Rock Creek is an ideal place for fly-fishing due to its numerous trout-filled streams and lakes. This page will discuss appropriate equipment for fishing Rock Creek, fly patterns that have been productive in the past, and areas of Rock Creek that are excellent spots for fly-fishing.
Equipment
Lightweight gear is key to fly-fishing in the Rock Creek area.
A 5# rod is ideal for fishing for the smaller trout that inhabit the region.
The leader and tippet you use should also be very light. 7X tippet will be sufficient, unless you
get lucky and hook into a big one. Here's
a page to learn (or remind yourself) about
how to set up your fly rod.
Waders are extremely helpful in fishing many areas of Rock Creek, including the creek below the lake and Rock
Creek’s backcountry.
Many sections on Rock Creek, especially the calmer water, are overgrown with willows and
reeds and are marshy.
Consequently, waders are helpful in helping anglers access these waters. With waders, you
can also wade out pretty far at the lake’s inlet.
I found Hodgman stockingfoot waders to be some of the best and recommend them highly.
Flies for Rock Creek & Vicinity
The dry flies you choose to use should not be larger than #14.
Size 16 or 18 dries are usually the best size, but as usual, you should do your best to match the hatch, so ideal fly sizes will differ.
Size 8 or 10 is good for streamers, such as olive matukas, Twin Lakes Specials, or wooly buggers.
The following flies are only a few of the ones that have worked well in the Rock Creek area in the past...
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Where to Fly-Fish Rock Creek
I've split Rock Creek Canyon into 2 parts for presentation of this section. The first part discusses places to fish along
the Creek from Mosquito Flat to Aspen Camp. This section also includes discussion of Rock Creek Lake.
The second part focuses on the backcountry's lakes and streams.
To give you a better idea of how Rock Creek Canyon is laid out, here's a great TOPO MAP of the region.
| About 2 miles below Mosquito Flat is Rock Creek Lake. The creek entering the lake is fishable from the inlet of the lake to about 200 yards upstream, until the creek starts getting low later in the season. The lake itself is fishable by waders at the inlet and near the boat dock. Anglers can wade out quite a ways in these locations. Of course, a float tube would really make the lake accessible. As Rock Creek empties out of the lake, another wide, marshy, calm section of creek lies about 100 yards below the outlet of the lake, right across the street from Rock Creek Lakes Resort. Waders are mandatory to fish this section. Hundreds of brookies thrive in this section of the creek, while larger planted rainbows lurk in the marsh as well. |  Fly-fishing at the lake's inlet (Bernie Light) |
 Rock Creek below The Pond (Tim Bradley) | It is only another 1/2 mile down canyon where one of the best fly-fishing spots in the canyon can be found. The locals call this area "The Pond". The pond is really just a very wide section of the creek, but it's definitely large enough to be a named lake. Brook trout and decent sized browns are present in this section of the creek. As the creek narrows below the pond, it remains calm and meandering. Along with the pond, this is a very marshy section, requiring waders to be fishable. The creek remains in this calm, meandering state until just before Upper Pine Grove campground and the bridge to the lower corral. An easy way to fish this section is to park near the bridge just before the corral, and walk upstream on the west side of the creek. There's barbed wire and more willows and brush on the east side of the creek, making creek access more difficult compared to the creek's west bank. |
Still further down canyon, East Fork is located about 3 miles
below the pond. To fish East Fork, the best thing to do is to park in the East Fork public parking area,
directly across the street from Palisade Campground, and walk upstream from there.
Much of this section of the creek is very overgrown with willows, so waders are mandatory to get to the water.
From the parking area to about 1/2 mile upstream, the creek meanders slowly.
Brookies and rainbows are plentiful in this section.
Big Meadow, Iris Meadow, and Aspen campgrounds, are home to some great fly-fishing waters.
Beaver dams are present downstream from Big Meadow, and upstream from Iris Meadow.
Beautiful, calm waters are present in Iris Meadow and Aspen campgrounds. Anglers should be especially careful with their backcast in this area, as several trees
and shrubs line the creek here.
| Rock Creek's backcountry is loaded with trout-filled lakes that are perfect for fly-fishing. Little Lakes Valley has the majority of the lakes. Brook trout are the most prevalent species in the backcountry, while brown, rainbow, and golden trout also populate the valley. Most of the lakes can be waded in, as most of them are relatively shallow, however, hauling wet waders around the backcountry can be a bit tiresome. I'd still recommend using waders, if you can figure out an efficient way of carrying them around. Waders aren't necessary in many locations, however. In the picture to the right, Marsh Lake is home to small brook and large brown trout. Many of the lakes are similar to Marsh Lake in that their shores are lined with reeds and marsh. |
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I've found that fishing the lakes' inlets and outlets is most productive.
A size 16 or 18 dry fly such as a light cahill, mosquito, black ant, adams, or caddis, is the best to use.
The following lakes will yield large amounts of small trout: Mack, Marsh, Heart, Box, Long, Chickenfoot, Gem, and Ruby.
These same lakes also provide the occasional lunker. A 5 pound brown was caught out of Heart Lake in August, 1998, and Mack Lake produced a brown of the same size the previous year.
In 1999, a 6 pound, 3 ounce brown was caught in Box Lake.
The streams that flow through the backcountry are, for the most part, narrow and marshy.
Waders are necessary to fish the streams in most spots. Brook trout are thick in the streams, but
fly-casting can be tricky due to the abundance of reeds, willow, and marsh in
many stream sections.
