10/12/12 Clear Creek at Georgetown

10/12/12
Clear Creek at Georgetown
Flows 45
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Another trip to the mountains means another stop at Georgetown!  Flows are super low but the browns are stacked up nicely.  Even though it was a Friday, I did see 4 other fisherman, and a guide with 2 clients. 

The guide and his 2 clients were up at the deep pool behind the culvert, so I stayed downstream and fished the fast water all the way to the bridge and managed quite a few fish!  Bead eggs were still the favorite with a size 4 mm orange trailed by a red copper john.  Both were taking fish, with most interested in the egg.

I did get stopped by a DOW officer who was checking licenses and was happy to see him!  This little stretch gets hit pretty hard and since it is not a C&R only piece of water, it gets harvested pretty hard too.  Glad to see him out and about checking licenses and limits.

I only fished for about and hour, but caught probably 20+ fish!

Again, the hot flies were bead eggs and copper johns.  Since I only fished for about an hour, I never did change my rig up, but I'm sure similar patterns will still produce!

10/09/12 Clear Creek at Georgetown

10/09/12
Clear Creek at Georgetown
4:00 - 6:00 PM

Cooler temps means fall is in the air!  And as the cooler temps settle in, the browns start staging for their spawning run!

Clear Creek is my go to place to catch fall browns.  They move up out of the Georgetown Lake and into Clear Creek and tend to congregate here for spawning activity.

Last year, I made it here much earlier than this year so I was happy to see lots of browns stacked up under the bridge and up in the deep pool behind the apartments.  The water is way lower than it was last year, but I don't think that has stopped the browns from making their run up.  Numbers look to be about the same as last year, but that's just from eyeballing and I have no empirical data to back that.

It was relatively busy; I saw 3 cars in the parking lot, but this short little stretch can get fished out quickly when you have a fisherman at every bend and run.  Luckily, there wasn't anybody at the deep pool when I arrived, but 2 guys were fishing under the bridge and another downstream.

I rigged up with a 4 mm orange bead egg, followed by a hare's ear and red copper john.

I had hits on all three patterns, with most taking either the bead egg or copper john.  Weird since the hare's ear was the preferred pattern last year.  No need for a lot of weight, just a little to get your rig down if you aren't running tungsten beadheads.

Lots of fish were between the 12-16 in. range with one or 2 pushing 17 and maybe a  long and skinny 18 incher.

Be careful of the redds, fish are already starting to stake their spots on the gravel beds in preparation for spawning.  Avoid walking through them

Also, be careful and try not to snag the fish.  They are stacked in there tight, and they are eating aggressively so watch your indicator carefully and look for true takes and not the slight wiggle from your flies and tippet brushing up against the fish.

06/14/12 Clear Creek below Georgetown

06/14/12
Clear Creek below Georgetown
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Flows: 99

I didn't have time to drive all the way to Silverthorne and I also didn't have enough time to properly fish!  So a quick trip up to Clear Creek should satisfy my fishing itch.

The flows have been going up and down with warm temps driving some snow melt into Clear Creek.  The water is still very clear, and especially below Georgetown Lake.  A lot of the runs where fish lie during lower flows are blown out, but fish are feeding in the riffles and in the pocket water just below the dam.

Nothing too big, but plenty of fun on a 3 wt.  Just be careful right below the dam.  Lots of the logs and rocks are shifting or moving with the higher flows. 

Fish were taking red micro san juans, size 18 pheasant tails, and rainbow warriors.  I also had a few take a two bit hooker and a red copper john.  Mayflies are on the menu, but I didn't see any fish rising.

Fishing is good, so get out to the Creek.  Bring your 3 wt and you can turn a couple hours of down time into some great fishing!  This little stretch doesn't see many people so you have a great shot at some hungry fish and not seeing another person!

 

06/08/12 Clear Creek at Georgetown

06/08/12
Clear Creek at Georgetown
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Flows 119

Flows are up since the last time I stopped by Clear Creek, and the fishing is better!  The water is a little off color, but the fish are on the feed.

Decent fish for clear creek all between 8-12 inchers.

Fish were in the deeper slots and not as active in the riffles, mainly sticking to the heads of runs.

Here's a brownie that took a rainbow warrior.

I worked my way down to the inlet and picked up fish all along the way...near the bridge, at the bend, at the inlet...

This was a nice little side trip and it was good to see the flows up and the fish more active.  The last time I was here, the water was low and fishing was relatively slow compared to when the browns were spawning, but now the fish are moving and eating making this a great stop for some quick fishing!

Hot flies were guide's choice hare's ears, rainbow warriors, and a grey biot midge.

01/17/12 Blue River in Silverthorne

01/17/12
12:00 - 3:00 PM
Air Temp around 30, blowing snow and very windy

Another trip up the hill means another chance for me to get some fishing in! New snow came to the mountains the day before dropping a couple of inches, but after the snow left, the wind stayed.

High wind warnings along the front range and in the foothills was on the news all morning. I was planning on going to the Pan on Wednesday, but those plans might be derailed due to high winds. The Pan tends to catch a lot of wind being in a canyon and blowing snow + freezing temps makes for miserable fishing, even if it is on the legendary Pan.

As I pulled into the parking lot behind the Silverthorne Outlets, I didn't see anybody fishing...and when the wind gust flung my door open, I knew why.

New snow and windy conditions kept a lot of people off the water. Which was great for me! I only had a few hours to fish before I had to make it up to Vail for a meeting.

Even with the wind howling, I still managed to get a few good drifts and catch some fish! Cable hole was the place to be, the fish were stacked and it was easy to sight fish to all the beautifully colored bows sitting in this run. It still wasn't easy, these fish are pressured pretty hard, but if you drift a midge or a mysis by their face with a drag free drift, they would reward you with a flash of white and a run that had your reel screaming.



This beauty took a Craven's Mysis in a size 18 that I had cut the tail a little shorter on.

A couple casts later and I landed this monster, again on the mysis pattern.



You can even see the mysis in his mouth...a couple more years and diet of mysis will turn this fish stick into a Blue River brute!

I continue fishing, changing up my midge pattern to see if I could get a bite on some new colors that I had tied up, and I picked up a few smaller fish. I guess the smaller guys like the more colorful patterns, while the smarter and bigger fish look for more natural patterns.

With the wind stinging my face, and making it hard to cast, I decided to give it a couple more casts and call it a day...

I was at the head end of the pool mending my line when all of a sudden my indicator dropped and started running across the river. After a great little fight, another 18 incher was landed and I decided to call it a day.



It's always satisfying ending the day on a good fish! So for fishing 3 hours, and catching 6 fish, it was a fun pit stop on my way to Vail.

Flies to use on the Blue this time of the year are definetly midges and mysis. Stick to a size 18 mysis dropped with a midge like a black beauty, poison tung, any thread midge with or without a beadhead. If you have to use weight, use a very small drop shot, the flows are low and you want your rig to be just off the bottom, not getting hung up by the split shot getting caught in the riverbed. You want a drag free drift and with the clarity of the water and lower flows, you don't even need an indicator.

Be sure to work the water methodically. Cast to fish you can see and let your flies drift down the lane before picking up your line to recast. There are lots of fish sitting in rows behind each other and they won't move very far to get a bite to eat. View the run as lanes and work it from the closest lane to the farthest, that way you aren't spooking fish with your line. If you aren't getting bites or flashes, change up your fly or rig. A great indication of if you have the right flies, or set up is if you see fish moving out of the way, they know that your rig is not food. Change it up. Use less weight, or no weight at all, change the color or size of your indicator, or take it off, switch to smaller or different color flies.

Winter fly fishing is very technical, and a small change can make a miserable day of standing in knee deep freezing water an awesome day of a catching some real hogs!

01/10/12 Blue River in Silverthorne

01/10/12
12:30 - 3:30
Sunny, no wind normal winter flows

On my way to Aspen for the night, I figured I would stop and see how the Blue was doing...

Right away, I knew the fishing was going to be tough. As I was putting on my waders, 2 fisherman were walking to the 7-11 and when I asked if they were done for the day, they said "You wish! The fishing is ok, but the river is busy! Good luck finding a spot to fish!"

Not sounding good...as I made my way over to the foot bridge, there were 3 anglers under the bridge, with 2 anglers downstream, and another 2 anglers upstream. What the heck is going on?!?! Since when is the river this busy on a Tuesday?

I decided not to waste my time trying to fish this stretch and I walked up towards the dam. I pulled a little bow out of the I-70 hole, nothing picture worthy so I kept on moving. When I got to cable hole, there were already 2 people there fishing so I kept moving up...

Big mistake...it was even busier upstream! Every bend, every hole had someone fishing, and these weren't locals, guys in ski jackets and rented waders pounding the water and catching branches with their rented fly rods.

I made my way back to cable hole and was pretty surprised to see one of the fisherman leaving saying, "It's all yours, I can't catch a fish here...". Excellent...1st cast, fish on!



Nothing special, but this at least brought my fish count up two 2. I continue fishing, with a few more hook ups, but none to the net. The fish definitely were feeling the pressure of lots of people on the water, and a good drift with 7x fluro was what made the difference.

I was thinking of calling it day, and thought...one more cast...and fish on! The fisherman upstream from me was hollering, "That's a monster!" It was a great fight, and a cautious one with 7x tippet, but I did eventually get her to the net, and the guy fishing upstream was nice enough to take a picture for me! I wouldn't say she's a monster, but she's very pretty, had some girth and measured out to be just shy of 18 in.



I figured this would be a great way to end the day, so I humped it back to the foot bridge and hit the road...but not before stopping at the new fly shop in Silverthorne. I needed to pick up a few different mysis patterns for my day on the pan tomorrow. After talking to the owner for a bit, I asked why he thought the river was so busy, he said that with ski conditions this bad, people are looking for other things to do...makes sense. He said that he rented out 6 pairs of waders and rods just today...
He also mentioned that most people were coming back skunked...this goes to show that the Blue is a technical fishery. Especially in the winter with flows being low, fish are weary and not easy to fool.

I would say that 7x is mandatory, and drop down in size. Mysis in a size 20 with a midge or rs2 in a size 22 will work. Either tight line nymph, or use a white, black, or clear indicator. All my fish came on a blue poison tung, or a jujubee midge. But I heard from the fly shop owner that black and red were good midge colors and that the streamer action heats up at 4:00...I would have stuck around, but the big fish of the pan were calling my name...