South Boulder Creek – 08/07/2024

Time: 10:30AM – 2:45PM

Location: Below Gross Reservoir

South Boulder Creek 08/07/2024 Photo Album

Finally on Wednesday all the factors necessary to fish South Boulder Creek aligned. The roads were open after the wildfire was controlled, there were no dam expansion impacts, the flows were an acceptable 146 CFS, and the weather was forecast to be decent with a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. I was quite anxious to return to South Boulder Creek, and Wednesday was the day. Would the green drakes be driving the fish to gluttonous feeding?

Near the Start

I arrived at the Walker Ranch Loop parking lot, and the air temperature was already 81 degrees. I quickly gathered my gear and put together my Loomis two piece five weight and hit the trail. I observed no other anglers or moose on my inbound hike, and I was stationed next the stream with a peacock hippie stomper and size 16 deer hair caddis ready to cast by 10:30.

Early Eater

Promising Run

Almost immediately three trout crushed the stomper and caddis, and I was off and running. All was not perfect, however, as the hippie stomper also attracted its share of refusals. From 10:30 until noon I steadily moved upstream and boosted the fish count to twenty, before I rested on a large flat rock for lunch. Landing fish was a matter of popping casts to likely fish holding spots, moving quickly and ignoring the many fish that refused one of the flies. Roughly 70% of the landed fish grabbed the caddis and 30% fell for the hippie stomper.

Decent Rainbow Joins the Parade

Sparse Spot Pattern

After lunch I continued the upstream migration, but after I spotted a solitary green drake, I exchanged the hippie stomper for a parachute green drake. I never saw another natural green drake, and my flies were moderately effective. I cycled through the parachute version, a comparadun imitation, and a user friendly green drake. A user friendly is essentially a hippie stomper with a green drake color scheme. I landed a few fish on each type of green drake imitation, but the most effective seemed to be the user friendly. Historically the parachute green drake has outperformed the other green drake versions, but that was not the case on Wednesday. The size 16 caddis remained in place throughout the afternoon, and it was responsible for the most fish, as the fish count soared from twenty to thirty-six.

Exquisite Colors

During the afternoon session, I had to work harder for my catches. Places that seemed like certain producers were not, and marginal pockets near the bank surprised with trout. Surprisingly the number of rainbow trout increased to a 60/40 split with 60% being browns and 40% the pink striped fighters. Size was a positive with quite a few browns and rainbows in the twelve to thirteen inch range.

Love This One

During this time I approached a challenging wading predicament. I was along the left bank having carefully crossed the creek. 146 CFS was lower than the 165 CFS of my previous visit, but it remained at a level that inhibited free movement back and forth. The creek rushed against a high rock wall, before it glanced off an angled exposed rock that jutted into the creek similar to a stream improvement deflector. In the past I placed my bottom on the jutting rock and swiveled my legs to the upside and then slowly slid down into the creek before quickly stepping along the rock wall. On Wednesday I attempted this same move, but my feet reached and reached, but never gained traction. I should have pulled back, but instead I persisted, until the strong current along the rock swept my feet downstream, and I became a soggy floating human bobber. After a six foot float I gained my balance, but the damage was done, and cold tailwater rushed down my waders and filled my stocking feet. My frontpack and fly boxes were soaked.

Midstream Pockets

A bit later I landed a decent brown trout that I decided to photograph. In order to remove the fly and get a grip, I kneeled, but when I did so, cold water rushed down along my thighs. Where was this coming from? I assumed that it originated from water collected inside my waders and pooled just above my cinched wader belt.

Highlight of the Day

By 2:30PM some dark clouds rolled in, and I heard distant thunder, so I went through the chore of removing my gear in order to pull on my raincoat. I continued fishing for another fifteen minutes, and a short period of rain ensued, but then I heard more thunder and decided to call it a day. I sloshed back to the car including the one mile climb from the creek to the trailhead. My wet state actually helped cool me on the uphill climb, and the clouds remained for much of my return hike, so that I was not as hot, as I expected.

Tough Cast Beneath the Branches

When I arrived at the car I removed everything, and pulled on a change of clothes. After I dumped the water from my waders, I inspected them, and I discovered a small tear in the seat area that was the length of the end of my little finger. This explained the sensation of rushing water on my thighs, when I was releasing the brown trout. It was my second day of using my new waders, and I already damaged them. I recalled stumbling backward early in the day and landing on a log with sharp branch stubs, so I suspect that incident precipitated the tear. When I returned home, I dried out the waders and patched them, so they should be ready for my next fly fishing adventure.

Thirty-six is a big number day, and the size of the fish was quite acceptable. Obviously my brief swim and tearing my waders put a bit of a damper on my enjoyment, but the biggest disappointment was the relative lack of success with green drake flies. Hopefully the water managers cooperate, and I am able to visit South Boulder Creek again soon. In fact, as long as I am submitting wishes, another drop in flows would be highly welcome.

Fish Landed: 36