Time: 10:30AM – 4:30PM

Location: Between Buford and Trappers Lake

North Fork of the White River 09/16/2026 Photo Album

I decided to fish a different section of the North Fork of the White River on Wednesday. Jane and our friend, Amy, planned to complete a hike and then return to Denver, so I had the Pinon Cabin at Ute Lodge to myself.

Magnificent Colors

Perfect Pocket

The weather forecast was unfavorable with a strong chance of afternoon thunderstorms. It rained all night on Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning.

Nice Fish for Small Stream

Shelf Pool

I arrived at my planned pullout a bit before 10:00AM. The temperature was 60 degrees, so I wore my long sleeve thermal undershirt and my raincoat for warmth and in case of rain. The sky was populated by large puffy gray clouds. I chose my Loomis five weight, as it is shorter and more suited for tight quarters, yet as a five weight, it provides a decent backbone for fighting feisty fish.

Slipping Away

After a thirty minute hike, I arrived at my chosen starting point. I began with a tan size eight pool toy hopper trailing a 20 incher, and the two-fly dry/dropper produced five trout in the morning, before I paused for lunch. One fish crushed the hopper, and the others grabbed the 20 incher, but I felt as if I was bypassing some quality locations with no response to my offerings. All the morning fish were rainbow trout except for a long slender brook trout. The rainbows were quite nice, with most falling in the twelve to thirteen inch range albeit very chunky.

Small Side Pocket

After lunch I decided to change things up, so I switched to a double dry with a leading peacock hippie stomper and a trailing size 16 light olive deer hair caddis. The caddis fooled three fish to increase the fish count to eight, but then a lull ensued.

Prime Real Estate

At 12:45 the warning sounds of thunder transformed into rain. Since I was already wearing my raincoat, I persisted, but in a short amount of time the precipitation descended in sheets with tiny hail balls bouncing off my body. I sought the shelter of a deciduous bush and waited fifteen minutes, until the deluge waned.

Off the Point of the Large Rock

When I resumed fly fishing, the hippie stomper was serving as a distraction as evidenced by refusals, so I exchanged it for Jake’s gulp beetle. The beetle never produced a fish, but it served as an indicator, while the caddis fooled some nice fish. Eventually I encountered another dry spell, and the caddis was struggling to float, so I swapped it for a gray size 14 stimulator. The stimulator yielded a fish or two, until it mysteriously broke off, and I replaced it with another similar stimulator with a light olive body.

Speckled Lips

I slowly advanced the fish count to eighteen by 3:00PM, but it was slow and steady progress. I grew weary of constantly drying my flies, and tracking them in glare and choppy water was a chore, so I reverted to the dry/dropper approach. For the lead surface fly I opted for a size 10 tan mini chubby, and beneath it I hung a size 14 prince nymph and a salvation nymph. I chose the mini chubby, so I could support two beadheads, but I did not want the larger size that created too much of a crash landing when casting.

Swirling Trough

The combination clicked. Between 3:00PM and 4:30PM I advanced up the stream and exploded the fish count from eighteen to forty. The nymphs worked their magic. Initially the prince dominated, but later the salvation became a favored attraction as well. During this time period I encountered the nicest spot on the stream of the day. A long run entered a pool, and I landed eight trout while standing in the same spot. I continued making cast after cast expecting to come up empty after the commotion of earlier fighting fish, but it surprisingly kept producing. What a hot spot!

End of Day Scene

During the afternoon I weathered two additional showers, although they were a short nuisance compared to the 12:45 thunderstorm. From 3:30PM until 4:30PM a fairly heavy hatch of small mayflies commenced. I was tempted to swap the salvation for a RS2, but the salvation was producing, and it seemed like too much trouble to make a change. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush, as they say.

What a day! Forty fish is worth being thankful for. All but two were rainbows or cutbows, with the exceptions being brook trout. This ratio of brook trout seemed low compared to history for this stretch of the North Fork, but I was not complaining. The bows and cutbows were exceptional fish with many in the twelve to thirteen inch range, skewed to the upside. Could the low brook trout count be attributable to spawning activity? It seems early. I look forward to day three tomorrow. Weather is expected to once again be unsettled.

Fish Landed: 40