June 3, 2021 – Blue River (In town & the Outlet Mall) & The Beaver Ponds
Flows: 55 cfs.
Water Temp: 40F
Water clarity: Crystal clear. Beaver Ponds – murky to muddy.
Air Temp: ~45F @ 8:30a, 68 @ 5p.
Hatches: Midge: 9a to 11a, Light BWO: 2p - 4p, Caddis: 11a – 4p.
Flies: #10 Chubby Chernobyl, #18 BH Pheasant Tail, #22 Stalcup Beatis, #24 Purple Juju Beatis, #24 Top Secret Midge, #24 Flashback Black Beauty, #24 Red Manhattan Midge, #24 Miracle Midge, #20 Mercury Pheasant Tail, #24 Black Rojo Midge, #24 Matt’ Midge, #24 Griffiths Gnat, #24 Black Parachute Adams, #22 Black Bubbletop Midge, #22 Miracle Midge.
Top producers: #20 Mercury Pheasant Tail, Rojo Midge, Bubbletop Midge, Miracle Midge, Purple Juju Beatis, Manhattan Midge. Parachute Adams (in the ponds).
A scene along the Blue River in Silverthorne, Colorado.
We got an early start yesterday for our drive to Silverthorne. The Blue River flows out of the Dillon Reservoir and flows through the town of Silverthorne, which sits at about 9,000 feet above sea level. It’s a scenic mountain town with snowcapped mountains all around it. As with most Colorado mountain towns there is an abundance of walking paths and trails throughout the town and people actively using them. The main attraction for fishermen though is the Blue River.
The Blue River begins above the town of Breckenridge and flows northeast where it’s dammed – forming the Dillon Reservoir. The river flows out of the reservoir through the town of Silverthorne and continues north for about 20 miles where it meets the Colorado River.
Along the river you get a feel of being in a forest - as opposed to a town.
The Dillon Reservoir is one of three reservoirs in Colorado that have Mysis shrimp in them. The other two are the Taylor and the Ruedi reservoirs. The shrimp reside in the reservoirs and some are pulled through the dams and into the rivers below where the trout veraciously feed on them. The shrimp are a hardy meal and the trout get big and fat! The closer to the dams – the more abundant the shrimp and the bigger fish.
The Blue River in Silverthorne is probably the least renown of the three rivers that contain Mysis shrimp. But it is relatively close to Denver – about 1½ hours away. We wanted to catch some big fish and also explore new water – and could only do a day trip. That led us to Silverthorne.
The Fill'er-up Hole.
As I was researching the Blue in Silverthorne I was beginning to question whether it was a good choice. Big fish are reported there but not in a lot of numbers. Even though the river below the reservoir is designated "Gold Medal" water - fishing runs hot and cold. The river is what I’d say is “slightly improved”. Meaning there hasn’t been a lot of work done to improve the structure of the river and there are not a lot of holding areas for the fish - at least at the low flows that we encountered. And there are a good amount of anglers chasing the big fish. So finding a hole or run open is a challenge. The fishing reports consistently reported “spotty” fishing. Some days were good – others not so good. And the insect activity was reported to be low.
Releasing my 1st fish of the day. A 19" rainbow taken out of the Fill'er-up Hole.
So yeah – I was questioning whether we should invest a day of fishing on the Blue. Another choice – also about 1½ hours away from Denver is the Colorado River at Hot Sulphur Springs. It’s also classified as Gold Medal and the flows are now about just right. So when I picked up Brian I mentioned that we could switch it up and head to the Colorado instead. After exchanging some thoughts – we decided to stay with our plan and try the Blue. At the very least it would enrich our fly fishing experience and give us first hand insight on the Blue.
We also had a back-up plan. If the fishing on the Blue was off – we could head down I-70 to the Beaver Ponds on Clear Creek. The ponds hold Colorado Greenback Cutthroat trout – the state fish. We’ve fished these before and it’s fun catching the small cuts. It’s dry fly fishing with small tackle and the fish fight like hell.
Another view of my 1st fish. Some of the had frayed fins and tails.
We stopped into the Cutthroat Anglers fly shop in Silverthorne before hitting the river. I wanted to see about getting some Mysis shrimp imitations and acquire some local knowledge. Surprisingly, the guy we talked to told us that with the low flows the Mysis shrimp wouldn’t be a good choice to use. He advised using mostly beatis imitations. I asked him about the reports I read about low insect activity and he concurred. That seemed very odd to me. There’s not a lot of insects – and now there’s not a lot of shrimp. What are the fish eating?
After getting some advise on good fishing spots – we headed downstream from the shop and parked in a large parking lot on the north side of the river. The fishing reports – and the guy in the fly shop – all said the best fishing was in town and near the outlet mall. Even though you’re in a town – once you’re on the river or even close to it – you get the feel that you’re in a mountain forest. It’s very scenic and relaxing.
Brian's 1st one of the day. 21" (without the tail) rainbow taken out of the Fill'er-up Hole.
Brian Kenney.
As we set out to explore the river I came upon a deep pool that looked very fishy. The fishing reports also said it was best to sight fish. If you don’t see any – move on till you find them. So as I came up to the pool I was looking to see if I could spot any fish. In this case – even if I didn’t – I was going to try it. It was just too good of a spot not too.
And then I spotted a rainbow. He was to the near side – my side - of the seam of fast water about mid-river. The river in this spot was only about 15’ to 20’ wide. My HDC rig was already set up with beatis – so I was able to quickly get in the water and after the rainbow. I could tell he was big – and he was brightly colored. What we came for.
A 20" rainbow. Notice the bright coloration.
After a several tries with my HCD rig and no hits – I decided to rig up my other rod with nymphs. There were midges hatching – and it wasn’t just a sparse hatch. My fly choice was a Beadhead Pheasant Tail leading, followed by a Flashback Black Beauty and a Miracle Midge. Just as I was finishing getting everything set up – I looked up and some guy and his kid had walked down the bank across the river from me and began to fish the hole. I politely said “That’s not right”. He responded that he was “just checking the flows (really?) – and he would be gone by the time I was finished”.
Well he wasn’t. I was thinking about the reports of crowds. It was annoying. I couldn’t see the rainbow anymore - but on my second cast he hit. It was big and took me through most of the hole. As I was netting the fish – the guy and his kid left. Good riddance. My first fish of the day was a 19”, brightly colored, hefty rainbow. What we came for.
Releasing another 20" rainbow.
Brightly colored fish indicate that they are getting a lot of nourishment. In the case of the Blue River in Silverthorne – you think Mysis shrimp. They are a big meal for the trout and that’s why they have the bright coloration and are bigger than average.
Brian was just upstream from me while all this was happening. I think he said something like “you brought him good luck” to the guy as he was leaving the hole. Then he joined me – fishing it from the other side of the river. And now I could see several large rainbows. They were in the middle of the fast water and at the tail end of the hole just before a boulder structure formed a small waterfall.
Another big - 20" - rainbow. Brian took this out of the Fill'er-up Hole.
Brian Kenney.
It wasn’t long and Brian hooked up one of them. It too was big. His fish – as mine did – gave a really good fight to begin with, then seamed to just give up. They were still fun to catch though and at the beginning of the fight you were questioning whether you’d be able to get this guy to net. Well Brian did. He said the tail of the fish was somehow gone – or frayed way down. And the fish still measured 21” – with a frayed down or missing tail! What we came for.
There’s a gas station on the south side of the river on Route 9 next to the hole we were fishing. So I named this hole “The Fill'er-up Hole”. We stayed in the Fill-up Hole the rest of the morning. And it produced the whole morning. We had several fish in the net. Mine where all 19” and 20” – brightly colored – and hefty. The only exception was an 18” rainbow – and he had a wide girth too. Brian’s were the same.
Releasing another big rainbow.
When we decided to break for lunch, I could only spot one or two fish left in the hole. But we were hungry and pretty much cleared the place out – so we broke for lunch. It was a very pleasant surprise for me. I didn’t expect to catch that many fish – and big ones to boot. Brian mentioned that he thought they were just as big as the ones we were catching in Wyoming. And he was right.
The other thing that surprised me was the bug activity. The midge hatch was very strong. They were small and plentiful. Later in the morning I also saw caddis hatching. They were not a plentiful as the midges – but it was a decent hatch. Brian pumped the stomach of one of his fish an as surprisingly – he found midges, caddis, beatis, and possibly a stonefly. This must have been one of the days when the hatch was on. Perfect timing!
Here are the insects from one of Brian's rainbows. Midges, caddis, one small beatis, and what looks like a stonefly.
Brian Kenney.
After lunch we headed upstream. We wanted to get close to the dam and see what the water was like there. Not sure how far we had to go, we got into the car and drove south. We didn’t have to go that far – and parked under an I-70 overpass. Talk about loud.
That was something I didn’t like about this stretch of the river. The road noise. It was deafening. Brian headed out first and came up to a small pool that was formed by large boulders across the river upstream from it. When I walked up I could spot 4 fish in it – and they were all big, bright rainbows! Brian said only a couple of them were feeding, the ones out in the fast water.
There wasn’t enough room for me to join in – so I walked upstream toward the dam to check it out. It was pretty decent with some nice holding spots along the way. They were all already taken though. And the closer to the dam I got the more fishermen I ran into. After going up river about ½ mile, I headed back to see how Brian was doing.
Brian took this one out of the Road Hole - a 21" rainbow.
Brian Kenney
He landed one of the rainbows. Another 21 incher. I now couldn’t see any fish in the pool but decided to try the other side of it. After several casts and no action I headed downstream toward the Outlet Mall. The river is noticeably wider in this section – and with the low flows it didn’t look likely to hold any fish. I did spot one though – but couldn’t get him to take.
At that point Brian came down to join me and we walked further downstream to the Outlet Mall area. There was some nice structure to the river and holes that looked very fishy. But we couldn’t spot any fish and we didn’t have any takers. Another fishermen was fishing under one of the many walking bridges that span the river here and was able to take out a couple of fish.
A view from the Beaver Ponds.
It was now about 2p and we decided we had enough and headed down to the Beaver Ponds. The Clear Creek headwaters begin at the Loveland Ski Resort and closely follow I-70 all the way into Golden and beyond, eventually meeting the South Platte River. It was running high and muddy. And so were the ponds. The last time we were here, they were lower and crystal clear. Not this time.
Almost looks like a swamp in the deep South.
It was hard to spot any fish but there were a couple here and there. Getting to them was a challenge because of all the trees and bushes that were in the water and lining the banks of the ponds. I went further upstream than I had before and found a bunch of rising fish. There were storm clouds developing and they cast a shadow on the water making it even more difficult to spot the fish. But I could see the dimples they were making on the surface when they came up for a bug.
An 8" Colorado Greenback Cutthroat.
I waded into the water so that I could get a decent cast to them. The water felt even colder than the Blue River. With all the snowmelt feeding into the ponds just 5 miles or so upstream – it’s no wonder. These fish are finicky but if you’re persistent and work on getting a good drift – you can entice them to take.
Some of the takes are subtle – while others are not. I missed about four takes – and didn’t on three of them. The ones that hit aggressively was something to see. The fish would look up and then decide to bolt to the surface and hit the fly. They were easier to hook up than the ones who hit subtly.
Another view of the ponds.
There was one just off shore feeding in an eddie. He would come up and just sip the flies that were floating in the film. I stood there watching him for a bit to get his rhythm and to see how the bugs were drifting toward him. Then I casted my flies into the lane. After a few drifts he came up and casually sipped my fly. He was surprised – and very pissed -when I set the hook.
We had a few rain showers during the two hours or so that we fished the ponds. They passed through quickly – but let loose a lot of water. It was amazing to watch the bug hatch after each of the showers. Even more amazing was the fish didn’t seem to respond to the increase in hatch activity.
This one took the Black Parachute.
We explored more of the pond area and Clear Creek which flows through them. Clear Creek it was not today – but we found a few spots that looked like they would hold fish after the runoff dies down, making mental notes to try them then.
At about 5p we called it a day. The experience was more than I was expecting. I liked the Blue River – especially the section we fished in the morning. Yes – catching big fish was part of it, a big part of it – but it was also the dense forest along the river. I got the feel of being in a remote forest – not a town. It was calming and exhilarating at the same time.
The Ponds dumping back into Clear Creek.
We landed a good number of big, beautiful rainbows – and a few small Colorado Greenback Cutthroats – in equally beautiful settings.
What we came for.
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