Time: 11:00AM – 3:00PM

Location: Between Tunnel 1 and 2.

Clear Creek 09/01/2016 Photo Album

Clear Creek continues to be an enigma to this fisherman. On Auguist 5 I visited the small stream near Idaho Springs, and I experienced a disappointing day, but I attributed it to the rafting traffic. I vowed that I would not return until the flows dropped to the 50 – 80 cfs range, as I felt that the rafting trips would no longer be viable at that level. On August 19 I revisited a section in Clear Creek Canyon west of Golden, and my persistence was rewarded with a fifteen fish day. On this delightful outing the fish responded to Jake’s gulp beetle in a big way.

The August 19 trip gave me the confidence to journey to Clear Creek once again on September 1. I fished the Colorado River on August 31, and I did not wish to undertake another extensive drive, so the 45 minute spin to Clear Creek appealed to me. When I departed my house at 10AM, the sky was overcast, but before I arrived at the pullout across route six from Clear Creek, the sun burned off the haze and clouds. In fact, the weather developed into fairly adverse conditions with the bright sun in a clear blue sky, and the temperature climbed to 85 degrees in the canyon.

Clear As Its Name

I elected to use my Loomis five weight, since I hoped to toss large foam attractors, and the slow action Loomis accommodates this form of fishing quite well. I packed my lunch and raincoat and dropped down a steep rocky embankment to the edge of the creek. From previous experience I knew the water next to me was heavily fished, so I waded along the edge to the point where the bank becomes very high and steep. I was certain that this unfavorable terrain was a deterrent to most fishermen.

I will not bore the reader with all the details of my movements. I will simply state that I fished from 11AM until 1:30PM and did not land a single fish. During this time I presented a size 10 Chernobyl ant, the same Chernobyl with a hares ear nymph dropper, a size 10 Jake’s gulp beetle with a peacock ice dub body, a size 16 gray caddis, a size 10 gray parachute hopper, and a size 10 tan Charlie boy hopper. None of these flies produced a fish; not even a tiny trout beneath the six inch minimum. There were occasional looks, but even these were few and far between. Even on my worst outings on Clear Creek I normally see a preponderance of looks, refusals, long distance releases and spooked fish, but on Thursday these engagements with trout were largely absent.

I knew from past experience that abundant fish resided in the area that I was fishing. I blamed my lack of success on the high bright sun, clear sky and warm temperatures. I concluded that the trout were hunkered down in deep oxygenated refuges, so I modified my approach. I knotted a size eight fat Albert to my line for buoyancy, and then I added a beadhead hares ear and a salvation nymph. With this alignment of flies I focused my casts on deep runs, current seams and large pockets in an effort to reach the hypothetical hangouts of the trout on a warm bright day.

Second Fish Was Bigger

It worked to some extent, as I landed a small brown on the hares ear and then another somewhat larger brown trout on the same fly. Both fish snatched the dangling nymph from deep areas along current seams. I suspected that I discovered a strategy to salvage the first day of September, but that was not the case. I endured another long slump and a few refusals to the oversized fat Albert. The fat Albert had a yellow body, so I surmised that perhaps the trout were looking for a yellow sally or small hopper with a yellow body.

Side Look

I followed up on this thought by changing my offering to a size 12 yellow stimulator. I cast this fly to many attractive spots with no response, but then I lofted it to a current seam at the edge of a nice riffle of moderate depth. In a flash an eleven inch slender brown surfaced and crushed the stimulator. Given the absence of action I was extremely careful, and I quickly played the prize fish to my net. Could the stimulator be the answer?

Zoomed in on the Last Fish of the Day

I moved farther upstream with the bushy yellow attractor on my line, but it no longer appealed to Clear Creek trout. Once again I paused to assess, and I remembered the small yellow hopper idea, so I knotted a size 10 yellow Letort hopper to my line. I applied floatant to the dubbed body and prospected some likely locations, but only a cautious look from a small trout in a narrow slot resulted. What else could I try?

I recalled that the fish did not respond to Jake’s gulp beetle until the afternoon on August 19, so I gave the foam beetle one more try. Once again I selected a version with a peacock ice dub body, but I downsized to a size 12. I plopped it in numerous likely places, but again the casting proved futile. My digital watch displayed 3 o’clock, and I was approaching the steep rocky area just before Tunnel 2, so I decided to cut my losses and called it a day.

The water was clear and the flows were 80 cfs, which I consider nearly ideal for late summer on Clear Creek. I can only attribute my slow day to the weather and the variable disposition of Clear Creek brown trout. The close proximity and abundant public access will likely lure me back to Clear Creek, but the timing will certainly be in late September, after the temperature range falls into the autumn pattern.

Fish Landed: 3