Time: 11:30AM – 2:30PM

Location: Below Gross Reservoir

South Boulder Creek 05/23/2026 Photo Album

With commitments stacking for the week after Memorial Day, I was anxious to squeeze in a day of fly fishing, so I settled for the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. It was risky, but my concerns turned out to be unfounded. I chose South Boulder Creek as my destination, because the flows at 70 CFS were advantageous compared to other Front Range streams, and I was averse to making another long drive, particularly with labor day traffic heading into the mountains.

For Show

Early Take Site

I arrived at the Walker Ranch Trailhead parking lot on Saturday morning and prepared to fish. The lot was overflowing, such that cars were parallel parked along the entry/exit road, but I lucked out and found a spot in the lower lot relatively close to the trailhead. I was concerned about fly fishing competition, but I eventually learned that most of the visitors were cyclists, hikers and dog walkers.

Workhorse Pat’s Rubber Legs

The temperature was in the upper fifties, but when clouds blocked the sun, a chilly wind blew through my shirt. I knew I would overheat, if I wore an extra layer, so I stuffed my raincoat in my backpack as an insurance policy. I quickly assembled my Loomis two piece five weight, and I was on my way. All this preparation enabled me to arrive next to the creek to begin my quest for trout by 11:30AM.

Deep Trough

Broad Shoulders

After experiencing excellent success on Tuesday on the Eagle River with two Pat’s rubber leg nymphs, I was curious to discover, if the same flies would produce on the small tailwater of South Boulder Creek. I began my day with a tan chubby Chernobyl trailing a medium olive-black Pat’s rubber legs and a coffee and black rubber legs as the end fly. I never switched flies as the day progressed, so I can report that the smaller fish of South Boulder Creek relish the Pat’s rubber legs just as much as Eagle River rainbows. The creek was tinged a bit, so I suspect that the black rubber legs contrasted nicely and caught the attention of the resident trout.

Nice for SBC

Between 11:30AM and 1:10PM I racked up fifteen trout. A bit past one o’clock I stepped in a spot that was deceptively deep. My right foot searched for bottom, but never found it, and consequently my entire body spun, and I tilted backward, until I was on my back in the creek. Ice cold water rushed over the top of my waders. before I could right myself. After uttering quite a few loud expletives, I debated whether to begin my return hike or continue. The sky was quite cloudy, and the lack of sun and cool breeze was not helping my soaked state. I decided to continue, until I hit twenty and then return regardless of the time.

Deep Run

I fished on and built the fish count to twenty-one, even though my feet were transforming into cold stumps. Sloshing water pressed my long underwear against my legs, and that was not a comfortable feeling. Nevertheless, persistence enabled me to boost the fish count to twenty-one, and then I climbed the bank for my return hike. Surely the one mile hike up the steep incline to the parking lot would warm me up.

Stretched Out

Shelf Pool Deluxe

In spite of my soggy state, I stopped at two favorite haunts on the return hike, and I added two more fish including a nice twelve inch rainbow. A twenty-three fish day in three hours of fishing was certainly respectable. I was pleased to net some decent trout for South Boulder Creek in the 12 – 13 inch range, I estimate that sixty percent of my catch were brown trout with the remainder rainbows, and as usual, the rainbows ran slightly larger on average than the browns. Roughly five of the landed fish grabbed the olive Pat’s rubber legs, while the remainder inhaled the coffee-black version.

Pastel Rainbow

I am unable to suggest a favorite water type that yielded fish. I cast across the creek to slower moving shelf areas and allowed the flies to drift downstream and swing, and quite a few fish reacted favorably to this approach, However, Upstream casts to deep areas produced as well, typically as the flies reached the tail out section. A few trout smacked one of the rubber legs almost the instant they hit the water. On Saturday the best approach was to cover the water, but move quickly after three to five casts. Most of the fish reacted to the first or second cast, so stealth and accuracy were critical.

My experiment of fishing the same lineup of flies that worked on the Eagle River was successful. I am rather psyched to implement the same strategy on another stream in the near future. It does seem that run off is in the early stages, although I expect it to be short lived. Tailwaters or lakes are probably the best bet for the next several weeks.

Fish Landed: 23