Most of the creeks in the Black Hills are small, but "big" waters that widen to 25 or 30 feet do exist. Rapid, Spring, Boxelder, and Spearfish creeks are considered big waters, though you can wade them with hip boots and reach their best riffles and pools without getting wet. Rapid and Spring creeks, both close to Rapid City (the largest city in the Black Hills), are the most popular streams in the area because they have large numbers of trout, good access, and offer year-round fishing.

Rapid Creek, one of the area's larger streams, has good access and a great summer/fall Trico hatch.

Rapid Creek starts deep in the Black Hills and flows into Pactola Reservoir. The fishing is respectable above the reservoir, but it's better in the catch-and-release area below. Above the reservoir, runoff from long-gone gold and other mineral mines has killed much of the insect life and reduced fish numbers. This upper stretch is beautiful, though, as it runs through one of the prettiest valleys in the Hills--100-foot-high granite walls border one side of the stream, pine-covered ridges line the other. From Silver City, a hiking trail follows Rapid Creek through the valley and provides good access for anglers.

For several miles below the Pactola Reservoir dam, catch-and-release regulations rule for both stocked and wild rainbows and browns. This section, with its football-size rocks, long, flat runs, and deep pools, provides good holding water for trout and a nice mix of nymphing and dry-fly water for anglers.

A hiking trail also follows this section of Rapid Creek and provides ample access to the water from the dam downstream for six miles. The local fly-fishing club, the Black Hills Flyfishers, has done a major stream improvement project including willow planting, bank stabilization, and boulder placement. The state stocks fewer fish in this section than in other regulated waters, but the fish are larger, averaging almost a foot long with many in the 15- to 16-inch range and a few wild browns and rainbows in the 20-inch range. These provide the possibility of catching a Black Hills trophy trout on either nymphs or drys.

Fly fishing in Rapid Creek can be tough during early spring's high water, and I don't advise wading when the water is high. It's best to cast from the bank with a weighted nymph or split-shot on your leader to get your fly to the bottom. When May arrives and the water slows, wading is much safer and the dry-fly fishing begins. Rapid Creek and most of the area's streams don't have prolific hatches, but you can count on good midge hatches all year; Baetis and small black stones in the winter; black caddis and March Browns in the spring; yellow stones, Tricos, and tan and olive caddis in the summer; and Tricos in the fall. The fall Trico hatch is the closest thing the Black Hills has to a blizzard hatch. Trout gorge themselves on the Trico spinners as they fall from their mating clouds to the water.

Even as Rapid Creek flows out of the valley, the fishing remains good. Highway 44, also called Rimrock Highway, runs along the creek, providing good access. Though houses line much of the stream's banks, highway pullouts and crossroads provide ample parking and access. If you do need to cross private land to get to the water, please be courteous and ask the landowner's permission.

At Rapid City, Rapid Creek is dammed to create Canyon Lake, which also holds rainbows and browns. Below Canyon Lake, the creek continues its run through the city, through a municipal golf course and right through downtown and the county fairgrounds. In the city, the creek is open to the public, easy to access, and full of stocked and wild browns and rainbows up to 20 inches, though most are in the 10- to 15-inch range. After 5 P.M. on summer evenings, it's common to see office workers exchanging suits for waders just a minute's drive from downtown banks and office buildings.

For Rapid Creek and other Black Hills streams, you can't go wrong with a fly box full of Blue-winged Olives and other Baetis imitations, little yellow and golden stoneflies, Tricos, Elk-hair Caddis, Hare's-ear nymphs, Pheasant-tail nymphs, and other traditional patterns.

Spring Creek. If Rapid Creek is the Black Hills' urban trout stream, Spring Creek is its country cousin. No more than 40 minutes from Rapid City, Spring Creek's more solitary fishing is easily accessible by Route 228, also called Sheridan Lake Road, until the creek runs into Sheridan Lake. Almost anywhere you stop, the fishing is great for rainbows and browns ranging from 10 to 20 inches.

Spring Creek bumps against granite walls, creating deep pools and good bolding water.

Spring Creek's water doesn't get as high as Rapid Creek, so it can be fished year-round. Pools and riffles every few hundred feet hold large fish at nearly every bend. The section just below the lake is designated as a trophy trout water (you can only keep one trout larger than 15 inches; any tackle can be used) and there are plenty of fish in the 15-inch range and some that push 20 inches.

Spring Creek also has a great fall Trico hatch. The morning event starts in July and continues into October, so be sure to have plenty of dun and spinner patterns with you. Otherwise, the same flies that work on Rapid Creek work here. Spring Creek also has great midge hatches in the fall, and trout eagerly take #18 and smaller Griffith's Gnats.

Spearfish Creek, which flows through Spearfish Canyon in the northern Black Hills, is a great place to visit in the fall, not only for the fishing, but for the creek's beautiful aspen-lined banks that create a riot of yellow beneath limestone cliffs. It's a wonderful sight to see a vein of yellow cut through the Black Hills carpet of pine. Spearfish Creek has rainbows, browns, and brookies and is home to one of the healthiest populations of wild rainbows in the Black Hills. The stream's wide, flat runs provide great dry-fly action, and its fast, narrow runs offer challenging nymphing situations.

French Creek, located in Custer State Park, is often overlooked by anglers. That's too bad, because it's the only place east of Yellowstone Park where a 2,000-pound buffalo might interrupt your casting. French Creek has plenty of 10- to 12-inch rainbows, too, and a #14 Elk-hair Caddis dead-drifted through the creek's riffles and into the slower pools often drives big rainbows crazy.

Castle and Boxelder creeks offer great scenery, easy access, light fishing pressure, and nice populations of stocked and wild rainbows, browns, and brookies. Fall is a fun time to fish these creeks because hoppers are active and on the water. Fish a Dave's Hopper, Stimulator, or other hopper pattern close to the bank to get the fish's attention. Water conditions change often on these streams, depending on rainfall--one day they can be perfect for dry-fly fishing; the next day they can be high, muddy and practically unfishable.