Beaver Creek (Below Skaguay Reservoir)

It's been a few years since I've been to Beaver Creek but I finally made it back to tag some scrappers. It's always good to mix it up a bit and this place is a nice break from chasing the hogs. Angler's Covey has you covered on directions.

Marty, Ben, and I left Manitou around 5AM. It's about an hour and a half drive to Skaguay. We walked about a half hour down from the dam before we decided to turn around and start fishing back up to Skaguay. It was hard to walk past good water (especially for Ben) but we got down a ways and didn't see another person till we were within a quarter mile of the dam. I'd like to hike down into the canyon one of these days but I've heard that it can get pretty gnarly. Probably better to do that on an overnighter.

The little trout that prowl these waters are very opportunistic feeders and fly selection isn't too important although I did have to go through a few droppers that I thought would be sure winners. I like to use a 3wt 7.5' rod and I normally use a hopper dropper rig. I did try throwing small streamers but didn't get too much action. Best tip for this place is to hug the bank with your hopper. Any hopper pattern trailed by 12" of 5-6X tippet and size 14-18 nymphs (Flashback Hares Ear #16, Copper Cheese #18) will work. Remember to pinch your barbs down since these fish are so small. You really have to put too much pressure on fish this size to removed a barbed hook (even smaller hooks). These little guys do spook easily so stay down and make a little longer cast. If you do it right every bend will give up a little action.

This was my first trip since Alicia got me a GoPro for my birthday and I was excited to check it out. The head mount is actually really comfortable worn over a hat. I couldn't even really tell it was there once I got it adjusted correctly. Using the GoPro is super easy. Two buttons really. One to turn it on and one to start and stop recording. Batteries died before my memory space ran out at about 3 hours of recording. Not bad. Video editing is so so with Windows Movie Maker. Really need to check out some other programs. Actually eyeballing a Mac. Will post the video on FB when it's done.

Very refreshing trip. Absolutely beautiful area. Just being in an area like this is good for the soul.