Fly Fishing Clear Creek Colorado This includes a fly fishing report for Clear Creek Colorado
Type of Stream
Freestone and Tailwater
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Species
Brown Trout
Cutthroat Trout
Rainbow Trout
Brook Trout
Size
Small to Medium
Location
Central Colorado
Nearest Towns
Idaho Springs
Lawson
Georgetown
Golden
Denver
Season
Year-round
Access:
Fair to Good
Non-Resident License
State of Colorado
Seasons:
Except for the Spring runoff, fly fishing
Clear Creek is mostly good year-round.
Spring:
March, April and the first of May before the Spring runoff is a good time to fish Clear Creek.
Summer:
Summer is probably the best time to fish
the stream.
Fall:
Fall is a good time and especially for the
brown trout.
Winter:
Warm, nice winter days are usually good
provided you can access the stream.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 & 12 ft., 5 or 6X, Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Superb Five or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
Clear Creek, Colorado Fishing Report – May 01, 2024
The stream is flowing a little above a normal level and the water is lightly stained. Good Light Green midge, Little Black Caddis, March Browns and Skwala stonefly hatches are taking place. Keep checking back with us as we update the Clear Creek fishing report often. Our midge patterns are working good here.
Stream Conditions: Rate: 144 cfs
Level: 4.20 ft
Afternoon Water Temperature: 51
Clarity: clear
USGS Real-Time Stream Flow Data at Golden CO
7 Day Weather Forecast: (click the link below for more detailed information)
Recommended Trout Flies:
Brown Sculpin and White Belly Sculpin and Articulated streamers, size 6/4
Black Matuka and Olive Matuka Sculpin, size 4/6
Blue-winged Olives: size 16, 18 nymph, emergers, duns and spinners
Aquatic Worms, size 12, pink, red, and others
Midges: Light Green and Red (Blood) midges sizes 20/22, larva, pupa and adult. Our larva and pupa midge flies, pre-rigged in tandem, are very popular here. You can fish them under a strike indicator keeping the larva fly near the bottom. https://perfectflystore.com/product/pre-rigged-tandem-midge-larva-pupa-tippet
Skwala stoneflies, size 10, nymphs and adults
Little Black Caddis, size 18, pupa and adults
Fly Fishing On Clear Creek In Colorado: At one time Clear Creek was adversely affected by mining but for the last few years the stream has remained in good shape and it is rapidly becoming a favorite of many anglers. Fly fishing Clear Creek can be very enjoyable. It has a good population of brown and rainbow trout and in its higher elevations, cutthroat trout. Clear Creek begins high in the Rocky mountains near the Continental Divide and Loveland Pass. It flows near Interstate Highway #70 through old mining towns of Silver Plume, Georgetown and Idaho Springs. From the mountains it flows through the town of Golden near Coors Brewery. Upstream of Georgetown the Clear Creek is a small stream that flows through BLM land and the Aropaho/Rosevelt National Forest. The trout run on the small side and consist of both rainbows and cutthroats. It can be accessed on the National Forest Land and off state highway #40 between Empire and Berthoud Pass.It picks up water from South Clear Creek before flowing into Georgetown Lake. The tailwater section below the lake flows through Clear Creek Canyon for about twenty miles. Fly fishing Clear Creek Canyon is usually very rewarding. Access to the creek is good and easy in most places although it flows through both private and public property. When it is near I-70, it can be accessed from old highway #6 called the frontage road. From Idaho Springs it flows along state highway #6. The intersection at I-70 at Clear Creek Canyon provides access. Cleaning up the stream has also resulted in several aquatic insects becoming prolific. There are plenty of Blue-winged Olives, Pale Morning Duns and even some Green Drakes. There are plenty of Spotted Sedges, Little Black Caddis and October Caddis. Little Yellow and Little Brown stoneflies are plentiful. Terrestrial insects are plentiful during the Summer.
Fly Fishing Guide to Clear Creek: Clear Creek is one of the better trout streams in Colorado with lots of brown trout. Beginning up above Georgetown, it flows through Idaho springs and then through clear creek canyon west of Golden Colorado before it finally enters town and flows into Ralston Creek and the South Platte River. Clear Creek is a typical small freestone creek and has a large population of trout that will take streamers, nymphs and sometimes dry flies. The river is very close to I-70 and gets a lot of pressure at the prime fishing times of the season. Clear Creek is actually more of a river than a creek. It is easily accessible and runs for many miles. Residents drive by it by the thousands each day. Much of the time your fishing it you will be listening to the traffic. The stream flows along I-70, through the old Colorado mining towns of Georgetown, Silver Plume, and Idaho Springs. I-70 leaves it just east of Idaho Springs. From there it follows highway #6. It leaves the mountains and flows through the valley between the North and South Table Mountains. Coors Beer Company gets their water from Clear Creek. Talk to ten different anglers and you will get ten different opinions as to where the best water is to fish. What is far more important, is matching the natural aquatic insects and other trout foods in the stream. Trout will focus on eating the most plentiful and most available food at the time. This doesn’t just mean matching the hatch. It is far more important to match what is about to hatch. The trout can see the nymphs and larvae better than the adult flies on the surface of the water.
Clear Creek Hatches and Trout Flies: Our information on aquatic insects is based on our stream samples of larvae and nymphs, not guess work. We base fly suggestions on imitating the most plentiful and most available insects and other foods at the particular time you are fishing. Unlike the generic fly shop trout flies, we have specific imitations of all the insects in the Blue River and in all stages of life that are applicable to fishing. If you want to fish better, more realistic trout flies, have a much higher degree of success, give us a call. We not only will help you with selections, you will learn why, after trying Perfect Flies, 92% of the thousands of our customers will use nothing else. 1-800-594-4726. Midges are present in Clear Creek and hatch throughout the year. Imitations of their larvae, pupae and of the adult work great and are very important when nothing else is hatching. The first mayfly hatches are the Blue-winged Olives. They start hatching in April and continue through the month of May. These are bi-brooded insects that hatch again in September and October. Another short and usually not intense hatch is the Green Drake. These mayflies start hatching around the first of July and last on as late as the end of August. Red Quills also hatch during the same time period. They can be more important than the Green Drakes. Golden Stoneflies hatch starting about the middle of June and last through August, depending on the area of the river you are fishing. Yellow Sallies, or Little Yellow Stonefies, start hatching in late May and can last well into August. Little Black Caddis from the Branchycentrus genus called Grannom caddisflies start hatching about the first of May. It usually last about a month. This hatch starts in the lower elevations and works upstream.During June, July, August and September,you will find different species of Spotted Sedges, or net spinning caddisflies. There are also a few of their Little Sister Caddis. The Little Sisters hatch during the month of July. There is also species of Green Caddisflies, or Green Sedges, as they are often called. The larvae of these caddisflies are called Green Rock Worms. Imitations of them are very effective from about June through August. There are few other species of caddisflies present in the river, but none of them hatch in large quantities.Terrestrial insects become important during the months of June, July, August and September. Imitations of grasshopper,ants and beetles are all effective during these months during this time. There are lots of Sculpin in the river and a few different species of minnows and baitfish. The streamers are very effective when the brown trout start to spawn in the fall. They also work anytime the river is a little off color from rain as well as early in the morning and late in the afternoons. Thanks for visiting the Clear Creek fishing report.