Lower Allen Creek Ranch
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08/29/10
Low, clear Water/Cooler Temps
2010 FISHING REPORTS:
8/27/10 Fished the lower portion of Allen Creek Ranch ...beautiful day, partly cloudy at times ( and that helped ) otherwise sunny and nice. Water was low (flow@24) and warm (58*) so the nice fish were on the bottom and easily spooked. Nymphed with Bead Head Prince, several colors and sizes of Copper Johns , San Juan worms, Pheasant Tails,etc. without success. Finally fooled a couple of nice fish with streamers, Trico hatch went on for most of the day, but only the young and dumb would rise. Parachute Adams, Yellow Sallies,hoppers when near the hay fields all worked. This IS NOT A PROPERTY FOR WOMEN, KIDS OR BEGINNERS as the banks are lined with a very thick growth of willows, 8-10' high and 10-20' thick, there are no apparent trails and you need to be careful walking in the tall grass due to some erosion and sink holes. I suggested that they go in there with a chain saw and cut some access paths to the water. This is a good looking piece of water , is very reasonably priced and I will fish it again under better conditions.
8/23/10 2 Guys, on the water and fishing from about 9 to 6. Over 15 fish landed, mostly rainbows, only 4 browns, anywhere from 8" to a monster 24"! Had difficulty finding what fly was working. Used almost every nymph in the boxes, a large BHPrince with a small zebra midge had a little success. We tried over a dozen dry flies and many in different sizes, PMD and BWO had moderate success in a sz 16. Also, big hoppers were getting some attention. Finally after seeing more fish than we could stand, one of us decided to try a streamer (never fished with one before today) started with a large brown woolly and BAM! Landed a nice 20" rainbow. Then, unfortunately, lost the fly in a snag. So, we used the only other one we had, a huge yellow rubberlegged thing. It was hit after hit for almost an hour until one large rainbow took it from us, but not before landing a monster 5 lb rainbow 24" long! Such an awesome day in the most beautiful of settings. Thank you.
8/22/10 Slow day. Caught several browns & brookie in morning on #14 parachute adams above parking area. Nothing rest of the day. Tried nymphing -- no luck. Caught 16" male brown about 5 PM. Total of 7 fish fore the day. Great property!
8/12/10 On Thursday 8/12 we booked the lower Allen Creek Ranch. It is a beautiful property and it was nice to have that large a stretch available. Unfortunately it was also a very disappointing day. We started at the parking area and by the end of the day had worked all the way up to to the rock wall section and back. During that entire time we did not catch a fish and more disappointing we only saw three. One was large, and the other two smaller and spooked from the side to the deeper water. We watched riffles, the shallows and did not see any other activity. We threw streamers, drys, small hoppers, yellow simulators, prince nymphs, midges, all sort of things. If we had seen fish and not caught them I would have also been disappointed but more in our talents and excited to try again, this is not the case after this trip. This was a very frustrating trip and certainly not one we would be willing to repeat. The man where checked in asked us to drop off our comments and indicated that very few people were doing that, perhaps it is because they have had similar experiences.
07/18/10 Thank you! 8 fish total. Three browns; five rainbows 18" plus. Prince nymphs, streamers. Great program! Easy water access. Perfect day on the river, great restoration work on the river.
07/15/10 Started slowly, not much activity until about 11:00. Tried dries & nymphs & caught a few. Switched to copper johns, PT & SJW. Ended up catching 6 browns up to 14" & 5 very big 'bows, 19" -23", healthy hard fighters. Quit @ 2:00. Mosquitoes & biting flies were pretty thick. Bring deet.
07/11/10 Good day. Many fish 18" - 20". Beautiful day. The big fish fought hard. Streamers. Healthy fish. Great hostess.
07/10/10 25 browns up to 15" on dry/drops & dries. Gorgeous water. Dries: P. Adams, Stimulators, Caddis, Hoppers. Drops: PT, Prince Nympph, SJ Worm.
07/04/10 One rainbow - 19" on Killer Mayfly; 2 browns - 16" on PT. I had a fun day!
06/29/10 RED COPPER-JOHN. Rainbows, 16" -19"; Browns, 8" - 10".
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 several days.
05/02/10 - We did OK but the snowy weather was certainly an issue. We saw a bunch of pike in the river, which I can only imagine can not help the trout population. The stream itself was very nice; boulders & logs were very well placed. Between the 3 of us we only managed to land a few fish, all rainbows and all very good sized, 14-18"
2009 FISHING REPORTS:
3 nice rainbows. 15 browns. PT stimmies, pine squirrel leech. 10/03/09
Good weather all day. Water was low but good pockets. Fishing was slow. Get about 20 hits. Landed a 19" rainbow and an 8" brown. 09/07/09
Things were slow from 8:00-12:00 with a few strikes on caddis and parachutes. Frome 12:00-5:00 there was a lot of top water action with fish ranging from 8-17". One fish caught on an RS@, one on a "20 incher". Most afternoon action ws on caddis, blue wing olives and parachutes. 09/05/09
Good day fishing. Lots of fish 8"-12". One 15", one 17". Caddis, hoppers & ants. 08/27/09
Three fish on Hopper patterns. Water was low; hot. Lots of small fish, missed about 8. Good day with friends.
08/22/09
(One angler) Fished 3.5 hours. Caught 10-12, all browns 7"-13". Size #16 anything dry -- humpy, royal wulff, etc. 08/16/09
Very low water. Caught fish mostly on top. Orange stimys, royal wulff, yellow humpy, beetle, turks tarantula. Barr's emerger, yellow sally accounted for a few. Mix of browns and bows. 08/14/09
Streamers and dry droppers. 07/21/09
Streamers! Buggers, sculpins, pike bunnies. Lots of fish that would not take typical beadheads were smoking streamers today. More big fish farther you work up the property. 07/20/09
One angler fished 6 ous and landed 8 rainbows, 18" -21" and one 26" that weighed around 8 lbs. Most fish caught in slow deep holes on bead head hares ear and PMD emergers. Thanks again for another good day. 07/14/09
3 guys fished a good part of the day and did pretty well on nymphs -- pheasant tails, copper john, caddis all worked well. Caught a good mix of browns and bows ranging from 10-16". Bring plenty of bug repellant, the mosquitos are thick! 07/10/09
One angler, 6 fish. 3 rainbows 19"-21"; 3 browns 12"-14". Only one fish in afternoon. SJW, CJ, BHHE. Water high and murky. 05/13/09
Probably 20 fish. 6+ on dries (big parachute adams). 10 -12 fish were under 12"; one was 18"; one was 20"; one was 22"; And! One was better than 24" (above the diversion dam in big pool, deep run). Beadhead pheasant tail and beadhead caddis pupae worked great. Thanks (five fish were near the diversion dam). 05/02/09
Fishing slow in AM; by early afternoon caught a 24 1/2" rainbow on a streamer! 04/24/09
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10/03/08 - Stream flows are above average for this time of year at Lower Allen Creek Ranch. Fishing is still quite good although due to very clear water.
10/09/08 Great afternoon and exciting catch on imitation eg and white nymph #22.
10/04/08 The morning was slow. A few midges & an occasional BWO were noted. Caught 1 - 21" rainbow and 1 - 17" rainbow on a midge pattern (split foam back; size 20. Also caught a few small browns and rainbows. 8" -12".
09/30/08 Great day of fishing yesterday. Although flows are low, water is cold, and the fish are very healthy. Lots of fight, and all released with lots of remaining energy. Caught many fish, with four over 20 inches, mostly rainbows. Still lots of bees. Hoppers, Stimulators, and BWO's for dries.
09/08/07 Had a great day. Caught 50 fish among guys (this party reserved BOTH Upper & Lower Allen Creek for the day). Two rainbows over 20", all the other fish were browns. Caught fish on 14-16 flashback PT, copper johns, PMD emergers. Most were caught on pheasant tails. THANKS. Caught more fish on Lower Allen, caught bigger fish on Upper Allen.
08/28/08 Lots of browns, some rainbows -- one around 20". 2 pike caught and saw one really big one. Used really big olive zonkers to target bigger fish; little ones took them, too.
08/11/08 OK day. Hit a monster, lost it. Landed 12 browns; no rainbows. Good day. Thanks.
08/07/08 AM fishing caught mor browns than bows, but bows were 20"-22". PM fishing caught nice mix with one bow 26"! Yellow, Green stimulator (#10); Green, black copper john (#18); BH pheasant tail (#18, #20), Yellow stone fly (#8).
07/28/08 No fish rising. Many large fish 11"-19". Mainly nymphing. Green metalic caddis and green copper john. Best small stream I fished!
07/25/08 Not a lot of action. Bar emerger and Ice Breakers worked best.
7/23/08 Fished Lower Allen Creek yesterday, caught 15, two over 20". Not much on dries, nymphing with bead head pheasant tails, green copper johns. A few takes on Hoppers next to cut banks. Water still slightly off-color. All in all a great day!
07/19/08 Fishing very slow. 3 people, 3 fish. 2, 10"; 1, 20".
07/12/08 Fun day! Landed 14, mostly browns with a few rainbows, up to 18". Lost several including 1 huge rainbow that jumped and broke me off. Mostly nymphing, but did manage 2 on dries during late morning.
06/11/08 Wind! Wind! More Wind! Water! Water! More Water!
05/25/08 12 browns, 1 rainbow. Brown bugger, bread crust, renegade, caddis.
05/09/08 Several small browns & 6 very large rainbows. Nymphs, RS2, PT, N. Eggs, large streamers. Water color slightly off. Most fish caught down deep behind structure. Another great afternoon.
05/06/08 12" rainbow, prince; 12" rainbow, pheasant tail; 13" brown, clouser minnow; 21" rainbow, clouser; 17" rainbow, clouser; 12" rainbow, clouser; 12" rainbow, clouser; 21" rainbow, clouser; 22" rainbow, clouser.
05/05/08 Good day. Landed 12 -15, lost just as many. Biggest was 20". BHPT, GRHE, Golden Stone, Pink San Juan worm. Nice property!
04/28/08 Morning very slow! From 3:00 PM on 2 of us caught 6 rainbows nymphing. Beautiful water. Great day!
04/27/08 Slow morning. Good afternoon in spurts. Hittin' streamers. 6 fish. Lots of wind.
04/19/08 2 anglers. Morning slow. Picked up at around 11:00 AM. Caught lots of rainbows and couple of browns. Very good afternoon. Couple rainbows ~ 20"; 1 rainbow around 23". Mostly egg patterns and neon sculpin.
2007 Fishing Reports follow here:
Fishing good in deeper runs. Larger nymphs & streamers worked most of the day on small & medium size fish. 4/21/07
Report #1: Solid day on streamers. Slower in AM -- good afternoon. Stripping wooly buggers.
Report #2: Good fishing -- beautiful stream. Lots of trout. 04/22/07
Multiple small browns on Prince nymphs; slow day otherwise (05/06/07).
Challenging conditions with only a few fish caught during 3 hours of swatting mosquitos. Lots of caddis and mayfly hatches but no fish rising in the fast, murky water. All fish taken on sculpin pattern and San Juan worm (06/20/07).
Lower Allen yielded more large fish than Upper Allen (6 anglers fished the 2 leases). Our party had a few 21-22" bows and a few 15-18" along with a handful of smaller fish all day in the Upper Allen lease. You got some big fish in those waters, you just have to fish smart.... 06/23/07
Hopper, green wooly bugger, red copper john under BWO in AM. Slightly discolored water. Hail/rain in PM. 07/05/07
Anglers 1&2: Good mix of browns & rainbows. Some off the top (H&L variant), some on beadhead flashback pheasant tail. Thanks!
Angler #3: Good day. Caught browns and rainbows up to 15". Had a great time. Good water level. Caught fish on 5-6 different bugs. Stone flies are very active. Midges worked well. 07/06/07
Great day. Slow to start. Picked up after PM thunderstorm. Last fish was 22". 07/07/07
Slow day. Hard to figure out what the fish were interested in. 07/13/07
No fish caught all day. 2 strikes all day. Fish not seen rising to anything. Large fish were spotted and not easily spooked, simply not feeding. 07/13/07
Fishing was poor until mid afternoon. Few fish caught on yellow sallies between 1:00 & 2:30. Few fish rising otherwise. Best fishing on upper half of lease. 07/14/07
Very off color. 5 fish in 5 hours. Stimmys/BHPT princes. 07/15/07
Great piece of water. Water was somewhat off color and still a bit high. 3 smaller fish caught in the quieter, shallower sections on dry flies, but all in all not much surface activity. More action below the surface using an indicator and bead head nymphs. Landed 4-5 fish and lost about that many. Largest fish landed was 14". We hooked some larger fish that we failed to land. Thanks for the friendly hospitality and for a great experience! 07/16/07
Caught on everything today. Big fish on streamers w/ soft hackle dropper. Largest trout 26". Numerous 20"+! Dry dropper action higher up on stimis and adams. Avg. fish 12-14" there. Thanks for opening leases to the public! 08/02/07
1 rainbow, 26"!! 1 rainbow, 20". 5 rainbows/browns 12". Slow day. Muddy water. Prince, SJ worm, PMD emerger, streamer. 07/21/07
Water was a bit murky. Fish on san juan work and olive wooly bugger. 08/06/07
Caught +/- 20 fish. San juan worm worked well. One 23" fish. Water cloudy. 08/09/07
Fished okay in AM. Great in PM. 08/14/07
Great water, little murky in AM. Some great rainbows and lots of smaller browns. BH FB PT, prince. Lots of fun. 08/19/07
Excellent! 2 fish over 20". Fish are difficult to revive. 08/22/07
Fished Upper & Lower Allen 8/23 & 8/25: Caught 60+ fish among 3 anglers over 3 days. Biggest fish: 1 - 23"; 1 - 20"; 1 - 19"; 1 - 16". Hoppers w/ droppers. #18 beadheads, shiny w/color. Stimulators w/ droppers. Deep pools were tough. Needs 18" + dropper #16. Caught 25% on dries. 08/25/07
Good day. Saw tons of fish. Landed a 20" rainbow, a 16" brown and a 24+" rainbow; breached like a tarpon -- stole my wooly bugger. We'll be back for my wooly bugger! 08/26/07
Great day. A few good fish, mostly browns, on top. Thanks. 08/31/07
Fantastic day. Hopper/dropper in AM produced 8 fish including a 23" rainbow. Fishing really turned on from 4:00-6:00 p.m. with BH prince & olive WD40. Very healthy fish and very healthy stream. Diversions at lower end really worked and held many rainbows in each run. Thanks, I will be back again a lot sooner than I imagined. 09/01/07
I was blown away with the stream, the fish, the surroundings and the program in general. I would love to hear about this sort of program catching on in other counties and other states as well. Here's the pic of my big boy from yesterday. 9/01/07
Dry fly action taking shape! 09/05/07
Beautiful place! Caught a few less than we wanted -- but, that's surely our fault. Saw some big ones. Caught a few 12"-16" browns. Take a short rod! 09/08/07
Great day! 12 fish in 4 hours. 8 rainbows; 4 brownies. Ave. 11"-12". Two 20" bows. Caught everything on hopper/dropper or elk hair dries. 09/12/07
Many fish caught on lower end of property, mostly bows and a sucker. Dry dropper rigs worked well. On upper end of property mostly browns were caught on streamers. 2 bows over 20" landed on lower stretch. 09/16/07
NOTE: This was a group of anglers who fished 3 leases (Lazy River, Upper Allen & Lower Allen) on 9/21 & 9/22 and filed this one summary report: Had good success on all three leases. Fishing was slow on the top. Big nymphs fished deep did the trick on occasion, but the ticket was big weighted streamers. The bigger the better (green cone head woolies, zonkers and double bunny leaches). On Saturday we hooked in to many fish that were 25" or larger. Several broke us off but we managed to land a few. The largest was easily 30" and probably close to 7 lbs!!! All were handled delicately and released safely. We did get our fair share of pike, too. Thanks! 09/23/07
Really fun day on Upper and Lower Allen Creek Ranch! About 35 fish were released between the four of us, including a 20" brown and several rainbows over 20". Most fish were taken on streamers and large weighted nymph patterns. Otherwise there was very little action (09/29/07).
Thanks. Caught a big rainbow. Looked like a lake fish. 10/06/07
Olive and black wooly buggers. One angler landed 2 rainbows, 4 browns; largest = 12". 2nd angler landed 3, one big rainbow. 3 northerns. 10/07/07
Additional data available from the Colorado Division of Water Resources.