Friday, February 26, 2010
South Boulder Creek - Feb 25, 2010
Well, first let me set expectations. I caught no fish. There, I said it. It was one of those, hopefully, rare days that not one fish was caught. I did have two strikes that caught me daydreaming, one of which was a fish that I saw rising to my sunk emerger pattern.
The plan for the day was to let the water warm up in the canyon and hit South Boulder Creek about 11:00. So I called the fly shop to see if the river flow, which had risen from 9 cfs to 159 cfs earlier in the week, was too high to fish. The owner assured me that the water flow was not the concern but, rather, the 12" of snow that fell up at 8500 feet was. I would have a hard time hiking in, she said, possibly also driving in. So she convinced me to hit the in-town stream that was fishing well.
I looked at the stream, couldn't figure out where to park, so stopped in the shop to ask. Once in there, one of the shop workers convinced me to go up the mountain to hit SBC instead. The drive was not too bad, with only some slushy points around the north facing hairpin curves that had to be taken with care.
I pulled into the snowy car park and geared up, hiked down a steep snowy trail 200ft to the stream and hit the water at 12:45. It was a little late, and I was rushing a bit knowing that I had to be heading back up out of the canyon around 2:45. It was a nice day, sunny and in the thirties, so I was able to fish in a light jacket. The water was running clear and swift. 159cfs seems a bit fast for this stream, although the flyshop guy said he likes it between 120 and 180.
One interesting thing about these mountain streams is that they require some forethought as to how you are going to get your gear to stream side. These aren't like the midwestern spring creeks I love to fish, where you park the vehicle, load up a few flyboxes and maybe a little water. In those streams, if you need something, returning to the vehicle is not a big deal and really the only thing you lose is a a half hour of fishing time. Here, the hike in is usually long and a bit strenuous, and you don't want to be coming back out unless you need to. So you need to pack in enough water and snacks to hold you over, and a first aid kit and change of clothing are not a bad ideas, either. Its also difficult to hike in while wearing waders, so its wise to carry in the waders and boots in a backpack and change once you are at the stream.
The plan for the day was to let the water warm up in the canyon and hit South Boulder Creek about 11:00. So I called the fly shop to see if the river flow, which had risen from 9 cfs to 159 cfs earlier in the week, was too high to fish. The owner assured me that the water flow was not the concern but, rather, the 12" of snow that fell up at 8500 feet was. I would have a hard time hiking in, she said, possibly also driving in. So she convinced me to hit the in-town stream that was fishing well.
I looked at the stream, couldn't figure out where to park, so stopped in the shop to ask. Once in there, one of the shop workers convinced me to go up the mountain to hit SBC instead. The drive was not too bad, with only some slushy points around the north facing hairpin curves that had to be taken with care.
I pulled into the snowy car park and geared up, hiked down a steep snowy trail 200ft to the stream and hit the water at 12:45. It was a little late, and I was rushing a bit knowing that I had to be heading back up out of the canyon around 2:45. It was a nice day, sunny and in the thirties, so I was able to fish in a light jacket. The water was running clear and swift. 159cfs seems a bit fast for this stream, although the flyshop guy said he likes it between 120 and 180.
One interesting thing about these mountain streams is that they require some forethought as to how you are going to get your gear to stream side. These aren't like the midwestern spring creeks I love to fish, where you park the vehicle, load up a few flyboxes and maybe a little water. In those streams, if you need something, returning to the vehicle is not a big deal and really the only thing you lose is a a half hour of fishing time. Here, the hike in is usually long and a bit strenuous, and you don't want to be coming back out unless you need to. So you need to pack in enough water and snacks to hold you over, and a first aid kit and change of clothing are not a bad ideas, either. Its also difficult to hike in while wearing waders, so its wise to carry in the waders and boots in a backpack and change once you are at the stream.
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