It's runoff time

Yesterday's dilemma was not that I couldn't go fishing but I needed to figure out where. It's late April and most creeks are in runoff mode. We have had a pretty good snow year with the snow pack being at 127% of of median. The way things look, we will have an extended runoff possibly into mid to late July. Early summer fishing will be challenging but it should pay off for the fish having enough cold water.

My usual creeks that close by were high and muddy and I didn't want to hit the ponds - I truly dislike fishing ponds and avoid them if I can. Looking at flows up and down the Front Range it looked like South Boulder Creek below Gross Reservoir would be the ticket. I never fished there so I asked in the Colorado Tenkara Anglers group for some help. 

Getting to South Boulder Creek was an easy drive and faster then I anticipated. The drive took my through an area that reminded me a lot of the landscape in Switzerland I grew up. 

Finally at the creek, I was glad flows were not higher. There were manageable, but much higher would have made things much more difficult. The water was running at 100cfs and was almost gin clear (Bear Creek and Clear Creek were very muddy as I found out on my way home that day). Fishing a tailwater definitively pays off during runoff time.

The creek reminded me a lot of the North St. Vrain in RMNP, just wider with more granite gravel substrate. The scenery was beautiful and the weather cooperated, at least in the morning.

The day turned out not to be super productive, but I am not going to complain catching 4 nice trout (with another LDR), but they were healthy and beautiful fish. 

One thing that surprised me though was that although access to South Boulder Creek is more difficult than to Boulder Creek, I never ran into so many other fisherman on Boulder Creek - ever. I wonder whether everybody realized that it's the only reasonably fishable river close by.

I will definitively be back, it's nice to add another river to my list choices.

do they try to keep fishermen out of the canyon? 

THAT's the only runoff I like!