8/26
Today was one just made for fly fishing. Both light and air had that soft feel that an artist would love. I had to get my fly fishing fix. Off to my favorite stream. Bear Creek is a nice friendly stream with cooperative trout. It is also a great place to test new fly patterns.
I had rigged up my Terry L. Johnson Brightwater 7 1/2 foot, 4wt, 4pc rod for this trip. This is a great rod for nymph or dry fly fishing. It is perfect for small stream fishing but has the backbone to throw 60 feet of line and leader if need be.
Water clarity was not as good as when I was on stream 8/22. There had been rain upstream and the water was kind of an iron blue dun color in my favorite pool. Could still see bottom at 2 feet but not as clearly. Air temp was comfortable in the mid 70’s at noon. Cloudless skies until around 2 p.m. then some cloud cover came over. As the clouds thickened and the air temp dropped, a small BWO hatch occurred. One landed on my hand. A beautiful insect with a light olive green body and upright blue dun wings.
I switched to an olive RS2 with a blue dun CDC puff wing for my tail fly. Some 8 to 10 casts along the main run in my favorite pool, I hooked a nice 15 inch bow who immediately headed upstream to a pool with sticks in it for safety. I followed but too late as he had wrapped around a stick and left with my Olive RS2.
Moved to a place called Corwina Park. There is one large deep pool there that is worth fishing. Got several strikes on an #18 gold ribbed hare’s ear with a trailing #20 gray RS2 emerger. Also several strikes on the RS2. Then a #18 tan caddis hatch started.
I switched to a tan caddis dry fly I had developed this morning. For the next hour, I played with some small bows in this pool. This pattern received some 30 strikes during that time with some small fish being hooked. My tan caddis was a winner and only required floatant once during the hour I fished this pool. Even sunk I got some strikes. At the end of a drift, a gentle lift of the rod tip and the fly would pop up and float ready for some "skittering action" before the pickup and cast. Generally one backcast was enough to dry the fly to floating condition.
The next 45 minutes I worked back upstream through a series of small waterfalls and pools. During this time, I got about 20 more strikes on the tan caddis pattern. Hooked a few fish in the six inch range. Did not see any larger fish in this area. Finally too dark to see the fly any more and I headed to the car.
Reflecting back on the day, I realized the dry fly fishing was the most fun all day. The feel of the line rolling out straight on the backcast. The rod loading on the forward cast to deliver pinpoint accurate casts. Watching the splashes as the little fish snapped at the floating caddis brought back memories of days on Bear Creek in the 1970’s. The Bear Creek I have loved for so many years. A perfect stream to fill a fly fishing fix.
Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
www.110flyfishingtips.com
www.troutadventures.com
Alaska Trout Fishing Information
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