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Clear Creek Fishing Information
Canyon Section - near Golden, CO
The Canyon Section of Clear Creek is a great place to get away for a day trip or even a few hours after work. It’s only 30-40 minutes from the Denver Metro Area and holds a surprising amount of fish for the amount of pressure it receives. During the weekends, the pull offs are pretty full but not all of them are fishing. With over 10 miles of fishable water in the canyon, even on a crowded day you can find water to yourself. This section is higher gradient than the upper section, but still holds a bunch of holes and runs. Fish ranging from 3” – 18” can be found in this section, though most of the fish over 15” get eaten by anglers looking for a meal instead of an experience.
Midges, BWO, Caddis, and Stoneflies all live in this section and hatch at their given times in the year. It is not a difficult river to catch fish and most beginners find good success on this section. Experienced anglers can land over 50 fish in a day without much trouble and makes it a fun place to try new techniques, fly patterns or just spend a relaxing day finding success and trout. That said, the river has a on and off personality. Weather impacts temps which impacts bugs. If you aren’t finding fish, try a new location as different sections will behave differently even on the same day.
There is a new river walk being built in the upper canyon that makes it highly accessible and easy to bike or walk to a lot more water that used to be difficult to access. Try fishing near the tunnels and hiking around them where the river leads the road. These places are less often fished and it makes the fishing even easier and gives a chance at bigger fish as well.
The North Fork of Clear Creek runs through Blackhawk and though the fishing isn’t as productive, it is somewhere you can fish and gamble, which is pretty rare anywhere you go :). I don’t think they allow wet waders in the casinos however, so bring a change of clothes. There are some brook trout up in the further reaches as well.
Lastly, there is the town section which provides even quicker access right in Golden. During the summer, tubers and kayakers dominate this area, but as the flows drop below 125 cfs, you see a lot less people on the water and more wading it. This is a good time to get a hopper-dropper or dry-dropper rig and find some eager fish right in town. Fishing for trout is decent from I-70 upstream to the canyon. Most of the trout are caught right in the town of Golden above Coors brewing however.
Fish: Some Small-Sized Fish
Popularity: High
Difficulty: Medium
Accessibility: Easy
Best Techniques: Dries & Nymphs
Best Seasons: Spring - Fall
River Type: Small Freestone
Fish Types: Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Cutthroat Trout
Dog Friendly: Yes but Leashed
Located in the South Platte River Basin near Golden, CO
Fishable Seasons & Current Weather
The best seasons to fish this river are Spring - Fall. See the current weather reports for the next 5-6 days listed below for the nearest city.
Knowing what flies to use is only have the battle. You have to know when the insects are active on the water and when it's likely the trout are feeding on them. Refer to our hatch charts below to understand when the insect categories and some of the possible hatches on the river.
Midge Hatches
Midges hatch year round, but their importance is from September through winter into April. During the warmer months, the trout often focus on larger insects as they are more active on the water like mayflies, caddis and stoneflies.
Aside from Blue wing olives, mayflies are active most commonly from May to August in Colorado. There are many different mayfly hatches found on most rivers and the most common are listed below.
Blue Wing Olive: September throut winter to April
Colors: Green/Olive
Sizes: #16-24
Pale Morning Dun: June to Mid September
Colors: White, Yellow
Sizes: #14 - #20
Caddis Hatches
Caddis hatch starting early in May and continue to the end of October.
Colors: Olive, Green, Yellow, Tan, Orange, Brown and Black.
Sizes: #10 - #20
Stonefly Hatches
We have some great stonefly hatches in Colorado and while not all rivers carry all species of salmonflies, you can often fish stonefly adult patterns with confidence from May to September. Start off in bigger sizes and get smaller till September hits (size 8 - 16)
Yellow Sally Stonefly: Mid June to August
Colors: Yellow, Tan
Sizes: #12 - #18
Terrestrial Activity
Terrestrials don't hatch since they are out of the water, but they can have importance starting in Mid April and ending in September.
These are the the top flies we sell for this river. Use the hatch chart above to know what flies you will want to have in your fly box during your adventure on the river and then select the flies here 30 days before your trip to get them at a great price. All of our flies are hand tied to each order to ensure quality and to keep our prices low for you.
Click on a fly below to select a size and color for purchase.
Our fly assortments make fly selection easy. We take our entomology knowledge and years of fly fishing experience on these rivers to bring you the right fly patterns, including the correct colors, sizes and quantities to set you up for success. A good selection of flies will prepare you properly for anything the trout may be eating on the river and our fly assortments are specifically curated to maximize your success. Take a look at the assortments we provide below and add one to your box today. Use coupon code AST50 for $50 off and free shipping on these as well, just to help make fly fishing a little more affordable!
Click on any of the pictures to see what flies, colors and sizes we recommend in each assortment.
View our access map for the Clear Creek and learn public and private access points as well as other notable features around fly fishing this river. We include headwater and confluence data and in an effort to not "hotspot" river access points that are better than others, we list every access point available. This serves two purposes. First, it keeps us from hotspotting, which is just showing the best spots and bringing unwanted and harmful attention to the specific access point. The second reason is while we want to help you catch fish and find great places to explore, we don't want to spell it all out for you. If you get it all spelled out, we're doing the exploring, not you. Missing out on the journey of exploring places to fly fish is one of the more enjoyable aspects of fly fishing. While not everyone has time to go explore everything in person, we provide some of the top level data to help you know if something is worth your time, then pass it off to you to explore and find your own adventure. Now enjoy the info, if you're on this page then this river is worth exploring! Go out and find some memories.
Clear Creek Tips & Resources
Use these epic resources to get ready for your adventure. Whether you're planning your trip, learning your insects, improving your fishing with expert tips or getting detailed resources from the USGS streamflows or DoW, we got you covered to help you find the river and find the success you want.