about the native rainbows and coastal cutthroat trout of the Pacific Northwest, and I was harboring hopes of landing a few of these species. I assumed they would be small, but at least they would be different from my normal Colorado trout species. I tied a size 12 gray stimulator to my line and began casting my six weight Scott to a nice deep pocket. The stream at this point was more akin to a Colorado headwater than a river that is connected to the Pacific Ocean. The weather was cool and cloudy and would remain this way for the remainder of my fishing time in the upper Sol Duc River.

As I began fishing, a woman appeared on the other side of the stream with her two blonde-haired sons. She stood directly across from me, and I felt some added pressure to not look like a fool in front of these spectators. My first cast generated an immediate refusal as did the second and third drifts, but I moved my fly to some slower water on the fourth cast and a fish jumped at the fly as if starvation was in its future. The flash of orange caught my eye, and I was both excited and disappointed as I stripped in a small six inch brook trout. I was excited because I found a place where resident trout were prevalent, and I would likely be able to enjoy some decent action. I was disappointed to learn that I’d traveled 1,000 miles to the extreme northwest corner of the United States in order to catch a species of trout that is native to my home state of Pennsylvania. I was truly hoping for coastal cutthroats or native rainbows.

River Above the Waterfalls

In this first deep hole I probably landed ten brook trout, but I only counted five since the other five were beneath my six inch standard for recording on my fish counter. Meanwhile my tourist friend was more excited than me and continued to watch my every move. Jane returned from our ill advised attempt to escape tourists and spotted me fishing in the small stream above the waterfall, so she circled around and stood next to the blonde tourist. I later discovered that the fishing spectator was from the Netherlands, and she loves fishing, and she peppered Jane with all manner of questions. Amazingly my wife, who does not fish, was able to answer most of the questions with accuracy. Had I known that she loved fishing, I would have waded across and allowed her to catch a few fish. The small brook trout in the upper Sol Duc River were certainly willing targets for a novice fisherwoman.

One of Many Small Brook Trout Landed

After I exhausted the aggressive fish, I moved further upstream and continued landing small brook trout, and in no time I accumulated a count of ten landed fish excluding an additional ten tiny gems that were too small to count. I was getting somewhat bored with the ease of catching fish, so I decided to experiment with different flies. First I tried a lime green trude and landed another three counters, although this fly prompted more refusals than the stimulator. Next I tried a Chernobyl ant with the thought that the foam fly would not require frequent drying to enable floatation. Surprisingly the Chernobyl resulted in 100% refusals. I’m not sure if the hook was too large for the tiny mouths, or if there is some other explanation.

My last offering was a size 16 gray deer hair caddis, and that produced the last two fish. I looked at my watch and realized it was 2PM, and that was the time I committed to meet Jane back at the shelter. I hooked my fly to the rod guide and climbed up on a small island that split the stream. Once again as I pushed the bushes aside to cross the smaller braid on the other side of the island, I experienced a surprise. There was my pretty wife, Jane, sitting on a rock and reading at one of the many backpacking campsites along the river.

Despite the disappointment of discovering stunted brook trout in the Sol Duc River in Olympic National Park, I had a fun early afternoon. I landed fifteen countable trout in two hours, and I relished the opportunity to wade in new water and prospect with a large visible dry fly.

Lake Crescent – 08/11/2014

Time: 11:00AM – 1:00PM

Location: Barnes Point then along highway 101 west of entrance to the Barnes Point area

Fish Landed: 3

Lake Crescent 08/11/2014 Photo Album

When I learned that we were making a trip to Olympic National Park, I performed a search on fishing in Olympic National Park and quickly found a comprehensive article from Fly Fisherman magazine. I anxiously studied this source of information on my destination hoping to discover some exciting fishing opportunities in the northwestern rainforest. It was apparent that excellent fishing for salmon and steelhead existed on the western side of the park; however, our week in August was probably too early for fall and winter runs of these species. The Elwha River in the north central section of the park jumped out as a very intriguing option with resident rainbows that got trapped when two dams were built on the lower river.

Another option described in the article was Lake Crescent, a large clear lake in the north central portion of the park ten miles west of the Elwha drainage. According to the article this lake was created by glaciers and contained two species of trout unique to its waters; the beardslee rainbow trout and the crescenti cutthroat trout. Apparently a prehistoric mud slide separated Lake Crescent from other drainages and these two species of trout evolved in the clear cold waters that remained.

Jane and I decided to make Lake Crescent our destination on Monday August 11, 2014. When we drove along the south shore of the lake on highway 101 on our western journey on Saturday, I was intimidated by the size of the stillwater. I’m not very good at reading lakes to begin with, and this lake was very large and very clear and huge trees bordered the shore with steep drop offs the norm. I did a search on the internet and found a fly shop located in Port Angeles called Waters West, so I gave the shop a call as we drove east to Lake Crescent.

The man who answered the phone was very polite and helpful, and he suggested that I fish any of the points along highway 101, the inlet at Barnes Creek, or points along the dirt road that borders the northern side of the lake. With this information I decided to begin at the Barnes Creek area since I’ve had some success at the inlet to lakes in my limited stillwater fishing past. Once we turned on to the road that led to the Barnes Point complex, we had a bit of trouble locating a public access area near the inlet of Barnes Creek, but we finally succeeded in finding Bovee’s Meadow and parked there.

Kayaks on Lake Crescent

I assembled my rod and pulled on my waders and found a short path that led me through the forest to Barnes Creek, and then I followed the small stream to the inlet. I succeeded in finding one of the fishing locations suggested by Waters West. There were quite a few kayaks to the northeast that apparently were rented from the Lake Crescent Lodge. In addition several picnickers and swimmers were situated along the shoreline between my location at the inlet of Barnes Creek and the Bovee’s Meadow beach. Beach is a relative term at Lake Crescent as the beach consists of coarse gravel rather than the typical sand.

I had my six weight Scott rod so I inserted my spare spool containing a sink tip line and then knotted a black nosed dace to the end of the short leader. I began to fan casts in all directions and executed a variety of retrieves, but there was no sign of fish on this hot and bright sunny Monday. Before my confidence waned excessively, I decided to try another streamer, and I swapped the dace for a sculpzilla. I bought the sculpzillas for my trip to Argentina and figured they were large and weighted and covered with a dark olive marabou that would likely pulse in the clear water and attract predatory fish. It was a good theory, but I was never able to prove it as I went fishless over the first hour in the Barnes Point area.

Looking Back Toward Barnes Creek Inlet

By now many more swimmers had arrived, and I knew that the splashing water combined with my lack of knowledge of the area was not a good combination. Jane went her separate way on a hike to the nearby waterfalls, so I decided to make a significant relocation. I could see traffic passing along highway 101 a short distance away along the southeast shoreline, so I retreated to the road that led to the parking lot and followed it until it was twenty feet below the highway where I climbed the bank and then hiked along the shoulder until I was beyond a series of lakefront cabins.

Once I was clear of the private cabins, I dropped back down the bank to a small beach and resumed fishing. I made a few casts with the sculpzilla, but as I was retrieving I spotted a rise fifty feet to my left. With the lack of success using the streamer tactic, it did not take much to prompt me to make a switch, so I removed the sink tip line and replaced it with the spool of floating line. Once this was clicked in place, I tied a size 12 gray stimulator to my leader and began shooting casts toward the vicinity of the rise. Several additional sporadic rings had appeared as I was making the line conversion.

View Along the South Shore of Lake Crescent

I made numerous casts parallel to shore and allowed the stimulator to sit motionless over the next ten minutes. As I was beginning to write off the Lake Crescent fishing experience as simply a sightseeing tour, I was startled to see a slurp that gobbled up my listless stimulator. I responded with a sharp hook set and felt some decent weight on the end of my six weight rod. The fish put up a surprisingly strong battle before finally being subdued, and as I gazed down at my net I discovered a shiny fourteen inch cutthroat trout. I recognized it as a cutthroat due to a faint slash below the jaw. The fish was beautiful with speckles and a faint pink stripe along the side. Did I land a crescenti cutthroat or was this a hybridized version? I suppose I’ll never know the answer to this question. I found a spot on the bank and snapped a photo and gently released the Lake Crescent gem back into the cold aqua water.

14″ Lake Crescent Cutthroat

I continued slowly moving along the shoreline making long casts and eventually landed two more smaller cutties. One was nine inches long and the third extended to eleven. In addition, somewhere in the midst of landing these three fish, I experienced a momentary hook up on a fish that felt a bit heavier than the small ones.

I committed to meet Jane by 1PM, and I was running late, so I ended my Lake Crescent experiment and hustled back to the car. I must admit that I felt a bit unfulfilled and craved more time on the lake after getting a taste of success. Despite these feelings, I was also rather euphoric over the accomplishment of perhaps landing three of a unique species of Lake Crescent trout.

Taylor River – 08/08/2014

Time: 12:45PM – 3:00PM

Location: Across from Lodgepole Campground and then upstream

Fish Landed: 3

Taylor River 08/08/2014 Photo Album

Facing an early departure on Saturday morning for Seatac Airport, and with the daunting chore of packing for a week in Olympic National Park ahead of me, I did not want to depart from the Taylor River any later than 3PM. Danny and I quickly downed our lunches back at Lottis Creek Campground, took down the tent, and packed everything in the car. We were now anxious to return to the Taylor River for some action similar to that experienced on Thursday.

I drove to the same pullout used on Thursday, and we once again agreed to cross to the north side of the river, but unlike the previous day, we made a left turn and followed the river downstream through the woods to a point directly across from the Lodgepole Campground and parking lot. On Friday we crossed the river where the four fishermen blocked our path on Thursday, and this proved to actually be more challenging than the upstream route.

Big clouds raced across the sky, and this condition combined with a strong wind to create a cool environment for fishing. I began with a Chernobyl ant, beadhead hares ear, and salvation nymph since the nymphs produced for me the previous day. Unfortunately Friday was a different day, and I went quite awhile without any action. Since the Chernobyl was not generating any interest, I decided to exchange it for an equally ignored top fly, the yellow Charlie Boy hopper. The Charlie Boy offered the advantage of being more visible and buoyant. I also added length to my droppers as a concession to the higher flows below the dam in an effort to achieve deeper drifts.

I continued fishing without success after these adjustments until I observed one lonely green drake fluttering up from the surface of the water. Since the dry/dropper strategy was not working, I clipped off the three flies and tied on a parachute green drake. Finally at the tail of a huge hole below a large boulder that created a massive drift log dam I managed to induce a small brown to inhale the big green drake. An afternoon skunking was prevented.

The top and middle of the huge deep pool failed to generate any interest despite quite a bit of casting so I moved on to a miniature version of the large pool. A smaller boulder jutted out from the bank and created a pool and trapped drift sticks between the bank and the boulder. Just above the stick dam a very nice riffle of intermediate depth flowed over a rocky bottom. The riffle was approximately twenty feet wide, and I began drifting the parachute green drake over this area starting with the shallow water on the left and gradually sprayed casts to the right. As the large dry fly drifted down the center of the riffle, a feisty fourteen inch brown rose and confidently sipped in the fake morsel. I fought the fish carefully to keep it out of the stick dam and eventually netted and photographed my best fish of the afternoon and day.

Nice Brown Trout Took Green Drake in Afternoon

My spirits soared as I felt confident that I had found the key to success on the lower Taylor on Friday afternoon, but unfortunately my enthusiasm was misplaced. As I played leapfrog with Danny, I began generating refusals to the green drake and started an endless series of fly changes in hopes of discovering the magic potion that would improve my fishing success. I began with a green drake comparadun, and that produced refusals similar to the parachute. Perhaps the shape was correct, but the fly was too large? Next I knotted a gray comparadun to my tippet, and it was completely ignored.

It was quite windy and some tiny blue winged olives began to tumble rapidly across the surface, but I elected to return to the Charlie Boy hopper, hares ear and salvation in hopes of replicating my success of the previous day. Alas it was a different day with different conditions, and 3PM quickly appeared on my watch. I probably should have tried a RS2 or soft hackle emerger when I spotted the wind blown BWO’s, but hindsight is always 20/20. I’ve experienced similar conditions on the Taylor River tailwater where I was unable to catch fish during decent hatches, but then enjoyed hot action after the emergence ended. The difference on Friday was that we needed to depart before this scenario could play out.

Danny Shows Flies Recovered from a Tree Branch

Fortunately Thursday was a solid day and the upper Taylor produced two hours of fun, so the frustration of Friday afternoon will fade in my memory banks. The campground was excellent, the scenery was a sensual delight, and Danny experienced new water. I was off to Olympic National Park and the adventures it might cast my way.

Upper Taylor River – 08/08/2014

Time: 9:30AM – 11:30AM

Location: The second stretch of public water beyond Taylor Reservoir and upstream.

Fish Landed: 8

Upper Taylor River 08/08/2014 Photo Album

After a pleasant evening at Lottis Creek, Danny and I woke up ready for another day of fishing on the Taylor River. We agreed to sample the upper Taylor River above Taylor Reservoir in the morning, and then adjourn to the tailwater section for the afternoon. It was quite cool as we departed at 8:30 to begin our Friday fishing adventure, but once the sun rose higher in the sky it would become a pleasant day with high temperatures in the low 80’s.

A Huge Brown in the Hawg Trough

On our way to the upper Taylor, we passed the famous Hawg Trough, so we stopped so Danny could sample it. Once he spotted a few hawgs wallowing in the area above the bridge, he decided to accept the challenge of hooking one of the educated behemoths. I elected to be a spectator as the air temperature remained in the 40’s in the shade of the canyon walls, and I was not ready to acquire a chill on a summer morning.

Danny Adjusts His Set Up for the Hawg Trough

Danny rigged for nymphs and tried all manner of subsurface offerings for a half hour or so, and did manage a couple lip pricks, but no landed fish. After being adequately teased by the leviathans in the trough, we decided to cut our losses and moved on to the upper Taylor River. ATV’s were everywhere and small informal campsites were scattered across the sagebrush as we approached the first dirt lane that accessed the lower end of the second stretch of public water above the lake.

Nice Brown from the Upper Taylor River

Once we were geared up, we walked briskly across the sagebrush flat to the very bottom boundary of public water, and here we began to prospect the twenty-five foot wide stream with dry/dropper combinations. I started with the same yellow Charlie Boy hopper that served me on Thursday and then added a beadhead hares ear and salvation nymph on droppers 2.5 feet below the hopper. Fifteen minutes passed, and my hopper dipped, and I landed a nice thirteen inch brown. Shortly thereafter a bit further upstream a similar sequence played out, and I netted a second fine brown in the thirteen inch range. I would eventually learn that both of these fish were the nicest of the morning, and they inhaled the salvation nymph.

Danny Changes Flies on the Upper Taylor

The fishing slowed down after the first half hour, but I continued upstream and covered quite a bit of water and landed six more smaller browns. Two were fooled by the beadhead hares ear, and halfway through the morning I exchanged the salvation for a beadhead pheasant tail. This move paid dividends as the last four fish attacked the pheasant tail as I imparted movement to the fly early and late in the drift. I am guessing that the fish were tuned in to PMD nymphs moving in the current in advance of a hatch later in the day.

After two hours of fishing, Danny and I each landed eight fish, and we decided to return to the Taylor tailwater. I covered quite a bit of water during the morning and had decent success, and I discovered that the deeper runs and pools produced most of the fish. We threw our gear in the Santa Fe and drove back along the dirt road that skirted the reservoir and stopped at Lottis Creek to eat lunch and pack up the tent and camping gear.

Taylor River – 08/07/2014

Time: 1:00PM – 6:00PM

Location: Upstream from Lodgepole Campground

Fish: 20

Taylor River 08/07/2014 Photo Album

I picked up Danny at 7:30 on Thursday morning, and we were on our way for a two day and one night camping/fishing trip to the Taylor River. The Arkansas River received additional rain on Sunday night, and despite optimistic reports from the fly shops, I didn’t trust the conditions to provide a positive experience for Danny. The Taylor River is a bit further, but is a tailwater and thus presented a more reliable option. Flows were hovering around 400 cfs, and based on past experience, that is a bit high yet still comfortable for fishing.

We arrived at the Lottis Creek Campground by 11:30 and unloaded a few items to secure our site and then munched quick lunches and headed back to the river. I immediately targeted the section of the river above Lodgepole Campground, as I have enjoyed previous success there, and I knew lots of public water could accommodate two gung ho fishermen. It was quite cool with high temperatures in the 60’s and heavy clouds floated across the sky 60% of the time we were fishing. It was actually quite ideal weather for fishing and fish.

Danny Prepares His Line to Fish the Taylor River

As Danny and I began to fish in the pocket water next to the car, we immediately observed a fair number of green drakes followed by some pale morning duns, but these mayflies waned after an hour. I elected to begin fishing with a parachute green drake, and Danny opted for a nymph set up that included his newly tied tungsten red San Juan worms. I worked my way along the right bank with my green drake and landed four browns in the first hour including a 14 incher that I spotted just in front of a submerged rock. I returned to tell Danny the green drakes were producing and shared a parachute style and comparadun style with him.

We continued fishing along the bank that bordered the road until we reached a point where the river narrowed and crashed through a whitewater chute, and here we turned around and reversed our steps to the car. We both looked longingly at the opposite bank with full knowledge that it hadn’t been fished much since the inception of runoff. There was one wide riffle spot where a crossing might be possible, but four fishermen were positioned in this area, and it would not have been mannerly to cross while they were fishing. We quickly reversed course again and found another wide spot below a huge protruding boulder in the middle of the river. This ford seemed possible, although there was a fast deep run within ten feet of the north bank.

Since I’m here to write this blog, it is evident that we pulled off the crossing, although it happened with a few scary moments. As was the case with the fishing next to the road, Danny and I took turns leapfrogging around each other as we covered the best pockets and pools within 20-25 feet of the bank. I switched from the green drake to a parahopper with a beadhead hares ear and landed four small browns as we progressed upstream over the hour from 2PM to 3PM. At that time I switched the parahopper for a large yellow Charlie Boy hopper with long dangling rubber legs, but that fly did not last long before I exchanged it for a smaller Charlie Boy and added a salvation nymph below the beadhead hares ear.

Gateway and Rod Holder

At 3PM I suddenly began to catch fish with increased regularity primarily on the salvation nymph and some of the brown trout extended into the 12-13 inch range. As the afternoon advanced it seemed that the fish got larger with numbers eighteen and nineteen falling in the 13-14 inch range, and for some reason the fish landed later in the day fell for the beadhead hares ear rather than the salvation nymph.

A Nice Brown from Thursday Afternoon

Near the end of our fishing I approached a nice deep run towards the middle of the river, and I positioned myself 10-15 feet to the left of it and one fourth of the way up from the tail. The current divided around a large boulder and created a thirty foot long slick that was only six feet across at its widest point. I began drifting my three fly combination starting toward the middle and covering the tail section, and I had the unique feeling of confidence that comes from many years of fly fishing and recognizing water that delivers on high expectations.

It wasn’t long before I saw a fish emerge from the cover of the faster deeper current seam, and I instinctively set the hook and felt myself attached to a gorgeous rainbow trout. The powerful pink-sided fish flashed up and down the narrow pool a few times, and I maintained solid pressure, but then it did an abrupt turn and streaked for the whitewater below. I tried to allow the line to slide through my hands and spin off the reel, but I failed and felt a knot in my stomach as the rainbow made another quick turn and snapped off the salvation nymph.

I paused for a moment to collect myself and then tied a new salvation to my line below the hares ear and resumed casting. I moved up the river a few steps and began prospecting the midsection of the narrow pool, and after a few casts, the hopper paused and dipped, and I once again set the hook and felt decent weight on the end of my line. By now, Danny had moved on to the bank and was just above me. I fought the bruiser back and forth and prevented it from charging into the fast water. I bought enough time for Danny to wade below me, and after I pressured the brown toward the bank, Danny scooped it into his large long-handled net. It was just in time as the fly fell from the seventeen inch brown’s lip just as Danny lifted it from the water.

17″ Brown

We paused to photograph the last and best fish of the day before tackling another adrenalin generating crossing. We had a fun afternoon of fishing and looked forward to a full day on the Taylor River on Friday.

South Boulder Creek – 08/06/2014

Time: 10:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: Began at the end of the trail and ended where the Walker Loop Trail moves away from the fisherman path.

Fish Landed: 23

South Boulder Creek 08/06/2014 Photo Album

I managed to get caught up at work, and that left me with a three day window for fishing prior to our scheduled trip to Olympic National Park. I hoped that my new fishing friend, Danny Ryan, could accompany me on a three day trip; however, I discovered that he had plans for Wednesday evening and was unable to join me until Thursday morning. A successful fly fisherman needs to be flexible, so I pondered my options and decided to return to South Boulder Creek on Wednesday for a day trip. I had a fair amount of success on my previous trip on August 2, and the flows remained at a nice level of 115 cfs. This is higher than ideal, but still allows decent movement. Most of the other rivers within a day of Denver continued to run high from the slug of rain received during the week of July 28.

I gathered my fishing gear and departed the house by 8AM, and that enabled me to begin fishing at 10AM after negotiating fairly heavy traffic. I hiked to the end of the trail on the north side of the stream, and considered crossing to explore virgin territory, but thought better of it when I realized it was already 10AM. I tucked my spare reel containing my five weight sink tip line in my wader pocket just in case, but I began fishing with the Loomis five weight strung with a floating line. The weather was cool and cloudy initially but quickly warmed up as the sun burned through the thin haze.

I elected to begin fishing with the size 12 gray stimulator that produced for me on Saturday, and this served me well in the first hour or two as I landed six fish including a brown trout on my second cast with a downstream drift through a long run of medium depth. I was gloating a bit as I approached a very nice place where there was a deep riffle and run directly above me along the south side of the creek, and a nice wide pool on the other side of the main center current. The pool fanned out where another secondary current moved from the bank back to the deep run in the center of the stream.

First Rainbow Landed on South Boulder Creek

Unfortunately just as I was certain I would increase my fish count in this juicy stretch of water, I experienced refusals to the stimulator as I cast above and across from my position. Remember my comment about being flexible and no constants in fly fishing? I shifted to the pool area, and here with the aid of my polarized glasses, I could see two decent rainbow trout rise and inspect the fly, but they refused to take it. I decided to focus on the fish in this area longer, so I swapped the stimulator for a size 16 gray deer hair caddis, and this did not even provoke a refusal. I noticed one mayfly in the air, so I removed the caddis and knotted on a cinnamon comparadun, but this was ignored as well. Maybe the color was off. I exchanged the cinnamon comparadun for a light gray version, and this got refused once or twice.

Before forsaking the attractive water I decided to make a last ditch effort with a green drake comparadun. I rested the pool area and returned to the riffle and run above me and suddenly a gorgeous rainbow appeared from the seam along the main current and inhaled my offering. With this boost in confidence I turned my attention once again to the two rainbows in the pool, but they were too cautious, and I eventually moved on and congratulated them.

I moved upstream and continued fishing the green drake and added three more fish to my count before I encountered another fisherman at around 12:15PM. I thought I’d waded far enough from the parking lot to avoid fishing competition, but apparently others had the same idea. In fact, after I waded across the stream and climbed the bank to the path, I bumped into another fisherman accompanied by a small dog. He asked where I was fishing, and I told him from the end of the path to below the other fisherman in the stream.

I walked through an open area with a sparse growth of trees, and found a nice spot on a log next to the stream where I ate my lunch. Upon completing my lunch I waded into the stream, but I quickly discovered the same fisherman that I’d encountered in the stream had now moved rather quickly to just below my re-entry point. Once again I returned to the path and hiked a decent distance and then crossed to the opposite side and resumed fishing. Shortly, however, I discovered the fisherman with a dog had apparently done a U-turn after learning that I’d already covered the lower water.

Fortunately the fisherman with the dog moved on before I approached too closely, so I continued wading along the left bank and fished through much of the water that I covered on Saturday, but on this day I did much better. The green drake continued to perform in outstanding fashion. Trout numbers 11-13 came from a nice wide riffle that fanned into a pool along the north bank, and all three slurped the green drake confidently as I executed nice downstream drifts over the length of the pool.

Green Drake Was Productive

It was during this time frame that I made a high backcast and hooked a bare pine tree limb that forced me to break off my initial green drake comparadun. I found a refurbished fly in my fly box that was made with a body of gray sparkle yarn, and it did not have the maroon ribbing that I was fond of using on flies I tied more recently. I was reluctant to use this fly, but decided to give it a test, and I was pleased with the results. It performed beautifully as I landed 14-20 before it broke off on a rainbow that may have been my best fish of the day. I drifted the mutant comparadun downstream tight to the north bank, and as I lifted to recast just before it approached some overhanging limbs, the fish grabbed the fly. I was rather disappointed to lose both the fish and the productive fly.

My Kind of Water Ahead

Numbers 14, 15, and 16 were all very nice fish by South Boulder Creek standards with each falling in the 12-13 inch range. One was a brown and the nicest brown of the day so I photographed it. When I lost the comparadun to the bank dwelling rainbow, I replaced it with a similar sized comparadun, but with a lighter green body. This fly produced three small fish, but I did not have the same confidence in this fly as I did in the previous two because of the lighter body color.

Nice South Boulder Creek Brown Trout

By 3:30 the shadows were extending across a third of the stream and the comparadun was not producing to the extent that it did earlier. In addition the approaching water was not as attractive, so I quit and hiked back to the parking lot.

Largest Fish of the Day Took Green Drake

Wednesday August 6 was a fun day on Boulder Creek and probably my best day ever on this local stream both in terms of size and quantity of fish. Best of all, I discovered that my green drake comparaduns were productive, but there are no constants in fly fishing, so I won’t bank on that level of success again during 2014.

Dave Weller's Fly Fishing Blog

Fly Fishing Adventures in Colorado and Beyond

Category Archives: Fishing Reports

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