We usually go west for an end-of-summer fishing trip, but this year, we went north. Instead of New Mexico or Colorado, our goal was to check out the Black Hills and catch some trout in both South Dakota and Wyoming. I started with a copy of Steve Kinsella’s book, Trout Fishing in the Black Hills and then sought some advice here on the Forum. Many thanks to Rich Morrison, who not only answered our questions and made some great recommendations, he actually met us and showed us some of the places he fishes regularly.
We departed early on 12 Sep for a mostly uneventful 14-hour drive. To sum up the drive: Kansas was mostly green and brown, depending on whether the corn was still growing or already finished. Two words for Nebraska--corn and coal; corn was pretty much everywhere and we saw train after train carrying 100 – 160 cars of coal. South Dakota was grazing land that flew past with the 80 mph speed limit along I-90. Here is the final score in the 4-state dead raccoon contest: OK – 2, KS – 3, NE – 7, and SD – 3. The corn-feed raccoons in Nebraska were large enough to carry off small children!
First stop--Rapid City. You can actually catch trout, many of them wild, in an urban setting. Scott and I met Rich at Founder’s Park on Sunday morning and found some willing Brown trout.
The water in Rapid Creek was still running a bit higher than normal after a very wet spring and early summer. Small pheasant tail and BWO nymphs were the key to success.
Scott found it interesting that while catching trout he could see the sign for Kentucky Fried Chicken and be enticed by the smell of the Colonel‘s secret recipe.
Sunday afternoon we headed out toward Hill City. Lunch was the elk burger combo platter at a place simply named “Diner”. The setting was more of where you think you would find a trout stream and we met some “Great Faces, Great Places” Brook trout putting on their fall spawning colors.
Monday morning had us back in Rapid City and we fished at the Meadowbrook Golf Course. It was easy to park and fish the special regulation section of Rapid Creek that runs through the golf course property.
We stayed off the greens and the golfers stayed out of the water, so it worked out well all around.
In addition to Brown trout, we both met our fist SD Rainbows. We made an afternoon stop at Dakota Angler and Outfitter, which is a really nice fly shop. We drove out of town and checked out the special regulation section of Spearfish Creek between Placerville and Lake Pactola, but ended up not fishing this section.
On Tuesday morning, we departed the Rapid City area and headed northwest on I-90. Rich volunteered to meet us again to explore Crow Creek, where he hadn‘t fished in a few years. Kinsella’s book describes Crow Creek as, “….unlike the rest of the Black Hills where streams are surrounded by pines and rock outcroppings, much of Crow Creek winds through a nearly treeless valley to Redwater Creek. The creek is home to a naturally reproducing population of wild Brown trout.”
It was an interesting hike in as we had to push our way through a lot of thick brush. Then we had to find some spots to get down the steep bank and into the weed covered stream.
It was a morning of challenging wading and fishing. Between the 3 of us, we caught 4 trout; to our surprise--all Rainbows!
After eating lunch back at the cars, we headed back to I-90 and traveled a few exits to Spearfish.
We pushed through town and planned to fish Spearfish Creek in the canyon area south of town along Hwy 14A.
We pulled off the road at a turnout, but passed on this spot and continued upstream. The road was steep and winding and the next stop was a small picnic area that even had a nice bathroom. I lost the best fish of the trip in this calm pool.
It was a very colorful, heavy Rainbow that I would describe as gold and red. I had it close enough to extend the net, but then it turned sideways, used the force of the water to its advantage, and the small trailing nymph pulled out. It was the only Rainbow any of us hooked in Spearfish Creek. Rich said a Forum member was responsible for originally getting these fish in the stream. This was vastly different fishing from what we did on Crow Creek in the morning. Here it’s pocket water, short line, and rod high.
Wading a stream like this will wear your legs out! The food moves by quickly and the fish don’t have much time to decide. This red worm with a gold bead was popular with the local Brown trout.
Another great day; 2 completely different streams, 2 types of trout, and still 2 more days to fish. Rich headed back toward Rapid City while Scott and I went to Cheyenne Crossing to find our cabin for the next 2 nights. Here is where we stayed; right at the intersection of 14A and Hwy 85.
It was once a stopping point for the stagecoach. Spearfish Creek actually flowed right through the property and provided the magical sound of moving water. Without a town nearby the night sky was incredible!
The plan for Wednesday was to fish more on Spearfish Creek. We started just up 14A from our cabin. Scott broke out his spinning rod to fish Yates Ponds and I headed directly to the stream that flowed behind the 2 ponds. The water on this upper part of Spearfish Creek had a gentler flow that made for easier wading.
Small beadhead nymphs enticed the local Browns and after catching a few, it was back in the car. We drove north along 14A through Savoy and just pulled off where ever we could find a parking spot along the edge of the road. If the water looked good, we fished a bit; otherwise, we jumped back in the car and drove some more, always watching for the motorcycles that outnumbered the cars along the winding roadway and seemed to be glued to the centerline. The fish cooperated along each section and we continued catching 10 - 12 inch Browns.
We passed Bridal Veil Falls as we worked our way down stream toward the town of Spearfish where it was time for lunch.
For lunch, we found a pretty good cheesesteak at Philly Ted’s and then set off for some more urban fishing. We located the city park and suited back up for some mid-afternoon adventure.
The park was busy with people enjoying a late summer day. Some were just relaxing and others were walking their dogs. The cross country team from Black Hills State University was working up a sweat. I headed downstream and Scott went upstream. The stream was a mix of pocket water and pools. I imagine this section is fished fairly heavily since it’s so convenient to just park and fish. Scott was successful and landed what I’m going to say was a Cutbow.
Our final day of fishing started with a big breakfast and then a drive west to fish Wyoming’s Sand Creek. I had never been to Wyoming and on this trip, only made it as far as the 1st exit on I-90.
Sand Creek is a spring-feed creek flowing through a canyon setting and known for its high fish count. There is public access near some camp grounds and you can also fish at Ranch A, which was once private property, then used by the Fish and Wildlife Service, and today is a retreat center.
We started at 1 of the campground areas. There were 2 cars there and we saw 2 tents, but never saw anyone else fishing. We walked upstream along a path for 10 minutes before heading down to the stream. The stream is tree-lined with high grassy banks and a lot of moss/weeds in the water. Access was difficult and many areas were un-fishable. You could see fish in every pool and they often darted upstream or down when you approached. There were clouds of BWO spinners over the water, but I never saw any duns hatching. I used a BWO nymph and a soft hackle. I hooked and lost a fish in each of the first two pools I fished.
We leapfrogged upstream, fishing where we could, but never hooked another fish. We had trouble finding a place where we could cross back over, but eventually made it and came out upstream from the small warden’s cabin. Then we walked back down the gravel road to the campground where we had parked.
We drove up the gravel road, passed through the heavily-posted private property of Sand Creek Country Club, and eventually reached Ranch A.
Just before the log ranch house, we saw 1 fisherman breaking down his rod and packing up to leave. This house was completed in 1935 at a cost in excess of one million dollars. We checked out several spots, turned around at the far end of the property, and parked in the pull off just inside the stone archway at the entrance. We opened the cooler and ate lunch in the shade of some large trees. Scott walked upstream and I started in this deep pool next to where we parked.
There were easily a dozen fish stacked up in this pool which had nearly a 180 degree bend. I really wanted to catch a fish on a dry fly, so I started with a foam ant with a red midge dropper. A fish splashed by the ant, but there was no hook-up. The sun was bright and the ant was difficult to see, so I quickly switched the ant for a hopper. Not a single fish was fooled by the hopper; however, when the hopper paused while drifting along the near-side bank, I raised my rod and sure enough--there was my first Wyoming trout on the red zebra midge. If you look closely, you can see my fly in the fish’s upper jaw.
I eventually switched out the hopper for a small emerger, fished 2 flies under the water, and ended up with 5 Browns and a few more misses.
The stream at Ranch A was easier to access than in the campground area downstream, although the moss still made for some interesting wading and the occasional snag. Scott found success in the pools on both the downstream and upstream sides of this log.
His 5-fish total included a lone Rainbow of decent size that he lost at his feet while trying to net it. We packed up our gear for the drive back to South Dakota. We exited I-90, passed through Deadwood, and took Hwy 385 to Hill City where we would spend the next 2 nights.
Friday was our non-fishing/tourist day before making the long drive back to Oklahoma on Saturday. The morning air was brisk--below 40 degrees, but the sky was clear and it would warm up nicely. We started out with a morning visit to Mt Rushmore.
This is a “must-see” if you’re in the area. Work on this memorial lasted from 1927 - 1941. Much of the shaping was done with dynamite, with 6 years of actual carving. The heads of the presidents are 60 feet high.
I didn’t realize the initial design had Jefferson’s head to the viewer’s left of Washington‘s head. There were problems with the granite, so Jefferson moved to Washington’s right and they blasted away the part of Jefferson’s head that was already started. For lunch, we drove to Custer and checked out this highly-rated burger place--Black Hills Burger & Bun Company.
During the vacation season, the line stretches down the block, but we didn’t have to wait. A family-owned place serving great fresh food. Check it out if you’re in town!
In the afternoon we drove over to Custer State Park for some wildlife viewing. This is the most buffalo I’ve seen at one time. They have about 1500 in the park.
The next day would be their annual roundup in preparation for the end-of-summer auction to reduce the herd size before winter. We concluded our site seeing with a drive along Iron Mountain Road and one last look at Rushmore.
We ended up fishing 6 streams in 5 days in 2 states where we had never fished before. We didn’t catch large numbers of fish and no really big fish; however, with some much-appreciated local help, we managed to catch fish in every stream and most of them were wild. I fished the following rods: 8.5’ Heddon #17 with 1 3/4F, 7.5’ Lou Barbaro version of Leonard 49, 7.5’ W & M Granger Special 7633, and 8’ Orvis Battenkill 4 3/8 oz.
The weather was great; the scenery too and we saw very few other people fishing. All-in-all, a wonderful experience!
Thanks- Ken
Statistics: Posted by flyfishermann1955 — 11/15/15 07:45