The crystal-clear water in this part of the Black Hills flows through a limestone area -- and therein lies one of the difficulties for the fisherman: You can look 50 feet ahead and see trout swimming about and feeding on insects in this glassy water. The problem is that they can look back and see you eating lunch, or casting to them.

Much of Spearfish Creek gets enough fishing pressure to educate the trout fairly well. Those that are looking at you and seeing a big human predator aren't likely to bite. So it helps a lot to be sneaky. And using very light line and a light tippet is sometimes a must.

But these fish can be caught. Up here in the headwaters you'll catch lots of wild brook trout. And there are also browns. As you move farther down the stream into the main part of Spearfish Canyon, the number of brown trout grows and the number of brookies dwindles. This is characteristic of all streams in the Black Hills.

The road runs very near the stream, and there are plenty of car pullouts. Access is easier than for any other stream in the Black Hills. And Spearfish Creek gets quite a bit of fishing pressure during summer. That's the tourism season in the Black Hills, of course, and there will be a fair number of non-resident flyfishermen who fish Spearfish Creek.

But in April, that's not the case. The fish for the most part have not seen many fishermen for six or seven months. And that makes this a good time for locals to head out and entice a few trout into biting.

At Savoy, which is toward the middle part of Spearfish Canyon, you may wish to walk the trail for a few hundred yards below the Latchstring Inn. Down below, the water pours over Spearfish Falls. This waterfall disappeared for decades as water was diverted out of the stream by Homestake Mining Company. But the company donated quite a bit of land for public ownership, and the waterfall is now pouring down again.

The trout fishing continues below, but as the stream gets to the lower part of the canyon, it starts disappearing into the limestone rock formations. This is a natural geological feature of the Black Hills. The water replenishes the underground aquifers. And this is also why there are so many caves in the Black Hills.

Eventually the water is collected in a pipe to prevent all of it from disappearing underground; from there it flows to the edge of the city of Spearfish to emerge at the edge of the city limits. Here you'll find some of the best trout fishing to be had in any stream flowing through a town in the West. The stretch through the city park has perfect access. And if the fish don't happen to be biting, you can visit the DC Booth Historic Fish Hatchery right there along the stream. The old hatchery grounds are preserved and include a railroad hatchery car used for fish stocking in the Rockies, a hatchery boat used in Yellowstone, and a museum with historic hatchery equipment. It's a unique place for Rocky Mountain trout fishermen to visit.