Early fall is possibly the best time to fish dries on South Boulder Creek. My personal favorite dry fly pattern is a Peacock PMX in a #12 or #14. This pattern can often pull trout out of any hiding spot regardless of the fishing conditions.
My favorite two fly rig is a PMX with some kind of ant pattern trailing behind in sizes #16 - #20 mainly in black. Many times a fish can be drawn to the surface with a good dry fly presentation, but will often refuse or simply slap at the fly with their tail. Using a small ant pattern that sits on the surface film or even slightly under will produce a surprising amount of fish at the end of the day. Using an ant trailer will entice them to feed on a small surface terrestrial instead of slapping your fly, causing you to set, and quickly steering your rig ten feet high in the pretty willow bush behind you.
After pumping hundreds of stomachs over the past four years I have found a significant amount of ants in my samples. I usually start finding them as runoff begins through the middle or end of September. Mid August through the second week in September has been the peak.
Ant patterns can be fished either with a nymph rig or dragging behind a dry of any size and flavor. I typically only fish them on nymph rigs when the flows are up and there is more water to work with. When the flows drop, as they currently have been on South Boulder Creek, I really like to switch over to a dry with an ant dropper. I do not dress the ant, I simply tie it on, pinch the barb and play it as it lies. I usually tie an ant on about 14-18 inches behind my lead dry. This is a great rig to fish on any Rocky Mountain stream, especially the Front Range, and I hope you have as much success with it as I have.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions at cody@lincolhillsflyfishing.com
Cody DeGuelle
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