Time: 11:00AM – 2:45PM

Location: Below Gross Reservoir

South Boulder Creek 08/16/2024 Photo Album

My most recent day on South Boulder Creek, 08/07/2024, was successful; but it did not satisfy my ongoing need for fishing to the western green drake hatch. After returning from our camping trip to the Taylor River, I checked the flows on South Boulder Creek, and initially they were reduced to 127 CFS. I had an open date on Friday, 08/16/2024, and I kept watch on the weather, flows and wildfire status; and fortunately everything aligned for a day trip. The flows bumped slightly to 133 CFS on Thursday, but this was not enough to deter me from my anxiously anticipated trip.

The temperature was a toasty upper seventies, when I arrived at the Walker Ranch Trailhead Loop. I quickly gathered my gear and fit together my two piece Loomis five weight, and I assured myself that I was in possession of my green drake fly box. Yes, I have a fly box that is almost entirely filled with five versions of western green drake dry flies.

First of Several Parachute Green Drakes

Early Honey Hole

By 11:00AM I was stationed in South Boulder Creek. I decided to go directly to a parachute green drake, and I was rewarded in the first fifteen minutes with four trout, and the quartet included a gorgeous thirteen inch brown trout with dark black ink spots. I was cautiously optimistic that my goal of fishing to green drakes was on the path to fulfillment. I continued advancing upstream, and by the time I broke for lunch, the fish count rose to ten. The one hour of fishing was rather action packed; however, it was not without its share of refusals and fishing to attractive spots with no action. After seven fish the olive grizzly hackle on the parachute fly got shredded, so I switched to another matched copy to continue my day.

South Boulder Creek Bruiser

While eating lunch I observed several natural western green drakes, as they floated slowly upward from the stream surface. I was encouraged by this sighting, as I knew this translated to fish eagerly searching for the large food items. Between 12:15PM and 2:45PM a scenario similar to the morning evolved on South Boulder Creek. I moved steadily upstream and tossed casts to all the likely locations, and quite often a fish responded. A sure sign that my fly was a solid imitation was how aggressively the fish inhaled it. I needed the assistance of my hemostat to remove quite a few flies, but I feel fairly certain that the fish were released unharmed. Ironically obvious deep pools were not as productive as some very marginal spots characterized by small pockets and moderate riffles near submerged boulders. I popped casts to any likely spot, and quite often I was surprised by the results.

Perfect Water for Green Drake Prospecting

Rainbows Also Love Green Drakes

By 2:15PM the pace of the action slowed, and refusals began to dominate the scene. The fish count rested in the upper thirties, so I decided to experiment with other versions of western green drakes. First a size 14 green drake comparadun went on my line. The fly looked very similar to the naturals with its large spread out deer hair wing, but it produced no fish. I returned to a new parachute green drake, and it nudged the fish count upward, but refusals began to outweigh takes. I managed to coax some takes by twitching the fly during across and downstream drifts, and apparently the motion imitated the naturals attempting to take off. Eventually even this tactic failed to produce, and fish were looking at the fly but not committing.

Pretty Green Drake Eater

I spotted a few pale morning duns, so I speculated that the fish’s selectivity shifted to PMD’s, so I replaced the green drake with a peacock hippie stomper and trailed a light gray size 16 comparadun. The hippie stomper and comparadun were primarily drawing looks with no takes. In a final effort to shift the momentum back in my favor, I switched to a user friendly green drake that trailed a cinnamon comparadun. Neither of these flies clicked, so I clipped my flies to the rod guide at 2:45PM and began the return hike which included the one mile uphill struggle at the end. This was my third trip to South Boulder Creek, and it was the first, where my exit hike took place during clear skies and direct sunlight. It was hot.

Splendid Shelf Pool

So Many Speckles on This Rainbow

I landed forty trout, and every fish ate a parachute green drake. There was a period after lunch when the action could only be described as torrid. It seemed as though it did not matter where I tossed the fly, and a fish would crush the low floating paradrake. My goal was to meet a green drake hatch in 2024, and Friday’s fly fishing realized my objective. I am not certain another opportunity to fish green drakes on South Boulder Creek will arrive, but I will restock my green drake fly box just in case.

Fish Landed: 40