March 28, South Boulder Creek, Colorado

After breakfast I decided to drive up into the mountains for some fishing.  I drove over Flagstaff mountain to South Boulder Creek, about 15 miles from my house.  It was a sunny spring day, no snow down at my house, but up at 6700 ft there was quite a bit.   I hiked down into the stream carrying my backpack of lunch and wading boots.

I walked the snow covered streamside path for a while and fished below the first foot bridge after seeing some fish lined up in a channel while I peered into the river.  The flow today was about 60cfs.  I landed one or two from here at about 11:00, two hours after putting my breakfast dishes away, and then went further downstream.  I found a nice boulder area which had a deep-ish hole behind a fast channel.  I immediately saw fish lined up feeding on drifting nymphs.  Through out the morning I maneuvered this area, and was able to see the fish turn from waiting on drifting nymphs, to rising up into the current as the nymphs increased in numbers, to taking them off the surface.  The midge hatch really picked up about 1:00 - tiny slate grey ones.  I stopped counting fish landed - but estimate it must have been about a dozen- using a three fly rig of a dry and two small nymphs.  They liked #22 Black Mercury Midges, #18 red Brassie, and an emerger pattern I had tied many moons ago.  Some 10 inchers and some fat 13 inchers of the brown and rainbow variety. 

One in particular  I recall vividly. I sat on the shore rocks behind a big boulder of which I could see over the top to the rising fish on the other side.  I cast my dry fly upstream beyond the boulder, sat there and lifted the rod over it as it drifted by, and right on cue saw the fish rise across from me, and I looked into its eye as it floated back to inspect the fly drifting downstream, open its mouth, and strike.