Freestone · Mixed · Colorado, US

Clear Creek (Golden)

Clear Creek flowing over a small rapid lined with boulders in Golden, Colorado, foothills visible in the background.

Clear Creek is the Denver metro's closest thing to mountain pocket water — a small, fast freestone dropping out of the canyon along US-6 and running right through Golden, twenty minutes from downtown.

Tomorrow · Not the day for it
Sex Dungeon
Forecast · Tomorrow
Not the day for it
Not much stacked in your favour today. Worth an hour if you are nearby, not worth the special trip.
45% projected
Today's fly
SD
Sex Dungeon
Conditions on the water · Tomorrow
Live gauge
Level
Rising
1.12 m
Lifting fast
Water temp14.9°C
ClarityUnfishable
Weather20°C
WindN 14 km/h
Pressure1012 hPa
Rain · recent0.9 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Ideal
15°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Excellent — water temperature is right today, though time of day could be better.
Likely species
Mayflies
Caddisflies
Hatch timeline · tomorrowPeak at 11am

12pm(now) — Reed Smut

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 40%
Peak emergence window3 food groups active

Peak activity at 11am — Reed Smut (Reed Smut, Peak emergence window)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 3 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 with Pro.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · September highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Brown DunHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Western Green DrakeHatch
2
2
Flav (Small Western Green Drake)Hatch
2
3
2
Mahogany DunHatch
2
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
SD
Sex Dungeon
2-6 · Pattern
Proven pattern for this period
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Colorado licence
  • Verify CPW rules
  • Heavy tubing in Golden through summer.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 3
Boulder Creek (Boulder Canyon)
29 km
Brown trout · Rainbow trout
St. Vrain Creek (Lyons)
52 km
0
Brown trout · Rainbow trout
South Platte — Deckers
54 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
Gallery · 2
  1. Clear Creek flowing over a small rapid lined with boulders in Golden, Colorado, foothills visible in the background.
    Clear Creek
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Clear Creek is the Denver metro's closest thing to mountain pocket water — a small, fast freestone dropping out of the canyon along US-6 and running right through Golden, twenty minutes from downtown. It's no secret and it's no wilderness, but it holds browns and rainbows, fishes well in the cooler months, and scratches the itch on a weekday evening when you can't get to the high country. Small and flashy means it blows out fast in runoff and after a storm; through Golden the summer tubing crowd is a fact of life. A quick-hit reach, scored honestly as convenient rather than pristine.

  • Mixed
The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 90%
How the 83 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time55 × 13%7.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity63 × 12%7.6
Conditions total= 83
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
What would change the calculation
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 January → 31 December
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts