Moving

Our new blog will be on our website.
Hope to see you there.

Link
http://www.clearcreekoutdoors.com/blogs/news

Chinns Lake

 I've been so busy working and fishing that it has been hard keeping the reports up to date this year!  I visited Chinns in the last few weeks and it was really good as well.  There are some decent Brook Trout in there.  It takes a hike or a 4x4 to get up there.  But the views are gorgeous and the fishing is usually pretty good too.  But it is a high mountain lake, you can go one day and have a great day and the next you don't see a fish.  The late season high mountain lake an stream fishing has been pretty good this year.  The lake itself is pretty low but I could access some drop offs with my waders on and found that worked pretty well for me.  Nymphing and dry flies were both working here.  Copper colored leeches and BH Zebra Midges work well here as well as emergers in various patterns.  The lakes are gonna freeze up soon and the trail will close and be snow packed so get up there ASAP!  I've been in a constant hurry to get in as many lakes as I can before the state freezes. Once again, good luck!  Call the shop with any questions! Keep em wet! 

Josh

Trout Unlimited Trout Salvage

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is getting ready to poison herman gulch so they can stock the true greenback trout.  So before they do they helped TU to salvage as many fish as we could.  It was a great day.  Beautiful area, it reminded me how much I love small stream fishing.  Not to mention gorgeous fish.

Bronze Backs!!

Went on a great trip to Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota a couple weeks ago.  Ken Douglas invited me to go fish with his son Josh Douglas who is a Bass Pro.  It was an unbelievable trip.  They threw the fly fisherman on the back of the boat and said go at it.  WOW.  Cannot thank Josh and Ken enough.  By the way got the Bronze Backs on Clousers and a sinking line.

The Blue

The Blue is a half hour from my doorstep.  I fish here a lot, in the winter especially.  It's a great place to get your sight fishing on!  Light tippet and long leaders help here.  Small indicators are best, not to spook the fish. I almost always nymph here.  Short line high sticking is very effective here.  I prefer to fish the section from Chipotle upstream. Sometimes I make it all the way to the dam.  I'm looking for fish and movement.  If I don't see a fish, I'm moving on.  Unless there is a lot of pressure, I'm usually on the move.  A few great ways to increase your ability to sight fish is to wear polarized sunglasses and when you release a fish, watch him until you can't see him anymore.  This will train your eyes to spot fish and movement!  A dry dropper rig can be very effective when the fish are eating off the top.  Some dry flies to try are Griffith's Gnats, Parachute Adams, and Stimulators.  Sizes 16-20 should work.  Some nymphs and emergers to try would be BHFB Pheasant Tails, RSII's, Juju Baetis, Miracle Midge, and various BWO patterns.  Sizes 18-22.  Some good colors to try are white, olive, and red.  Good luck! Josh

Willy's Fork

I fished the Williams Fork and the Colorado River near Parshall a while back for the first time.  I had a great time and caught several fish. The Williams Fork is a tail and is skinny water, similar to Clear Creek.   There are A few larger fish in there as well.  I did see some bigger fish chasing some smaller ones so streamers make work there as well.  I focused my effort on short line high sticking.  Nymphs and emergers were working well.  RSII's, brassies, BWO patterns, and an egg as a lead fly should do the trick.  Dry-Dropper rigs will work on days that fish are rising.  I also caught fish at the confluence of the Williams Fork and Colorado.  I caught fish in both rivers.  There are some nice deep holes in the Colorado at the confluence.  I mostly caught Browns but did land some Bows too.  I hooked into some larger fish but didn't land them.  Both of those were surprisingly on the Williams Fork.  I really enjoyed fishing here for the first time and catching several was just icing on the cake.  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call the shop on your way out!  Tips up! Josh

Thanks Josh!

Clear Creek

What's that? A Dry Fly?  Yes!!  I haven't seen any fish rising much yet, except to eat my Putterbaugh Caddis, shown in the mouth of this trout.  I fish a dry/dropper rig on Clear Creek whenever I can get away with it.  Each day is getting better on Clear Creek.  Warm cloudy days seem to be the best. The fish on Clear Creek are small and very spooky on sunny days.  The Rainbow Warrior for my dropper has been working very well.  All of Idaho Springs is fishing well.  I haven't made it down into the canyon.  I imagine it will take longer to thaw out than the Idaho Springs section.  In town gets a good deal of light during the day. If you have any questions come in the shop or give Rob or I a call. A fish caught may be a gift from someone else and that fish you put back may be a gift to someone else.  Tips up! Josh