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.

10/01/11 Clear Creek/Lake Georgetown

10/01/11
Clear Creek and Georgetown Inlet
Flows: 49
Time: 9:00 AM - 11:30

Falll is great fishing and great scenery! Get out of town and check out the leaves in the high country and get on some browns! Although Lake Georgetown isn't that far out of town, it's still a decent drive with some cool scenery that is close to Denver.

The key to fishing here is to try something different. When I arrived at 9:00 AM, I saw 5 cars already parked near the foot bridge and 5 more closer to the inlet. By the time I left, a few more people had showed up making it the busiest I've seen for the past few weekends.

So how do you fish differently than everybody there? Egg patterns are the go to during the fall spawning runs, but don't limit yourself to eggs. Throwing an omelet rig (2 or 3 egg patterns) can produce, but not in the numbers that you would think. Use bigger, or smaller patterns, and different colors. Try some pink, red or cerise eggs instead of the fl. orange or idaho cheese. Move up to a larger egg size, or milking egg patterns. An egg pattern that produced very well for me was a smaller sized otter's egg. These fish have had size 12 egg patterns thrown in their face all day long, so trying something different will entice a bite.

Don't forget that these fish are also still eating their regular diets. Nymphs and midges are the mainstay of their diets so don't forget your prince nymphs, copper johns, etc...My biggest brown came on a size 20 wire midge.

The most important thing to keep an eye on is your indicator.  These fish are smart and have seen it all so when they take, it can be very subtle and they quickly spit out flies.  The minute your indicator pauses, wiggles, or dips, set that hook.  There aren't that many snags here so 9 times out of 10, it's a fish.  Also, try a large hopper as an indicator.  You'd be surprised how often a fish will come out of the blue and just slam your hopper! 

Fishing heavily pressured water is a challenge, but can be a lot of fun when you figure out what the fish are taking...just because everybody is using it, doesn't mean it's catching fish. Also remember that fisherman lie! When someone says he's caught a few, it usually means he's caught 1. Stay away from the busy areas and move around! The bait dunkers will stick around the inlet and the foot bridge where these fish have seen it all. Move upstream or the left side of the inlet.

The fishing is great right now, fish are stacked and sight fishing is great. Just remember that these browns are naturally reproducing in this fishery, so try to avoid taking them. There are plenty of stocker bows to take home for dinner if you feel so inclined. Also, stay off the redds. With the flows low and clear, there is plenty of area to walk and fish without the need to get in or stay in the water.

I think we are just at the peak here with lots of fish making the move to spawn, and of course, with it comes lots of fisherman.  Respect others, there's trash cans there for used up leaders and tippet and smile as you pull fish after fish out of the very same hole another fisherman just vacated because he couldn't catch anything!