Category Archives: Fishing Reports

Fishing Reports

Beaver Creek – 08/29/2023

Time: 11:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: National Forrest

Beaver Creek 08/29/2023 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.

Tuesday reinforced my love for Beaver Creek. I first fished this gorgeous creek on September 2, 2022 with great success, but a return trip in early August yielded an average day in terms of quantity and size of trout. I decided to give it another trial, but prior to making the drive I studied my post from September 2, 2022. During that day I experienced success with a pool toy hopper and salvation nymph early and then added to the fish count with a hippie stomper and the same salvation nymph in the afternoon. Why not follow the same recipe on August 29, 2023?

Ready to Begin

I arrived at the trailhead parking lot in the morning, and the dashboard thermometer registered 69 degrees. By the time I returned to the car at 4:30PM, the temperature had risen to the mid-eighties. It was a hot one and a good day to immerse oneself in cold mountain flows. I assembled my Sage R8 four weight and hiked to my desired starting point, where I configured my line with a size 8 tan pool toy hopper, a salvation nymph, and a sunk ant. This was the exact lineup that served me well during the morning component of my September 2, 2022 visit. Guess what? It worked again!

Hopper Scores

Deep Pockets

Between 11:00AM and 11:45AM I landed six brown trout, and these were not tiny tiddlers barely over six inches. Several of the morning net occupants stretched the measuring tape to thirteen inches. Five of the trout landed before lunch crushed the hopper, and these were not timid takes. The trout rose and sucked in the fake grasshopper with confidence.

Cascading Pools

Success

Perfect Pool

After lunch the same flies continued to perform, and I doubled the count to twelve, with four gobbling the pool toy and two nipping the salvation. I even had a double, when a twelve inch brown snagged the salvation and a seven incher slurped the pool toy. By 12:45PM the action slowed to a snail’s pace, and I began experiencing refusals and temporary hook ups. For some reason the trout no longer savored the hopper. This lull continued for thirty minutes, at which point I replaced the pool toy with a peacock hippie stomper, while allowing the salvation to remain in place.

Two Fish at a Time

Ink Spot Brown Trout

The move was slow to have an impact, but eventually it clicked, and I elevated the fish count from twelve to thirty, before I called it quits. During this afternoon trout catching session, 75% of the takes favored the salvation and one fourth gulped the hippie stomper.

Salivating

Submerging

The fun on Beaver Creek returned, and I fished with confidence from pool to pool. The average size of the fish was probably eleven inches, but several chunky thirteens and twelves were part of the mix. The tail of deep pools were prime spots, and I could generally rely on those locations for success.

Impressive Pool

Whew, Another Nice One

What a day! I landed thirty brown trout, and many were in the twelve to thirteen inch range. The scenery was spectacular, the water was cold and crystal clear, and I had the place to myself. It is hard to imagine a more perfect fly fishing outing.

Fish Landed: 30

St. Vrain Creek – 08/23/2023

Time: 12:00PM – 4:00PM

Location: National forest land

St. Vrain Creek 08/23/2023 Photo Album

The high in Denver was once again forecast to reach the nineties, and after a long journey on Tuesday I was interested in a shorter drive to a high country creek with cold water temperatures. St. Vrain Creek was just such a location, and I quickly settled on it as my fly fishing destination on Wednesday, August 23, 2023. On my previous visit to this tumbling mountain stream I encountered two massive moose. Were they still patrolling the area, and could I meet up with them again? Read on.

The sky was quite overcast, when I arrived at the trailhead parking lot, and the temperature remained in the low seventies. I stripped down to my quick dry T-shirt for the inbound hike, and I stuffed a dry shirt and my fishing shirt in my fishing backpack along with my lunch. My Orvis Access four weight was my chosen wand for a day of fly fishing in a small creek with tight vegetation. My hiking distance remained an uncertainty, as I embarked, but eventually I decided to put down a decent distance from the trailhead. Along the way I met a returning fly fisherman, and when I queried him on how the fishing was, he replied that “there were at least one or two in every pocket”. That statement raised my expectations, and I probably accelerated my pace.

Lunch Spot and Start to My Day

Wow on the Colors

Eventually I reached my chosen starting point, and since it was 11:45AM, I decided to munch my lunch, before I got involved in my fly fishing adventure. This proved to be only the first of many interruptions to my fishing rhythm, although I had not yet begun, so an interruption is probably not the proper term. After lunch I rigged my four weight with a solitary peacock hippie stomper, and I was on my way. The stomper generated refusals in the first couple pools, but eventually it attracted the attention of three brook trout. Since the number of refusals equaled or exceeded landed fish, I decided to make my first change. I plucked a classic Chernobyl ant from the fly box and knotted it to my line. I love the buoyant foam attractor in tight backcountry streams, because it does not require a backcast to float. The Chernobyl produced a couple small brook trout, but then it fell out of favor, and it was difficult to track the low riding fly in the shadows and glare of the small creek.

Nice Hole

Prime spots were not producing, so I speculated that perhaps the bigger fish were hunkered down low and eating subsurface morsels. I added an ultra zug bug below the Chernobyl, but the nymph made no impact on the feeding habits of the resident trout, so I once again considered a change. I ruled out dry/dropper and converted to a size 14 gray stimulator, that I fished solo. The fuzzy dry fly generated quite a few refusals, and one aggressive feeder to bring the fish count to seven.

Pumpkin Belly

I was stuck on seven for quite a while, when a fish swirled and refused the stimmy. I responded with a solid hook set, but in the absence of resistance I hurled the fly into a stiff evergreen branch obviously out of reach. I was forced to resort to applying direct pressure, and I snapped off the fly and a long section of leader. In fact, the tapered leader was reduced to five feet, and it ended with a thick stub that probably equated to 1X. I was reluctant to build tippets off this stub, so I removed it and installed a new 7.5 foot tapered leader that ended with 5X thickness. Needless to say, I was not pleased with yet another interruption.

Better Second Shot

Over the course of the remainder of the afternoon, I suffered through three brief thunderstorms. I stood beneath a dense evergreen through the first rain shower and managed to stay reasonably dry, but numbers two and three were accompanied by heavy rain, so I was forced to once again interrupt my fishing to remove all my gear to access my rain shell and then pull it on. While Denver suffered through a ninety degree day, I was chilled by the cool and damp weather conditions at high altitude on St. Vrain Creek.

Promising Pool

Once I looped my new tapered leader in place, I added a size 14 light gray deer hair caddis to the end of the line, and this became my most popular fly during the early afternoon. The trout responded with confident takes, and I raised the fish count from seven to sixteen before a toothy eater cut the hackle. I nipped off the damaged fly and stuck it in my fleece wallet, and I replaced the poopular caddis with a size 16 olive-brown deer hair caddis. This smaller caddis imitation duped one fish, but then it was ignored in a gorgeous pool, so I made another change.

Orange Pink

During this time I spotted two green drakes, as they struggled to lift off from the surface tension, so I removed a parachute green drake from my drake box, and I prospected this fly for twenty minutes. In a long smooth run of moderate depth, the drake pounded up two nice brook trout, and subsequently it added two more, but eventually the green drake was ignored in some prime pools, so I reverted to another light gray deer hair caddis. In this instance I chose a size 16. The small dry fly was difficult to track in shadows, glare and turbulent water, but it was effective enough to boost the fish count to twenty-six.

Sweet Pool

By 4:00PM I was chilled and wet from the rain showers, and I was about to move from some attractive runs to a narrow section with fallen logs and plunge pools. These spots equated to difficult wading and reduced productivity, so I used the stream structure as an excuse to exit. I crawled over some deadfalls and found the path and hoofed it back to the parking lot.

Wild Turkeys

Twenty-six fish sounds like a solid day, and all but one landed fish were brook trout. The largest brook trout may have stretched the tape to ten inches, and many were short little chubbies barely over six inches. I landed one nine inch cutthroat, and I bypassed taking a photo, because I was sure larger cutthroats were in my future. This is the second stream in Colorado, where it seems like the cutthroat population is missing. As always the scenery was spectacular, and having an entire stream to myself in a backcountry location made the day a success regardless of the fish count. On my return hike I encountered a huge rabbit, which I assume was a snowshoe hare, and on the drive back to Denver I stopped to videotape a small flock of turkeys, after they crossed the road in front of me. The moose clan steered clear of me, so I settled for other forms of wildlife.

Fish Landed: 26

 

Canyon Creek – 08/22/2023

Time: 11:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: National Forest

Canyon Creek 08/22/2023 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 last time I fished this creek was on 11/08/2019, and although I did not do well on a late fall visit, I yearned for another adventure. Tuesday, August 22, 2023 was the opportunity I desired.

I made the morning drive and arrived at my destination by 10:30AM. Weather forecasts stressed upper nineties in Denver and eighties at my chosen fishing location, but gray clouds dominated the sky, as I prepared to fish. I even felt a brief drizzle, and the temperature was a comfortable 68 degrees. I chose my Loomis two piece five weight, as I expected to toss dries and dry/dropper rigs, and the slower action of the Loomis is well suited to that type of casting.

Milky

I started my activity tracker and hiked for .5 mile, before I cut to the creek. The small stream suffered from turbidity, but I was able to see the creek bed in most locations, so I assumed that the murkiness would not be an impediment to catching trout. In order to minimize false casting in the small creek with an abundant quantity of overhanging bushes and branches, I knotted a classic Chernobyl ant to my line. The all foam fly is perfect for small stream dapping and roll casting. I began prospecting the likely deep holes and pools, as I moved upstream, but the Chernobyl was treated like inert flotsam. I never spotted a look, refusal, or take; and this was highly unusual for this normally productive creek. Could the off colored flows be impacting the feeding behavior of the trout?

Small Creek Behemoth

Thoughts of moving to another stream to salvage the day crossed my mind, but before making such a rash move, I decided to try a different tactic. I replaced the Chernobyl ant with a size 8 tan pool toy hopper, and then I dangled a size 12 prince nymph from the hook bend. This change in approach paid dividends, as I landed three brown trout, and the first two were gorgeous fish in the thirteen and fourteen inch range. The fish drought was a historical circumstance, and I now had confidence that the creek contained a population of trout.

Produced

Full View

I paused for lunch at 11:45AM, and after my brief snack I resumed my upstream migration. By now I learned that dropping casts into marginal spots was a waste of time, as all my success resulted from deep and long pools and runs. In other words, I began to be more focused in my choice of targets, and I concentrated on the prime locations. It also seemed that my pace of action accelerated in the sections that were more distant from easy access off the hiking trail, and this made sense given my aversion to fishing close to roads, trails and parking lots.

Note the Murky Water

After some continued success in the post lunch time frame, I encountered a stunning wide and deep pool, but my coverage of the pool prompted only a brief hook up with a small trout. I was convinced that more fish were present, so I added a salvation nymph beneath the prince. Once again the change brought positive results, as I hooked and landed a spectacular fourteen inch rainbow trout. The stripe along the side was a bright and wide crimson. I was certain that this was the largest rainbow I ever caught in this mountain stream.

Biggest of the Day

The remainder of the afternoon allowed me to mount the fish count to twelve, and browns were the dominant species. The salvation nymph began to account for more fish than the prince nymph, and one aggressive brown trout slammed the fat Albert. Some dark clouds rolled across the sky, and the temperature cooled, and I weathered a brief shower. I approached a very attractive set of pools at 3PM, and I landed a nice brown from the shelf pool on the right hand side. The three fly combination got tangled in the process of landing the fish, and it took me an extended period of time to unravel the mess. Once I was prepared to cast, I dumped the fat Albert and trailers into a frothy seam, where the creek angled toward the opposite shore. The fat Albert bobbed in tantalizing fashion in the froth, and suddenly it disappeared. I was uncertain whether it was sucked under by the unruly currents, or whether a hungry fish was responsible, so I executed a quick hook set. Instantly I felt the weight of a thrashing fish, but as it moved away toward the opposite shore, my line went limp. The heavier than average combatant broke off the fat Albert and all the trailing flies! Not only did I lose a prize fish, but I lost three flies, and I was forced to redo my entire set up.

Upcoming Pool

Fat Albert Chomper

I continued fishing for another thirty minutes, but then the rain became denser, so I retreated under some trees for shelter. I was reluctant to remove my frontpack and backpack to retrieve my raincoat, because I was near the end of the day. In fact, I scanned the right shoreline, and I grew concerned about climbing the steep bank to gain access to the hiking trail, so I hooked my flies to the rod guide and waded downstream a short distance to a spot that was reasonably clear of dense bushes.

Another Deep Hole

Tuesday was a fun day. I was reassured of the condition of the creek after landing twelve trout in a little over four hours. I feel like hiking farther would yield better results in the future; however, advancing through the cascades, waterfalls and narrow chutes would be even more of a challenge with deeper penetration into the national forest. The size of the brown trout and the single rainbow was a welcome discovery, and this only added to my desire to explore the creek farther in a future visit. I am not sure whether the turbidity was a positive or negative.

Fish Landed: 12

South Boulder Creek – 08/20/2023

Time: 11:00AM – 4:30PM

Location: Below Gross Reservoir

South Boulder Creek 08/20/2023 Photo Album

On 8/16/2023 I made a trip to South Boulder Creek after a long hiatus due to dam expansion construction, road closures, and high flows. I experienced a fun day with flows at 155 CFS, and I was excited to make a return. I mentioned the idea of a visit to South Boulder Creek to my young fishing friend, Nate, and he was interested as well. I sold him on visiting a scenic location, wild trout and a green drake hatch. It did not take much convincing, and we arranged to make the trip on Sunday, August 20. I am generally averse to fishing on weekends, but Nate’s only days off are Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday; so I made an exception.

Nate drove, and we used the route through Boulder, CO and Flagstaff Park and arrived at a very busy parking lot at the Walker Ranch Loop Trailhead on Sunday morning. We were relieved and pleased to discover open parking spaces. The air temperature was already in the low eighties, so we knew that Sunday was destined to be a hot day, and we both avoided thinking about the one mile uphill climb from the creek to the parking lot at the end of the day. Flows on the DWR web site were 144 CFS, and this represented a decline from August 16, but the water level was still higher than ideal in this angler’s opinion.

Heck of a Spot

I assembled my older Sage four weight, and we departed on the wide dirt trail toward South Boulder Creek, and we reached our designated starting point by 10:45AM. The hike in was taxing in the warm temperatures, and we could not contemplate the mostly uphill return. I assembled a South Boulder Creek fly box for Nate that included parachute green drakes, green drake comparaduns, a user friendly green drake, some foam beetles, a couple Chernobyl ants, and a parachute hopper. We both began our search for wild trout at 11:00AM with a size 14 parachute green drake, and we were quickly vindicated for our choice, By the time we stopped for lunch at 11:45AM, Nate was on the board with six splendid trout, and I netted eight. Although Nate recorded fewer trout, he made up for that fact with larger fish.

Nice Early Action

At the start of our day on the creek, we were able to cross to the south bank, and we worked our way upstream on that side for most of the day. A few wide spots offered moderated flows, and enabled us to cross. I generally believe that fishing the side of the river opposite a road or pathway is more productive, and on Sunday we mostly followed this tactic. During the afternoon I observed six natural green drakes, as they made the ascent from the river. They were large dark olive blurs and they glided smoothly skyward to begin their adult lives.

Zoomed a Bit Closer

I persisted with the parachute green drake for my entire stay on South Boulder Creek. For the last thirty minutes I added a size 14 light gray deer hair caddis as a second fly behind the green drake, and the caddis produced a pair of brown trout. Nate followed the same strategy for much of the day, but he also tested a user friendly green drake and a green drake comparadun in a double dry fly alignment. These trials produced a few fish, but we concluded that they did not match the pace of success that the single parachute dry yielded during the morning and early afternoon.

Dave’s Best

At one point in the afternoon Nate equaled his record for number of trout caught in a day at eleven, but a long dry spell with the double dry caused him to reevaluate. He plucked a royal madam X from his fly box, and instantly an inviting pool under an overhanging branch, that seemed lifeless with the double dry, jumped to life and produced two chunky brown trout. The madam X was a sure fired winner, and Nate jumped his fish count to eighteen on the back of the madam X. Actually Nate was not sure whether the count was seventeen or eighteen, but I grabbed the higher number to set the hurdle higher for his next outing.

Better Lighting

By 4:30PM the action slowed to a snail’s pace, and the bright sun in a cloudless sky beat down on our beings. We were hot and weary, and we reached a convenient exit point, so we climbed a steep bank back to the path and hoofed it back to the parking lot. Of course a fair amount of perspiration was involved in the one mile climb, but we both agreed it was worth it for a total of forty-two fish landed in a spectacular setting.

Nate on Fire

This report would not be complete without an account of two incidents that were ancillary to our fly fishing. I knew water would be a valuable commodity on the predicted hot day, so I stuffed my water filter system in my fishing backpack, and after lunch I pulled it out and filled the small bladder with creek liquid. I was holding my larger hydration bladder with my left hand and squeezing filtered water into the large bag with my right hand, when a large black ant crawled across my thumb and tumbled into the bladder. What now? Initially I was willing to continue with ant flavored water, but Nate convinced me that was not a good idea. Credit goes to Nate for patiently tilting the bag on its side, and then giving it a quick lift which flooded the ant to freedom. He was able to complete this rescue with only a small amount of lost water. I did, however, filter a second batch and topped off my hydration bladder.

Careful Hook Removal

During the early afternoon Nate lost awareness of his position, and he flicked a backcast into an overhanging evergreen bough behind him. He was beside himself with frustration, although any angler knows that these events are part of the sport. The fly was on the end of the branch, and it hung approximately ten feet above the surface of the creek. Nate was skeptical that we could reach the branch, but I was not willing to surrender. I scanned the bank behind us, and I found a long and straight dead log that was approximately four inches in diameter and six feet long. I handed it to Nate, and he was able apply pressure and bend the branch downward, but he had a rod in his other hand, and he was unable to reach up while pressuring the branch. I took his rod and moved to his opposite side, and we tried a second time. I was now reaching as high as I could, but the tip of the bough remained a few inches beyond my grasp. I pulled my wading staff from my right side, and I used it to push downward closer to the tip than Nate’s pressure point, and a miracle happened. On one of my sweeps, the wading stick wrapped the line and dragged both flies free! If only we had a third person to record this stream rescue adventure. We must have looked like a crazy team.

Sunday was a superb outing for this addicted fly angler. I was able to introduce Nate to some new sections of South Boulder Creek and to the hot fishing that accompanies the presence of large green drake mayflies. I described it to him in conversation, but that was not the same as actually experiencing it live. Best of all I gained a companion for fishing my favorite Front Range stream. Hopefully the flows will decline more before the green drakes disappear from the South Boulder Creek menu.

Fish Landed: 24

South Boulder Creek – 08/16/2023

Time: 10:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: Below Gross Reservoir

South Boulder Creek 08/16/2023 Photo Album

I consider my home waters to be South Boulder Creek, but quite a bit of time elapsed since my last visit. I frequently complain about the variability of the flows on this small tailwater, but that nuisance is now complicated by the construction to expand Gross Reservoir. Twice last year I was forced to abort a trip to South Boulder Creek, when I encountered digital signs announcing the closure of Gross Dam Road. Up until recently the flows remained too high to attempt a trip, but upon my return from Carbondale, I noticed the graph depicted several days of 155 CFS. I fished at 180 CFS in August in previous years with some success especially during the green drake emergence, so I got serious about making the trip.

I visited the grossreservoir.org web site and reviewed the map that tracked road closures and interruptions. My normal route to South Boulder Creek is via Coal Creek Canyon and then down Gross Dam Road, but that route was displayed in red, and the web site informed visitors that the road was closed until 2027. Yikes. I’ll be 76 by then and probably unable to fish anymore! Upon further review, however, I determined that I could access the creek from the north by traveling through Boulder and then following Flagstaff Road. I called the Denver Water customer service number and spoke with a friendly young lady named Bernice, and she confirmed my conclusion that the Walker Ranch Loop Trailhead was open and accessible without interference from the Gross Dam project. My maps application indicated that the northern route extended my drive by fifteen minutes, and consultation with my friend, Nate, suggested that the hike to the middle creek section was comparable to that from the fishermen parking lot near the dam. I was sold on a day of fishing in South Boulder Creek.

155 CFS

I arrived at the Walker Ranch Loop Trailhead parking lot, and the temperature was already in the low eighties. Eight other vehicles occupied spaces, but I was unable to determine whether the occupants were fishermen, hikers or bikers. I assembled my Loomis two piece five weight and departed down the dirt trail at the south end of the parking lot. I chose the Loomis, because I like the slow action and the way it casts dry flies and dry/droppers, and I assumed those approaches would dominate on Wednesday.

Nice Deep Run

As I hiked along the creek, I was surprised to discover two other anglers, and they were positioned in the middle of the stretch I targeted. Initially I was inclined to reverse direction and move upstream, but then I concluded that I planned to hike a significant distance below them, and by the time I fished upstream to their current spot, I was fairly certain that they would be gone. When I arrived at my chosen starting point, I realized that the flows were indeed 155 CFS, but the creek was very clear. I quickly determined that I was unlikely to cross due to the swift currents in the center of the creek; and, in fact, I did spend my entire day casting along the right bank.

Buttery Brown

Another Fine Brown Trout

To start my search for hungry trout I armed my line with a peacock hippie stomper and a Jake’s gulp beetle. The combination quickly generated four trout, with two nice brown trout chomping on the beetle. After the initial burst of action, however, the takes slowed to zero, and refusals began to dominate my morning. I removed the beetle, and not wishing to miss out on green drake feeding, I replaced the foam terrestrial with a size 14 parachute green drake. The change paid dividends, and I built the fish count to nine by the time I broke for lunch. Roughly half the eaters favored the hippie stomper with the others chowing down on the green drake.

Another Promising Slick

After lunch I resumed my upstream progression, and the stomper and drake combination spurred the fish count to seventeen. This took place over a couple hours, so the action was steady but not hot. A decent number of refusals and looks were interspersed with the eaters, and I was forced to move frequently to find takers after the solitary fish in a pocket refused my offering. Refusals seemed to prevail more often in the slower moving pools; whereas, takes were prevalent at the tail or along seams. I only spotted two natural green drakes during my entire time on the water, and I was surprised by this. The temperature probably spiked to the low eighties, and the heat may have been a factor in the lack of natural green drakes.

A Better View of the Parachute Green Drake

Hippie Stomper

When I reached seventeen, the fish became ultra fussy, and I suffered a long fish landing drought. I concluded it was time to change. The green drake was generating looks, but no eats, so I replaced it with a green drake comparadun. I loved the look of this fly with a large fan shaped deer hair wing and long moose mane tails, and initially two above average sized trout loved it as well. However after the initial burst of action, the comparadun failed to interest additional trout, so I implemented a radical shift to a dry/dropper featuring a tan size 10 pool toy hopper, beadhead hares ear nymph, and a salvation nymph. The hopper was ignored, but the hares ear and salvation produced one fish each. In order to land these two fish I covered some prime water with no success, so I pondered yet another change. I reverted to the foam beetle as the first fly and then added a Harrop hair wing green drake as the second dry. This combination was a dud, but as I was slinging the pair, I spotted a couple pale morning duns. I snipped off the hair wing and replaced it with a size 16 cinnamon comparadun.

Vivid Black Spots on This Rainbow

Rainbow Was Tight to the Rock

By now I reached a narrow fast section that in the past signaled my exit point, so I followed tradition and scaled the rocky bank to the path. On my return hike I paused at two typically productive pools, and I added two more fish to the count to bring the total to twenty-three. Both of the late eaters sipped the trailing cinnamon comparadun.

Love the Orange Spots

The worst part of my day was still ahead of me, however. My new hiking trail to the Walker Ranch Loop Trailhead necessitated a one mile ascent from the creek to the parking lot. I executed small steps, drank water and paused many times, before I arrived at the parking lot. Needless to say, I was drenched in perspiration, and this condition developed in spite of some large black clouds obscuring the sun for much of my climb. Hopefully the difficulty of the one mile hike will fade from my memory banks, before I consider another visit to South Boulder Creek.

Wildflower

Twenty-three fish certainly represented a successful day in the South Boulder Creek canyon. Three brown trout and one rainbow extended to a foot with the remainder falling in the six to eleven inch range. The trout never locked into the green drakes in a manner comparable to previous August visits, when I logged ridiculous fish counts. Was it the heat, the higher flows, or the presence of a pair of anglers ahead of me? I will never know the answer to that puzzle, but I intend to return as soon as I can forget the strenuous climb at the end of the day.

Fish Landed: 23

Clear Creek – 08/15/2023

Time: 9:45AM – 3:45PM

Location: National forest

Clear Creek 08/15/2023 Photo Album

Although my fishing outing on Tuesday, August 15 was decent by most standards, it could have been even better. Let me explain.

After a fun day on a high mountain stream on Friday, I was yearning for another day on a Colorado stream; however, I was in favor of a closer destination, so I chose Clear Creek. I left the house at 7:40AM in order to pass through Floyd Hill before the rock scaling operations began at 9:00AM. CDOT announced that motorists should be prepared for delays between 9AM and 3PM on Mondays through Thursdays. I successfully avoided this scenario and arrived at my chosen pullout without incident.

Stream Improvement

The air temperature was in the sixties, but highs in the nineties were predicted for the metro Denver area. When I left the stream on Tuesday afternoon the dashboard digital display read 77 degrees. It was a splendid day to be in the mountains with mostly clear skies and the absence of wind. I assembled my Orvis Access four weight and fought my way through the trees and brush to arrive at the creek and begin fishing by 9:45AM. The water was exceptionally clear, and the flows were nearly ideal. I began my search for trout with a Chernobyl ant, and the all foam terrestrial produced four trout in the early going, although I experienced an equal number of temporary hookups. In fact, the escapees seemed to be the largest fish, and I was quite upset about this circumstance.

Sparse Speckles

In an effort to convert a higher rate of takes, I downsized the Chernobyl ant to a peacock body hippie stomper, and this change produced a couple fish, before it lost its luster to the local trout. I added a salvation nymph on a short sixteen inch dropper, and the salvation contributed a few additional catches to the fish count. During the late morning time frame I attempted to roll cast the dry/dropper, and I was unaware of an overhanging evergreen bough, and this foolish action resulted in breaking off the hippie stomper and salvation. I pulled another stomper from my fly box, but I opted for a sunken ant as the bottom fly, and the ant yielded a pair of trout. By the time I paused for lunch the fish count rested on ten, as four devoured the Chernobyl, two grabbed the salvation, two nipped the sunk ant, and the remainder crushed the hippie stomper. Ten fish in two hours of fishing was respectable, but I could have easily doubled the numbers, if I converted a higher percentage of my hookups to the net, and I am forced to reiterate that the fish that managed to free themselves also felt like the larger trout.

Lovely Pool

Jake’s Gulp Beetle

Beetle Chomper

After lunch I changed things up significantly, as I was not satisfied with the catch rate or the size of the fish. I grabbed a size 12 Jake’s gulp  beetle from my fly box and fished it solo. The change paid off handsomely, and I elevated the fish count to seventeen. During the early phase of the beetle slapping session, the trout responded very positively, and in many cases the trout smacked the terrestrial as soon as the foam imitation splashed down. Unfortunately, in one scenario a very nice fish sipped in the beetle and upon feeling the hook set, it raced downstream. I applied side pressure to keep the prize in the small pool, but it twisted its head, and the beetle was hurled skyward. Adding to the insult of losing the fish, the beetle came to rest in a tall evergreen twenty feet above me, and I was forced to apply direct pressure and snapped off another fly.

Subtle Beauty

The interest in the beetle seemed to fizzle after an hour of intense action, so I implemented yet another fly change. I plucked a lime green trude from my fly box in a fit of nostalgia, and the size fourteen dry fly notched a small cutthroat. The magic of the lime green trude was short lived, however, and I defaulted to the hippie stomper with a gray size 14 stimulator in the trailing position. The combination of the two buoyant dry flies, worked for while, but then refusals began to escalate, and I swapped the stimulator for a size 14 light gray deer hair caddis. The caddis worked its charms on the wild trout, until I quit at 3:45PM, and the double dry fly tactic enabled me to boost the fish count from seventeen to twenty-six over the course of the afternoon.

Side Pool Was Attractive

Melon Color

I landed a pair of twelve inch cutthroats, but the remainder were rather small and ranged from six to eleven inches. These cutthroats more than compensated for their diminutive size with an explosion of vivid colors. Pastel olive and tan provided the body background, but ink black speckles, pink accents, crimson gill plates and the classic orange slash finished the pallet of colors. I had numerous opportunities to land slightly larger trout, and this was particularly the case in the morning time period. Nevertheless, Tuesday was a fun summer day with nearly perfect weather and ideal stream conditions. One cannot ask for much more than that.

Fish Landed: 26

Beaver Creek – 08/11/2023

TIme: 11:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: National forest

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. Hopefully the readers will agree that excessive exposure could lead to crowding and lower fish densities.

Beaver Creek 08/11/2023 Photo Album

Jane and I drove from Denver to the trailhead and arrived at a parking space by 10:45AM. By the time I geared up and assembled my Orvis Access four weight, it was 11:00AM, and a short hike placed me in a position to fish by 11:30AM.  Daughter, Amy, met us at the trailhead, and she and Chara and Jane hiked to the creek with me.

Beautiful Start

I started my quest for trout with a peacock hippie stomper and a gray stimulator, but other than a few splashy refusals, I was unable to generate any interest. I swapped the stimulator for a salvation nymph, and this tandem was ignored more than the previous pair of flies. Just before lunch at 12:30PM I switched the salvation for a size 14 light gray deer hair caddis, and the move paid dividends, when I landed a seven inch brook trout that was sporting a bright orange belly. I was baffled by my lack of success on the same creek that surprised me with both quantities of trout and quality trout eleven months ago.

Number One, a Brook Trout

After lunch I progressed steadily upstream, and I tossed the stomper and caddis to all the likely trout holding locations, and finally I enjoyed some success in the form of two brown trout in the eleven to twelve inch range. Wading was challenging among the large, slippery yellow-white rocks, and small cascades and fallen logs added to the difficulty.

Pleased

Nice Deep Run

By 1:30PM I arrived at a spot with a gradual beach, and sitting on the rocks ahead of me were Chara, Amy and Jane. We snapped photos of each other, and as I moved above them, I landed two small browns to boost the fish count to five. We said our goodbyes, and I continued on through a canyon environment with steep banks on both sides of the creek.

Handsome Brown

Jane and Amy

Between 1:30PM and 3:30PM I increased the fish count from five to thirteen. This time period represented the most steady action of the day. The caddis was not generating interest, so I exchanged it for a size 14 parachute green drake, and the stomper/drake combination provided the best results of the day. All the afternoon fish were browns, and several stretched the tape measure to twelve inches. The stomper and drake split the catch evenly.

Shimmering

What a Pool!

By 3:00PM I approached a deep plunge pool with three likely target areas for casting. I managed to land a trout from the deep, slow shelf pool on the right hand side. I decided to shift my position to reach one of the small side pools on the opposite shore, but my left foot slipped on an angled rock, and it never found a stopping point, until I lost my balance and fell backward in the deep pool. The water rushed over the top of my waders, and I gasped as the cold liquid spread down my legs to my feet. I scrambled to my feet quickly, but it was too late to avoid the ignominy of a cold creek baptism. I remained in one piece with no broken parts except for my pride.

Poised to Explode

What now? It was a rather warm day, so once my body adjusted, the cool wetness actually felt pretty good, although the saturated socks and sloshing stocking foot wader feet were an impediment to continuation. I found a large, dry rock and removed all my gear including my waders. I dumped what water I could from the waders and then suited up for more action.

Ooh. Screams Trout.

The wading became more challenging with some large spillovers and log jams, and the canyon walls became quite steep. I added a couple more trout to the count to reach thirteen, at which point I spotted a steep, worn path to the trail. It was 3:30PM, and some overhead clouds created a slight chill in my soaked body, so I took advantage of the exit route and called it a day.

Friday was a bit disappointing, as my results lagged September 2, 2022 both in quantity and quality. My largest fish was twelve inches, and I never felt a rhythm or a feeling of confidence. Nevertheless, thirteen wild fish landed in a spectacular environment was a valued experience for this avid fly fisherman. I have not given up on this stream and may return later in the season.

Fish Landed: 13

Elk River – 08/08/2023

Time: 10:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: National forest

Elk River 08/08/2023 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.

Tuesday was my opportunity to spend a full day on a remote backcountry creek. I fished the Elk River three times previously, and I was very excited for another chance on Tuesday, August 8. I attempted to tamp down my expectations, but reading my blog post from 2022 only served to elevate them. This was one of my destinations that offered wild cutthroat trout, and I was unable to erase the image of those prized species from my memory banks.

I set out on a brief jaunt to my chosen starting point, and I quickly rigged my line with a tan pool toy hopper trailing a beadhead hares ear nymph and salvation nymph. I chose my Loomis two piece five weight for duty on Tuesday, as I like the slower rod for casting dry flies. I began fishing at 10:-00AM, and that was earlier than usual, so I elected to apply the dry/dropper concept to get deep in the many plunge pools of the small river. Flows were definitely higher than that which I was accustomed to from prior trips.

Promising

I worked my way upstream for a hour, while casting the dry/dropper, and I managed one four inch brook trout that struck the salvation nymph. Talk about disappointment. I never saw another fish, nor did I view a look or refusal. I began to question whether one of my favorite streams contained any fish at all. I decided to forsake the dry/dropper, and I substituted a peacock hippie stomper. Finally an eight inch brown trout slashed the stomper at the lip of a pool. Casting in additional locations proved futile, so I added a parachute green drake behind the hippie stomper. By noon my fish count remained at one, and I was perplexed regarding what happened to the fish of any kind let alone the cutthroats.

Fallen Trees Everywhere

I paused to munch my lunch, and I noticed some dark clouds to the southwest, so I pulled on my raincoat. The raincoat remained in place until I quit at 3:30PM, and I was never too warm. I removed it; however, for my 1.5 mile return hike.

Whoa. Unexpected.

After lunch my fly fishing action picked up considerably. The first sign of improvement was the sixteen inch brown trout that smacked the hippie stomper next to a jumble of branches and sticks. If I ended up with a two fish day, I could at least remember the outlier brown trout. Between 12:30PM and 3:30PM I logged steady progress, as I built the fish count from two to nineteen. This accomplishment required covering a significant amount of stream real estate with much difficult wading over slippery rocks and fallen logs. Only the most attractive pools with slower current, depth and nearby cover produced; although many locales that met these requirements also left me scratching my head.

Another Fine Brown Trout

Tuesday was not the exciting cutthroat searching that I anticipated. In fact, of the nineteen fish that rested in my net, none were cutts. Where have they gone? Did a poacher extract the more gullible wild cutthroats and chow down on fresh fish? The species that salvaged my day were the brown trout. Including the sixteen inch beast described earlier, I landed six browns in the thirteen to sixteen inch range. These trout were a very fine antidote to my cutthroat skunking. In total I landed ten browns and nine brook trout. Most of the brookies were barely six inches, but a pair extended to nine and eleven inches. Did the ultra territorial brown trout displace the cutthroats? This was another theory that rolled about in my questioning thought process.

Another Prime Home

Nice Chunk

Orange Edge on Tail

By 3:30PM I reached the small tributary that marked my usual exit point, so I took advantage and completed the return hike. I must admit that I was disappointed by the lack of cutthroat trout action; however, a nineteen fish day was much appreciated, and landing large browns in a small stream environment has its rewards. If I return, I will progress even farther from the trailhead, before I begin my day.

Fish Landed: 19

 

Elk River – 08/07/2023

Time: 4:00PM -6:00PM

Location: National Forest

Elk River 08/07/2023 Photo Album

Jane and I set up camp and did an out and back hike for an hour during the early afternoon. Once the tent was erected, I prepared to fish. Temperatures were in the low sixties with dark threatening clouds for much of my two allotted hours, although it never rained. Flows were higher than normal for the first week of August. Jane dropped me off next to the stream to eliminate hiking time and maximize fishing time, and I fished back to the campground. Before I embarked on my brief fly fishing excursion, I assembled my Orvis Access four weight, and I began my effort to catch fish with a peacock hippie stomper and gray size 14 stimulator.

Before I could make my first cast, I was forced to bash through some tough branches, and then I clambered over large, slippery boulders. The Elk River in this area actually flowed through a narrow canyon, and the character of the stream alternated between plunge pools and whitewater. Wading along the edge was an exercise in caution, rock climbing and branch avoidance.

Typcial Deep Shelf Pool

I positioned myself below an attractive swirling shelf pool for my first cast, and nothing responded, but on number two cast I spotted a swirl, and my fly disappeared. A swift set followed, but I felt no weight and, thus, assumed I was victimized by a refusal. Wrong. I stripped in my line and discovered it was devoid of flies and displayed only a curlicue; the telltale sign of a bad knot. I uttered some unmentionable words and knotted two more of the same flies to my line.

I Love the Speckles on the Tail

Finally I began to fly fish in earnest, and I landed three trout over the next hour. My catch included a cutthroat, a brook trout, and a brown trout. I was a rainbow trout short of a grand slam in one hour of fishing. The cutthroat measured around twelve inches, and it displayed gorgeous pastel coloration. The brook trout was barely over my six inch minimum, and the brown trout was a healthy twelve incher. The cutty grabbed the hippie stomper, while the brookie and the brown attacked the trailing light gray deer hair caddis. I swapped the stimulator for a caddis early in my fishing venture.

Pleased with This Brown Trout

By 5:30 the action stalled, so I converted to a tan pool toy hopper with a trailing beadhead hares ear. These flies were out of favor, so I added an iron sally to achieve more depth in the plunge pools, but the ploy was not effective. I reached a place, where I was “walled out”, and this forced me to scale a bank to the road. Once I was along the shoulder I looked back down to the canyon, and I could not bring myself to attempt another bout of extreme exertion. The quality of the fishing did not justify the effort required.

I hiked back to the bridge near the campground, and I prospected upstream, but the results were disappointing. I tried a Chernobyl ant solo, and in a last gasp attempt, I added a cinnamon comparadun, after I spotted a pale morning dun over the water. By six o’clock I was wasted, so I returned to the campsite for refreshments.

Monday was a slow start to my much anticipated trip to the Elk River. The main deterrent to more fish was the very challenging wading conditions. When I gazed back at the canyon near the end of the day, I was actually astounded that I fished as much as I did. Landing one trout of three separate species was also a welcome outcome on Monday, August 7, 2023.

Fish Landed: 3

Frying Pan River – 08/02/2023

Time: 1:00PM – 2:30PM

Location: Below Reudi Reservoir

Frying Pan River 08/02/2023 Photo Album

It took me thirty minutes to return from the upper Frying Pan River to the tailwater section, and I paused to eat my lunch upon my arrival at a wide pullout across from the river. After lunch I reconfigured my setup with a tan pool toy hopper, an iron sally and a salvation nymph. I lengthened the dropper section below the hopper and did the same to the connecting leader between the iron sally and salvation nymph. Based on my review of the flows, before I left in the morning, I assumed I was fishing at 151 CFS. Upon my arrival back home on Wednesday evening, I realized that the water managers increased the outflows to 210 CFS, while I was fishing! Trout generally take some time to adjust to significant changes in water conditions, and I judge plus 60 CFS to be significant.

Angling to the Far Bank

Another Glimpse

I carefully angled across the river and began fishing upstream along the south (right) bank. During my early afternoon foray on the tailwater I managed to land six brown trout. One stretched the tape to thirteen inches, but most fell within the ten to twelve inch range. Once again the fly fishing was not a torrid affair, and I covered quite a bit of real estate and made an abundant quantity of casts to achieve the six fish count. Many very attractive runs and pools failed to deliver; whereas, some marginal spots produced. The common denominator of the productive spots seemed to be depth and especially depth along the bank. A few refusals to the hopper accompanied the action, but the hopper also produced takes often enough to justify its presence in my lineup.

Yielded One Brown Trout

Not Bad

Near the End

By 2:30PM I realized that I was not going to encounter a safe crossing place, so I laboriously and carefully retreated along the edge of the river to my original crossing point. I maintained a low stance, secured my footing with each step, and made sure each placement of my wading staff was solid; and these precautions enabled me to cross the river without incident. Six fish in 1.5 hours was certainly a respectable haul, but once again I felt like I worked exceptionally hard for the results. Wading was nearly as difficult in the tailwater, as it was on the upper Frying Pan. Insects were largely absent from the landscape during the afternoon session, and I was very surprised by this circumstance. I saw one or two pale morning duns and a handful of caddis. The much anticipated green drakes were totally absent from the scene. Hopefully I will get to visit Amy later in the season, when all the hatches are active.

Fish Landed: 6