Time: 11:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: National Forest

Willow Creek 07/12/2024 Photo Album

Note: In order to protect small high country streams, I have chosen to change the name for a few. This particular creek happens to be one of them. Excessive exposure could lead to crowding and lower fish densities.

Start of Lower Gradient Section

A high of 102 degrees was predicted for Denver on Friday, July 12, 2024, so I sought a fly fishing destination at high elevation. My friend, Nate, told me about one such place, so I decided to make the trip. I love exploring new fly fishing destinations, and visiting a place that provided cooler temperatures was icing on the cake.

Greedy Brook Trout Were Prevalent

I arrived at my chosen parking space by 11:00AM, as the Friday traffic was already heavy at the usual choke points. The dashboard temperature read 72 degrees and the sky was bright blue and absent cloud cover, and the weather would remain the same during my afternoon on the creek. I chose my Sage R8 four weight, and once I was prepared, I hiked down the road for .2 mile and then cut perpendicular to the stream.

Undercut Bank Produced a Gorgeous Brown TroutUndercut Bank Brown Trout

For a start I knotted a size 14 olive body stimulator to my line. I was hoping that the large bushy attractor would pound up some fish, but after twenty minutes of inactivity, I had nothing to show for my efforts. The section I chose to launch my day in was relatively narrow with a high gradient. The creek seemed higher than average, but it was crystal clear, so in retrospect, my lack of action was probably attributable to water type more than fly selection.

Very Pretty and Very Productive Pool

Loved These Occasional Brown Trout

By noon, when I broke for lunch, I swapped out the stimulator for a size 10 Chernobyl ant trailing a weighted 20 incher, and the Chernobyl ant prompted a take for my first trout, a small brook trout, but it also was accompanied by some refusals. At least I discovered the presence of fish in my newly explored fishery.

Another Respectable Small Stream Brown Trout

Shelf Pool Produced

I downed my lunch quickly and resumed my progression, but now the terrain shifted to a more moderate slope, and this in turn, evolved into an increased number of spots more conducive to trout holding lies. The Chernobyl was not clicking, and the 20 incher was too heavy, thus causing snags and a lack of movement. I made yet another change, and in this instance I replaced the Chernobyl with the ever-present peacock hippie stomper and a beadhead hares ear dropper.

Resting Brook Trout

This adjustment proved to be the ticket, and I increased the fish count from one to thirty-five between 12:30PM and 4:00PM, when I quit for the day. In short, I had a blast. Most of the trout snatched the trailing hares ear on the drift, but a fair number also rose to inhale the reliable stomper, as it bobbed along on the current seams. Slower moving shelf pools, current seams, tail outs at the end of a pool, and slow moving sloughs along undercut banks were the locations, where my flies brought success.

Aggressive Brown Trout

I reveled in the fast paced action, as I moved quickly from promising spot to promising spot. I probably covered .4 mile of stream real estate in the course of my day, and the only downside to the experience was the wind, which whipped incessantly down the valley. The rushing air, in turn, caused numerous difficult tangles, and why is it that the strongest blasts coincide with attempting to perform a delicate unraveling operation?

Brook Trout Haven

What sort of fish were attacking my flies? Most of the landed fish were colorful brook trout in the six to nine inch range, although I estimate that eight were very nice browns in the twelve to thirteen inch size slot with one fourteen inch outlier to my credit. I love catching trout that surpass my expectations in a small stream environment, and Friday’s outing certainly qualified in that regard.

Other than the wind, it was a nearly perfect fly fishing outing. Temperatures were in the seventies, the creek contained an abundance of hungry fish, and a sprinkling of above average size brown trout kept me focused. Given the wind, it was fortunate that minimal streamside vegetation existed to snag my flies. I look forward to another visit to this newly discovered fly fishing playground.

Fish Landed: 35