Time: 9:00AM – 12:00PM

Location: Clear Creek Canyon

Clear Creek 08/02/2026 Photo Album

Temperatures were once again spiking in the 100’s in Denver, as I contemplated another fly fishing outing. I was somewhat burned out from playing pickleball early and in the heat on Friday and Saturday, and wet wading struck me as a refreshing option on Sunday, August 2, 2026. I decided to make a trip to nearby Clear Creek Canyon, as I did not wish to invest a lot of drive time. Clear Creek was tumbling along at 66 CFS at Lawson, and this represented decent flows for the nearby Front Range waterway. I made it my choice.

Another Fine Trout

In an effort to combat the heat I departed the house early, and this delivered me to my chosen pullout by 8:45AM. The air temperature was a mind boggling 82 degrees at 9AM, so I chose to wade wet, and I selected my small Orvis Access four weight. I was not expecting monsters from Clear Creek, and there was virtually no wind; only heat.

Moderate Riffles Produced

To begin my quest for Clear Creek trout, I tied a peacock hippie stomper to my line. I replenished my fly box with four new stompers after losing four the previous Wednesday, and the initial hippie stomper that I utilized was one of the new arrivals in my box. I prospected my way upstream through some fairly attractive pockets during the first fifteen minutes, but I never witnessed a sign of fish. I paused to reevaluate. While I considered my options, I decided to take the stream temperature. Perhaps the creek was too warm, and that explained the lack of action. I held the thermometer beneath the surface a foot or so for less than a minute, and it dropped to 62 degrees. I suspect it may have been another degree or two colder, but 62 satisfied my need to know, and I moved on.

Another Likely Trout Home

I decided to add a size 16 light olive deer hair caddis behind the hippie stomper, but this simply elevated my frustration, as the fish now refused the first fly, the hippie stomper, and ignored the caddis. My solution to this problem was to remove the stomper entirely and fish the small caddis solo. I did observe a few caddis, as they fluttered about near the streamside rocks.

Brown Emerged from Angled Current Seam

The solitary caddis performed as expected, and I landed three brown trout that materialized along the bank to grab the small sparsely tied caddis adult. I was pleased to be on the board, but catching three brown trout required quite a bit of casting and and steady progression. It seemed that I was bypassing quality fish holding locations with no interest.

Quality Clear Creek Fish

I once again adjusted my approach, and I positioned a Jake’s gulp beetle in the front position and trailed the caddis twelve inches behind. This improved my success rate, and the fish count moved from three to five. The two additional trout grabbed the beetle, but I was plagued by refusals and a couple momentary connections, when it seemed the trout were reluctant eaters.

Moderate Riffles Yielded Here

The caddis fly was irrelevant, perhaps because the fish saw the beetle first. Terrestrials seemed like a solid option during the hot summer, so I removed the caddis and added a black sunk ant on the one foot dropper. I was gambling that the fish were looking toward the surface, and the ant could drift high in the water column.

Very Fine Clear Creek Brown Trout

In a nice deep pool and run two fish refused the beetle, but then I noticed a fish moving toward my flies at the lip of the pool. I was not sure, if the fish took my low floating beetle, so I set the hook and discovered that it nabbed the nearby sunk ant! I suspected that I was on to something, but that proved to be the only ant eater.

Sunk Ant in Lip

I was stuck on six, and I began to limit my casts to three maximum for any likely fish holding lie, but I was mired in a lull. I was weary of tracking the small size 14 beetle, so I decided to return to the highly visible white wing of the hippie stomper, and I retained the sunk ant. Why did the hippie stomper suddenly become a desirable food source; whereas, it was spurned earlier in the morning? I do not have an answer, but I boosted the fish count from six to ten, before I quit a bit before noon. All four of these fish crushed the hippie stomper, and they gobbled it with confidence. Three of these brown trout were very respectable fish in the twelve to thirteen inch neighborhood, and they represented some of the largest that I ever caught in Clear Creek.

Shelf Pool

I had an afternoon appointment, and I had a few things to attend to before that, so I hooked my fly to the rod guide and carefully climbed a very steep and rocky bank back to the highway. Ten fish in three hours of fishing was very satisfying, and as I mentioned, I was surprised by the size of several of the browns. Clear Creek is notorious for having small and very picky brown trout. I am almost certain that the 100 degree day elevated the water temperature to levels unsafe for fishing during the afternoon, so my three hours of morning fishing were the ethical choice.

Fish Landed: 10