Holiday Summer Evening

My escape from suburbia was delayed by the typical holiday exodus, although, the path to my destination diverged from the crowds headed further into the hills.  This front range creek is barely on the edge of suburbia, but can feel so far away and refreshing.

Soon, I was sharing a run with this friendly fellow-river user.

Clouds of midges hung close over the water, swirling in the low angle of the orange evening light.

Tying on a home-tied midge pattern and casting upstream, letting the pattern sink in the still swollen flow.  On the third or fourth cast, I felt weight and came tight on this pretty, healthy rainbow.

 

Nymphing in the summertime, however, is a last resort, and I prefer to take trout on the top.  So I tied on an elk-hair caddis and targeted the edges of the flow, casting and watching my fly float along the seams.

 

I mostly only caught brown trout after the switch to dries.  But they were all extremely fun to fool as there were not many natural rises.  There is nothing better than catching fish on dries when, otherwise, the fish are not hitting the surface regularly.
 

 

 

 

I am sure the weekend got busy and the stream and fish got pounded.  This evening, there wasn't another person on this stretch of water and I couldn't help but think that I had somehow, finally, done something right.  It is not often that you can go fishing on a holiday weekend and not step into a crowd of other fisherman and get at least a few stink eyes.

I congratulated myself and had another celebration beer on the water (like I needed an excuse).

 

Although cut short by nightfall, the evening was relaxing and a great way to start the holiday weekend.  The fish are hungry, the bugs are active and as long as the river is not crowded, the fishing can be very enjoyable and rewarding.  I hope everyone had a chance to get out and enjoy some time on the water.

 

Back to the Rainbows

Even the best laid plans have their faults.  It didn't hit me until I was pulling on the waders that I had left my newly tied xcaddis patterns on my tying desk.

Luckily, there was still a good enough collection of other caddis variations left in the fly box to at least fool a few trout.  Flows are down a little, but still high and tinted.  Trout feed fairly consistently through the morning before the sun really got on the water. 

When the trout stopped coming to the surface, a prince nymph worked well. 

Up to this point in the year, I have only caught brown trout in this small Colorado stream.  On this day, the first rainbows were caught which were a welcome surprise.

Midges were actively hatching all day and Caddis bounced along the surface of the water sporadically.  Once the sun got high in the sky mid-day and even the nymphing slowed, I headed home.

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July Weekend!!

I'll try to get out there with my flies and see how they do for the evening caddis hatch.

Summer Solstice Trout

The change was probably gradual, but I wasn't there to see it, so it seemed abrupt to me.  This summer solstice, I was lucky enough to spend a few hours of the longest day of the year fly fishing a favorite Colorado front range trout stream.  The last time I fished this creek was a few weeks ago in pre-runoff conditions with midges and blue winged olives featured as the main attractions.

This weekend, with flows on their way down from hopefully peak flows, caddis flies stole the show, steadily hatching mid-day for a few hours thanks to building clouds and an incoming thunderstorm.  Hungry fish appeared to be targeting emerging caddis and floating elk hair caddis and x-caddis variations through fishy looking runs and pools produced healthy wild brown trout on the surface.

The increasing rain and thunder sent me to the car for an unexpected break.  While waiting out the storm, a deer even walked out from behind one of the buildings in the distance and crossed the light traffic on the two lane mountain road.

Once the rain diminished to a drizzle, I returned to the water and switched to a favorite front range caddis pattern, as caddis flies were still in the air over the water.  It looked like they were still hatching although more sporadically than before.  Again, fishing productive looking holding water, I was able to land a few more hungry and aggressive brown trout on this pattern as well.

Soon the storm and the clouds past and the caddis hatch ended rather abruptly as well.  The fishing slowed considerably ending with a handful of splashy refusals and missed strikes.  The caddis hatch was a nice, unexpected challenge that resulted in some periods of aggressive feeding and beautiful, brown trout.

It turned out to be an enjoyable summer solstice spent fly fishing a favorite front range trout stream in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.  

It looks like the summer season is starting just in time for the summer solstice this year, for me at least.

I ran out of the green bodied elk hair caddis fly pattern that was working for me out on the stream, so I had to tie up a few replacements when I got home.  Happy summer everyone.  

Runoff Trout

While streamflows are coming down, front range rivers are still pretty blown out.  Over the past few years, I have beaten runoff by fishing high country streams.  Even early season brookies can be fairly voracious under the right conditions.  I didn't find those conditions though when I tried this year.

The streams up high were blown out as well and I had to make the best of the swollen main steam of the drainage. Nymphing along the edges of the faster current in the few narrow eddies produced a few fish.

Although I had only limited success, it was nice to bring a few trout to hand and it was enough to justify a celebration beer.  I was surprised I was able to catch anything out of the cloudy, muddy water.  Flies that worked for me were a black copper john and a prince nymph.  Size is probably not all that critical as long as it is big enough for them to see, but I was using size 16's.  I will probably let the water come down a bit more before heading out for another day.  It was nice to make it happen in tough conditions and enjoy a day on the water.

My Spring Fly Fishing Video - Colorado Front Range

For those of you that have been following along with my posts this spring, I have finally pulled together an edit of footage from my spring time on the water.  Runoff is in full swing on these Colorado Front Range creeks, which is why I had time to put my edit together.

 

I hope you enjoy and are getting some chores done around the house while runoff turns our creeks into chocolate milk.  With a little one on the way, I am trying to get as many jobs done as I can, so I will be able to hit the water a few times again after runoff and before she shows up.  Have a good week everyone.

Appreciate What You Got

There are times when we all take something for granted.  Last week, we were in the Caribbean.  The same island as our honeymoon.  We went swimming every day because we love it and we don't have oceans in Colorado.  When we asked our bartender friends about the ocean, they told us they never go to the beach and never go swimming, because it was nothing special to them.  It seemed like they had totally taken it for granted and the exchange made me wonder what I take for granted around home.  Our back deck has a view of Mount Evans (a 14,000-plus-foot peak).  I look at it every day.  I started to wonder whether I had started to take our mountains and my humble little creeks for granted. 

So, the day after we got back from our trip, it was time to go fishing with the specific goal of really appreciating what my Front Range backyard has to offer.  

The day started overcast and cool with no hatches or rises.  I decided to try a few different nymphs first.  The first fish of the day came on a red zebra midge, which did well for me last year at this time. 

I was then able to enjoy the full progression of the day from nymphing and subsurface feeding, to catching fish on emergers (sparkle dun patterns), then on dries (adams, parachute adams and extended body mayfly patterns).  It was truly a pleasure to watch the insect and fish activity change throughout my time on the water and made for an interesting puzzle as the fish targeted the different stages of insect life at different times of the day.

It turned out to be a beautiful day on a beautiful creek that I love.  I stopped fishing after losing count, which is always a nice feeling.  While I hadn't taken this creek for granted, it was good to be reminded to really appreciate and enjoy what you have.  

Another Spring Weekend

I had the opportunity to hit the creek again for a few hours on Easter Sunday.  Stream flows were higher this week than last and the visibility had dropped. I don't think runoff is starting, but it is right around the corner.  The small brown trout were still targeting emergers and I think I found something they liked (a grey sparkle dun, as suggested after my last day on the water).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fishing was a little tough (seemed technical) and I did not have much success, but it was great to get out on the water and enjoy the afternoon.  For the first time in a long time, I felt at home on one of my favorite stretches of water.  Its a good feeling.  If there is a creek you want to visit  before runoff, you better do it soon.  In a few more weeks, we will all be wondering how to avoid the blown out rivers.  Have a great time on the water if you make it out.