Time: 11:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: Below Gross Reservoir

South Boulder Creek 04/07/2026 Photo Album

Not all outings can be as rewarding as those that I experienced early in the 2026 season. Tuesday qualifies as a disappointment in my book. Flows on South Boulder Creek were held steady at 90 CFS, and I knew from previous visits that flows at that level were very conducive to fly fishing. The high temperature in Eldorado Springs was expected to reach 61 degrees, so I decided to make the trip.

Upstream

I arrived at the Walker Ranch Trailhead parking lot and quickly prepared to fish. The dashboard temperature was 51 degrees, and that was surprising since the reading was in the thirties as I passed through Boulder, CO. I pulled on my fleece hoodie and stuffed my raincoat and a long sleeve undershirt in my backpack along with my lunch. I selected my Loomis two piece five weight for my casting tool, and I departed on the one mile downhill trail. I knew I would pay for the downhill on the return, but that is part of the South Boulder Creek bargain.

First Fish of the Day

I began my day with a peacock hippie stomper and size fourteen deer hair caddis on the off chance that the fish would be looking up. No dice. After twenty minutes of inaction, I converted to a dry/dropper configuration that included an amber ice dub body chubby Chernobyl and a psycho prince. The combination was equally ineffective, so I swapped the psycho prince for a regular prince, and the pairing was ignored. I suspected that I was not drifting deep enough, so I added a second nymph in the form of a hares ear. Once again no response was forthcoming. Finally before lunch I swapped the hares ear for an olive perdigon to gain depth, but my morning ended with a fish count of zero. I did note a refusal to the chubby Chernobyl, and I temporarily hooked a fish on the chubby as well.

Another View of My Favorite Pool

The sun was out bright, so I removed my fleece hoodie and knotted it around my waist under my waders. It worked, but the fit was rather tight. It was obvious that the trout were not interested in nymphs, so I abandoned that approach and returned to a double dry fly gambit. I pulled a classic Chernobyl ant from my box and placed it in the first position, and then I added a deer hair caddis. Between 12:30PM and 2:00PM I cycled through a number of dry flies, but I could not unlock the code. There was the hippie stomper, a yellow stimulator, a size 14 olive-brown deer hair caddis, a size 14 gray stimulator, a black parachute ant, and a Jake’s gulp beetle. The stimulators and caddis provoked refusals, but my fish count remained mired on zero.

Handful

At this point I encountered a gorgeous pool; my favorite on the stream. The hippie stomper and beetle remained on my line, but the shutout continued. I swapped the beetle for a size 16 olive-brown deer hair caddis, and I nicked a small trout, but then the creek residents once again ignored my offerings. I waded to the tail of the pool below the right bank, where some side channels fed into the pool in some short runs. I could see quite a few trout in front of me, and they were rising and sipping something small on a very irregular basis. I tried an ant and a CDC BWO, and I was able to monitor the reactions of three very respectable trout to my right. They ignored my offerings. Finally I decided to try the new kid on the block, the mole fly. Guess what?Two trout charged to the surface and smacked the mole, and I was on the board with two landed fish.

Home to a Lot of Fish

I persisted with the mole fly for another fifteen minutes, but it was treated like inert flotsam. I cycled through a soft hackle emerger fished dry and a tiny CDC BWO, but those flies were ignored, so I moved above the pool. The next set of attractive pockets were much faster moving, and the tiny baetis imitations seemed futile without actually seeing rising fish, so I reverted to the size 14 olive-brown body deer hair caddis. Once again I only exercised my arm, so I exited and began my arduous return hike.

Take Two

When I reached a spot, where I was forced to wade along the edge to progress back to the car, I paused to make some casts, and much to my amazement, I landed a small rainbow and a small brown trout. This lifted the fish count to four, and I was very thankful for that meager tally. I returned to the fishermen path and hoofed back to the car. During the one mile uphill I paused every .3 miles to drink water, catch my breath and rest my muscles. I made it.

Wide Pocket Yielded

Tuesday was a very slow day. There were very few insects present, and that may explain the lack of action. I tried quite a few flies and methods, but none delivered consistent results. I will probably give South Boulder Creek a rest before I return.

Fish Landed: 4