Time: 10:45AM – 12:30PM

Location: South shore

Clinton Gulch Reservoir 08/25/2026 Photo Album

I visited Clinton Gulch on 06/16/2026, and I was disappointed. An abundant quantity of cutthroat trout were stacked at the inlet, but fishing in the inlet was prohibited, as it should be, and I was unable to tempt any fish elsewhere in the lake. I vowed to return after the cutthroat spawn was complete.

Tuesday, August 25 was the day, when I fulfilled my vow and returned to Clinton Gulch. I arrived at the south parking lot by 10:00AM and quickly geared up including fitting out my Sage R8 four weight. The air temperature was 61 degrees with a stiff breeze, but I decided to roll up my raincoat in order to stuff it in my backpack. Throughout my time on the lake, thick clouds rolled across the sky, and I donned my raincoat several times for added warmth.

I chatted with another occupant in the parking lot who was embarking on a hike with his wife, and he told me that he had fished the lake previously. I asked for a suggested starting point, and he mentioned a spot along the south shore halfway between the dam and the inlet, where there was shelf and drop off.

Lots of Chop

I hiked for .3 mile and then dropped down a very rocky bank to the edge of the lake. The lake at this point was very deep up to the edge of the steep bank, so I suspected it was not the recommended shelf area. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a shot. I began with a peacock hippie stomper, but the fish were not interested. Some dark clouds moved in and the wind picked up and created small waves on the surface. After fanning casts around the area, I decided to move east a bit, but I placed all my weight on a large round rock. I assumed that its size made it stable, but I was wrong, and the boulder rolled like a bowling ball. My 75 year old body crashed to the rocks, and I dropped my favorite fly rod to avoid breakage. The rod was saved, but I landed on my hip, elbow and finger on my right side, and the pain was rather intense. I flexed my finger, and it bent in the right places. My hip felt fine and my elbow struck the rocks, where I wear my elbow brace. What a break! I sat on a rock and waited things out, until I felt up to more fly fishing.

My Only Fish

I deemed my first stop cursed, so I hiked above the high water mark and boulders for a bit, until I reached a small cove. I could see a light colored shelf or bar forty yards out from the shoreline, so I assumed I found the spot that the parking lot gentleman referred to. The wind was still whipping, but I fired some casts with the hippie stomper, until boredom caused me to reconsider. I decided to try a pair of streamers, although I felt it was a long shot. I knotted a beadhead black woolly bugger to my line in the first position and then added a black mini leech. Guess what? On the fifth strip I felt a grab and strip set and felt myself attached to a feisty trout. I never got a good look, but in the brief tussle, it put up a decent fight. Unfortunately, my line went limp, and it was minus two streamers. Apparently I tied a bad knot to the woolly bugger. As you can imagine, I was deeply disappointed.

A Stunning 14″ Cutthroat on a Beetle

On the plus side, I actually located a fish. The wind abated somewhat, so I decided to try a terrestrial combination. I opted for a size 14 Jake’s gulp beetle in the front position trailing a size 18 black parachute ant. I fired three casts, and the flies floated unmolested, but on the fourth cast, an aggressive smash signaled me to set the hook. This fish was very rambunctious, as it fought me back and forth a few times while thrashing about. Eventually I slid my net beneath a gorgeous cutthroat trout that extended to around fourteen inches. What a prize! I was hoping for cutthroats, and now I held one.

Unfortunately that was the end of the action. I continued stepping down the shoreline and casting, and I eventually decided to go big with a pool toy hopper combined with the beetle. My guess was that the large hopper was more visible in the chop created by the wind. At 12:30 I was executing a long cast toward the deeper area between the shore and the shelf, and I snapped off the two flies on the backcast. I wandered to the area behind me thinking I could spot the large pool toy with a pink wing indicator, but all I managed to find was a chubby Chernobyl with a purple body. A one for two trade was better than none.

Dark puffy clouds rolled in from the west, so I knew that wind and cool temperatures were going to exist for a while, so I hiked back to the car and moved to another lake destination.

I landed my best cutthroat of the year, and it was a very pretty fish, so that made my day, although it barely compensated for my dangerous fall. Will I return again to Clinton Gulch? I am not sure.

Fish Landed: 1