Time: 12:30PM – 4:30PM
Location: Half hour hike from parking lot. About as far as one can go before having to cross to the opposite side.
Fish Landed: 9
South Boulder Creek 08/02/2014 Photo Album
After spending five consecutive days fishing in Utah and Idaho, I returned to Denver and worked diligently on Wednesday through Friday, but I was definitely feeling the itch to fish again on the weekend. During our return trip across Wyoming we encountered heavy rain on Tuesday, and this rain extended through Colorado on Tuesday through Thursday morning. When I reviewed the DWS stream flows on Saturday morning, I discovered that many rivers returned to the levels recorded during the late stages of runoff.
Fortunately the Big Thompson River remained at 128 cfs, and South Boulder Creek below Gross Reservoir displayed a reading of 123 cfs. South Boulder Creek is closer to my home, and I prefer the remote canyon area over the Big Thompson which runs next to a highway, so the South Boulder Creek tailwater became my destination. I stopped for fuel and left the gas station by 10:50, and this enabled me to reach the parking lot near the dam by 11:50AM. I quickly assembled my rod, pulled on my waders and stuffed my lunch in my backpack and began the steep descent into the South Boulder Creek Canyon. I hiked downstream for 30 minutes until I reached a point where a stream crossing was necessary to continue, so I stopped at this point and began to fish.
The air temperature was in the low 70’s with clear skies as I began, and the flows were a bit high for the small South Boulder Creek stream bed, but still conducive to fishing and in fact allowed me to cross in numerous locations. During past visits to South Boulder Creek I discovered that the fish prefer dry flies as opposed to the nymphs that perform well in most Colorado streams. For this reason I tied on the same size 12 gray stimulator that served me well on small streams in Idaho.
Same Rainbow Displayed for the Camera
My first fish was a small rainbow that moved a foot to snare the drifting stimulator, so I was hopeful I made a good choice. Because there were quite a few other fishermen in the canyon, I decided to cross to the southern side and worked my way upstream on the less pressured bank. This strategy combined with the choice of a stimulator proved to be solid, and I landed six fish over the next couple hours.
The second fish of the day was the nicest. I tossed a short cast into a very deep hole in front of a large rock. I expected to make one or two casts and move on, as this location in my estimation was fairly marginal. I was shocked when a large nose emerged from in front of the rock and slurped in the stimulator revealing a very colorful rainbow or cutbow. I didn’t check for a slash, but the spot pattern struck me as more akin to a cutthroat trout than a rainbow.
Nicest Fish of the Day with Stimulator in Lip
After six fish I approached some very attractive water, but a young fisherman entered 30 yards above me from the opposite shore and essentially cut me off. I used this as an opportunity to eat my lunch and waited for him to move on, but unfortunately I noticed he had a momentary hook up, and that caused him to dwell in his position longer than I hoped. I gave up on waiting and waded upstream along the edge of the creek and skirted the other fishermen until I reached a spot forty yards above him, and I was beyond his line of sight. I passed up some very attractive pools and pockets, and now I found myself in marginal water along the left bank. In addition the position of the sun was casting long shadows that made it difficult to follow my earth-toned stimulator.
Nice Stretch, but Cut Off by Fisherman in Top Right
I found a place where I could wade back to the trail and walked up the path a bit until I was beyond three more fishermen above me. After I created a courteous amount of space, I scrambled down a steep boulder field to the stream and resumed prospecting with the stimulator. In this short stretch of water I landed two more fish, but then I encountered another fisherman, and I was forced to once again exit and climb the rocky bank.
Once again I hiked upstream using the trail and again found a spot to cut back to the stream, although this time I found a fisherman path that made access much easier. When I reached the water, I discovered a section that spread out a bit; and this offered easier wading, and I was able to move about much more. It was during this period late in the afternoon that I observed two green drake mayflies flutter up from the stream, so I clipped off my productive stimulator and substituted a size 14 comparadun green drake. It was worth the effort, as the green drake generated two refusals on downstream drifts, but no takes were forthcoming.
Created Two Refusals
Eventually I clipped off the green drake and tied on a size 16 gray deer hair caddis. This size of caddis more closely approximated those that I observed on the water in the late afternoon. This fly also produced some refusals, but eventually a small brown gulped it on a long downstream drift in front of a large submerged boulder. This fish was my ninth for the afternoon, and my watch revealed that it was 4:30PM, so I climbed the bank once again and hiked back to the parking lot and called it a day.
It was a fun day prospecting with dry flies, but it also made me realize how fortunate I was to fish small streams in Idaho away from hordes of fishermen from more densely populated urban centers. I’m already working on a strategy to seek out more remote water during August.