Time: 11:00AM – 11:45AM, 1:00PM – 2:00PM
Location: Near Lyons, CO
This story begins with the Mothers Day hike that Jane and I completed in the Wild Basin area of Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday, May 11. During our drive to the park, we traveled along the South Fork of St. Vrain Creek, and it looked fishable even though run off was commencing on many Colorado freestone streams after hot days over the weekend.
With nice weather once again in the forecast for Wednesday, May 14, I considered my options and decided to attempt to sneak in a freestone day on the South Fork, before snow melt became a permanent condition. I arrived at a pullout along CO 7, and the thermometer displayed 61 degrees, so I wore my fishing shirt with no additional layers. I assembled my old Sage four weight, and I followed a path down a gravel bank to the creek and then bashed through some bushes to the end of a nice pool with a center-cut run. I knotted the amber ice dub size 8 chubby Chernobyl to my line that served me well on Tuesday, although it was now devoid of legs on one side. Beneath the chubby I added a weighted 20 incher and then an olive perdigon. The creek was clearly in the early stages of run off, but the water was crystal clear, so I hoped that I could extract some trout with my heavy dry/dropper rig.
Well, that theory failed to materialize. Between 11:00AM and 11:45AM, I worked my way upstream and drifted the offerings through every spot where the current slowed enough to enable fish to hold. No dice. I never saw a refusal or a look or even a darting fish escaping my wading. Either the creek contained no fish, or the early stages of run off forced the stream inhabitants to hug the banks with a case of lockjaw, as they adjusted to new conditions.
I cut my losses and moved on to the North Fork of St. Vrain Creek at Buttonrock Preserve. I found a parking spot at the trailhead and quickly downed my lunch in the car. By now the wind was gusting, although the temperature was around 66 degrees. My gear was already at the ready from my previous stop, so I hiked up the dirt road for a ways, and resumed my quest for St. Vrain trout.
Apparently catching fish was not in my future for Wednesday, May 14, 2025. I spent an hour on the creek probing likely holding locations for trout. The hour proved to be a heavy dose of futility. For the first thirty minutes I kept the chubby in place, but eventually I swapped it for a peacock hippie stomper. For nymphs I cycled through the hares ear nymph, olive perdigon, emerald caddis pupa, and a PMD supernova. None of these offerings attracted fish, and similar to the earlier stop on the South Fork, I never observed a fish. I did not sight a fish, I witnessed no refusals or looks, and no fish darted for cover, as I advanced upstream. I have had terrible luck on trips to the North Fork, and I am removing it from consideration for future trips.
As I typed this report, I checked the flows, and they have increased from 51 CFS to 99 CFS over a less than 48 hour period. Perhaps the fish were hunkered down attempting to adjust to the significant shift in flows. For now, I will accept that explanation, but it doesn’t change my avoidance of the Buttonrock Preserve for the near future.
Fish Landed: 0