Summer Weekend (Bonus Round: Brookies, Bugs and Banjo)

Awwww snap! I got Monday off, too! Total bonus round. But...on any third straight day of fishing, you begin to focus on the things that were overlooked in the excitement of the first two days. On day three I spent more time watching my companions cast, eating snacks and picking up creek rocks (to look at bugs) than fishing myself. Sure, I caught dozens of amazing little book trout, too...but it is my favorite brookie stream after all. That is why we went.

But the other reason we went was because we could bring the dog along this time. Banjo had been cooped up at home for the last two days...as dogs are not allowed into the Rocky Mountain National Park. And the carp flats we hit on Saturday were not especially suited for the canine-kind. Today, though...Banjo was king. He got to run back and forth checking in on his people, sniff trout and rocks (there's a nymph on there, boy!) and partake in the cheese and salami...

Little Brown Stones

Little brown stone flies...I should say. You already know the local trout streams are practically littered with...oh nevermind.  So, as spring progresses and the creeks start to open up farther and farther you will begin to see more diversity in the active bug life. Midges will still be the prime activity, but you are almost certain to see some tiny stoneflies crawling on your shirt collar. These bugs will be smaller than some of the smallest caddis you will see later in the year, but they will act as teasers to the resident trout who have had nothing to chase all winter. You will find that larger dry flies will begin to work consistently, as well as larger nymphs. Use a size 14 hairwing dry with a size 16 bead-head nymph dropped off behind.

What WON'T eat a crayfish?

I can not think of a single freshwater game fish that won't eat a crayfish. The biggest brown trout in Boulder Creek, both large and small mouth bass, northern pike, wiper and carp. Often an injured, or startled crayfish is the biggest and easiest meal a fish can get. Two great fly patterns are Dave Whitlock's "Near Nuff" and Patrick Knackendoffel's "Mud Slider".

Both of these flies are tied heavy and with weight properly adjusted to keep the hook point riding up. This allows the fly to be fished slow and on the bottom without snagging easily.

Small Bugs of Winter

Season of the midges, they say. It is true that the small flies in your box are the ones that work now. The size 20s and under. The tiny, hard-to-see reasons your dad no longer likes to fish the late season anymore. But, it is not just midges and midge pupa that the trout in your local creeks are eating. There are little mayflies and even stoneflies still moving around down there, occasionally loosing a grip (physically, not emotionally) and getting snatched up like little Skywalkers by the spotted river Rancor. Wow…that was a bit of a stretch….

Will the real slim sally please stand up?

Since publishing the blog post last week about seeing a ton of Yellow Sally stones on South Boulder Creek I have had many local fisherman come into the fly shop and ask (a bit hesitantly) what an adult Sally looks like. And I felt silly (weird semi-pun intended) for not taking the time to get a good close-up photo of one of the many that were around me that particular day on the creek. I'll admit...I did not take the time because the fishing was good and I guess I couldn't have been bothered to reel in and hunt for the one adult stonefly in the area that did not appear to have ADD (i.e. was standing still). So, I felt obliged to go back and get the shot. For you. OK...that was a lie. I just wanted to go back because the fishing had been so good!

South Boulder Sallies

  South Boulder Creek is running low and clear these days. And the bugs are pouring off it like an assembly line. Fast fluttering bugs in the sunlight over the water and slashing surface strikes from the resident brown trout. Caddis mainly? Right? Or, I should say it looks like nothing but caddis flies from a distance. But, get closer…get ankle deep in the creek and take a better look. They will land on you. Crawl up your wader and dart into your open fly box like they’re shopping in a red light district. They have no fear. Little yellow sally stoneflies. About the size of your average caddis adult, but lower profile. And I swear they taste better than caddis…or should I have been leaving the culinary reviews to the trout? Either way, the brown trout seem to prefer them as well.

The Locusts are Coming!

Aaaaahhh! Cut the last of the hay and round up the cows! No…wait. Not dust bowl part two, just grasshopper season. Got ahead of myself again. If you go up any of the canyon roads here on the Front Range (Clear Creek, Boulder Creek) you can’t help but notice the coveys of hoppers (yes…I just called them a covey) flushing out of every stand of road-side grass. You hesitate momentarily, mentally stalled between the need to get back onto the creek and whack some more wild browns on big dry flies…and the almost overwhelming urge to catch the nearest hopper and throw it into the best pocket water within easy tossing distance—as though watching a trout slam a real grasshopper struggling back to dry land would somehow be way more cool than watching that same fish unload on your big foam and hair Charlie Boy on 4x. For the record, it is pretty cool. Empowering, certainly. Like a sadistic prince in one of those Russell Crow gladiator movies. Shall he live? Noooo! Thumbs down! Feed him to the Browns! Final word of warning, though. You may think you will, but you will NOT catch the first hopper you set your sights on. Maybe not even the first dozen. But dare to set your fly rod down and make the original effort and you are fully committed. No matter what it takes. Frantic pouncing. Desperate flailing of arms. Passing motorists fumble for cell phones. No reception…half a bar…no matter. They think they have seen one of those escaped Ward militia children…fed nothing but raw chicken and C4 behind a dilapidated shed…finally gnawed through his makeshift bailing twine leash and now is half way back to Boulder….

Caddis in the Canyon

Most creeks and rivers in Colorado have seen the peak of our annual runoff pass. Now we are on the home slide into what is arguably the peek fishing season. The stream flows across the state are still dropping steadily, making one week better than the last. With these lowering water levels, diminishing snow pack and brutally hot days, bring rising water temps, which both accelerate trout metabolism and trigger the hatching of the mid-summer mass of bugs. I am seeing PMD (Pale Morning Dun) mayflies hatching, Golden Stones crawling around on the bottom, the occasional big Green Drake appearing seemingly out of nowhere and hoards of grasshoppers flushing out of the tall grass as I pass by. But it is the caddis that get me riled up! You may not always see them dancing around over the surface of the water, but they are there…in force. Naturally camouflaged to mimic the colors and patterns of the lichen. Brush up against a bridge piling or rock outcropping and you will disturb the apparent rigidity of the large, inanimate objects. The surface comes to life in a hurry…moth-like adult caddis flies scatter frantically about, tangling in your hair and nearby spider webs. And every trout knows they are there. The water may still be a tad high, but dare to drift a bushy, little dry fly through any open pocket water and it will get eaten!

If Kobe's Wife were a Cased Caddis...

(Really, this the home of a Glossosoma Caddis Larvae. They are known for building a very distinctive pebble case. This particular one I found on Boulder Creek...it apparently had a taste for the bling. Or had a spouse with a guilty concious...)

Damsel in Distress

If I didn’t have a job there may not be the same level of anxiety and trepidation in planning the fishing for an upcoming day off. Two days a week off the clock is often just enough time to track down some really shitty fishing. Sunburned, dehydrated and fishless…and don’t dare utter the phrase “It’s just good to get out.” We won’t be friends.

The last time I ventured out to one of our local bass ponds I knew that I was probably setting myself up for failure, as I was getting to the pond at noon (mid-day being maybe the worst time of day for Largemouth Bass). As I cleared the final stand of tall grass blocking my path to the bass pond I was greeted by the sight of possibly the most actively feeding body of water I have ever seen. There were dragonflies and damsels zipping around everywhere…and every bass in the pond was going berserker! They were jumping out of the water at every chance. Never, at any given time were there any less than three fish out of the water. I was stoked beyond belief! But, after a dozen casts into the fray and three fly changes with not even a bump…I knew weirdness was afoot. I had cast a baitfish streamer in first just ‘cause I already had it on and figured it wouldn’t matter. Bass this crazy would eat whatever. Wrong. So I quick tied on a big, blue top water dragonfly. Twitch. Twitch. Nothing. Wrong again. Fish still catapulting out of the water all around me. So, I switch to a damsel dry fly. A small bass zips up to it in shallow water…eyeballs my fly for a second…then darts away. What the fuck? Fourth fly I tie on is a tiny (by bass fishing standards) light olive damsel nymph. I make a long cast out onto the pond and see three separate wakes making a b-line for the end of my fly line. But no strike. Screw it. I strip the fly once, fast…BANG! Fish on!

I repeat this for over an hour. Every cast. I go through a half-dozen of the only damsel nymphs I have on me. Either loosing them to fish, or getting them shredded off the hook shank.

Lesson learned. Sometimes you have to fish to the fish, not to the hatch. The damsel flies were not hatching, so there were none of the nymphs in the area…and the bass were attempting to eat them either off the surface, or out of the air. But a super realistic damsel dry fly on the surface did not appear panicked enough to draw the strike. Interesting…

Read Another Story!

Boulder Creek Bugs

I have always seen a good diversity of bug life on both Middle and South Boulder Creeks, but this year I am seeing way more. And I don't know what it is...maybe just an accumulation of more than a few great water years in a row. Whatever it is, I'll take it!

Last time I was fishing South Boulder Creek I got distracted by the masses of cases caddis on every rock in the water! I would lift up one of the nearest and easiest rocks and marvel at the delicacy and detail involved. While I held the rock up in the sunlight to get a good look I could hear the caddis larva scrinching around in their homes...sometimes poking their little, black heads out far enough for me to see their bright green bodies. Too cool! And then the palm-fulls of Green Drake nymphs! It only took me lifting up two or three rocks to get enough Drakes to make a good photo. I can't remember finding bugs in these numbers...not even on the Frying Pan!

Gonna be a great Summer and Fall for fishing!

Got Drakes?

Weeee! We're in the season of big mayflies! You may be noticing some of these beauties on your favorite river...they are Green Drakes. Two great imitations are the Hair Wing Green Drake and the 20-Incher nymph.