20 Incher – 11/29/2023

20 Incher 11/29/2023 Photo Album

The 20 incher has evolved as a workhorse fly from my fly box, especially during the early spring season, when I desire deep drifts on an indicator nymph set up. I weight all my 20 inchers, and that, combined with the heavy wire 2X long hook produces a fly that sinks rapidly. I like to pair a 20 incher with an RS2 in the early going.

I encourage the reader to click on this 11/24/2020 report on the 20 incher, as it contains additional links to older posts with a materials table and background information on my introduction to this classic fly created in Colorado.

When I counted my 20 incher supply, I realized that I needed to tie two more to increase my inventory to my desired level. I tied two additional models for my friend.

Ultra Zug Bug – 11/27/2023

Ultra Zug Bug 11/27/2023 Photo Album

For more in depth background information on the ultra zug bug, I suggest clicking on this link to my post of 12/07/2014. This fly is very simple and easy to tie, yet it can be amazingly effective at times. I particularly like to deploy it in the early season from March through early May, before run off sends me to stillwater locations.

During 2023 I only depleted my supply by a modest amount, so I tied six additional UZB’s for my storage boxes. I kept four for myself and donated two to a friend. Give this simple fly a try, and you will not regret it.

 

Salvation Nymph – 11/25/2023

Salvation Nymph 11/25/2023 Photo Album

For the last two seasons the salvation nymph has been unequivocally my top producer. Historically it ran neck and neck with the beadhead hares ear nymph, but during 2022 and 2023, the salvation nymph clearly moved to the top of the list. I have written a report on the salvation nymph every year, as I tie a new supply, and these posts contain much information about this outstanding fly. I suggest you start with last year’s post, and that report provides links to other years.

Occasionally someone asks me why they are unable to find this fly, when they perform an online search. If you type tungsten salvation nymph, you will find photos of this fly and online sources to buy them. My version is the same except that I typically use a brass bead rather than the more expensive tungsten. I actually just completed a Google search, and I found a very well done tutorial on tying the tungsten salvation nymph on YouTube by walkyourlinedesigns. I watched it, and it is quite well done. Give it a look, if you are interested in tying a salvation nymph.

When I counted my supply of this productive fly, I determined that I had 76 remaining in my various storage compartments. I approached the vise and cranked out another 24 to reach 100, and then I added five for a friend. I can say with certainly that this fly will catch a bunch of fish in the coming year.

 

Hares Ear Nymph – 11/18/2023

Hares Ear Nymph 11/18/2023 Photo Album

My post of 11/04/2023 covers everything related to the beadhead hares ear nymph including a link to the materials table. I continue to rate this fly among my top producers; and, therefore, I attempt to enter each new season with a stock of 100. I began coating the wing case and head wraps with Solarez UV resin last year, and I continued this practice with my November 2023 tying efforts.

When I counted my inventory of beadhead hares ear nymphs, I learned that I had 86, so I tied an additional fourteen and then I added five more for a friend. I am anxious to drift some hares ear nymphs through deep runs and pockets in 2024.

Bear Creek – 11/14/2023

Time: 11:30AM – 1:45PM

Location: Between Morrison and Evergreen

Bear Creek 11/14/2023 Photo Album

A predicted high of 71 degrees in Denver, CO prompted me to make another drive to a Front Range stream on Tuesday, November 14, 2023. I regretted my choice of extremely low Boulder Creek on Sunday over Bear Creek, so I made the small stream that flows through Morrison my destination.

I made the forty-five minute drive to a favorite spot along Bear Creek, and the dashboard thermometer registered 59 degrees. I pulled on my black Under Armour long-sleeved shirt under my fishing shirt, and I assumed that this would be adequate given the temperature and the likelihood of it rising, while I was on the creek. I rigged my Orvis Access four weight, and I tromped to the edge of the stream. I was surprised to encounter snow coverage on both sides of the small creek, but the flows were decent and in the 17 – 20 CFS range.

I rigged my line with an olive body size 14 hippie stomper and dangled one of my new olive perdigons beneath it on a 2.5 foot dropper, On my tenth cast to a nice run, I snagged an overhead tree limb, and I was unable to reach it for rescue, so I pulled directly on the line and snapped off the valuable perdigon. Needless to say I was not happy with this ominous start to my Bear Creek fly fishing day. Rather than risk additional losses on the small stream with tight vegetation and trees, I replaced the perdigon with a salvation nymph.

I continued fishing upstream until 11:45AM, at which point I broke for lunch. The section where I began was next to a steep hill that blocked the sun’s rays, and it felt like the temperature was in the low forties instead of the fifties. I was quite chilled after thirty minutes of fishing, and the Santa Fe was twenty yards away, so I returned to the parking lot to eat my lunch, and I added my North Face light down coat as an extra layer.

While eating lunch I pondered my fly offerings, and I decided to supplement the salvation nymph with a small size 18 apricot egg fly. I returned to my exit point and worked my way upstream between noon and 1PM, and I managed to land three brown trout. Two were in the seven inch range, and one was a twelve inch prize, although it was extremely lean. I also connected temporarily with two trout and landed a small brown that was beneath my six inch minimum. Surprisingly these trout were located along the edges of runs of moderate depth. The slower moving deep pools that suggested trout habitat did not produce. Two of the landed browns snatched the salvation, and the skinny twelve incher gobbled the egg fly.

By one o’clock my hands were gnarled and aching appendages. In spite of my best efforts to dry them after handling fish and stripping my wet line, the evaporation effect predominated, and the discomfort made fishing seem like a chore rather than fun. I exited the stream with the intent of returning to the car to call it a day, but then I had second thoughts. What if the stream curved around and flowed through full sunlight? I hiked in a northwestern direction along the packed snow trail, until I encountered a footbridge. The hill along the southwest side of the creek was more distant and lower, and this allowed the sun to bathe the creek in sunlight. I could not resist the temptation to cast my line in the warm sunshine, so I spent another thirty minutes prospecting the stream above the pedestrian bridge. Alas, I was unable to tempt a single trout; and, in fact, I never saw evidence of the existence of the cold water species in this section; however, my comfort level rose, and I focused on laying out nice long casts to promising runs.

By 1:45PM the lack of action convinced me that it was time to call it a day, and I trudged back to the car. Three small fish in 1.75 hours of fly fishing in mid-November was respectable, but the bone numbing fingers experience was not something that I wished to replicate. I might consider fishing a larger river in a wide valley with stronger sun penetration for any future fly fishing excursions, before I call it quits for 2023.

Fish Landed: 3

Boulder Creek – 11/12/2023

Time: 11:30AM – 1:00PM

Location: City of Boulder

Boulder Creek 11/152/2023 Photo Album

I should have gone to Bear Creek. Have you heard that familiar refrain? No, I haven’t either, but that is my current thought, as I approach my computer to record this brief report on my day of fly fishing on 11/12/2023. A high in the mid-sixties was predicted for Denver on Sunday, so I could not resist the call for a day of late season fly fishing. I mentioned my desire to my son, Dan, that I might visit Boulder Creek within the city of Boulder, and he remarked that perhaps his family could pay me a visit. That explains my single minded focus on Boulder Creek. On Thursday during my physical therapy, my exercise specialist, Nate, related that he spent recent time on Bear Creek, and he experienced reasonable success; thus, my opening sentence.

At any rate Jane decided to accompany me at the last minute, so we loaded her road bike on the Santa Fe hitch rack, and we made the relatively short drive to Boulder. Jane planned to log a nice ride on the trails of Boulder, while I prepared for a few hours of fly fishing. I planned three hours maximum. The temperature was in the upper fifties, so I pulled on my fleece hoodie. My fly fishing stick of choice was my Orvis Access four weight, as I did not anticipate battling any lunkers. As I slid my right foot into my stocking foot wader and then stepped down to seat my foot in the boot, I flinched at the sensation of something piercing my heel. I pulled off the right leg and examined the heel of my boot, but nothing was amiss. Next I felt the bottom of my hiking sock, and I was surprised to discover one of my streamers stuck in the heel of my sock! I was perplexed regarding how it got there, and amazed that the hook found its way into a point side up position.

Low and Clear

I hiked downstream for .5 mile, and Jane walked her bike along beside me, at which point I cut to the creek to begin my November fly fishing outing. Jane reversed direction and cycled westward into Boulder Canyon. As we ambled along the creek, I remarked to Jane that I was concerned about the low flows and the extreme clarity of Boulder Creek. I anticipated very challenging conditions, and little did I know how accurate that assessment would prove to be. When I returned home, I checked the flows, and they were a meager 14 CFS.

Lunch View

I began my quest for late autumn trout with an olive body hippie stomper and a beadhead hares ear nymph. I persisted with this combination for my entire time on the stream, and I managed to land one nine inch brown trout toward the end of my fly fishing outing. I covered the entire 5 mile that I hiked in 1.5 hours, and the only fish I saw was the brown trout that I was able to net. I witnessed no rises, nor did I spot darting fish escaping my wading. I skipped wide shallow sections, and focused on deep pools and deeper entry runs at the top of pools,; and, eventually I skipped the pools and cherry picked the moving water with some depth.

My One and Only Trout

Brown Trout Came from the Point of the Rock on the Left Bank

Where were all the fish? Did they congregate somewhere for a massive spawning orgy? I have no answer for that question. I should have listened to Nate and made the short drive to Bear Creek. In Fact, with nice weather in the forecast for this week, I may yet undertake that trip.

Fish Landed: 1

Olive Perdigon – 11/04/2023

Olive Perdigon 11/04/2023 Photo Album

On 10/03/2023 I was fishing on the Eagle River with my friend Dave G. In the first hour I landed two small fish, while Dave G. netted several very nice rainbows, with one in the twenty inch range. I was using a Pat’s rubber legs and RS2, so I swallowed my pride and asked Dave G., if I could borrow one of his flies that was savored by the Eagle River trout. He graciously handed me a size 16 olive perdigon, and the switch proved to be a winner, as I went on to land a bunch of hard fighting rainbows, and all clamped their mouths on the perdigon. This caught my attention.

I avoided losing the perdigon, and I took it to Charlie’s Flybox on one of my return drives after playing pickleball. Charlie himself waited on me, and I handed him the fly and asked him to select the matching hooks and beads that were required to replicate the popular perdigon. A few days later I settled in at my fly tying station, and I produced ten new olive perdigons that matched the fly that Dave G. gave me. The fly is actually quite simple to produce, as it consists of a tail of grizzly hackle fibers, an olive thread body, a copper tungsten bead and a jig hook. The hardest aspect of this tie is threading the slotted bead on to the hook and positioning it properly on the angled neck of the jig hook. Also the finishing steps involve applying UV resin, and that can be a somewhat delicate process. I advise using too little resin and not too much. I used a black marker to create the spot on top of the bead and extended it over the upper collar of the fly, and then I applied thick resin to fill in and smooth the gap between the bead and abdomen. Once I dried this with the UV torch, I applied thin UV resin over the entire body of the fly and carefully avoided hitting the tail.

I am amazed at how heavy the tungsten bead is compared to the brass beads I normally use. I suspect much of the success of this fly accrues from the density of the bead and the fast sink rate. Of course, the price of tungsten beads is another drawback, but if the effectiveness matches my experience on 10/03/2023, I will pay the steep price.

South Boulder Creek – 10/20/2023

Time: 11:30AM – 2:30PM

Location: Below Gross Reservoir

South Boulder Creek 10/20/2023 Photo Album

Highs in Denver, CO were projected to reach 84 degrees on Friday, October 20, and this translated to the 70’s in most Front Range drainages, so I decided to take advantage and made a late season fishing trip a priority on my schedule. I reviewed the flows on my favorite creek, South Boulder Creek, and I was pleased to determine that the creek was sluicing along below the dam at 91 CFS. South Boulder Creek contains a higher percentage of rainbow trout than many Front Range streams, and I always gravitate to this factor during the brown and brook trout spawning season.

Because of the dam expansion work on Gross Reservoir, I was forced to drive on the Boulder Turnpike, and then I negotiated the twisting road through Flagstaff Park to the Walker Ranch Loop Trailhead parking lot. By the time I strung my Loomis two piece five weight and hiked down the trail, it was 11:30AM. I tied a peacock hippie stomper to my line and then added a beadhead hares ear and salvation nymph to initiate my Friday fishing outing. The hares ear and salvation were effective in previous ventures to South Boulder Creek in the October time frame, and this guided my choice of flies.

Promising Spot

Prior to lunch I landed three small brown trout, as two nipped the salvation nymph, and one grabbed the hares ear; however, this encouraging bit of action was accompanied by numerous refusals to the hippie stomper. I paused for lunch in a nice small beach area along the south bank, and after lunch I proceeded upstream. The angle of the sun was such that I had great difficulty following the hippie stomper through the glare, and I missed a couple trout after temporary hook ups, because I was late as a result of not tracking the surface fly.

Pretty Little Fish

I swapped the hippie stomper for a larger size 8 tan pool toy hopper, and I retained the hares ear and salvation, and I elevated the fish count slowly to five, but refusals to the pool toy became a prevalent condition. Once again I paused to ponder the reluctance of the trout to consume my dry fly offering, and I decided to test a size 8 yellow fat Albert. I was actually hoping to find a fly that did not distract the stream residents from the nymphs. I also swapped the salvation nymph for a prince nymph; and the fat Albert, hares ear and prince remained on my line, until I quit at 2:30PM. I raised the fish count from five to fourteen, but the largest fish on the day extended only to nine inches with most of the landed trout brown trout in the six to eight inch range. One small seven inch rainbow managed to join the parade of small browns.

Prime Dry/Dropper Water

Fourteen trout in three and a half hours of fishing is respectable, but the size of the fish was sorely lacking. Could the larger and more mature brown trout have been preoccupied with reproducing? I did not see any spawning activity, but the absence of larger fish certainly suggests that theory as a viable one. I fished a section of the stream that historically delivered high fish counts and larger fish on average. Many prime deep shelf pools and deep runs also failed to produce, and this circumstance was equally puzzling. During this spectacular fall day I felt strong vibes that my 2023 season was coming to an end. I will keep a close eye on the weather in the coming weeks.

Fish Landed: 14

Arkansas River – 10/17/2023

Time: 11:30AM – 3:00PM

Location: Below Salida

Arkansas River 10/17/2023 Photo Album

The high temperature was predicted to reach the low eighties on Tuesday, October 17, so I decided to take advantage of the summer-like weather with a trip to the Arkansas River. I departed Denver at 7:30AM, and I arrived at my favorite pullout along US 50 by 11:00AM, and this enabled me to be on the river fly fishing by 11:30AM. I geared up with my Sage R8 four weight, and I wore my Under Armour long-sleeved undershirt. The air temperature was in the upper fifties with a periodic chilly breeze, so I added my raincoat as an outer layer and windbreaker. The sky was bright blue with no clouds in sight, and the flows on the river were in the 285 CFS range and crystal clear.

Perfect Run and Shelf Pool

I hiked downstream for .3 miles and cut to the edge of the river, where I configured my line with a size 8 yellow fat Albert, a 20 incher nymph, and a size 22 olive zebra midge. I covered a spectacular long run and shelf pool, but the fish were not cooperative, so I moved on toward the narrow island. Between the long run and the island, I landed a nine inch brown trout on the 20 incher, but several prime locations failed to produce, so I swapped the olive zebra midge for a blue-green perdigon. This combination was unproductive, and I once again paused to exchange the perdigon for a size 22 sparkle wing RS2. The trout provided another resounding thumbs down, as I worked my way along the south side of the island to the very top.

Soft Hackle Emerger

Managed Two from This Smooth Pool

Before approaching the smaller and shallower right braid next to the island, I sat on a nice rock and munched my lunch. After lunch I cautiously approached the right channel, and given the low water conditions, I decided to modify my approach. I switched to a peacock hippie stomper and trailed a beadless soft hackle emerger. A small brown trout responded to the hippie stomper, and I elevated the fish count to two, but I was sensing a tough day under the bright sun and clear skies. I made long casts with no positive results, until I arrived at the very top of the long pool, and a nice twelve inch brown trout sipped the soft hackle emerger in a bubble seam next to a large submerged rock. In the attractive feeder currents at the head of the pool, I witnessed a refusal to the hippie stomper, and then I moved on to short angled riffles on the north bank above the long pool. I sensed that trout were present and ignoring my flies, so I removed the soft hackle emerger and replaced it with a beaded size 22 sparkle wing RS2.

Trout Here

I methodically sprayed casts across the fifteen foot wide riffle, and as the hippie stomper bobbed along the north bank, it paused, and I immediately set the hook and found myself connected to a brutish fifteen inch brown trout. This proved to be the best fish of the day, and it inhaled the trailing sparkle wing. Unfortunately the trout escaped my net in the process of removing the fly, so I was unable to capture a photo.

Number Five

I continued prospecting the remainder of the narrow braid, but when I reached the very top, I crossed the upstream tip of the island and approached the nice deep pool and riffles bordered by a huge vertical rock wall on the south side of the river. I committed to experiment with streamer fishing, and this was my moment to pursue it. It was around 1:30PM, as I studied my fleece wallet and the messy flap that contained an assortment of streamers. I had decent success with classic bucktail and feather wing streamers, the gray ghost and Mickey Finn, in Iceland, so I gravitated to that style. Unfortunately the versions that I tied, when I first started fly tying, unraveled or lost bucktail fibers, but I did notice an Edson Tiger Light, that I tied in the same early stages of my fly tying career. The Edson Tiger light contained the same red and yellow bucktails as the Mickey Finn, so I plucked it from the fleece and knotted it to my line.

Sunk in the Net

I began to cast across the current to the vertical rock wall, and on the fifth cast and strip I felt a bump and then stripped and hooked a ten inch brown trout. Although I was expecting more size, I was quite pleased with my streamer success story. After I covered the lower half of the area, I waded up the river for ten feet, so that I was positioned across from the upper portion of the riffle, where the river deflected off the large rock. I threw some long casts across the current, and on the third pass I felt a solid shock, and I made another strip and connected with a fish. I immediately knew this was a bit larger, and sure enough, when the fish rested in my net, I inspected a chunky thirteen inch brown trout. It was a thrill to earn success on the Edson tiger light, a fly that I tied thirty-five years ago, when my skills were in their infancy.

Edson Tiger Light

I crossed the river to the north bank and worked my way upstream and cherry picked a few spots with deep troughs, but the river structure was not very conducive to streamer fishing. When I reached my original crossing point, I crossed back to the side of the river near the highway, and I ambled along the path to the top of the wide and deep pool below where my car was parked. I maneuvered the Edson tiger through some very attractive deep riffles and runs to no avail, and then I moved upstream thirty yards to a gorgeous shelf pool. Once again the trout were not kind to me, so I searched my fleece wallet once again and replaced the Edson tiger with an articulated streamer with dumbbell eyes and a clump of rust colored marabou. This fly was quite heavy, and I worked it diligently for fifteen minutes, but the trout were not interested.

By 3:00PM I was bored and weary, so I climbed the bank and returned to the Santa Fe and ended my day of fly fishing. Six trout was a rather anemic quantity; however, I landed a thirteen inch and fifteen inch brown. so that was rewarding. Catching two trout on the classic bucktail was another highlight of the day, and I definitely plan to construct more classic streamers and bucktails this winter. With my improved tying skills I look forward to this challenge.

Fish Landed: 6

South Boulder Creek – 10/15/2023

Time: 12:00PM – 2:30PM

Location: Below Gross Reservoir

South Boulder Creek 10/15/2023 Photo Album

When my son texted me on Saturday regarding a day of fly fishing on South Boulder Creek, I immediately checked the flows, and I was pleased to discover that they remained at 83 CFS, thus holding basically constant, since I checked on Monday, October 9. I responded to Dan with an affirmative, and I suggested that I pick him up at 10AM on Sunday morning. In addition to checking the water level, I used my Weather Underground application to review the weather, and the high temperature in Pinecliffe, CO, the closest town to South Boulder Creek, was predicted to be 55 degrees. All systems were go for a Sunday fly fishing adventure with my son; a rarity, as he juggles a career, being the father of a three year old, and spending quality time with his wife.

As planned, I picked Dan up at 10:00AM, and my grandson, Theo, appeared on the porch to offer me a soft pretzel shaped like an E. Dan and Theo baked soft pretzels on Saturday, and they formed four into the letters: T, H, E and O. I accepted Theo’s gracious gift and stuffed the pretzel into my lunch bag. By the time we drove from Louisville to the Walker Ranch Trailhead parking lot, prepared to fish and hiked down the Walker Ranch Loop trail; it was 11:45AM, so we immediately found a spot on a log in the sun and ate our lunches. I selected my Loomis two piece five weight, and I packed in my Under Armour undershirt and North Face light down coat. Before I began fly fishing, I pulled on my light down, but I never accessed the Under Armour shirt, as the air temperature and sun were warmer than I expected.

Opening Location

Fine Brown Trout

I began my quest for wild trout in a gorgeous pool along the left side of the creek, and within the first fifteen minutes I landed three small fish. Two were browns and one was a rainbow, and each of my first three flies produced a fish. I began with a peacock hippie stomper, beadhead hares ear nymph and salvation nymph. I was predictably optimistic, as I moved upstream, and another small trout attacked the hippie stomper to boost the count to four. That’s when the real challenge began. For the next couple hours I moved steadily upstream, as I prospected likely spots, and I managed to add one additional trout that sipped a size 14 gray deer hair caddis. The nymphs were ignored after the early flurry, and the hippie stomper attracted an abundance of refusals. I clipped off the nymphs and added the caddis on a two foot dropper behind the hippie stomper. The fish continued to focus on the hippie stomper via refusals, so I defaulted to a single deer hair caddis, and that resulted in the aforementioned trout. I moved on to some very attractive longer side pools, but the solo caddis was ineffective, so I eventually removed it and reverted to a red hippie stomper trailing a size 18 dark olive stonefly imitation, that I designed myself. Miraculously in a nice pocket around a bend, I spotted a fish in a depression in front of a submerged rock, and once I floated the double dries over its position, the fish darted to the surface to grab the stonefly imitation. The hungry stream inhabitant was a ten inch rainbow trout, and it boosted my fish count to six.

Dan Landed a Pair from This Area

Dan was also catching trout sporadically, and he now caught up to me, as we approached a gorgeous deep run with attractive shelf pools on each side. I spotted a rise, but the trout ignored the stonefly, so I replaced it with a soft hackle emerger, that I greased with floatant. I hypothesized that the small soft hackle fished in the surface could imitate small stoneflies or blue winged olives, but the theory never gained traction with the fish of South Boulder Creek.

Likely Fish Holding Spot

Another move upstream placed me next to a nice deep shadowed pool, and I could see two fish finning in the tail area. I flicked the double dry, but the fish did not respond, so I swapped the soft hackle emerger for a parachute black ant size 18. I was certain that the trout could not resist a large juicy terrestrial, but I was again proven wrong. In a final act of desperation, I exchanged the ant for a size 16 olive-brown deer hair caddis, and this fly was also treated like inert flotsam.

By this point is was 2:30PM, and another angler appeared in the nice pocket water ahead. I was weary and frustrated, and Dan readily agreed that it was time to leave and undertake the one mile hike from the creek back to the parking lot, so we quit for the day. Sunday was admittedly somewhat disappointing from a fish count perspective, but the weather was favorable, and we managed to land a few wild jewels from the clear tailwater. Most importantly I was able to spend some rare time with my son, and that was the most valuable gift for me on Sunday, October 15 on South Boulder Creek.

Fish Landed: 6