WHERE:  GORE CREEK. Today’s fly fishing is less than predictable on The Gore, or, more precisely, the weather is predictably unpredictable.  It’s the typical late afternoon scenario this time of year:  Mostly cloudy, patches of sun bringing heat with thunderstorms squeezing in where they can.  I generally come prepared to change things up, but today, I put on a dry / dropper rig and stuck with it.

TIME, TECHNIQUE, FLIES USED:  The time is about 3:45 pm.  The creek is flowing about 55 CFS and quite clear.  It’s cloudy and getting darker as I gear up, and the rain starts coming down lightly just as I arrive at the creek.  I fish a no. 10 PMX, rust-colored with rubber legs.  Yes, it’s pretty big for Gore Creek, but it’s easy to see, and the fish don’t mind the bigger size.  As a dropper, I have a flashback, black Skinny Nelson, size no. 18 (3X fluoro’ tippet from the leader to the first fly and 4.5X fluoro’ to the dropper).  I’m not using any weight.  I fish this combo along the shore, the calmer side of the seams and just behind and just above rocks.  Cast upstream of larger, submerged rocks.  Be careful to mend quickly and then just let your rig drift.  The mend is really important on Gore Creek as there are a ton of micro currents that want to pull your rig every which way.

RESULTS, RECOMMENDATIONS:  I got equal time from the fish on both the PMX and the Skinny Nelson, mostly just after the rain would let up;  however, I did catch the nicest fish, a beautiful Cutbow, as it was raining the hardest.  She took the topper. The Rocky Mountain weather can be unforgiving, but don’t let the rain stop you.  Put on a layer of polypro’, a long sleeve fishing shirt and a raincoat (Avoid wearing cotton! Remember the phrase, “Cotton Kills!”).  Bring some water and a snack.  You’ll be fine.  Dress for success and land some fish out there!