Time: 10:30AM – 6:00PM

Location: 40 minute hike from trailhead; just above a narrow chute area with tall vertical walls and whitewater.

Fish Landed: 24

South Fork of the White River 09/18/2014 Photo Album

In September 2013 I visited the Flattops Wilderness and spent a day on the South Fork of the White River. I spent a full day on the beautiful clear backcountry stream and landed seven fish with all but one on the small side. In 2014 I spent two days on the North Fork above Himes Peak Campground and enjoyed some wonderful fishing, but I was in need of a change. Did I want to commit another day to the South Fork? Another option might be to fish the upper North Fork below Trappers Lake and even combine that with some fishing on Trappers Lake. Since the weather was supposed to be clear and warm again on Thursday, I decided to give the South Fork another try. In 2014, however, I decided to hike even further than my last venture so that I would begin above the stretch of water characterized by high vertical rock walls and deep pools.

Part of the attraction of the South Fork is the fact that it flows for over forty miles through national forest and wilderness area, and the river is relatively large over most of the drainage allowing for open space for backcasting and wading. Most headwater streams in national forest lands are small and necessitate casting in tight quarters and difficult wading over deadfalls and through dense brush.

I executed my plan flawlessly and after a vigorous forty minute hike, I arrived at a position just above the narrow stretch with vertical rock walls where the trail dropped very close to the river. It was 10:30, and the sky was bright blue, the air temperature was around 50 degrees, and it was clear that Thursday would be a warm late September day in this remote area of the Flattops Wilderness. The water was higher than a year ago due to the heavy rain on Monday and Tuesday September 8-9, and it was crashing through the narrow canyon chute at a rapid clip. I brought my Sage four weight and began my day with a purchased stimulator with a peach colored body.

First Fish Came from Current Entering from Side Channel

Despite my optimism I fished for fifteen minutes without any sign of a fish, so I converted to a yellow Charlie Boy hopper with a beadhead hares ear and copper john. This move paid off somewhat as I tallied a nine inch rainbow in a small deep hole where a side channel entered the main river. I continued working my way upstream rapidly, as I encountered quite a few wide shallow riffle areas that I simply waded through. In the first hour of fishing I added a couple more small rainbows plus a foul hooked fish and a momentary hook up. I decided to break for lunch early as the fishing was relatively slow, and as I munched my sandwich, I had visions of a repeat of my 2013 experience. I was having difficulty identifying holding water in this clear backcountry river.

The South Fork

A Better Sun Angle

After lunch and a continued lack of success, I decided to exchange the yellow Charlie Boy for a tan version, and then I removed the copper john and replaced it with a beadhead pheasant tail nymph. Only the hares ear remained on my line from the morning. This change improved my success rate a bit, but the air temperature was now heating up rapidly, and I was feeling quite sluggish in the bright sunny conditions. If I was sluggish, wouldn’t a coldwater fish feel the same way?

Aspens Change Colors on the Hillsides

At some point during this early afternoon period while reconfiguring, I dropped the hares ear nymph in the water, so I elected to replace it with an ultra zug bug as I desired more flash in a subsurface attractor. The ultra zug bug is a Scott Sanchez creation that is actually a stripped down version of a prince nymph sans hackle and white wings. By 3PM I began noticing tiny blue winged olive mayflies drifting up slowly from the surface of the river, and my catch rate seemed to improve during this time as fish began to grab the pheasant tail even though I don’t typically view this size 18 fly as a good imitation of BWO nymphs. I’m guessing the BWO emergence caused the fish to become active feeders, and they were not particularly selective about what subsurface food morsel they ate.

This Fly Produced

Concurrent with the increased insect activity I continued wading upstream and the river narrowed a bit thus creating more deeper pockets and attractive holding areas for trout. The combination of increased insect activity, better holding water and more distance from the trailhead seemed to combine to improve my action and this in turn improved my confidence and focus. Also during this period I went through a stretch of water where I landed three or four brook trout, although only two made my six inch cut off for registering on the fish counter.

Unfortunately the blue winged olive hatch waned, and I entered a another slow period when I decided to abandon the three fly system and reverted to a size 12 stimulator with a light olive body. This did nothing for my success rate, although I enjoyed making some great fluttering casts to some nice pocket water for twenty minutes.

Perhaps the Best Fish from the South Fork

By 4:30 the sun sank lower in the western sky, and parts of the river were enveloped in shade. Following a fly from sun to shade and back to sun is always a difficult task, and I debated quitting and getting a jump on my return hike. However, I remembered that some of my best fishing took place in the late afternoon on Tuesday and Wednesday as the air temperature cooled, so perhaps the same might apply to the South Fork. I resolved to stick it out this time to see what developed.

The lengthening shadows and cooler temperatures caused the caddis to become active, and numerous small tan insects dapped and skittered on the surface along with the occasional lagging blue winged olive. I decided that I should return to nymphs in case the fish became active subsurface feeders again as they had earlier in the afternoon, so I tied on a Chernobyl ant with striped legs and a large visible neon yellow indicator. This would help me follow my flies in the shadows and sun glare. Below the Chernobyl I attached an ultra zug bug, and then on the point I knotted a classic beadhead prince nymph.

Silvery Rainbow Took Pheasant Tail Nymph

This combination caught fire over the remainder of the afternoon as I landed ten additional fish before quiting at 6PM. This was truly my type of fishing as I moved rapidly from pocket to pocket making three to five casts, and more often than not I was rewarded with a dip of the Chernobyl and a feisty streaking fish that inhaled the ultra zug bug or prince. The decision to continue fishing into the early evening was rewarded.

Near the beginning of the late afternoon productive period, I tossed the Chernobyl and nymphs into the nook of an eddy where the water returned from its swirl to a current break. The Chernobyl disappeared, and I instantly set the hook thus provoking a huge rainbow to streak across the river. This fish looked like a giant in this stretch of water that consistently produced twelve inch rainbows. I gave the fish line and allowed it to run, but after a twenty foot highlight reel, the flies popped free, and I was quite disappointed.

Remote Beauty

I probably hooked but did not land at least ten additional fish during the last one and a half hours, and some of these fish were quite nice and probably measured thirteen to fourteen inches. The rainbows of the South Fork seemed comparatively powerful for their size, and that may partly explain my higher than normal ratio of lost fish. I also had a difficult time maintaining side pressure because the fish tended to run in a circle around my position, and there were numerous branches and bushes along the bank that interfered with my attempts to reach the rod sideways. Another reason may have been the tendency of the rainbows to attack the middle fly of my trio, and I’ve historically noticed that more fish seem to escape from the middle fly position.

By the late afternoon I discovered the most productive water types. The first and best water consisted of long riffle sections with four feet of depth, and these areas produced fish at the tail in front of current breaks and along the outer seams. The water needed to be four feet or greater in depth, however, as shallow riffles seemed to be void of fish. Deep pockets also produced, but again these needed to be substantial, and this is defined as five to ten feet long and four feet or greater in depth. Even better was a deep pocket or slot that met these dimensions, but bordered on one side by a bank or structure.

Overall it was a decent day and my best day ever on the South Fork. I landed three or four nice rainbows in the thirteen inch range and the bulk of my catch was nine to ten inch fish. Had I landed the big one or a few more of the late afternoon escapees, my rating would improve from decent to outstanding. Regardless of fishing success, the South Fork is a gorgeous remote setting deep in the Flattops Wilderness and worth visiting for that reason alone.

The Return Trail

I began my return hike at 6PM, and I clocked twenty minutes until I reached my entry point in the morning. I estimate that I covered one mile of water over the course of the day, and when combined with the two mile inbound hike, means that I was three miles from the trailhead at my farthest point. It was a fun day.

Time: 9:30AM – 6:00PM

Location: From confluence with Snell Creek upstream; Himes Peak Campground where I ended on Tuesday and then upstream to huge beaver pond.

Fish Landed: 26

North Fork of the White River 09/17/2014 Photo Album

Despite one of my best days of fishing in 2014 on the upper North Fork above Himes Peak, I decided I wanted to explore different water on Wednesday. I had mixed success on the North Fork near the confluence with Snell Creek on previous visits, so I decided to give it another try. I had a quick breakfast and prepared my lunch and got off to a nice early start. Wednesday was shaping up to be another gorgeous fall day in the Flattops, and I suspect the air temperature never got lower than 50 on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

As I prepared to fish I wore my UnderArmour shirt under my fishing shirt and assembled my six weight four piece Scott rod. Both of these choices proved to be mistakes as I grew to be overheated, and the large rod was overkill for the size of the North Fork. I parked on the shoulder along the bend of Trappers Lake Road and found a worn path that led me down the steep bank to the point where Snell Creek joined the North Fork. I was searching for the nice pool near an overhanging evergreen tree where I landed some nice trout in two previous experiences on this stretch of the White River. Some tight bushes and trees forced me to cross the river, and then I maneuvered down the south bank until I was across from the targeted pool.

Ideal Spot for a Trout

I’m not sure if it was due to the higher than normal September flows or a permanent shift in the structure of the river, but the pool was much narrower than what I remembered. Nevertheless I rigged with a Chernobyl ant, beadhead hares ear, and copper john and began prospecting the seven foot wide deep run and pool. I managed a split second hook up toward the tail of the run, but that was the extent of my action on the evergreen pool, so I moved along and began wading upstream.

Over the next two hours I covered a huge amount of water, but it was mostly wading and not casting. The river in this section was largely a fast riffle, and it did not contain very many good holding lies for fish. I managed one nine inch rainbow trout in a narrow slot along the south bank, as I continued upstream farther than I had ever ventured previously. I kept expecting the river to narrow a bit and thus present more deep pockets and pools, but it never happened, so I decided to cut my losses and found a weak path that led up the steep north bank to a very high position. As I followed the path, it became more defined and eventually connected with the steep path that I originally used to descend to the North Fork at the start of my two hour fishing adventure.

When I reached the car, I promptly removed my UnderArmour shirt and returned the six weight Scott to its protective case, and then I drove another eight miles to the Himes Peak Campground. If I landed forty fish in one afternoon, why couldn’t I repeat this success if I continued from my ending point? This thought danced through my head as I put together my Sage four weight four piece rod and then quickly devoured my lunch. In order to find my ending point I walked up the dirt road from the parking lot a short distance and then found a faint trail that cut across an open grass area and led me toward the fence line. I followed the fence line beyond the lower beaver pond until it led me into a wooded area, and at this point I cut south and perpendicular to the fence until I intersected with the river. The fence line strategy worked quite well as I entered the river just below the breached beaver dam that produced numerous fish for me on Tuesday.

A Pretty Cutbow

I tied on an orange body stimulator that I purchased at Charlie’s Fly Box and began probing all the attractive water. It was around 12:30 when I began, and the air temperature had warmed quite a bit making me thankful that I removed the long sleeved insulated UnderArmour shirt. It wasn’t long before I landed a small brook trout on the stimulator, but the catch rate was much slower than the previous day. This surprised me as I was surely in water that rarely got touched by other fishermen. Perhaps the orange color of the stimulator body was not a good one? I opted to switch it for a larger version with a tan body, but this fly was equally ignored by the trout.

Crimson Leaves on the Hillside

Next I experimented with a Chernobyl ant and beadhead pheasant tail and followed that tandem with a parachute gray hopper, but the hopper generated only a number of refusals before I added a beadhead hares ear. By two o’clock I landed seven trout, and I remember thinking that it was very slow and quite different from the previous day. I could only attribute the change to fewer clouds and warmer air temperatures.

Pocket Water of the North Fork

Since the lime green trude had served me well for a while on Tuesday, I elected to give it a try, and this proved to be a good decision. I added four more trout to reach eleven by 2:30. If nothing else, this shows how spoiled I was to be dissatisfied with ten fish in two hours. The green trude continued producing beyond 2:30 including several nice rainbows that took it after it sank. Eventually I began to observe blue winged olives in the air, so I converted from the lime green trude to a tan Charlie Boy hopper with legs as I needed a larger more buoyant fly to support droppers. Since fish were taking the submerged lime green trude, I decided to try a bright green caddis pupa as a dropper from the Charlie Boy. This was a great idea, but the trout were not buying it, although I did catch some fish on the Charlie Boy.

Another Deeply Colored Brook Trout

The green caddis pupa had its opportunity but failed to deliver, so I swapped it for a beadhead hares ear and added a salvation nymph as my point fly. From 4:30 until 6:00PM these three flies produced with nearly an even amount of production coming from each. The fishing action improved considerably during the last hour and a half as the air temperature cooled and shadows began to extend over the stream. Many more insects were visible including blue winged olives, small tan caddis, and a few pale morning duns. I did not see any significant surface activity, but the fish were clearly tuned into nymphs and began to take my offerings with more confidence.

Brilliant Crimson Colors on This Trout

By six o’clock the stream was entirely covered by shadows and the insect activity was largely absent so I decided to execute my exit strategy. I was hoping to avoid the long hike back along the fence line, and instead planned to see if I could reach the road. I climbed over a dense area of deadfalls from the wildfire until I crested a hill, and here I could see a large beaver pond on a small tributary, and the road was visible high above the pond. Unfortunately the barbed wire fence continued along the slope and separated me from the road. There appeared to be a path from the road to the beaver pond, so I assumed that someone found an opening in the fence, and I proceeded to skirt the west side of the pond until I reached the “path”.

Unique Orange Belly

At this point I realized that the “path” was actually an area where the beavers had beaten down the grass as they moved back and forth with their gnawed off branches. I proceeded up the bank in spite of this and discovered that someone had separated the barbed wire strands and twisted them together enough to allow me to squeeze through. I removed my front pack and backpack and slid through the narrow opening and then carefully and slowly climbed the bank until I was on the road.

Beaver Pond at End of the Day Wednesday

I hiked along the road for .75 mile when the driver of a passing pick up truck stopped and offered me a ride. I accepted the offer and angled my rod from the back seat through an open window and then jumped in. The driver was named George, and he was from Syracuse, NY and had been camping and living in Colorado since August. He was a hunter and practitioner of hang gliding and also quite a conversationalist. After a brief drive he turned on the campground road and dropped me off by my car at the Himes Peak Campground parking lot. Somehow my beadhead hares ear and salvation nymph must have hooked something in George’s truck and broken off, as they were missing when I broke down the rod and returned it to its case.

Looking Back at the Beaver Pond

It turned out to be a fun day on the North Fork despite the slow morning. I worked harder for fewer fish than Tuesday, but I still managed to land 26 and several very nice rainbows and brook trout were included in the count. It was an unbelievably nice fall day, and I’m sure the high temperature reached 80 degrees. I had one more day to explore the White River drainage, and I needed to decide on a destination.

Time: 12:30PM – 6:00PM

Location: Himes Peak Campground and upstream

Fish Landed: 40

North Fork of White River 09/16/2014 Photo Album

I kept my eye on the weather after being thwarted in my efforts to visit the Flattops Wilderness the previous week. I was in a lull at work, and a fishing trip during the week of September 16 – 19 worked nicely with my schedule. When I noticed a weather forecast for a series of days in the 80’s in Denver, I made the decision to reschedule my Flattops trip. The forecast for Meeker, CO on the western rim of the Flattops was similar to Denver, so that clinched it.

Aspen Leaves Change in the Flattops

The drive to the North Fork Campground from Denver is four hours, and I wanted to enjoy at least a half day of fishing on Tuesday, so I had nearly everything packed and ready on Monday night. This enabled me to depart Denver by 7AM, and I arrived at the campground by 11:40AM. I quickly paid for the campsite and gobbled my lunch and headed to the Himes Peak Campground on the way to Trappers Lake to begin my fishing adventure.

Since I lost my Simms fly box on the Frying Pan River, I purchased a replacement along with ten stimulators. I rotated this box to my front pack and then shifted the Pennsylvania box to my zippered bib pocket in my waders. I assembled my Orvis Access rod (which I would come to regret) and hiked down the trail from the parking lot toward the stream. After a short distance I cut to the left and then skidded down a steep bank to the stream. The stream remained high from the heavy rain the previous week, and a steep gradient made fishing difficult. In addition numerous deadfalls spanned the stream as a result of a wildfire several years ago, and this added significantly to the casting and wading difficulty.

A Feisty Rainbow from the North Fork

Initially I used a gray pool toy and beadhead hares ear dropper, and I did not have any problem hooking fish. Unfortunately I did have difficulty landing fish, as the first five hook ups resulted in long distance releases. This was quite frustrating particularly as several of the fish felt quite heavy in proportion to the small high mountain river. I decided to change tactics and removed the dry/dropper and switched to a purchased stimulator with a light green body. With this fly on my line, I finally connected with and landed four fish by 1:30.

Speckles Like Cutthroat, Stripe Like Rainbow

I continued upstream and covered a ton of water and built my fish count to nine, but I lost the stimulator along the way and replaced it with a lime green trude, and this productive fly accounted for three or four of the first nine fish. At 2:30 I decided to try a Chernobyl ant with a beadhead pheasant tail as a short dropper as I was weary of continually drying the trude. I knew that a long dropper was asking for trouble given all the logs and brush, so I kept the dropper length at 18 inches. After making this change, as I was wading along the edge of the stream, I stepped on a slanted wet slimy rock and my right foot shot sideways into the stream. I reacted instinctively by reaching out my left hand to catch my fall, but this hand also held my Orvis Access four weight rod. I dropped the rod as my hand went toward the ground, but it was two late, and after picking myself up and gathering my senses, I realized that I snapped the rod in the middle of the second piece after the butt section. I’m not sure if the tip hit the ground and snapped the rod or if the impact of dropping the rod did the damage, but the cause was irrelevant, and I now had a broken rod.

Lime Green Trude Was Effective

I uttered some curse words and grieved for a bit, but then gathered the pieces and made the 15 minute hike back to the car where I had two back up rods. I selected my Sage four weight and assembled it and hiked back to the scene of my fall. I was feeling pretty low at this point near the start of my four day fishing adventure. The catch rate was slower than I expected, the wading was quite challenging, and I broke my rod. In addition I had to hike all the way back to the car through a mucky beaver pond, obtain another rod, and hike the same distance back to the river.

Close Up of the Slash

Since I was starting over with a new rod, I decided to try another purchased crystal stimulator, and I selected one with a gray body. This choice proved to be a winner, and I landed a bunch of fish and took my tally to the mid-20’s until I lost a second purchased stimulator. I had another three days of fishing ahead of me, and I’d already lost 20% of my purchased stimulator inventory. I had some royal stimulators that I tied several years ago, so I decided to try one in an effort to preserve my purchased flies. The royal model worked reasonably well, and I added another three or four fish to my count before I began to see a decent number of blue winged olives.

Head Shot of Pretty Rainbow

I knew an exact match such as a CDC olive comparadun would be nearly impossible to see in the rushing mountain stream, so I tied the Chernobyl ant back on my line and added a soft hackle emerger as a dropper. I hoped that the fish would see the soft hackle emerger as an emerging blue winged olive, and the Chernobyl ant with the bright neon yellow foam indicator would allow me to spot takes. This tactic did not work very well, and I can only assume that the tiny size 20 emerger was too difficult for the fish to see in the swirling currents. I clipped off the soft hackle emerger and replaced it with a salvation nymph, and this combination was on fire for the last hour of the day.

Best Brook Trout of Trip

As the shadows lengthened I approached a broken beaver dam and surveyed the water. It was a beautiful set up as the breached dam enabled the current to continue running through the center, but nice slower moving pools spanned out from the center to the banks on both sides where the stick dam remained. I began drifting my dry/dropper combination along the seam of the main current first and then gradually lengthened my casts to methodically cover the entire width of the pool. On nearly every cast I hooked a fish, and eventually landed at least seven or eight from this one location. It was a blast, and these fish were chunky hard fighting rainbow trout that streaked in every direction around the pool. The most amazing fact was that the disturbance of a hooked fish did not seem to impact the desire of neighboring fish to inhale my salvation nymph on subsequent casts.

Pure Cutthroat or Cutbow?

I decided to quit at 6PM despite the fact that the fishing remained quite productive because I had a tough hike along the fence line back to the car. I ended farther from the parking lot than I’d ever ventured, and I really wasn’t sure about my exit route. I ended up fighting through some deadfalls and walking perpendicular to the stream until I encountered the fence. The fence was very taut, and I could not determine a way through or around it, so I followed it back to the road that led to Himes Peak.

What an afternoon! I landed 40 trout with a ratio of 80% rainbows and 20% brook trout. The rainbows were feisty chunky hard fighting wild fish mostly in the 12-13 inch range with a few 14 inch fish to make things interesting. I probably could have tallied 70 fish had I landed every trout that I hooked. I attribute the high escape ratio to the narrow stream and the multitude of snags and obstacles that made maintaining constant side pressure a significant challenge.

I accomplished all this in half a day of fishing with thirty minutes lost to a round trip to the car to get another fly rod. What an amazing day! It was just too bad I broke my rod on the first day.

Time: 10:30AM – 5:30PM

Location: Hiked from trailhead for 30 minutes and then cut down to the river

Fish Landed: 7

South Fork of White River 09/13/2013 Photo Album

Friday began with overcast skies and threatening clouds again as I began the drive to the South Fork of the White River. I thought I allowed enough time to arrive at the trailhead by 9:30 and then hike for 30 minutes so I could be wetting a line by 10AM. Unfortunately I missed the turn at Buford and drove to Sleepy Cat before I realized I had gone too far. This added perhaps 30 minutes to my drive resulting in my arrival at the trailhead by 10AM and with the 30 minute hike I was not fishing until 10:30. As it was overcast and chilly when I began, I decided to wear my ski hat, Adidas pullover and raincoat, but this proved to be too many layers and I was quite warm. In addition the lack of a brimmed hat proved to be a significant impediment to my fishing experience.

The trail was extremely muddy due to the recent rain and apparently some horses had recently passed and chopped up the black mud. This made for a very slippery and unappealing hike, although I was grateful to be in wading boots. After hiking for approximately 30 minutes I spotted a faint trail that cut off to the right and descended through some scrubby trees to the river. I tied on a tan pool toy and extended some 5X off the hood bend and added a salvation nymph. Initially I did not encounter much attractive water as the river was wide and shallow with long stretchs of riffles.Toward the end of the first hour however I picked up two twelve inch rainbows so I became more optimistic about my prospects.

South Fork of White River Near Starting Point on Friday

I was feeling good about the fact that I had two layers and a ski hat in case it rained again, when I somehow slipped and lost my balance while standing in some shallow water along the right bank. Before I knew what happened I was sitting in the water and a tiny amount spilled over the top of my waders in the back. So much for having nice dry insurance layers. I had tied the Adidas pullover around my waist under my waders, and of course this material absorbed the water that spilled inside. I guess it may have been fortuitous that the pullover absorbed the water and prevented it from running down my legs.

I uttered some choice words, but there wasn’t much I could do this far from the trailhead so I moved along and added another small rainbow to my count before breaking for lunch at 11:45. I decided to take a longer than normal lunch break to allow my clothes to dry and spread them out on a large rock nearby.

South Fork Narrows Here

After lunch I landed another small rainbow, but now I reached a nice narrow stretch with deeper pools and pockets. I was dissatisfied with the productivity of the pool toy and nymph so I decided to go deeper with a split shot, strike indicator, and beadhead hares ear plus a salvation nymph. This actually proved to be a decent strategy as I experienced four or five hook ups, but for some reason I couldn’t land any of them.until finally I connected on a small rainbow for fish number five on the South Fork. One of the nymph hook ups was a very nice rainbow as I saw it leap above the water right after the hook set, but it shed the hook almost immediately.

After covering a fair amount of water with my nymphs I reached a point where my progress was blocked by a high vertical wall so I climbed to the top hoping to circle around and come back down quickly. Unfortunately the rock wall extended for quite a distance and I had to bushwhack through some dense vegetation to reach a point where there was a gradual descent back to the river. As I looked at the beautiful pool below me from a high perch on the rock wall, I spotted three fish hovering near the surface. This really got my juices flowing and then I observed the most downstream fish sip something in the surface film twice. The top fish was ridiculously large and probably extended beyond 20 inches.

Spotted Three Large Trout Next to Large Rock on Left But Failed to Catch

I carefully negotiated my way down some steep rocks to the tail of the pool and realized I still had my nymphing rig on, and surely this would immediately spook the fish, so I took the time to remove all the components. But what were they sipping and what should I use to imitate the target of there casual rises? I looked at my patch and decided to bet on an ant and selected one with an orange wing post. I was a right handed fisherman along the right bank so this dictated a backhand cast. I was greedy and decided to try and catch the two largest fish and thus cast to the downstream fish first. This proved to be a strategic error as the lower fish did in fact move toward the ant but rejected it and the single cast put down the other fish including the monster farthest upstream.

I moved on in despair and switched to a Chernobyl ant for better visibility, but the fish were having none of it, and due to the shadows and glare typical for a canyon area, I was having a hard time following the small yellow foam indicator low in the water. I wanted something more visible so I tied on a yellow Letort hopper with the added advantage that it had become breezy and the weather was clearing somewhat so perhaps there were actually hoppers being blown in the water.

Not long after tying on the hopper I made a long cast to the top of a long riffle of moderate depth. The riffle spanned the entire width of the river, but somehow I chose to cast where there was a fish and the hopper dipped and I set the hook on a hot rainbow. I battled the fish for a minute or two but then the hares ear came free and flew back toward me and more expletives were uttered. In another deep run where the current ran against a large rock I thought I saw a fish hit the hopper so I set, but as I fought the fish it felt more like it was hooked on the trailing nymph. Unfortunately I’ll never know which fly the fish hit because it got free after making a dash for the current.

It was now late afternoon and I considered exiting, but I absorbed a couple refusals to the hopper. The fish were obviously looking up for their meal, but what were they looking for? Something smaller perhaps? I clipped off the hopper and tied on a size 12 caddis with a palmered body but this didn’t work so I downsized to a size 14 light gray deer hair caddis and of course after a few casts the hackle broke and unwound. I removed the damaged fly and tied on a new size 16 light gray deer hair caddis and flicked it above a protruding rock at the tail of a nice deep but short pool right above me.

Close Up of Colorful Head

Much to my surprise a huge head appeared and sucked in the caddis and the fight was on and tough one it proved to be, but unlike the previous decent hooked fish that managed to evade my tactics, this fish succombed to my pressure and slid into my net. I snapped several photos of the 15-16 inch beauty with an amazing girth.

With fresh optimism I moved on to another nice riffle over moderate depth and seduced a 14 inch rainbow to smash the caddis. Perhaps I found the answer in the caddis, but that was the end of it. I prospected on with the caddis but no more action presented itself and I reached a point where the trail was easily accessible so I took advantage and hiked back to the trailhead. It was 5:30 when I began to hike out, so it was a good choice.

Time: 10:00AM – 5:00PM

Location: Two track lane from road to river to a point above Snell Creek; Himes Peak upstream from where I quit on Wednesday and then from footbridge below campground upstream a bit

Fish Landed: 18

North Fork of White River 09/12/2013 Photo Album

In 2010 I experienced a fine day of fishing as I explored the area near where Snell Creek flows into the North Fork of the White River. I discovered a two track lane that gradually descended from the dirt road to the river that enabled me to access the water without undue risk to my physical well being. I decided to explore this area again in 2013 on Thursday, September 12. The morning weather was much nicer than Wednesday afternoon with predominantly sunshine and only occasional clouds. When I arrived beside the river I decided to work my way downstream a bit and investigate some new water. I began with the usual Chernobyl ant but attached a salvation nymph instead of a beadhead hares ear after having some great success with the salvation on Wednesday.

15 Inch Cutbow Landed on North Fork on Thursday

Unfortunately the run of success ended and I did not experience any success in the early going, so I swapped the salvation for a beadhead hares ear and this fly produced two fish; a nice cutbow and a Colorado cutthroat. In the second hour of fishing two more fish rested in my net; a small cutbow and a seventeen inch cutbow. The large cutbow was a thrill to battle and made five or six strong dashes before I could slide my net beneath its hefty body. I was once again using the Orvis four weight and the cutbow certainly tested the capacity of the slender rod. The cutbow took the Chernobyl ant at the very top of a slot that was five feet wide and fifteen feet long.

17″ Cutbow Also Thursday

With four fish landed I stopped fishing at noon and ate my lunch beside the river and then after lunch proceeded upstream to a nice deep pool below a large evergreen tree along the left bank. I crossed to the right side of the river to gain a better casting position and began working the deep run and pool. I remembered this spot to be quite productive during my 2010 visit. I managed to land one nice cutbow in the deep run after working it for quite a while with numerous casts. Eventually my instincts proved correct and the cutbow snared the salvation nymph which I returned to after a long unproductive period with the hares ear.

In addition to the cutbow I landed a huge whitefish that probably extended 18-19 inches and was quite fat. I continued working my way upstream and beyond the confluence with Snell Creek, but there were not that many attractive spots so I eventually decided to retreat and return to Himes Peak where the fishing had been quite fast and furious on Wednesday. I did manage to land two small fish on a pink pool toy that I experimented with for one of the first times since tying this winter.  I climbed the steep slope until I found a faint trail and then descended to Snell Creek and crossed and discovered a well worn trail that carried me up the steep slope to the road. This was a major improvement over my exit in 2010 when I slipped and slid my way up Snell Creek.

North Fork Stretch Fished on Thursday Viewed from High Bank Next to Road

Overall I was a bit disappointed with this stretch of water compared to my memory of 2010, but the 17 inch cutbow was quite a thrill and did compensate somewhat for the slower action.

Meanwhile Himes Peak beckoned and after parking in the trailhead parking lot I descended the still muddy trail and then made a left and traversed the hill next to the river until I reached a point where I could descend and begin fishing approximately where I ended my day on Wednesday. I began with a pink pool toy with a salvation nymph on a dropper two feet below. In short order I spotted a rise so I splashed the pink pool toy above the spot of the rise and a nice brook trout gobbled the pool toy which prompted me to photograph and include the pink creation in the frame.

Nice Brook Trout Took Pink Pool Toy

I continued working my way up the stream with the pink pool toy and salvation nymph and added six more fish beyond the brook trout with most grabbing the trailing salvation nymph. One of these fish was a beautiful cutbow with a bronze underside, and it was so colorful that I anticipated it would be a brook trout when I glimpsed it while still in the water. Unfortunately as I was truly enjoying this solitary remote wilderness fishing experience, the sky darkened and lightening commenced so I exited with sixteen fish landed on the day and returned to the parking lot. As I walked up to my car I discovered the same gentleman from Philadelphia that I encountered along the road, and he was now parked next to me and preparing to fish at Himes Peak. We chatted a bit and I learned that his name was Chris Daley and he was staying at Trappers Lake Lodge and he is an emergency room doctor.

We decided to walk down to the river together and this time cut down a trail from one of the campsites which led to a footbridge across the river. Chris and I decided to alternate pools so I began in the nice pool below the footbridge where I landed a small brook trout. I then circled around Chris and dropped back down to a decent area and landed a small rainbow before the rain began to fall from the sky in sheets. The heavy rain forced Chris and I to quit and retreat to our cars, although as I was departing I noticed a lot of BWO’s and a few PMD’s. The rain was coming down so hard that I was forced to change out of my waders in the back of the Santa Fe.

I experienced another productive day on the North Fork of the White River, although not quite as intense as Wednesday afternoon. I decided to stay for Friday and explore the South Fork and pay for a third night on Friday and then move on to the Green River on Saturday.

Time: 10:00AM – 6:00PM

Location: Snell Creek area

Fish Landed: 16

White River 09/14/2010 Photo Album

Day three on the White River began with some non-fishing excitement. I was eating my continental breakfast (muffin, tea, granola bar, and yogurt) at the campsite when the campground hostess walked by on her morning hike and informed me two moose were visible on the eastern edge of the campground. I grabbed my camera and rushed over to camp site 25. Indeed there was a cow and bull that had moved out of the clearing to the edge of the trees. The cow was a bit more visible as the bull was hidden behind an evergreen so I attempted to snap some photos of the cow. I was amazed by the size of these animals and how black their coats appeared. I got one decent shot of the female stretching her neck to browse on some vegetation. Eventually the bull trotted up by the side of the female. What a sight that was with the big moose antlers protruding above his head. The two of them then trotted up through the woods. Again I was amazed at the agility of these large beasts. All I heard the constant sound of splitting and cracking wood as the heavy beasts crushed the fallen branches under their hooves.

Best Shot Reaching to Browse

Because I was up early and ready, I took a hike around the entire campground loop and ended up talking to the campground hostess for a bit, and then two guys that were camping near the moose sighting. They were postal workers, one retired and the other still working, on a fishing trip similar to mine. They told me they’d caught huge trout on spinners on the White River where the small outlet from Lake Avery joins. I was somewhat suspicious until they pulled me over to their cooler and showed me a 20+ inch rainbow and an even larger brown that they were taking back to Littleton to smoke. This certainly made me think about changing my plan, but I was intrigued about exploring new less accessible water.

I decided I would fish for an hour and a half in the morning near the campground covering the same stretch I’d done on Sunday. This time, however, I’d give streamers a serious test. I’d start at the same place as Sunday, but fish only the deeper holes and runs. At the same time I wanted to look again for my lost net. I still held out hope that I’d left it on the bank and in my haste on Sunday night hadn’t thoroughly covered all the terrain.

I began at the same bend pool and began casting and stripping a black nosed dace. This streamer has the silver tinsel body with black, white and brown bucktail wing. I felt this would be as close as I could come to the basic metal spoons that the postal workers showed me as the source of their great success. I employed this strategy with no success, not even a bump. I tried casting ¾ and swinging, across and stripping, up and bouncing back, and all manner of movement. Finally at a beautiful deep long run that became a pool, I decided to switch to nymphs and go deep. This rewarded my efforts with a big fat mountain white fish on the beadhead hairs ear. I covered the same water as Sunday and then some with no success. It was time for the second phase of my Tuesday strategy.

Start of Fishing on Tuesday at End of Island

I’d read that Snell Creek offered another access to the White River and it was not too far from the campground. I’d driven by several times and scouted it out. The challenge was that where the creek entered the White River, there were extremely steep banks along the road. Above the entry point of Snell Creek the White River flowed through wilderness as the road took a big curve to the northeast and there was a sizeable hill in between the road and the river. This whole stretch had to receive light fishing pressure. There was perhaps 1 mile of water below Snell Creek before a long private stretch that was well marked with sturdy fences clearly making this off limits.

Island in White River

I drove east and found a small two track lane just beyond the private land. The lane was very rough and hadn’t been driven in some time, but I could hike down the single tracks and it was the least steep access to the river. My exit strategy was to wade up Snell Creek, although it was probably .3 miles from the mouth to the point where it intersected with the road with steep hills on both sides.

Steep Bank Makes Fishing Access Difficult

When I got down to the river it seemed smaller than I expected, but I began fishing with a Chernobyl ant and beadhead hares ear. Almost immediately I landed a brook trout and then two hot rainbows in the 13 inch range. The rainbows fought hard and made several charges up and down the river. They packed much power for their size. As I moved up the stream I realized why it seemed small as I reached the junction with another braid at the top of an island. Once I met the joined river, it represented a nice size spanning perhaps thirty feet in most places.

Nice Rainbow Early Tuesday

I fished the Chernobyl ant and BHHE the remainder of the afternoon and landed 16 trout in total. Two were brook trout, two pure cutthroats, and twelve rainbows. The rainbows were decent fish mostly in the 12-14 inch slot with perhaps one 15 incher. I need to measure my new net dimensions. I learned pretty quickly that the short pockets were barren, but any run or pocket with decent length and depth yielded fish. This meant I covered a lot of distance between the ideal water types. This also meant I fished all the water up to Snell Creek and quite a distance up into the wilderness away from the road. I probably caught 75% of the fish on the Chernobyl and 25% on the hares ear. As great a day as I experienced, it could have been even better as I lost three additional nice rainbows. Two broke off the Chernobyl and the other came free after running downstream and then making a sudden U turn.

Head of Productive Nice Run

Only Rainbow Landed Out of Three Hookups in Nice Run

One of the most memorable spots was a delicious deep run that fed a nice pool not too far below the confluence with Snell Creek. In this one spot I landed my largest fish of the day and had one break off then leap above the water twice after the break off. A trout was the one that ran to the fast water below me then made a sudden turn to free itself.

Closer Shot of Cutthroat

The last fish of the day was also a highlight. Shadows were beginning to lengthen across the stream when I approached a nice riffle section with decent depth. I flicked the Chernobyl upstream and as it drifted back a fish attacked it. I set the hook a played a decent sized fish that fought up and down the run a few times. When I brought it to net I was surprised to discover a pure Colorado cutthroat of around 13 inches in length. I rarely catch pure cutthroats, so to catch one of decent size like this was quite exciting.

Rough Trail Followed on Way Out of Canyon

I was looking for a hatch similar to that which I experienced on Monday between 5-6PM, but it never really materialized. There were a few small midges and mayflies, but no rising fish. Tuesday was warmer than Monday, so perhaps it was delayed more, but I was concerned about getting out of my remote location, so I called it quits and began my exit trek. I had fished up through the valley that was away from the road quite a distance so I climbed up the slope above the streamside vegetation to scrubby grass and sagebrush. I found a faint path and followed it as best I could along the bottom contour of the slope just above the stream vegetation. The path became more pronounced as I moved closer to Snell Creek. When I got near the evergreens and shrubs that surrounded the creek, the path led down to the stream. I now began working my way up the stream actually fishing the pools. But I realized this was taking too long and clipped my flies to the rod guide and got serious about wading and hiking out of the deep river valley. The slope between me and the road was still intimidating.

Waterfall Along Snell Creek Tributary

My Exit Route

I reached a point where there were difficult blockages to wading the stream such as steep rock cascades or large trees spanning the creek, so I climbed up the left bank and fought my way through vegetation on the steep slope with dangerous sliding rocks. I went through the exercise of wading then climbing out and around two or three times. Eventually I managed to reach the point where the creek was close to the road and climbed a twenty foot slope to the road near a cattle guard and then hiked back down the road to the car. It was one of the best days of the year for good fishing and remoteness and adventure. 

Time: 10:30AM – 6:00PM

Location: Sleepy Cat Ponds area and Himes Peak Campground area

Fish Landed: 27

White River 09/13/2010 Photo Album

I got an early start on the day Monday as I needed to build in a plan to drive to Meeker to buy a new net. Meeker is 32 miles downstream from the North Fork Campground via a twisty road. I found an Ace Hardware store that had a sign for fishing and hunting supplies, and found an Eagle Claw net that I liked. Unfortunately it had an elastic strap to wear across ones shoulder, so I also bought a quick release fastener that would allow me to release the net from my retractor.

Since I was in the downstream area, I scoped out fishing in the town of Meeker, but didn’t care for the character of the water. I then checked out some additional public access points listed in my Colorado fishing book, but none of them appealed to me either. I decided to stop at the Sleepy Cat Ponds and fish the river where it flows past the ponds. I fished this stretch for an hour. There was a nice deep run on the other side of the ponds, and I worked this with the Letort hopper and beadhead hares ear, but had no success. The next attractive water was a wide deep pool, and I covered this with the hopper/dropper rig. I caught one small rainbow too small to count. When I got to the top of the water, I clipped off the hopper dropper and tied on an olive woolly bugger with a black tail. I swung this through the big deep pool from top to bottom, but met with no success.

I moved back down to the nice deep run where I had started and cast and stripped the bugger through this water as well. When that didn’t work, I went to a nymphing rig with a prince nymph and beadhead hares ear, but this was equally unproductive. At around 11:30AM I decided to give up on the big water, and head to the upper North Fork of the White River at Himes Peak, not far below Trappers Lake. I remembered fishing this stretch a number of years ago and doing quite well with attractor flies.

Hunting Camps Like This Were Everywhere

When I arrived at Himes Peak after a 40 mile drive, the parking lot was crawling with hunters wearing orange coats and orange hats. I was actually a bit concerned that with my subdued clothing, I might be mistaken for game prowling the streamside. I quickly ate my lunch and hiked down the trail that led to the North Fork. I noticed a significant number of blow downs, dead trees that had blown down across the stream.

Many Deadfalls to Work Around

I removed the nymphs I’d experimented with on the lower river, and tied on the bushy caddis that had brought me refusals on Sunday. My thought was that these fish would be more receptive to the high floating caddis fly. I worked my way upstream and landed the first five trout on the bushy caddis. Two were brook trout and the others rainbows. It was another blue sky almost cloudless day with temperatures probably peaking in the mid to high seventies. I lost the bushy caddis on a tree branch, so looked through my cylindrical box of attractors and pulled out a wulff style fly with a red body. I landed a couple rainbows on the wulff, but it wasn’t producing to my satisfaction in some very attractive fishy spots, so I removed it and tied on a Chernoyl ant with a beadhead hares ear dropper. I love the Chernobyl for this type of fishing because its foam construction allows it to float without false casting. I can just flip the flies ahead into likely lies and cover a lot of stream.

Nice Brookie in New Net on Monday

As it turned out, this combination was a major producer. Up until the last hour, I landed another 17 trout on the Chernobyl/BHHE combination. From 2-4, the Chernobyl was attracting fish, and then from 4-5 the beadhead hares ear kicked in and became the top producer. I’m not sure if it was a function of the time of day, or whether I was moving further away from the campground, but the fishing got very hot between 2:30 and 3:30. The rainbows were surprisingly nice fish averaging 10-12 inches and quite chunky.

Pretty Spots on This Rainbow

Wildfire and the Pine Beetles Create Toothpick Forest

Pretty Rainbow Liked Chernobyl

Action slowed in the last hour so I switched to an olive caddis and managed to land one on that offering. Between 5 and 6 some a nice little hatch of small mayflies took place. I tied on a light gray comparadun and landed a brook trout and cutbow in a little pool where I spotted a few rises. 

Time: 4:00 – 7:00PM

Location: Across from North Branch Campground

Fish Landed: 6

White River 09/12/2010 Photo Album

Each year in roughly the second week of September I’ve traditionally taken a fishing/camping trip through some area of Colorado. Jane can’t understand how this is fun. I remove all the seats from the minivan and sleep there surrounded by my other camping supplies and fishing gear. Sunday marked the beginning of this annual road trip for 2010. My plan called for driving to the White River in the Flattops Wilderness on Sunday, fishing in the White River Monday and Tuesday, then driving to the North Platte and fishing there Wednesday and Thursday, and finally stopping and fishing the Colorado River on the way home on Friday. As you’ll see it didn’t quite work out that way, but was fun nonetheless.

View from Dunckley Pass

The drive to the Flattops Wilderness is a long and relatively difficult one that involves a 41 mile stretch on a dirt road over two mountain passes, Dunckley Pass and Ripply Creek Pass. It takes around four hours. I arrived at the White River at around 3:30 and snagged a nice campsite number 31 there. There were around four or five other campers, some hunters and some fishermen. I met Ralph, the campground host, almost immediately and got to know him pretty well over the next couple days. He was a Vietnam veteran and possessed a booming baritone voice.

Western Scene on Route to Flattops

By the time I paid for the camp site and unpacked a few things, I was ready to fish at around 4PM. Ralph told me there was a 3-4 mile stretch of water open to the public across from the campground, so I decided to give it a try on Sunday evening. I drove down the lane to the campground, and then made a right turn and parked a short distance away by some old horse or sheep corrals. I hiked a short distance across some sagebrush and dropped down to the river. There was a nice bend pool just above where I entered, and I immediately landed a rainbow and brook trout on the beadhead hares ear nymph dropped off a yellow Letort hopper.

Bend Pool Where My Fishing Began

In short order I landed another small rainbow on the beadhead hares ear, but then I went through a lengthy dry spell with no action. After perhaps an hour of no fish on my line and covering quite a bit of water, I tied on bushy size 14 caddis with a palmered body. Several fish refused this, and after several rejections, I switched to a smaller sparse size 16 olive deer hair caddis. Over the remaining hour I landed a brook trout on the olive caddis, and then two nice 12 inch cutbows (pink stripe of rainbow, but orange slash under mouth like cutthroat). When I attempted to net the second cutbow, I discovered I no longer had a net on my back.

Decent Cutbow befoe Losing Net

I retraced my steps to where I’d landed the first cutbow to photograph, but couldn’t find my net. I must have dropped it in the water as I worked to release the fish, and it was no longer tethered to my retractor. I was pretty upset to start my week long trip by losing my net in the first three hours of fishing.