These are some of my favorite small streams. While some of them are your basic "Brookie Streams" - full of eager, gullible, little Browns, Brooks, and Cutthroats, a few hold some remarkably large resident fish, and some also see spawning runs of Rainbows & Browns. If pristine beauty, few people, and lots of action are more important to you than the opportunity to compete with dozens of other fishermen trying for Trophy fish on a "famous" river; you should take a look at some of these.
| This pretty little stream has two distinctly different characters. The upper section (shown here) is a classic "meadow" type stream - relatively low gradient, sand & gravel bottom, and under-cut banks. Farther
downstream it becomes a "mountain" stream with a freestone bottom, lots of pocket-water and riffle / pool sequences, and a steeper grade as it begins its 2,000' descent to the Colorado. The resident fish (occasionally reaching 15-16" in the canyon) are about 70% Browns and 30% Brookies, with a few "stocker" Rainbows up in the meadows. Although its headwaters are not very high, Rock Creek recieves very little snow-melt, and remains clear even when it's out of its banks during Spring run-off. The fish usually start "looking up" in early June when the "P.M.D." hatch begins, and by the 4th of July they're usually willing to take Caddis flies & small Attractors all day long |
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This little gem is so precious we've given it a nick-name to protect its anonymity. The fact that it's located "in the middle of nowhere" and is home to black bear & mountain lions as well as deer, elk, big horn sheep and trout will probably help, but the fish -- Browns up to 14" with occasional spawners in the Fall -- can be so spooky that you almost need to be the only people there. The appeal for me is certainly not the satisfaction of fooling "selective" fish -- they'll eat almost any small Attractor dry fly or Bead-head nymph you care to throw at them. The real challenges here are of a "technical" nature. When nymphing these deep plunge-pools you must have near-perfect placement of each cast and excellent line-control to allow your fly to get deep into the feeding lanes. Fishing dry flies in the meadow sections between the "drops" your approach and presentation (with a totally drag-free drift) on virtually every cast have to be perfect to avoid spooking the little devils! |
| The Piney River is a rough-and-tumble tributary of the Colorado with a healthy population of Browns, Rainbows, and Whitefish. The scourge of Whirling Disease doesn't appear to have spread into the "lower" Colorado and its tributaries yet, so you have a shot at wild "Colorado River Cut-Bows" here -- they're about the
prettiest strain of trout you'll ever see. Although this is certainly a small stream, it's NOT a good choice for beginners or the faint-of-heart. "Flipping", "dapping", & quick, accurate roll-casts are called for in order to fish this fast pocket-water. If you can control a short-line drift with both dries and nymphs and don't mind losing a few flies in the brush piles and overhanging Cottonwoods, you'll be rewarded with fish much bigger than you'd ever expect from a stream of this size. If the Trout don't want to play with you, the "Whiteys" will almost always eat a bead-head -- they may not be pretty, but they're still fun to catch. |
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Four Mile Creek is the epitome of a small "meadow" stream. Generally
less than 15' wide, with deeply under-cut banks and riffles connected by slow, deep corner pools in the bends; it is full of gullible, perpetually hungry little Browns. An excellent choice for beginners or kids, the name of the game here is Action. I've never found these fish to be selective and you have to search pretty hard to even find a tall bush to lose a fly in.
All that's required here is the ability to get a small Attractor pattern on the water without being spotted by the fish first. This sometimes means creeping along the banks on hands & knees and "dapping" your fly over the edge of the grass. I've seen 12-year-olds hook over a dozen fish in an afternoon using nothing but a Rio Grande Trude -- fished dry, wet, or as a small streamer; dead-drifted, swinging or skittering -- it just doesn't matter! |
| Very much like Four Mile, Tarryall Creek is another "meadow" stream with
a good population of wild Browns up to 16". Its biggest draw-back
is that it flows through private property for most of its length; the only
public access being near the headwaters and on a couple of small D.O.W.
leases 5 miles above and below Tarryall Reservoir. There are also
3 excellent sections accessible through the RMAC. Aside from some fairly good "P.M.D." hatches in June & July; Tarryall Creek, like many of the Platte's tributaries, is primarily a Caddisfly river. Size 14 & 16 Caddis, Trudes, and Stimulators are all you're likely to need for the average resident fish most of the summer, plus 'Hoppers & Beetles later on, but don't hesitate to drag a big ol' Wooly Bugger under the cut-banks. |
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Copyright © 1997
Created by "Dark Hacklewing" 08/20/97
Most recent revision; 04/01/98