11:00AM – 12:00PM

Location: Shoreline opposite Bear Creek

Evergreen Lake 06/10/2026 Photo Album

After a fair day of fly fishing on the Arkansas River on Tuesday, I was averse to making a long drive to quench my fishing thirst on Wednesday. In fact, Jane and I were hosting a dinner with friends, so I needed to return home by 4:00PM. This precluded a long drive, so I began to consider local options. Boulder Creek was chugging along at 84 CFS, and the fly shop reports suggested that results could be obtained by fishing the slow areas behind current breaks. The Big Thompson was a steady 125 CFS, and I fished that before at that level, although it was not pretty.

Lake trips were missing from my itinerary in 2026, so I checked the DOW fish stocking report. I was hoping that perhaps Pine Valley Ranch Lake had been recently stocked, but the only reference cited a stocking in April. Evergreen Lake popped up as a relatively local choice, and it was stocked last week according to the report. In past years I considered exploring Evergreen Lake, so it became my destination.

I was unfamiliar with the layout of Evergreen Lake and the park that contains it, so when I arrived, I headed to the large parking lot at the western end. There were spots available in the outer lot, but I gambled and checked out the parking lot closest to the lake and lucked into a nice space. I researched the lake ahead of time, and I learned that wading and swimming were not permitted, so I geared up minus my waders and wading boots.

Evergreen Lake was a hive of activity, and the warm June day brought out a swarm of kayakers and stand up paddleboarders (SUP’s). As I prepared to fish, I heard the constant din of pumps inflating the recreational water devices. I found it a bit odd that wading and swimming were not allowed, but kayaking and paddle boarding were.

I had no ideas where to begin fishing. The area along Bear Creek Road and Bear Creek look very interesting, although there were buoys strung along the entire shoreline, and it appeared that waders were desirable given the swampy shoreline. I could see a cluster of anglers along the south shore, so I set out in that direction. I followed a worn path along the inlet, but no fishing signs were posted there. When I got to the end of the dock area, I climbed over a small stone wall and moved onto a dirt path which quickly ascended a steep hill. Once I summited the top, I followed the path high above the lake, and then eventually I was able to cut down a path to a flat grassy area that protruded into the lake. A few fishermen were present in this area.

I decided to give this area a try. I knotted a peacock hippie stomper to my line and then added a salvation nymph and a beadhead hares ear nymph. I cast the three fly dry/dropper into the small cove on the east side of the point and waited. The wind kicked up and created some small waves, and I was fortunate that the wind direction was angled from left to right thus not impacting my backcast or forward cast substantially.

Kayaks, SUP’s and swan boats cycled by in waves, and not knowing where the fish were stocked, or the most productive spots made the entire venture seem rather futile. I allowed the flies to sit motionless for thirty to sixty seconds, and then I executed quick strips with pauses in between. I followed this routine two or three times, and I took a few steps to the right and repeated in order to cover the water.

Single Fish from Evergreen Lake

On the fourth such cast, the hippie stomper suddenly disappeared, and I quickly lifted the rod and felt the throb of a live fish. Wow! I could not believe my good fortune. The fish put up a decent fight, but I brought it to shore and netted a twelve inch rainbow trout. Of course, I was without my waders, but I needed to kneel to remove the fly and snap a photo, so I did so, and I immediately grimaced, as I felt both my knees soak up moisture from the soggy grass next to the lake.

Location of Solitary Fish Landed

I released the rainbow and continued along the shoreline toward a wooden boardwalk. No more fish savored my flies, so I stripped in my flies and mounted the boardwalk to explore more of the lake. My vision penetrated rather deep into the steep drop off while overhead on the boardwalk, but I never spotted a fish. The other end of the boardwalk delivered me on to another point, although this one was smaller that the previous, and several anglers were already positioned in the area. I found a spot above the group of fishermen, and I once again sprayed casts into the lake. The wind was once again ridiculous, but the water dropped off quickly, so this scenario did not require lengthy casts.

Looking Back at the Main Parking Area

After ten minutes without any action, I once again moved eastward to another open area with a precipitous drop off. The wind was gusting, and my flies were ignored, and I became disenchanted with the entire scene, so I decided to call it a day at Evergreen Lake. In an effort to salvage the day, I decided to migrate north to Boulder Creek in Boulder Canyon. The fly shop reports provided some optimism, and I decided to test it out.

One fish in an hour of fishing was not great, but I justified it as an R&D project. I probably would not return, unless I obtained better information on where to fish with a higher likelihood of success.

Fish Landed: 1