Tenkara Fishing a Challenging Colorado Creek for Colorful Brook Trout
When the Creek Fights Back
Sometimes the best fishing adventures aren't the easy ones. There's something deeply satisfying about showing up to unfamiliar water, finding conditions tougher than expected, and still managing to coax a few beautiful fish to hand. That's exactly what happened on a mid-June morning exploring a new creek in Colorado — high flows, tricky currents, and just enough colorful brook trout to make it all worthwhile.
Scouting New Water in High Flows
June in Colorado often means snowmelt is still pushing creeks higher than their summer levels. For tenkara anglers, high water presents a unique set of challenges. The current is faster, the holding water shifts, and fish tend to tuck into tighter pockets where they can conserve energy.
When you're exploring a creek for the first time under these conditions, it's important to manage expectations. You're not just fishing — you're scouting. Every run you read, every seam you cast into, and every pocket you probe is building a mental map for future visits when conditions improve.
A few practical tips for fishing new water during high flows:
- Focus on the margins. Fish move to the edges, behind rocks, and into slack water when flows are up.
- Shorten your line. Tighter control helps you manage drag in fast currents.
- Work upstream methodically. In unfamiliar terrain, a slow approach keeps you from spooking fish you haven't spotted yet.
- Take mental (or actual) notes. A creek that's tough in June could be absolutely magical in August or September.
Gear That Handles the Challenge
For this outing, the setup centered around two DRAGONtail tenkara rods — the HELLbender and the Mizuchi. The HELLbender is a versatile rod that pairs well with heavier patterns like mini leeches, making it a solid choice when you need to punch through faster currents and get down to where fish are holding. The Mizuchi, with its zoom capability, offers flexibility to adjust your reach depending on the water you're working.
The rest of the rig was straightforward and effective:
- Line: 8 ft level line
- Tippet: 5x nylon and 6x fluorocarbon
- Flies: A hi-vis stimulator-type dry fly (size 16, barbless) and a pheasant tail (size 18, barbless jig hook)
This is a smart two-fly approach. The stimulator covers the top of the water column with high visibility for the angler, while the pheasant tail — a proven brook trout pattern — works below the surface. In high water, having a subsurface option is often the difference between getting skunked and landing fish.
Those Colorful Colorado Brookies
Brook trout are arguably the most beautiful freshwater fish in North America, and Colorado's mountain creeks produce some especially vibrant specimens. Even when the fishing is tough and the numbers are low, landing a single brookie with those trademark orange fins, blue-haloed spots, and olive vermiculation on its back makes the whole trip feel like a success.
The key takeaway here is that challenging doesn't mean unproductive. A few fish on a difficult day builds confidence, sharpens your skills, and — perhaps most importantly — gives you a reason to come back.
File It Away for Later
One of the best habits you can develop as an angler is keeping a running list of waters to revisit. This creek clearly showed enough promise to earn a return trip later in the summer or fall when flows drop and fish become more active and accessible. That's the beauty of exploration — even a tough day adds to your knowledge base and expands your options for future outings.
Watch the Full Adventure
Want to see the creek, the conditions, and those gorgeous brook trout up close? Check out the full video from z is on the river to watch the morning unfold and get a feel for what tenkara fishing in Colorado's high-country creeks is really like. It's a great reminder that sometimes the journey matters as much as the catch.
