Ute Creek Ranch
Check Availability
08/19/10
Decreasing Flows/Clear Water
2010 FISHING REPORTS:
08/18/10 Beautiful setting, wonderful water. Great fishing!! Best two fish, 17" & 15" rainbows in fast water above and below three rocks pool. Hopper & bead-head pheasant tail nymph worked well in water below bridge. Many, many wonderful fish caught -- rainbows & browns.
08/16/10 A little slow, but we managed to catch a 20" rainbow. Another nice fish got off before it could be landed down on the lower section above the fence. Nice time!
8/11/10 I really enjoyed fishing there Yesterday. It was definitely one of the best places that I have ever fished. Thanks for the great memories. I will definately be back.
08/03/10 Slow day. The water is a little high and off color. Caught 6 fish. 20 incher stone fly, black leech, hopper-dropper w/hot wire princy nymph. See you again soon.
07/05/10 6 landed, 13 missed. 2 - 18" browns. Stone fly BH; No dry flies; Pheasant Tail; Flash back.
JUNE 17, 2010: The flows are steadily decreasing on the Tarryall Creek and the water is clearing beautifully. Conditions are good and should continue to improve over the next few days.
5-29-10 - This was probably the last day of good fishing (and wading) before runoff. The fish became less active and the wading got more difficult as the river came up throughout the afternoon. Lots of caddis on the surface but very few rises after 11:00 AM. A nice mix of browns and rainbows on golden stonefly nymphs and stimulators.
05/04/10 Windy day!!! Fished a few hours before calling it a day. Did okay with some strikes when we hunkered down. Water clear & beautiful.
5/02/10 - Good day with several browns and rainbows up to 16 inches. Fish were rising to dries during an afternoon snowstorm. We will be back.
4/28/10 One of the best days at Ute Creek I've ever had. 20+ fish, 15"+. Breadcrust, Buckskin & Streamers.
4/19/10 - Great day! 13 landed, many above 15". Mostly rainbows. Best hole above bridge and beaver dam. Golden stones #8 -10; Prince nymphs #16.
2009 FISHING REPORTS:
- AM Very slow. Cold night previous. 2 Fish - 6" Brown on wet fly. 12" Brown on Royal Wulff. Only 2 hits in the AM. PM action picked up. 6 Fish (and several others missed. Thought I had my dry hook set figured out - apparently not). 16 - 18" Rainbow on PMD. Rest 12-16" Browns on adams fished wet (unintentionally the first time) and 1 on red CJ. 2 pics attached. Rainbow was difficult to revive but was released successfully. Other highlights: Fought 1 very large rainbow for about 30 seconds before losing him. I cried like a little girl. I'm estimating 22-24" but its hard to know. Also PMD. Strangely, 2 types of bugs were coming off. First are what I would consider brown drakes. They were these huge, extended body mayflies like a size 8. I would duck to get out of the way. Second, were these tiny bugs (yellow sallies, maybe) size 32, that you could barely even see. In a couple pools you could see some rainbows rising and I thought I was in business because I had some big drake flies to use. Nothin'. Turns out the guys are taking the tiny bugs. Go figure. Did end up getting one of those rainbows later on the PMD. Lost my PMD fly later to the most ferocious strike I have ever seen in freshwater. Had to be a pike. Very little action on nymphs which was surprising after reading the reports. 1 fish and 1 pinky finger was all I could muster. I used the stonefly nymphs and several varieties of mayfly after checking several rocks. Note: I incorrectly identified the Caddis larva as a stonefly Nymph. Overall, very fun. I bet I will be back next year. 08/28/09
Fish HEAVEN!!! We always catch fish on this property and today was no exception. 08/24/09
9 hours -- 2 fisherman -- no fish. 08/18/09
Wonderful fishing of all types. Pockets, pools, riffles, drys, nymphs, terrestials, everything worked! 08/14/09
Couldn't ask for a better day. 24 fish total (one angler). It rained just in time for lunch. 6 rainbows 15-17'; one 20" rainbow. PT stimulator; princes. 08/03/09
Tough day! Muddy water, poor conditions. Caught a few on rainbow warriors. 07/31/09
A good day fishing! Streamers worked best. Golden/flash/black wooly bugger hopper in the PM. Slower in the afternoon. 07/24/09
Excellent day. 30 plus fish in the AM. Several 20" plus on gold wooly bugger. Another 10+ in the afternoon on stone fly. Thanks for a wonderful day! 07/13/09
Awesome time fishing. 40 - 50 fish caught by 2 anglers. Avg. size 12-14"; several over 18". Mostly rainbows, a few browns. San Juan worm w/dropper; BH prince nymph; green drake (rocked!!); lots of mosquitos! 07/10/09
Caught many small browns and couple of nice 20" rainbows. Bead head prince, copper john, wooly bugger. Spotted numerous rainbows. 05/06/09
04/15/09 - Fishing was better than great...it was truly exceptional and the weather was exceptional as well. I caught so many fish of all sizes that I lost count. There were 3 over 20 inches including this beauty of 23 inches hooked in the beaver pond just above the bridge. What a wonderful place to fish. One of the most memorable fishing experiences of my lifetime. Thanks again. I’ll be back!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2008 FISHING REPORTS:
10/03/08 - Stream flows are a bit above average and conditions are still relatively good at Ute Creek Ranch.
10/09/08 Fished from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 1 rainbow, 20"+ on a copper john. 3 browns, 8" - 10".
10/04/08 Low water, but fishing still pretty good. Caught several 10" - 14".
09/25/08 Had a great day. This is our 4th year fishing here. My dad makes the trip to here every year from Michigan. Caught well over 30 fish between the two of us. Nymph fishing is the way to go. Copper Johns in the morning and prince nymphs in the afternoon. Fishing shut off around 5:00 p.m. Thanks again!
09/20/08 - Great day of fishing. I'll plan to come back!
09/14/08 Had a great time today. 4 fish over 20". We will be back. 22" rainbow; 21" brown; 2- 20" browns. Caddis tan & peacock size 14 2-4 p. Shut down at 4:30.
09/10/08 Tough day! Low water!
09/13/08 nice day 4-5 browns & rainbows on caddis, pheasant tails, prince nymph. River flow was good.
09/08/08 Fished half day (afternoon). Lots of action on pheasant tail, caddis, parachute adams.
09/06/08 Action a little slow. Few fish in the 18"-20" ranger on streamers and pheasant tail nymphs.
08/30/08 We had a great day! Number of good fish over 18" on wooly bugger and squirrel tail streamer.
08/29/08 Fished upper section in AM. 12 fish by noon, most over 15". One 20 something inches. Streamers. Broke off large pike north end pool. Lower section after noon. Hopper/dropper. I stopped counting! 3-4 more over 20" and a big pike. Great day! Missed/lost MANY big fish!
08/27/08 Not a cloud. Lots of small browns on dries and some bigger rainbows down deep, including a 20" & a 22" on San Juan worms. Beautiful water!
08/23/08 Charlie Boy Hoppers; Brassie; Black Bugger. Great program; slow day.
08/20/08 High water -- little off color but still a great day. 1 fish 22" or so; 4 others 18"-20". All rainbows. Excellent stream.
08/16/08 Rainy day w/lightning & thunder. After waiting it out, we hit the river and my wife caught the biggest fish of her life on the first cast! She caught a huge, healthy rainbow on an orange streamer in the first pool above the bridge. Great day in spite of rain. Great program! See you next year!
08/14/08 AWESOME DAY! 20+ fish, several 18"+. San Juan, Brassies, BH Pheasant Tail, Woolies. perfect weather.
08/08/08 Flashback PT's worked well. Lots of fish on dark streamers. San Juan worms & WD40s. Awsome day on the river. Lots of fish and lots of fun.
08/09/08 Great day. Pheasant tails, streamers, stimulators.
08/10/08 Streamers w/ dropper 15-20 fish. Zugbug for browns. Stimulator w/ hare's ear above bridge. Great day.
08/11/08 Great day of fishing. 2 fishermen. 12 fish. Wooly buggers, caddis. We will be back!
Good day. 18-20 fish. Two 20" rainbows. Mainly caught on black BH wooly bugger.
08/01/08 Excellent day. Lots of fish, many 18" +. Caddis emergers, stimulators, streamers. Watch stress --land fish quickly and keep them in the waters if possible.
08/01/08 River conditions are good, but the water temps are warming up quickly with this hot weather. Anglers need to take care with the fish and not work them too long or too hard and try not to take them out of the water.
07/30/08 2 anglers fished this property and had good day, but left no comments.
07/27/08 Excellent fishing! Streamers, nymphs below bridge for hogs; dries above the bridge.
07/26/08 Angler #1: RS2, Copper John, Stimulator. Angler #2: Big dark streamers worked well; PTs worked well, and san juan worms. Also, some dry flies such as stimmies and Griffiths Gnats. Great time today.
07/24/08 Great day! 10+ fish over 18". Copper johns; midges; bushy dry flies; stones.
07/22/08 Slow dry action. 15+ fish; several 19+". Golden Stonefly; BH droppers behind dry, good; nymph mid-day, good; streamers better later.
07/20/08 AM/PM; Browns 8"-14" in riffles: stimulator with a w/d dropper; wooly buggers. Rainbows 18"-22" in deep pools. Large beadhead w/small beadhead trailer. 35 + fish. Golden stone fly excellent.
07/19/08 The best day ever! Many rainbows over 20". Our arms are tired. Big rainbows on small beadheads. Fish the deep slow water. Get nymphs all the way down!
06/30/08 Runoff settling down. Water slightly off-color and flows still a little high, but very fishable.
05/02/08 UNBELIEVABLE WINDS TODAY!!! Still, we caught fish (6 nice ones in deeper pools). Worthwhile fishing in spite of the inclement weather.
05/11/08 3 browns in AM; 3 browns in PM; Wooly Buggers.
05/17/08 Flows are up and the water is turning off color. 2 fish below the bridge on BH prince nymph. 2 fish above the bridge on San Juan worm and prince nymph. Lost large rainbow on black wooly bugger above the bridge.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Reports from 2007 Season follow:
Non-stop action for two hours in a snowstorm. Browns and rainbows took Colorado caddis and twenty-incher nymphs in virtually every pocket and pool (4/07/07).
Nice property. Well worth it. Fishing was pretty good. Brown leech, prince nymphs, hare's ears worked well (4/21/07).
Caught a couple nice sized rainbows. Very good dry fly fishing, also Prince nymphs. Will be back (5/05/07).
Water was high in general and fast in many places. Its color was a cross between ice tea and Hefeweizen, making thorough coverage of the water mandatory. Not a lot of activity, but we caught a couple of decent sized browns....16+"....and a couple of little, scrappy "bows. We used everything from Royal Coachmen to Wooly Buggers but the fish were smarter thatn we were (as usual). The catchworthy fish haunted the undercuts in the banks as they normally do, but the snags brought down by the runoff coupled with the high water made it a challenge to rouse the wily rascals from their lies without losing our flies. The weather was nearly ideal and the scenery was as delightful as ever. We had a great time as we always have. (05/12/07)
We had a great day. 20 + trout up to 14" and one 20" pike that ate a Prince Nymph. Streamers (Olive Slump Buster & Black Zonker) did OK, but switched to nymphs (Candy Cane San Juan Worm & #16 Beadhead Prince) and really got into them. 06-06-07
Fishing good. Caddis, stones, San Juan worms. Fun day! 06-10-2007
Fished pretty well today despite the high flow & off-color water. Caught several browns & rainbows, 12"-16". Red & pink san juan worms and red copper johns worked best. 06/17/07
Good day! Streamers, hoppers & dries all worked well. Nice sized fish (19" -22" and smaller). Mosquitoes not so bad today. Finally able to wade in river. 07/02/07
Caught a few on elk hair caddis and RS2 dropper. Also caught 2 on Adams #16. Great water. Not as buggy as other days we have read about. 07/03/07
Beautiful area. Slow in the beginning. Water mildly cloudy from rains last night. Tried: princes, variety of coppers (red, green, copper chartruese), san juan worm; 1/4 weights. Started picking up close to hatch. Mayflies, grey, bigger than you think. Size 14 & 16, WDs, grey. WDs were best, prince in afternoon saved my brother from total and complete humiliation. Oh, and the fact that he remembered the beer. No dries all day. 07/20/07
Lower end no luck. Deep holes, nymph rig - pheasant tail. 1 rainbow 18.5"; 1 rainbow 21". Several small. 08/24/07
Too beautiful for words. Caught 7 browns & 1 brook 8"-10" in upper & lower sections. Caught on stimulator, red san juan worm, hopper. Tried many nymphs but no takers. Lots of little hatches. Yellow sallies for sure, but nothing big -- size 24. 08/30/07
Biggest fish ever -- 22" rainbow! Caught all rainbows (5) on hopper. Beautiful water. Great day! 08/31/07
Copper Johns & rainbow warrior as dropper worked great. Minimal dry fly action but still a great day & a great property. 09/16/07
Good fishing! Approximately 25-30 for the day. Nice rainbows and browsn! Will be back! 09/21/07
Slow until 11:00 a.m. #14 para wulf adams most consistent. 17" brown. 19" rainbow on wooly bugger. Another 18" rainbow hooked but not landed. Not very many bugs. Very few rising fish. 09/22/07
Great day! one 17" wolly; one 14" wooly; one 20" flashback beadhead. 09/23/07
Fairly slow day. No action until 11:00 AM. Couple of fish on #16 royal wulffs and #14-16 stimulators (w/ or w/o rubber legs). Nice brown on #18 tungsten zebra midge dropper. 09/24/07
One beautiful place! Caught 8 fish; 7 on elk hair caddis. Fished from 11 AM- 3PM. Fall colors spectacular! 09/27/07
Slow Fishing. 7 or 8 small ones. 09/28/07
Water too low in most places, but deeper holes productive. 20 fish w/2 anglers. 2 x 20" rainbows; 2x 24" pike! 09/29/07
Great weather. 2 northerns, 20". 12 or so browns. Some big one got away. Will be back in 2008. 10/13/07
Fishing was great. Catching was slow. Caught & released 6 rainbows, one over 20". Beautiful river. Fish caught on san juan worms & pheasant tails. 10/14/07
Additional data available from the Colorado Division of Water Resources.