Monthly Archives: October 2015

Clear Creek – 10/09/2015

Time: 11:00AM – 3:00PM

Location: Below first bridge traveling west on route 6 and then in upper section of canyon before the second tunnel when traveling west from Golden.

Fish Landed: 21

Clear Creek 10/09/2015 Photo Album

Perform an internet search on what is trending in the United States, and one discovers Nobel peace prize, guns in America, and plopping beetles. Well, actually I added the last one, since it represents what is trending in my fly fishing life. I actually have to give credit to one of my readers, Matt, who commented that he downsized his Chernboyl ants and experienced improved success on Clear Creek.

After a tremendous day on the South Platte River on Thursday, I was anxious to visit a local stream on Friday. The weather forecast was very favorable for October 9, and I wanted to take advantage of every remaining opportunity before winter placed its icy grip on Colorado. South Boulder Creek continued to rush out of Gross Reservoir at 173 CFS, and my last visit to the Big Thompson was quite challenging. By process of elimination, I chose Clear Creek as my destination. Since Clear Creek Canyon was only a forty-five minute drive from my house, I took my time on Friday morning and departed at 10:00 and arrived at the paved pullout just beyond the first bridge when traveling west from Golden.

My last couple visits to Clear Creek have been disappointing. I generally expect to catch a lot of small fish on big attractor dry flies, but instead I experienced a large number of refusals, and I needed to cover a lot of stream miles to net a few fish. Part way through my last outing, I tried a Jake’s gulp beetle, and this yielded more success, although refusals were not totally absent. As I prepared to fish on Friday, I considered experimenting with the thingamabobber/level line nymph technique that salvaged my trip to the Arkansas River on October 2. Unfortunately this entails a fairly radical change to my normal fishing system, and I was not quite ready to make such a large commitment at the start of my day.

I chose to stop at the first bridge, as I knew from past experience that there was a nice trail on the south side of the creek. I intended to hike down this trail for 50 yards and then fish back to the bridge before breaking for lunch. My plan was to try dry/dropper and beetle plopping, and if these tactics did not prove to be promising, I would reconfigure my line with the thingamabobber/level line set up over lunch. Since I experienced exceptional success with a Charlie boy hopper, beadhead hares ear, and salvation nymph on the South Platte River on Thursday, I opted for the same trio of flies on Friday as I began fishing. The creek in this area is narrow and thus cascades rapidly over large rocks that create plunge pools and deep shelf pools.

Amazingly my first cast produced a six inch brown trout that gobbled the salvation nymph. Perhaps my Thursday hot streak on the South Platte was about to continue on Clear Creek. Unfortunately that was not the case, and I moved through some attractive pools and observed several refusals to the Charlie boy hopper. The pre-lunch period was not all bad news, however, as I landed a couple more small browns on the salvation nymph, but the catch rate was below my expectations, and I was troubled by the number of refusals. In addition I hoped to test the effectiveness of beetle plopping in case the nymphing tactic was in order, so I clipped off the dry/dropper flies and tied on a Jake’s gulp beetle with a peacock dubbed body.

Jake’s Gulp Beetle Did the Trick

Nice by Clear Creek Standards

The beetle generated enough interest between noon and 12:30 to convince me that it earned more time on my line after lunch. I landed two more browns to bring my count to five before I climbed the steep rocky bank and returned to the car for lunch. Before eating lunch, however, I drove west and parked in a pullout just beyond a tall solar powered street light. I found a flat rock ten feet below the rim of the highway and munched my sandwich while peering down at the creek that flowed fifty feet below.

The View from My Lunch Perch

The afternoon proved to be a coming out party for the beetle. I clambered down the steep rocky slope below the highway and began to plop my Jake’s gulp beetle in all the likely spots, and more often than not a feisty brown trout responded. Although I did not use a downsized Chernobyl ant, I did deploy a smaller terrestrial, so Matt’s advice paid huge dividends. Some refusals continued to be interspersed with takes, but I estimate that the ratio of success over frustration was five to one. Included in my afternoon fish count of sixteen were a couple twelve inch browns, and this is a lunker by Clear Creek standards.

One of the Larger Fish from Clear Creek

My greatest concern was my supply of gulp beetles. I tucked the original size 10 that Jake Chutz gave me in my fly box, as I hoped to keep it in reserve to use as a model for constructing my own copies. I tied three after the original gift fly excelled on the Big Thompson, and I manufactured three more before our visit to the South Platte River. The peacock dubbed body versions seemed to outperform the ones with claret bodies, and I was losing appendages on the peacock beetles at an alarming rate. By the end of my outing on Clear Creek, I set aside two peacock beetles with no legs for refurbishment, and I managed to finish out the day with my last size 12 model still intact.

Zoomed in on the Beetle

Friday on Clear Creek finally met my expectations. I landed twenty-one small brown trout, and they were eager consumers of the Jake’s gulp beetle. Many fish darted to the surface and slurped the beetle from positions tight to the rocky bank, but I also enjoyed success in the deep plunge pools behind midstream boulders. Toward the end of my time I even landed two or three trout by casting to a slow shelf pool on the opposite bank. I held my rod very high to keep the fly line off the water and avoid drag, and this allowed a natural drift, and the hungry trout responded.

Hopefully I will have a few additional opportunities to test beetle magic before the temperatures plunge. Thank you, Matt, for causing me to reevaluate my fishing methods.

 

 

South Platte River – 10/08/2015

Time: 11:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: South Platte River

Fish Landed: 51

South Platte River 10/08/2015 Photo Album

Sometimes all the elements combine to yield a nearly perfect day of fishing, and Thursday October 8 was one of those days. About the only ingredient missing from our trip to the South Platte River was large fish, but given the abundance of superb factors, I can accept this omission. During my last trek to this section of the South Platte, I lost my rod tip, and Jane and I spent an additional couple hours backtracking until we finally located it. I was hoping for redemption, and Thursday qualifies as double restitution.

Jane Sets Up Base Camp

Jane and I departed our house in Denver by 7:15, and unfortunately we were unable to avoid some heavy rush hour traffic in the tech center area of south Denver. Despite this momentary inconvenience we were able to arrive at the trailhead by 9:50, and we began our hike at 10:05. An hour and fifteen minute walk at a steady pace delivered us at our customary base camp location, and after Jane spread out her blanket, we continued along the path to my entry point. I began above my usual starting point since I hoped to fish upstream beyond the base camp; something I usually fall short of.

Looking Good at 103 CFS

The flows were 103 cfs, and this level is nearly ideal. The moderate current allowed me to move freely about the river, however, the water was deep enough so that the fish were not overly skittish. The air temperature was in the upper forties when I began fishing, and it probably never peaked above sixty-five. I was comfortable during my entire time on the river under the bright sun and clear blue skies except for one brief period when some large clouds rolled in and blocked the sun’s rays.

I hoped to fish upstream along the left bank since it is away from the path, and I embrace the theory that the fish opposite a path or road are less pressured. Unfortunately the shadows and difficult light during the late morning period caused me to fish the right bank and the center of the river until I broke for lunch at 12:30. I began with a Charlie Boy hopper and hares ear nymph on 2.5 foot dropper, and almost instantly had a ten inch brown trout in my net. This fish tied me with the 2014 cumulative fish count, and shortly thereafter I hooked another comparable brown to surpass last year.

An Early Success Story

During the late morning and early afternoon time frame, I worked my way upstream and landed thirteen brown trout before exiting and returning to base camp for lunch. What an auspicious start to a gorgeous fall day! After lunch Jane walked down the path with me to my exit point before lunch, and she watched me and took photos as I resumed my quest for fish. Of course while she watched, I struggled to land even a small fish, so I added another one foot section of tippet to the hares ear, and tied on a second nymph…a beadhead salvation nymph.

Some Fat on This Brown

Boom. This addition was instantly successful, and as Jane looked on, I landed a couple small browns. She commented that I made it look too easy. The remainder of the afternoon was pure joy, as I advanced up the river beyond the base camp and landed another thirty-eight trout. The salvation nymph was the main producer during the early afternoon, but the hares ear came on strong in the late time period. At 1PM I began to notice blue winged olives, and this coincided with an incident when I lost the salvation in the process of photographing and releasing a fish. Consequently I used replacing the salvation as an opportunity to test a blue winged olive soft hackle emerger.

After a brief test I concluded that the soft hackle emerger did not perform on par with the salvation, and I returned the attractor nymph to its previous position at the tip of my three fly arrangement. The slow deep pools were not producing, so I stopped wasting time in that type of water and moved directly to the head of each pool where deep runs and riffles entered. These locations along with pocket water yielded nearly all of my fish on Thursday. Many of the fish were hooked during the lift at the end of the drift as well as during the swing, when I cast from the side and allowed the flies to drift across and then below me.

Same Rainbow Held Above the Net Briefly

The most memorable fish was a thirteen inch rainbow. I dropped a cast into a narrow frothy slot at the very top of a deep trough in the middle of the river. Suddenly a mouth appeared below the hopper, and I reacted with a solid hook set. Quickly I discovered a rainbow attached to my line, as it streaked up and down the river and put up a noble fight. Eventually it tired, and I scooped the irate silver football with my net. This was the only fish of the day that slurped the hopper imitation, even though the Charlie boy was in place as my top indicator fly all day long.

Huge Black Spots on This Brown Trout

In summary many of the fish landed were in the six to nine inch range with ten or so extending to ten and eleven inches. In addition I landed three that measured a foot or more in length. Admittedly these were relatively small trout, but I thrived on the fast paced nonstop action that accompanies landing a large quantity of fish in four and a half hours. As to species I landed only three rainbows, and the remainder were brown trout. I do not have an explanation of why certain species seem to predominate at different times of the year.

Obviously I desired more size, but it was a blast moving quickly upstream and popping casts to all the likely spots and more often than not connecting with a wild fish. I was in a beautiful remote location under blue skies and sunshine with pleasant temperatures. My lovely wife accompanied me, and no other human beings were nearby to disrupt our outdoor adventure. The wild trout were plentiful and willing to eat flies that I created myself. It seemed that every nook of water that might yield a fish, did in fact produce. Sure I would have liked a few larger fish, but this degree of success on October 8 is something I am thankful for.

A Glow Over the South Platte

Big Thompson River – 10/06/2015

Time: 9:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Began on dirt road to Grandpa’s Retreat and fished above mile marker 71 and then moved to the area where there is a very large pullout on the south side of the highway around a mile below Noel’s Draw.

Fish Landed: 11

Big Thompson River 10/06/2015 Photo Album

Just short of a week ago I enjoyed one of my best days ever on the Big Thompson River. Certainly a return trip on Tuesday October 6 would produce another memorable outing. That was my thinking, as I left the house and drove to the Big Thompson River below Olympus Dam. The air temperature was in the high 40’s when I arrived a bit after 9AM, so I chose to wear my fleece layer and my New Zealand hat with the ear flaps folded down. I can assure you that I was not overdressed.

Since I did not wish to fish the exact same segment that I covered the previous Wednesday, I drove farther downstream and pulled over in a small pullout along US 34. After I climbed into my waders, I rigged my Loomis five weight rod and then walked along the highway to a dirt road that angles away from the river before it reaches Grandpa’s Retreat. A large camping van was parked across the dirt road as if it was intentionally barricading access to Grandpa’s Retreat, so I dropped down the rocky bank fifteen yards from the intersection of the driveway and the highway.

I decided to test a Chernobyl ant and a hares ear nymph, as I began to prospect some very attractive pools and runs near the starting point, but the flies went unmolested. In fact I progressed around the bend so that I was next to the highway and away from the gravel road, and I did not even see evidence that fish were present in this portion of the Big Thompson River. Finally after a half hour of fishing I landed a small brown trout that savored the hares ear. Next I approached a spot where there was a nice deep run, and as the Chernobyl drifted along the main current, it attracted looks from two fish. The sight of fish provoked me to make a large quantity of futile drifts through the moderate depth run, but the fish were apparently aware of my presence. I pivoted around and plopped the Chernboyl in a short choppy pocket, and once again a fish floated up to take a look and then spurned my fraudulent food offering.

An Early Brightly Colored Big Thompson Brown Trout

Perhaps the trout were interested in midge larva? I added a zebra midge as a third fly, but the size 22 morsel was soundly ignored as well. An hour elapsed, and it was 10:30 on my watch, so I concluded that perhaps the baetis nymphs were getting active. I substituted a RS2 for the zebra midge, and this paid off with a decent brown trout. The pattern of changing flies and covering an abundance of water continued until I stopped for lunch at 11:45. By that time I landed four trout including the two already described. A decent rainbow rose to a Charlie boy hopper after I replaced the Chernobyl, and another small brown trout nabbed a soft hackle emerger from a riffle.

I Exited for Lunch at Mile Marker 71

I exited the river for lunch at mile marker 71, and then after lunch I continued moving upstream past some aging cabins on the left bank until I reached some private water along Brown Trout Lane. I actually fished in private water for a bit since I did not see a sign down by the stream, although as I walked back to the car, I noticed signs along the road above the twenty yard section that I fished. Where the river moved away from the road, it deflected off a large vertical rock wall and created a long deep pool. A trail of small bubbles denoted the current line, and I drifted the dry/dropper flies with the Charlie boy on top along the current seam for the entire length. I spotted at least five refusals, so I took some time to swap the hopper for a Jake’s gulp beetle, but the change was not rewarded. In fact the beetle failed to generate any interest whatsoever during the morning and early afternoon time period despite its superstar performance on the same river on September 30. How quickly the conditions shift! I did manage to land two nice rainbows during the post-lunch time period, as they smacked the Charlie boy, and this moved my fish count to six. I was convinced this would be my final tally.

A Nice Chunky Rainbow

The sky remained partly cloudy throughout the morning with more sun than overcast, however I was anticipating rain since my Weather Underground app projected a 90% chance of rain by 1PM. It did not happen by one o’clock, but the lighting diminished and the sky darkened, and the wind picked up. This change in conditions prompted me to pull my raincoat on over my fleece. Just as I reached the no trespassing sign along Brown Trout Lane, I observed quite a few dimples in a huge pool on the other side of the private line. I was tempted to toss some casts into the private water while maintaining my position on what I assumed was public land, but I thought better of it and returned to the car and drove back toward Estes Park. I hoped to find the nascent hatch in a public location farther upstream.

I elected to stop just below an area where a very wide pullout exists on the opposite side of the highway among a grove of tall cottonwood trees. The stream here was characterized by many large boulders, plunge pools, deep pockets and faster runs. I was searching for water more similar to that which delivered superior results on September 30. By now the sky was quite black, and I felt a few drops of rain, so I flipped the hood of my raincoat up over my New Zealand hat with ear flaps. I had a beetle on my line with a soft hackle emerger on a 2.5 foot dropper, and I diligently covered some very attractive pockets around the many rocks. I was certain that this would yield some aggressive feeders, but it did not.

Approaching a Nice Pool

I rounded the bend and reached a nice long smooth pool that was quite close to where I parked the Santa Fe, and as I paused to observe, I did in fact notice several rises throughout the pool. I removed the dry/dropper configuration and tied a CDC blue winged olive to my line. For the next hour and a half I fished the tiny dry fly to rising trout in the pool that I was in plus another nice stretch of deep water just above. Seeing my fly in the dim light was quite a challenge, but I did manage to land five trout during the hatch time period. I also experienced a few momentary hook ups and a host of splashy rejections. The number of casts per fish probably averaged thirty, and I spent a fair amount of time dabbing and drying the CDC wing which became saturated frequently due to the intensifying rain. I actually used three different CDC BWO flies in an effort to maintain some level of dryness in the soggy conditions.

Tuesday proved to be a difficult day on the Big Thompson River, which only six days earlier lured me into a state of euphoria with a twenty-eight fish day. On that earlier day the trout gobbled my Jake’s gulp beetle like children eating chocolates in a candy store. I knew there was a threat of rain, and I anxiously anticipated the clouds since those conditions generally foreshadow a strong blue winged olive hatch. My wish was fulfilled, and I managed some success, but the fishing was not nearly as productive nor easy as the beetle plopping of six days prior.

 

Trout Creek – 10/05/2015

Time: 3:00PM – 4:30PM

Location: National Forest.

Fish Landed: 7

Trout Creek 10/05/2015 Photo Album

Note: In order to protect small high country streams, I have chosen to change the name for a few. This particular creek happens to be one of them. Excessive exposure could lead to crowding and lower fish densities.

I lived in Colorado for twenty-five years, yet I still discover new places to fish and enjoy the outdoors. Monday was one of those days. Jane returned from golfing and mentioned that her golf friend completed a fun hike in a lake area in the mountains. This comment caused me to remember a trip to the Trout Creek that a co-worker from Saddleback Design and I planned in 2008. The trip never happened because the co-worker had a conflict, but I was now intrigued by the idea of resurrecting an exploratory trip to the area.

Jane and I unfolded our National Geographic topographic map of Vail and Idaho Springs, and we quickly found the lake. A ten mile improved forest road connected Vail to a trailhead at the lake, and I also noticed that the another trail followed the stream a mile downstream from the lake. Jane checked back with her friend who informed her that the road was manageable in a low clearance vehicle, and the upper trail was moderate difficulty and provided spectacular scenery. With this bit of research behind us, we made plans to explore the lake area on Monday October 5. I committed to accompanying Jane on the five mile hike in exchange for an hour or two of fly fishing on Trout Creek. I also watched a YouTube video on fishing Trout Creek and read a few fishing reports. One mentioned that the fishing was less pressured downstream from the lake, so this became my desired fishing destination.

Our Destination Is the End of the Valley

Happy When We Are Hiking

Jane and I left the house by 8:00AM, and this enabled us to pull into the lake trailhead parking lot by 11AM. The ten mile gravel road turned out to be easily driven by the four wheel drive Santa Fe, but there were some rough washboard sections that made sure we remained awake. Several cars were present in the parking lot, and another arrived as we applied sunscreen and switched into our hiking boots. It was cool with a fair amount of cloud cover, so I began hiking with my fleece hoodie. This lasted no more than fifteen minutes before I removed it and tied it around my waist, as the exertion connected with a gradual climb at altitude created an excess of body heat. October 5 at 9,000 feet was beyond the peak aspen foliage time, but some yellow remained on the tips of the trees. Jane and I agreed that it was beautiful nonetheless, as we looked east at a wide valley bracketed by tall jagged rocky peaks with layers of evergreens, bare aspens and tall brown grass on all sides.

A Small Cascade and Chasm

By the time we completed the trip to a nice rock ledge next to the tumbling Trout Creek where we ate our lunch and returned to the car, it was 2:45. On our drive to the trailhead we crossed the Trout Creek, and I noticed there was a dirt parking area and signs for the lower trail, so this is where we headed once we stowed our gear. By now the sky was quite overcast with large dark clouds moving in from the west. Jane agreed that I could fish until 4:30, and she also decided to hike along the trail with me until I hit the water. My goal was to hike downtream far enough to escape the section of water that is likely highly pressured by summertime tourists and fishermen, so I suggested that we hike for fifteen minutes and then cut to the stream. I hesitate to call it a river, since it was no more than fifteen feet across at its widest points.

As Jane and I hiked down the narrow trail, raindrops began to descend upon us, but we were both prepared with rain gear. In fact the rain became quite steady during my last half hour of fishing. The air temperature meanwhile was in the low 50’s and dropped to the upper forties during my time on the stream. The trail seemed to veer away from the river, and the banks appeared to increase in steepness, so we found a relatively gradual spot and thrashed through the dead grass and low vegetation to the edge of the stream.

Aspen Leaves Collect in This Still Pool

Jane looked on while I tied a Jake’s gulp beetle with a dark purple body to my line, but with the increase in precipitation, she quickly bid me goodbye and hiked back to the car. The river was at very low fall levels, and this meant it was quite narrow and cascaded over huge rocks. I quickly learned that there were large and medium sized plunge pools linked by a narrow ribbon of rushing and cascading water, so it was rather easy to determine where the fish would be holding; the deep pools.

Typical Nice Pool

In the first ten minutes I spooked three fish including one that I spotted and fished over. I could observe its reaction in the low clear flow, and it did not exhibit a bit of interest via a tail wag or any sort of movement. Rather quickly I learned that a stealthy approach and staying back a sufficient distance were essential tactics to have a shot at hooking one of these high elevation small stream prizes.

Trout Creek Brown Savors Gulp Beetle

The complete lack of response from the third observed fish prompted me to add a beadhead BWO soft hackle emerger below the beetle, but this did not help. Eventually I gave up on the reluctant bottom hugger, and chased the recalcitrant fish. This proved to be a good strategy as it was not long before I found a ready taker in the form of a nine inch brown trout. From that point on I moved up the small stream with an abundance of plunge pools and continued plopping the beetle, and I found quite a few fish willing to gulp. There were some refusals, but more fish gobbled the foam terrestrial than rejected it.

Near the End of My Time on Trout Creek

I landed seven fish in 1.5 hours of fishing and most were 9-10 inch brown trout. Quite a few very juicy deep pools failed to produce, and actually the best spots were what would be characterized as secondary pools. These places had current and moderate depth, but they really appeared to be second class compared to some of the deep jewels that did not produce.

Monday afternoon proved to be a nice short exploratory expedition that surpassed my expectations. It was a new discovery for me, and I am already contemplating a return when I can devote an entire day. Such a trip would entail at least a one hour hike down the lower trail, so that I could reach a section that is certain to have escaped most of the fishing hordes. A ten mile drive on a moderately rough dirt road and a one mile hike are significant barriers to the average fisherman.

Arkansas River – 10/02/2015

Time: 9:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: Lunch Rock and upstream .5 – 1 mile.

Fish Landed: 20

Arkansas River 10/02/2015 Photo Album

Fly fishing is a fickle endeavor. Since I reserved a room at the Woodland Motel in Salida for Thursday night, October 1, I remained in the area. Otherwise I would have probably driven home on Thursday night. Thursday was one of the toughest and most frustrating days I ever experienced on the Arkansas River; a river that has grown to become my favorite Colorado river. I was seriously reevaluating that designation. Even though I was committed to stay in Salida for the night, I weighed alternative fishing options for Friday. The South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon was one obvious candidate, as I estimated it was probably a one hour drive from Salida.

To help with my decision, I decided to visit ArkAnglers along US 50 after breakfast. I needed some new strike indicators, so that was an obvious excuse to stop at the fly shop and ask questions. A young man was behind the counter when I entered the store, and he quickly assisted me with my purchase, and then I began to pelt him with queries. He essentially confirmed the information that was already presented on the ArkAnglers’ web site. Fish the deep runs in the morning with nymphs including a midge larva. Switch to a baetis nymph at 11AM, and look for the fish to spread out a bit to the moderate depth riffles and pockets. If the sky is cloudy, adults appear on the surface between 1PM and 4PM. If it is sunny and bright, try fishing a dry/dropper along the edges from mid-afternoon until evening.

I concluded that I should give the Arkansas River an opportunity to redeem itself. It was forecast to be cooler, the fish had an additional day to acclimate to the higher flows, I would try new water, and I planned to adjust my approach after speaking with the young man at ArkAnglers.

Starting Point Above Lunch Rock

I drove along U.S. 50 until I approached Lunch Rock, and here I executed a U-turn and parked by the rock facing west. Lunch Rock is approximately .5 mile above the Wellsville bridge. The temperature was in the low 50’s, and the sun finally broke through the thin cloud cover, so I chose to stuff my raincoat in my backpack and fish without an extra layer. As a significant commitment to changing my technique I rigged my Sage four weight with the level line nymph set up that Taylor Edrington taught me several years ago. I removed my tapered leader and attached a six inch section of 0X tippet via a loop to loop connection to my fly line. Next I used an improved clinch knot to tie the 0X section to a thingamabobber, and then I unfurled a five foot length of 5X tippet and knotted that to the thingamabobber as well. My final step included crimping a small split shot a foot above the top fly, and then I added a salvation nymph and size 22 beadhead zebra midge. I was skeptical that the tiny midge larva would produce fish in the big water of the Arkansas River, but the store clerk insisted.

First Fish Inhaled a Zebra Midge

I am still somewhat in disbelief over what happened next. I positioned myself above Lunch Rock to fish a narrow deep slot, and on the fifth drift deep in the tail of the trough, the indicator dipped, and I fought and landed a fourteen inch brown trout. When I examined the fish more closely in my net, I was shocked to discover the zebra midge in its lip! How could such a large fish detect such a tiny morsel in the large volume of water spilling through a chute above Lunch Rock?

I continued fishing upstream along the left bank for the next hour and landed four more trout. Three inhaled the tiny midge larva imitation and one snatched the salvation nymph from the drift. It was mind boggling, and I was indebted to the ArkAngler store clerk for insisting that I use a midge imitation. In addition to the fourteen inch brown the other fish were quite respectable and measured in the twelve inch range with a thirteen inch brown also in the mix.

Pretty Fish

By 10:30 I spotted a blue winged olive or two hovering above the water, and this was a clue to change out the midge larva for a RS2. It was a bit early according to my ArkAnglers’ directions, but I decided to make a slight deviation. It proved to be a fortuitous move, as I landed six additional brown trout before breaking for lunch at 11:40. All the deep pockets and runs seemed to yield fish, and four attacked the RS2 while two more were attracted to the salvation. I was actively imparting movement to the nymphs by lifting and reverse mending, and the trout seemed to respond to this action.

Just before lunch I approached a large ledge rock that jutted into the river to create a huge deep eddy. I did not expect this type of water to yield fish, but I lobbed a couple casts to the very tail of the eddy where the turbulent current swirled and sent water in every direction. It looked like the eye of a hurricane to my searching eyes. Miraculously on the fifth cast the indicator darted sideways, and I set the hook and stripped in a twelve inch brown that inhaled the RS2. Another subsequent cast produced a similar reaction, and I was chastising myself for almost skipping this type of water. Several more casts failed to produce, so I moved up and across from the middle of the eddy and flicked a cast to that area. Again the indicator streaked sideways, and I netted a third eddy dweller. I had one more momentary contact with a fish that felt heavier than the others, but this feeder managed to shed the hook in a brief amount of time.

I climbed the steep bank to the shoulder of the highway and marched back to the car and then drove west and parked a bit beyond my lunch departure spot. After lunch I scrambled back down the bank to the eddy, and I began to fish upstream. Between noon and 1:30 I built my fish count to seventeen by employing the same techniques that served me during the late morning hot streak. I saw a few sporadic rises, so I exchanged the RS2 for a beadless soft hackle emerger, and this fly became a desirable commodity to the Arkansas River brown trout. Once again the fish responded to active line movement. The most productive maneuver was to cast three quarters upstream, and then as the indicator drifted back across from my position, I executed downstream mends that accelerated the flies for two to three feet. This action apparently created the illusion of an emerging blue winged olive, because the fish responded quite often by snaring the trailing emerger.

Lots of Vivid Spots

One particularly memorable experience occurred when I approached a long riffle that was two to three feet deep. In this case I shot a long cast directly upstream to the top of the riffle, and after the indicator drifted five feet it paused. I immediately lifted and set the hook and found myself attached to a throbbing head shaking fifteen inch brown trout. I always get a huge thrill out of extracting big fish from less than obvious locations.

Toward the end of this period I reached a spot where a large vertical rock wall bordered the river. This was actually where I sat and ate my lunch high above the water, and while munching my sandwich, I spotted two decent trout in a large pocket behind a large submerged midstream boulder. I made quite a few casts to the area where the fish were observed, but they were not interested in my flies whether dead drifted or twitched. I gave up on the wide deep pocket and climbed to the high point of the rock and then cautiously stepped down the other side so I was just above the deep pool. At this place there was a relatively deep trough similar to the one where I began my day above Lunch Rock.

Only Rainbow on the Day Was This Bruiser

I decided to give it a shot, and began drifting the nymphs through the fifteen foot long slot as I stood near the tail. I allowed drift number seven to swing deep and below me, and as I lifted to make another cast, a heavy throbbing weight interrupted my action. A pink-sided silvery missile instantly launched from the river, and I managed to stay connected through several more leaps and hot runs. This fifteen inch beauty proved to be my only rainbow on Friday and also my largest fish.

Wide Body Out of the Net

By 2:30 the sun was bright and the sky was largely cloudless. The wind began to gust periodically, and my blue winged olive techniques failed to excite the fish as they had during the late morning and early afternoon time period. I decided that it was time to abandon the thingamabobber nymph set up and return to dry/dropper fishing along the edge. I sat down on a rock and removed the level line, thingamabobber and 0X connector and reattached my tapered leader. With the leader in place I tied on a Charlie boy hopper, salvation nymph and soft hackle emerger and began probing all the deep pockets and runs right next to the bank.

My catch rate slowed substantially, but I did manage to extend my day for another hour and landed three more fish to reach twenty. The first fish was a fifteen inch brown that snapped up the salvation nymph as it drifted tight to a protruding boulder. Needless to say this catch was both surprising and gratifying.

Dry-Dropper Victim

By 3:30 I came to another large rock formation along the left bank. Unfortunately this eddy did not produce in similar fashion to the one I enjoyed in the late morning, but I was using a shallow water dry/dropper technique and not the deep nymph set up that adorned my line earlier. When I climbed to the top of the rock with the intention of moving upstream, I encountered another fisherman positioned twenty yards above me. This was a convenient excuse to reel up my flies while I climbed the path to the highway. I was feeling exhausted, the fishing had slowed measurably, and I had a three hour drive in front of me.

Is fly fishing fickle, or are the brown trout of the Arkansas River changeable? Perhaps it has more to do with the fisherman’s ability to read signals and make adjustments? Certainly fishing deeper with the thingamabobber nymph rig seemed to dramatically change my fortunes from Thursday to Friday. I can envision another trip to the Arkansas River before winter places a firm grip on Colorado.

Arkansas River – 10/01/2015

Time: 10:30AM – 4:30PM

Location: Fremont – Chafee country line upstream for a mile

Fish Landed: 11

Arkansas River 10/01/2015 Photo Album

Admittedly I held high expectations for Thursday, October 1 on the Arkansas River. I searched this blog and read a post from 2013 when I landed 26 fish on October 3. October 1 was close enough to October 3 so that I could expect to replicate the experience, right? Remember that the only constant in fly fishing is change.

I made reservations to stay at the Woodland Motel in Salida, so I could optimize my fishing time after a three hour drive. As it turned out, the weather was quite mild, and I could have camped at Vallie Bridge, but I discovered that the Woodland Motel is a reasonably priced convenient stay over option for future cold weather trips to the Arkansas River.

I departed Stapleton at 6:45 on Thursday morning, and after a three hour drive I pulled into my usual parking space at the Fremont/Chafee countly line. The air temperature was in the low 50’s, and this prompted me to wear my raincoat as a windbreaker and extra layer until the sun warmed the temperature to the high 50’s. In fact the high on Thursday reached 83 degrees, and minimal cloud cover ruled the sky. In addition when I gazed down at the river, it appeared to be higher than my visit two weeks prior. A check of stream flows on Thursday evening confirmed that the flows spiked from 200 cfs to 278 cfs on Wednesday night.

Since I spent two days fishing the water downstream from the long pool at the county line on my previous visit, I crossed the river at the usual location and climbed the bank to the railroad tracks and then hiked westward. When I reached a position that was perpendicular to the top of the long pool, I cut back down to the north shore and prepared to fish. The water at this point was faster and more conducive to the dry/dropper technique that I planned to deploy. The historical blog post that I read documented that I enjoyed success with a Chernobyl ant and beadhead hares ear, so these became my initial offerings.

Nice Water Ahead

These two flies failed to generate any looks or takes over the first fifteen minutes so I added an RS2, and this addition paid off with two small brown trout that snatched the RS2 as it drifted tight to the rocky edge. A dry spell commenced after the first hour and continued until I sat down on a rock and ate my light lunch. After lunch I resumed fishing the north bank of the river with the dry/dropper offering, and I managed to land a third small brown, but this one fish was my only reward for covering a huge amount of very attractive water. In short I was pretty frustrated by my morning and early afternoon on the Arkansas River, and with the temperature soaring and bright clear skies above, I was not optimistic that my day would improve.

My confidence was at a low, when I remembered the success I experienced on the Big Thompson River with Jake’s gulp beetle. If the beetle attracted the fish on the Big Thompson, perhaps it could do the same along the banks of the Arkansas River. I tied four new gulp beetles on Wednesday night, so I removed one with a peacock ice dub body from my fly box and tied it to my line. In case a blue winged olive hatch commenced I added a 2.5 foot dropper to the beetle and knotted a soft hackle emerger to the tippet section. This move finally created some minor interest, and I landed two small brown trout on the soft hackle.

Brilliant Buttery Color

I was still feeling rather depressed about my Arkansas fall fishing trip going awry, when I approached a nice run of moderate depth. I plopped the beetle to the top of the run, and as it drifted back toward a large boulder at the tail, I spotted a small brown that rose to inspect the terrestrial. The fish rejected my fake, and then on the next drift, a second larger brown trout copied the actions of the smaller cousin. I made additional drifts, and the two fish repeatedly demonstrated movements that indicated they saw the beetle, but they refused to eat. During this time period, I also observed the larger of the two fish as it swirled about and sipped a natural insect from the surface. I concluded that it must have eaten an adult blue winged olive.

I was now faced with a dilemma. Should I go to the trouble of removing the beetle and emerger to tie a CDC BWO to my line, or should I simply move on and continue prospecting in the hopes that other fish might be less selective? I was not setting the world on fire, so I decided to make a fly change and focus on the two visible fish in front of me. I tied a size 22 CDC blue winged olive to my tippet, and on the second drift over the two fish, the larger specimen rose and confidently inhaled my offering. I set the hook and after a brief tussle, I slid my net beneath a nice twelve inch brown trout.

This Run Yielded the Previous Nice Brown

As I focused on the two reluctant eaters before me, I spotted a single swirl in the next short pocket upstream of the run I presently occupied. With the release of the twelve inch brown, I moved upstream a bit so that I was in a position to fish to the initiator of the swirl. The water in the pocket was quite active, and I realized it would be nearly impossible to see the small CDC BWO, so I once again made a change and reverted to the beetle/soft hackle emerger combination. I flicked a short cast to the bubbling top of the pocket, and as the beetle slowly drifted to the lip, I lifted to avoid entanglement in a large boulder. This action prompted a fifteen inch brown trout to grab the fleeing emerger, and I landed my best fish of the day to that point. Needless to say this sent my optimism to a new high, and I resumed prospecting the beetle with greater intensity. I moved quickly upstream along the north bank and managed to landed another small brown on the soft hackle emerger, but then by 2:30 the action ended.

A Fifteen Inch Beauty

The air temperature was now at its peak and the sun was quite bright and nearly directly overhead. The small amount of blue winged olive activity ended, and the fish decided to close their mouths, seek shelter and rest. I persisted with the beetle and emerger much longer than I should have, since I was slow to recognize the change in conditions. Eventually however I grew bored with fruitless casting and made another change. I tied a Charlie boy hopper to my line, and below that I added a salvation nymph, and then knotted a soft hackle emerger below the salvation. The emerger was in place in case stragglers remained, but the hopper and salvation were present as larger attractors.

While the change did not dramatically improve my fortunes, it did allow me to land three additional fish over the remainder of the afternoon during some fairly adverse conditions. One of the last three fish was a respectable twelve inch hard fighting brown, and another was a surprising fifteen inch prize that matched the one that snatched the emerger earlier. This late afternoon brown materialized from a short deep pocket in an area where the entire river spilled through a wide section of large exposed boulders.

Resided in Pocket Water

The last three fish enabled me to reach double digits, but it was a tough day of fishing under very adverse conditions. Making matters worse, the weather forecast for Friday was similar unseasonably warm dry conditions. Had I not reserved a room at the Woodland Motel, I probably would have jumped in the car and returned to Denver. It was undoubtedly too late to cancel, so I pondered alternative fishing destinations. I covered at least a mile of the river, climbed over hundreds of boulders, and taxed my arm and shoulder muscles to exhaustion; so I was too tired to consider logical options for Friday. I returned to the car and checked into the motel and enjoyed a nice dinner at the Boathouse Cantina in Salida. The room at the motel turned out to be nice and clean, and the best part of the day was falling into a deep sleep.