Monthly Archives: October 2026

South Platte River – 10/05/2026

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Time: 10:45AM – 3:00PM

Location: Eleven Mile Canyon

South Platte River 10/05/2026 Photo Album

With a non-fishing trip planned to the mountains later in the week, I felt I needed to take advantage of Monday, October 5, 2026 with another day trip. The South Platte River was running at a steady 67 CFS, and fly shop reports indicated that tricos and pale morning duns were still present along with early stages of fall blue wing olives. That information was enough to convince me to make the drive to Eleven Mile Canyon.

Love the Look of the Water In the Background

I arrived at my chosen section of the canyon at 10:15AM, and the dashboard temperature was 56 degrees. Much of the stretch that I was about to fish was covered with shade, so I decided to wear my raincoat for warmth. I wore it the entire day, although there were a few times, when I was in full sunlight, and I was overheated. My fly rod of choice was my Sage R8 four weight, since I love casting it, and the wide open South Platte River is a benign environment for a fly rod.

Rainbow Haven

By 10:45AM I was perched along the bank, and I began my day with a size 8 tan pool toy hopper, a salvation nymph and an olive perdigon. In the first hour from 10:45AM until 11:45AM, when I broke for lunch, I landed five trout. Needless to say I was rather pleased with this result. The first fish was a surprise thirteen inch rainbow that slammed the hopper. The remaining four were brown trout, and they all snatched the olive perdigon. I saw two tricos, but a surface feeding trico spinner event never materialized. I suspect one needs to be in the first couple miles below the dam for a true trico experience.

Trough Productive

After lunch I continued with the dry/dropper, and I raised the fish count from five to nine with nearly all the takes attributable to the olive perdigon. There may have been one salvation customer.

Flabby Belly

By 1:30 I began to see a few random blue wing olives in the air, but no surface rises were evident. I decided to test a RS2 which imitates the nymph state of a blue wing olive. I moved the olive perdigon to the upper position, and I found a 20 incher with a one foot section of monofilament attached. I knotted the mono to the eye of the olive perdigon, and rather than remove the 20 incher in favor of the RS2, I decided to give the large stonefly imitation a trial.

Prime Run

It did not perform well, and it seemed to be snagging and creating an unnatural drift, so I finally conceded to my initial inclination and tied on a size 22 RS2. The RS2 worked its magic, and I landed three trout on the tiny nymph to bring the fish count to thirteen. All the RS2 takes were associated with a swing or lift at the end of the drift, so the trout were attracted to an emerging or escaping nymph.

Another Fine Bow

At 2:30PM I arrived at a gorgeous pool with a center cut current that fanned out into a nice long pool. The pool was not entirely smooth and contained small swirly surface riffles. I began to see sporadic rises among this perfect pool environment, and more tiny blue wing olives were present than earlier.

Juicy Spot

I concluded that I should commit to dries, so I removed the dry/dropper rig and converted to a peacock hippie stomper and a mole fly. I waited until I spotted one of the random rises in order to locate a fish, and I began popping the double dry to the vicinity of rises. This approach entailed a fair amount of waiting, as the rises were spaced out time wise, and prospecting seemed futile. Eventually I popped a cast toward the swirly center section, and a brown trout pounced on the mole fly.

Pool Had Rising Fish

I thoroughly dried the mole fly, so that it would float and be visible, and after quite a few casts, I tossed one to the entering current right above me, where I had seen a solid rise. Wham! A solid thirteen inch rainbow clobbered the hippie stomper and increased the fish count to fifteen. In the process of landing the rainbow, the mole fly broke off, so I replaced it with another, but the rainbow that ate the stomper would be my last catch of the day. I swapped the mole fly for a soft hackle emerger fished dry for the final fifteen minutes, but I quickly ended up with a tangle, and that ended my day.

Fifteen trout on a section of the South Platte in Eleven Mile never before fished was a success in my book. I landed a fourteen inch brown trout before lunch, and three chunky rainbows in the thirteen inch range joined the parade. Add a few twelve inch browns and a remaining population of sub-twelve inchers, and that equals a fine day of autumn fly fishing. I would not mind returning on a cloudy day to see, if the BWO hatch intensifies.

Fish Landed: 15

Eagle River – 10/02/2026

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Time: 10:30AM – 3:15PM

Location: Between Minturn and Edwards

Eagle River 10/02/2026 Photo Album

After a successful day on Thursday on the Frying Pan River, I was undecided on my fly fishing option for Friday. The action on the Frying Pan heated up late in the afternoon; and I would, therefore, want to remain on the river until late in the day. However, Friday was my getaway day, and I faced a three hour drive back to Denver. From the upper miles of the Frying Pan the trip was closer to four hours. My alternative was to test the Eagle River. It was along my homeward drive, and it actually reduced my trip home by an hour or more. I made the Eagle River my destination.

Surprised by This Hopper Eater

Hopper Take in Current Seam Along the Bank

I experienced quite a bit of success on the Eagle in the spring of 2026 and during the fall of 2025, so I was guardedly optimistic that I could recreate some of that good fortune. I arrived at my chosen parking space by 10:00AM, and by the time I geared up and hiked to the river, it was 10:30AM.

Nice Little Run Boulder to Boulder

I selected my Sage One five weight for Friday duty. The Eagle River was one of the rivers that experienced voluntary closure during the hot summer months, so I was concerned about the stream level for this October visit. Once I returned home, I discovered that the flows were between 65 and 70 CFS during my stay on the river. Clearly these were low flows, but the river seemed to be quite fishable. I adjusted my approach by focusing my efforts on sections of the river, where the riverbed narrowed thus creating deep pockets, slots, riffles and oxygenated whitewater.

Different Light

I cast a three fly dry/dropper throughout the day, and only varied the offering a few times. Initially I presented a tan size 8 pool toy hopper and trailed an olive perdigon and salvation nymph. One hungry brown trout crushed the hopper early in the game, but that was the extent of the action between 10:30AM and 11:45AM. The brown was a spectacular specimen, as it probably measured in excess of fifteen inches.

Behind the Large Exposed Rock

After lunch I contemplated a change, and I did, in fact, adjust my lineup. First I shortened my dropper to three feet, and then I replaced the pool toy hopper with an amber ice dub body chubby Chernobyl. I was opting for the improved visibility offered by the two white poly wings of the chubby. I knotted a 20 incher in the upper nymph position, and I moved the salvation to the point. These flies allowed me to move the fish count to three, but it took quite a while.

Held Above the River

I was drifting flies through all the likely structure that delivered excellent results in previous visits, but the fish were not readily cooperating. At some point I replaced the salvation with the olive perdigon, and the chubby/20 incher/olive perdigon yielded the best results. I finished the day with nine trout landed, and I felt this was actually rather commendable after the woeful start.

Another Bank Eater

Although the fish count was on the low side for nine hours of fly fishing, I did land some fish that were above average in size. There was the pool toy savoring brown trout in the early going, and I netted a second brown of at least fifteen inches late in the day on the olive perdigon. A thick slab of a rainbow crushed the chubby Chernobyl in the two o’clock time frame, and fish number eight was a superb rainbow that grabbed the 20 incher in a deep slot. Number eight was a muscular torpedo of a fish that probably measured sixteen inches, but it’s girth was very impressive.

Quite a View

On the day I landed three rainbows, and the remainder were brown trout. Two trout smacked dry flies, as I mentioned, and the remainder of the fish were split among the nymphs. I recall one fish taking the salvation, two gobbled the 20 incher, and the rest grabbed the olive perdigon.

Rainbow Home

I noticed virtually no insect activity. There were a few sparse tiny caddis buzzing about, but they were not on the water enough for the fish to waste energy in pursuit. I was hoping for straggling pale morning duns or early blue wing olives, but neither made an appearance. I’m pretty sure I will return again to this destination in October, but Friday was a tough day. Large fish always offset any disappointment, and that was the case on October 2, 2026.

Fish Landed: 9

Frying Pan River – 10/01/2026

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Time: 10:00AM – 5:00PM

Location: Between MM10 and Ruedi Dam

Frying Pan River 10/01/2026 Photo Album

When I arrived at my chosen pullout, the temperature was 51 degrees with a stiff breeze. I was chilly. I pulled on my Under Armour long sleeve insulated undershirt and then added three layers; my fishing shirt, a fleece hoodie, and my rain shell. I was comfortable.

I decided to devote the first hour to tossing streamers, so I dug my sink tip line and reel out of my backpack and attached them to my Sage R8 four weight. I was using a five weight line on a four weight rod, but chucking weighted streamers is an inexact science, and I did not notice the line to rod mismatch.

The river was chugging along at 125 CFS, and it was tinged with an olive color. I knotted an olive articulated streamer with a skull head to my leader as the lead fly and followed it with a size 8 Mickey Finn. I persisted with the double streamer for an hour, and I landed a thirteen inch rainbow on the Mickey Finn and experienced two momentary grabs. I moved up the river at a steady pace and experimented with casts in all directions and a variety of retrieves.

Streamer Eater

By 11:00AM I reached the top of a long run and pool, and I was roasting under the overhead sun, so I retreated to the car. I stripped down and shed the Under Armour and replaced it with a high tech short sleeve undershirt. I also dumped the fleece, and I rolled up the raincoat and placed it in my fishing backpack. In addition, I reeled up my line and swapped my sink tip line for my floating four weight. By the time I completed all these adjustments and hiked back to slightly above my original starting point, thirty minutes elapsed.

Respectable

I resumed fly fishing with a size 8 tan pool toy hopper, a 20 incher, and a salvation nymph. Between 11:30AM and my lunch break at 12:15PM, I added two twelve inch trout to the count. One was a rainbow, and one was a brown, and one ate the 20 incher, and one consumed the salvation. I ate my lunch at 12:15PM with the fish count paused at three after 1.5 plus hours of concentrated fishing. Several severe snarls caused by foul hooked fish also necessitated some unproductive maintenance time.

Right Braid

After lunch I progressed up the river along the right bank, and I increased the fish count from three to eight. This period featured some nicer fish in the thirteen to fourteen inch range, and the salvation became the desired food for the trout. This was by no means hot fishing, as I covered a lot of water and generated an abundant quantity of casts.

Dipper Nest

I anxiously anticipated cube rock pool, but when I arrived there, it was occupied by another angler. I retreated to the bottom of the island and waded up the pitifully low and unfishable left braid, until I reached the deep pockets above the split in the river and the angler blocking my upstream migration.

Big Grip

It was around 3:00PM, and a few PMD’s, BWO’s and caddis were present, and I observed a handful of sporadic rises. I was not tempted to switch to a dry fly, and I continued to fish the three fly dry/dropper. The salvation began to out produce the 20 incher, and eventually I swapped the 20 incher for a brown perdigon. The perdigon/salvation combination performed slightly better than the 20 incher/salvation alternative.

Pleased

I continued fishing the pocket water in the narrow section that is usually too fast and marginal at higher flows. On this day, however, many more fish-holding lies appeared, and I moved the fish count from eight to sixteen. Eventually I encountered another angler in a prime pool, and I watched him land at least three fish.

Next to Exposed Rock Produced

I climbed the bank to an angled pool and eddy just below a large exposed rock that jutted at a right angle into the river. I spotted several rising fish, so I very stealthily shed the dry/dropper and tied on a cinnamon comparadun. After an inordinate number of casts to rises, an eleven inch brown sipped the comparadun.

Fish of the Day

I decided the fish were eating something different, but it must have been quite small, because I observed no food source in the air or on the water. I decided to try a CDC BWO, and to ease tracking I combined it with a hippie stomper. Nothing. The fish were still rising, so I cycled through a tiny size 18 caddis with a beige body and a light gray size 18 comparadun. Again the fish voted no. Next I selected an Adams, and it was also rejected.

Eddy Home of Large Brown

Quite a few caddis danced about, so I tried a size 16 gray body deer hair caddis. This move paid dividends, and I landed three browns to move the count to twenty. Icing on the cake were a sixteen and twenty inch brown among the final three.

A small fish was rising next to the jutting rock at the core of the eddy, and I decided to try for it. On the third cast the trailing caddis inched toward the vortex, and suddenly a large mouth appeared, and the caddis disappeared. What a pleasant surprise to slide a twenty inch brown into my under sized net.

In the end I managed a twenty fish day, but the path to that accomplishment was not without challenges. I expected more hatch activity including green drakes, but most of the day was spent tossing the dry/dropper. Nevertheless, five very fine trout in the thirteen to twenty inch range found my net, and that was quite rewarding. The Frying Pan River remains a favorite for this avid angler.

Fish Landed: 20