Author Archives: wellerfish

Arkansas River – 07/02/2025

Time: 10:30AM – 2:30PM

Location: Buena Vista area

Arkansas River 07/02/2025 Photo Album

Having fished the Eagle River on 06/26/2025 and 06/30/2025, I was kind of burned out on the dropping freestone along Interstate 70. I was, however, interested in pursuing a freestone in declining stages, where the flows remained comparatively high. The Arkansas River was my answer. The flows at the Nathrop gauge remained in the 750 CFS range, and I knew this would be manageable for wading in pursuit of mainly edge fishing. I made the trip.

High and Clear

The air temperature, as I embarked on my day of fishing, was around 74 degrees with highs projected in the low eighties. It was a hot one. Very little cloud cover developed to mask the sun’s intense rays. For a fly rod I chose my old Sage four weight. I did a ton of casting on Monday on our float trip, and I selected a lighter rod in order to provide some relief to my elbow and shoulder joints and muscles.

Typical

To begin my day I rigged with an amber ice dub chubby Chernobyl, coffee and black size ten Pat’s rubber legs, and an iron sally. A dark olive rubberlegs was effective on the Eagle on Monday, thus my choice of that fly, and I was certain that yellow sallies would make an appearance which led to the iron sally.

Next to the Large Round Rock

The river was in fantastic shape, as I plunged into my day of fly fishing. Flows were indeed high, but the river was exceptionally clear, and the left bank provided numerous spots, where the river residents could escape the faster mid-river currents. Unfortunately my three fly offering went unmolested in the early going, so I revamped the lineup. I removed the rubberlegs and switched the iron sally to the top fly and added a salvation nymph as the bottom fly. Finally the flies clicked, and I built the fish count to six, before I broke for lunch at 11:45. The action was decent, but the size of the fish was disappointing with no brown trout exceeding eleven inches. The salvation nymph did most of the damage, with a fish or two showing a preference for the iron sally. The chubby was an obvious distraction, as quite a few fish surfaced and refused the large attractor.

Nice Close Up

After lunch I removed the iron sally and replaced it with a beadhead hares ear nymph, and this combination resulted in a couple more smallish fish. The frequency of refusals increased, so I decided to respond to the signal being provided by the trout. I removed the dry/dropper configuration and converted to a peacock yellow stimulator trailing a gray size 14 deer hair caddis, It was a double dry set up in response to observed yellow sallies and sparse numbers of caddis. The duo enabled me to increase the fish count by a few, but the yellow stimulator seemed to be close to the preferences of the fish but not close enough, thus a flurry of refusals.

Slots to Explore

It was during this time that I made a downstream drift to the deflection off an exposed boulder, and a fish grabbed the trailing caddis. I set the hook, and the fish was instantly gone. I was confused over what transpired, until I tried to strip in my line and discovered that the only remaining component was my fly line. Apparently the loop I tied on the end of the seven foot tapered leader slipped out, and the entire tapered leader was now absent. I was not a happy camper. Fortunately one nine foot leader with 5X at the end remained in my front pack, so I took the time to unravel it and completed a loop to loop connection to the fly line. In this case, the leader came with a loop already tied by the manufacturer, so hopefully it will be more trustworthy.

Fourth Double of 2025

Once I was back in business, I used the break to substitute a classic size 10 Chernobyl ant for the yellow stimulator. I was going for buoyancy and visibility, and I allowed the deer hair caddis to remain on my line. This combination yielded one trout on the caddis, but then a long drought ensued. I once again swapped the top fly, and in this case I replaced the plop-generating Chernobyl with a peacock body hippie stomper. These flies enabled the fish count to climb to fourteen by 2:30PM, and most of the trout favored the caddis with only a couple trout hungry for the hippie stomper. Toward the end of this period, I broke off the deer hair caddis, and I replaced it with a size 16 deer hair yellow sally. The yellow sally, however, did not prove productive.

Second Click

Along the way I leaned on my newly constructed wading stick with all my weight, and one foot of its length broke off. It did not break off clean initially, so I continued to use it with the end protruding outward at a 90 degree angle. Eventually the entire section broke off, and I was forced to used a short stub for stability. It was better than nothing, but it prevented me from getting into my normal rhythm. I am once again in need of a new wading staff.

Nice Water Ahead

Wednesday was an average day of fly fishing; however, it fell short of my expectations for edge fishing, under what I felt were favorable conditions. I lost my tapered leader, and I felt worse about the fish attached to a seven foot length of monofilament. I broke my natural branch wading staff. The size of the fish was subpar, with no fish stretching the tape to twelve inches. The air temperature was toasty, and I was hot and weary by mid-afternoon. I probably should have returned to the Eagle River, where I knew decent insect activity prompted the fish to feed. It’s early July, so additional opportunities will likely present themselves. It seems that everything is two weeks ahead of schedule in 2025.

Fish Landed: 14

Eagle River – 06/30/2025

Time: 10:00AM – 4:30PM

Location: Eagle to Gypsum

Eagle River 06/30/2025 Photo Album

Every year during the last four or five I selected a few dates to join my friend, Dave G., on a guided float trip. Dave G. schedules ten or so of these ventures per year with Cutthroat Anglers. We typically use the same guide, Reed Ryan, and if any readers are interested in a guided float trip, I highly recommend Reed.

Monday, June 30 was my first scheduled float trip of the 2025 year. I drove to Eagle, CO on Sunday night and stayed with my friend Dave G. and his wife Beth, and this positioned us for an easy meet up with Reed on Monday morning. Monday’s weather was forecast to peak in the low eighties with mostly clear skies and sunshine, and the weather for the day did in fact evolve in this manner. Reed recommended that we float the Eagle River, so we met him at the parking lot at the Eagle Fairgrounds boat launch at 9AM. The flows on the Eagle on June 30 were in the 650 CFS range, and clarity was excellent. All the factors seemed aligned for a superb day of fly fishing.

Headed Downstream

By the time Reed prepared the raft and launched and configured two rods for each of us, the clock registered 10:00AM. Reed’s dog, Edna, was a very unobtrusive guest in the raft for our entire trip. I assembled my Scott six weight, and Reed supplied a five weight, since my Sage One remained in a state of being repaired. To begin the day the six weight was rigged with a chubby Chernobyl with an ice dub peacock body. Beneath the chubby, Reed added a flashback pheasant tail nymph and a dark olive Pat’s rubber leg size twelve. The depth from the chubby to the rubberlegs was around four feet.

Top Fly, Chubby Chernobyl

Since we chose the shorter float of eight miles (compared to the alternative 18 miler), we were able to explore the sweet spots more thoroughly. A PMD hatch commenced around noon, so we delayed our lunch break until 2:00PM. We did not want to be wasting valuable top water feeding time while eating lunch. We had our priorities straight.

Pat’s Rubber Legs

During the morning I manned the rear of the raft, and Dave G. commanded the front. In the early going I landed five gorgeous trout, and all nabbed the Pat’s rubberlegs, also known as the pickle fly. One of the five was a small barely countable brown trout, but the others were very substantial fish including a fine cutbow and a long brown trout in the seventeen inch range. The brown take was my favorite of the day, as I cast near the right bank and allowed the flies to drift very close to an overhanging cluster of dead branches. Just as the flies approached the branches I noticed movement a foot below the surface, so I set and connected with the prize brown. These are the fly fishing moments I live for.

On Fire

We swapped our dry/dropper rods for dry fly rods at 11:30, when we observed sporadic rises and a few emerging PMD’s, but we seemed to be a bit early with our top water offerings. We paused for snacks and water and rested for a bit, and then we resumed. By noon the hatch was developing, and our casts were rewarded frequently with hungry Eagle River trout. For dry flies I was deploying a yellow sally imitation as the front fly and a film critic PMD on the point. Between noon and 2:00PM we cast our double dries and enjoyed the magic of the hatch.

Anglers Behind Us

In addition to pale morning duns, the air was also occupied by yellow sallies, golden stoneflies and caddis; but the PMD’s seemed to be the main entrée. Reed worked diligently to place us in the best possible positions for success. Since we were not in a rush to cover the eight miles, he initiated “nose up” positioning quite often. This maneuver involves positioning the raft downstream from an attractive wide riffle and run section and then allowing the person in the nose to cast upstream. The ploy encourages thorough coverage of prime river real estate. In some cases Reed turned the raft around 180 degrees and gave the rear occupant shots at attractive water. It was a blast.

Film Critic PMD

I moved my fish count from five to thirteen during this dry fly searching time frame. Admittedly the average size shrank a bit, but a few very respectable trout were sprinkled among the smaller cousins.

Afternoon Brown Trout Beast

By 2:00PM we had covered what Reed considered the most exceptional water, and the hatch waned, so we pulled to the river bank for lunch. The sun was high in the sky, and it sent down intense rays on the river and those of us taking advantage of its offerings. Edna took advantage for a swim, and by 2:30 we were once again adrift on the rolling currents of the river.

Look at the Shoulders

Between 2:30PM and our takeout at 4:30PM, we covered quite a distance, and we once again cast our dry/droppers. I managed to boost the fish count from thirteen to sixteen, and although that represented fairly slow action, the three additions to my count log were quite nice, and included another brown in the seventeen to eighteen inch range with a significant girth.

We pulled ashore in Gypsum at 4:30PM, and Edna eagerly leaped into the water for a much deserved cooling off. Black fur must absorb the sun’s intense rays. Monday was another very enjoyable day on the Eagle River. I landed sixteen wild trout including some substantial fish in excess of fifteen inches. The weather was very cooperative, and I reveled in an extended pale morning dun hatch. The comradery among my friend Dave G., my guide Reed and myself was refreshing. I have one more guided float trip scheduled in 2025. I cannot wait.

Fish Landed: 16

Eagle River – 06/26/2025

Time: 10:00AM – 3:00PM

Location: Between Edwards and Eagle, CO

Eagle River 06/26/2025 Photo Album

Wednesday on the Yampa River was one of my best days of 2025 so far. I faced commitments for Friday through Monday that prevented me from fishing, and I had my eye on the receding flows of the Eagle River, so I decided to pay the freestone river near Avon and Eagle a visit. Flows at the Milk Creek station were in the 800 – 750 CFS range, and air temperatures were expected to peak in the low eighties. From past experience I knew that the flows recorded on the DWR site were advantageous for edge fishing the Eagle River.

I began my journey to the Eagle River early on Thursday morning to avoid construction delays in the Floyd Hill area, and that ploy was successful. I arrived along the Eagle River by 9:30AM, and after I assembled my Scott six weight, I hiked to the river and began my day. The temperature was already in the low seventies at 10AM. I chose my six weight in response to the high flows and the chance of tangling with muscular early season trout.

Starting Point

Once I was situated along the river, I began with an amber ice dub chubby Chernobyl, iron sally and salvation nymph. For the first hour I was not blessed with the presence of any trout in my net, although I did experience a pair of momentary hook ups. The lack of action provoked quite a few fly changes, and I cycled through an emerald caddis pupa, an olive-black Pat’s rubberlegs, and a 20 incher. By the time I paused for lunch, I managed to increment the fish count to two, including a small brown trout and a hot thirteen inch rainbow that flopped off my fly, just as I began to lift it over the rim of my net. My 1.75 hours of morning fishing were quite challenging and not what I expected.

While eating lunch I observed quite a few yellow sallies mixed with a few golden stoneflies. A hares ear nymph supposedly imitates a  yellow sally nymph, so I reverted to the iron sally with a hares ear on the tip. Finally the results began to improve, and I landed six additional trout to move the fish count to eight. Yes, from a numbers perspective it was quite slow, but there were a few highlights. Of the eight trout landed two were hot thirteen inch rainbows, and two were substantial fish with the remaining being less than twelve inches.

Barely Visible Pink

After lunch I approached a spot below a narrow island, and I began casting to a fairly long pocket in the main channel of the river. On the fifth drift the chubby Chernnobyl disappeared, and I was attached to a substantial fish. I battled the strong fighter and actually followed it downstream to some slack water along the bank, and when I slid the net beneath the wide body, I realized that I landed a gorgeous cutbow in the fifteen inch range. The colors were marvelous with a deep copper body, vivid spots, red cheeks and a bright orange slash.

By one o’clock I began to notice an abundant quantity of small pale morning duns, as they danced across the surface of the river in their tenacious attempt to become airborne. This observation prompted me to swap the hares ear for a size 18 beadhead pheasant tail nymph. The natural adults had a distinct pink-yellow hue, and they seemed small, thus the choice of a size 18. I stuck with this combination of flies, until 2:30PM, when I decided to give dry flies a test.

Best of the Day

During the early afternoon phase, when I cast the dry/dropper with the pheasant tail, I hooked another beast of a trout. In this case, the river warrior fought with dogged determination by diving, shaking and rolling. It was all I could do to contain the battler to the pool that I was next too, but eventually I scooped an eighteen inch brown trout into my net. I suspect it was the largest trout of 2025 so far for me. The lip of the brown was adorned with the size 18 pheasant tail.

Long Slick Produced

My switch to the double dry set up with a hippie stomper and cinnamon comparadun for the last thirty minutes yielded two twelve inch browns. One gulped the stomper and the other sipped the comparadun.

By 3:00PM I reached the point, where I normally quit, and the sun was high in the sky and beating down with direct rays. I was reluctant to continue up the river to fight the strong flows, so I hooked my fly to the rod guide and beat a path back to the car.

From a numbers perspective my day on Friday was not comparable to what I have come to expect from the Eagle River while edge fishing. I suspect that the hatches of pale morning duns, caddis, golden stoneflies and yellow sallies are in their early stages, and as the river drops to more manageable flows, the hatches will intensify, and the fishing will improve greatly. The cutbow and large brown trout made my day.  Hopefully I can swing another trip or two to the Eagle River in the next week or two.

Fish Landed: 8

Yampa River – 06/25/2025

Time: 11:00AM – 2:00PM

Location: Steamboat Springs

Yampa River 06/25/2025 Photo Album

I had my eyes on the declining flows on Colorado freestones, and I managed to squeeze in a trip to the Arkansas River on 06/20/2025. The other rivers I typically track carefully on their way down from peak run off are the Eagle River and Yampa River. In the case of the Yampa, flows dipped to the 900 – 1000 CFS range toward the beginning of last week, but because the drive is more than a day trip, and because I had commitments on Tuesday and Thursday, I could not fit in the drive . The Eagle River, on the other hand, was just coming into prime edge fishing range, and I planned to make a trip there in the near future.

Meanwhile, my wife was aching for some wildflower watching and camping, so we made reservations to camp at Steamboat Lake State Park from June 23 through June 25. On Monday we made the drive, and the wildflowers were indeed amazing. Yellow arrowhead balsam root flowers carpeted all the open areas away from trees including the spaces around our campsite. Lupines and Indian paintbrush served as adornments to the massive yellow blankets. During Monday and Tuesday we amused ourselves with hiking and camping activities, including a dicey drive on a rough four-wheel drive road. I own a Kia Telluride, and it possesses all wheel drive, but its clearance is not comparable to a Jeep or other rugged rides geared for rough off road travel.

I white knuckled three miles on a fairly rough “improved” national forest road, and then we turned onto another narrow passage. On my map  this road was shown as even more undeveloped than the first road. I managed to navigate downhill for .7 mile, and this included a couple serious drop offs from some large horizontal rocks, and my concern grew for the return drive. We found a small nook large enough to park, and we hoofed the remainder of the road to the creek and then continued for another .7 mile, until we turned around.

Scene Of Early Success

Jane grabbed for her phone to take photos, and of course it was no where to be found, so that added another concern. We worried about the loss of her phone, our ability to turn around on the narrow dirt road, and I recalled that the Telluride had an AWD lock button, but I was not sure where it was located.

Stunner

We completed the return uphill hike to the car, and fortunately Jane’s phone was placed on the passenger seat. Next she served as my guide, as I executed a tight turnaround in order to face uphill for the return drive. Finally, I got out the thick owners’ manual for the car, and after a bit of searching, I found the AWD lock instructions. We slowly crept up the rocky and rutted road, and at the particularly gnarly spots, I hit the lock button. We made it back to the first national forest road, and then we slowly maneuvered back to the main road. Whew! What a stressful adventure.

Curled with Slash

But this blog is supposed to be about fly fishing. What did any of this have to do with that pursuit? On Wednesday morning Jane and I packed up our camping gear. We were careful to keep fishing items in accessible spots. Steamboat Springs and the Yampa River were along the path on our return to Denver, and I was allotted fishing time.

Similar Looking Fish Nook

We arrived at our favorite parking lot by 10:30AM, and this enabled me to be on the river ready to fish by 11:00AM. The sky was overcast, and the flows were in the 260 CFS range. I thought this would be low, but the river was, in fact, in a prime state for fly fishing. I rolled with my Sage R8 four weight, and I rigged initially with an amber ice dub chubby Chernobyl, an iron sally and a salvation nymph. I got in position to make a couple casts, and within minutes a flotilla of tubers cruised by. One of the outliers splashed by within ten feet of where I was fishing. I was undeterred and on the fourth cast, the chubby dipped, and I hooked up with an outstanding fourteen inch brown trout that inhaled the salvation nymph. I was more than elated. In the same small pocket along the bank I foul hooked another very respectable brown.

Girth

I moved up the river along the right bank, and in a short amount of time I landed a small brown barely over the six inch barrier for counting. Some kayaks and tubers once again passed by, and I carefully waded along the edge to more promising locations. After ten minutes I arrived at a nice long pocket, and I flicked a cast to the midsection. Bam! A fish grabbed one of the nymphs, but I set the hook and connected for a brief period, before the fish tossed the fly and returned to the river. Unfortunately the energy in my fly rod snapped back and flicked the three flies over a cable that spanned the river. The cable was already littered with spinners, monofilament and flies; and my chubby Chernobyl dangled there two feet below the cable. I was in deep trouble. I looked around and found a four foot long branch and used it to insert in the loop above the chubby. After a few failed attempts, I snapped the branch downward with force, and the chubby remained embedded in the branch along with the trailing leader. I recovered the chubby Chernboyl.

Riffles

Unwinding the remaining flies and line seemed like an impossibility, but now that the flies were removed, perhaps I could pull the tapered leader through whatever snarl it belonged to. I grabbed my line and imparted direct pressure, and the line broke free. Guess where it broke? The loop at the end of the fly line separated, and I lost the entire tapered leader along with two nymphs. I knew I had additional tapered leaders in my frontpack, but how was I to reconnect to the fly line? I unwound a seven foot leader tapered to 5X, and it did not have a loop. Standing in a stream did not gain me access to nail knot tying instructions, so I improvised and tied a surgeon’s knot to connect the fly line and butt section of the tapered leader. It worked for the remainder of my day.

Arm’s Length

By now I observed small blue wing olive mayflies and occasional larger pale morning duns, so I used the break to re-rig my line to switch to a double dry approach. For the first fly I tied on a peacock body hippie stomper. Behind it I added a light gray comparadun on a short one foot leader from the bend of the stomper.

Two Beauties at the Tail of This Pool

I began casting to the location of recent rises along with juicy runs and pockets, and I increased the fish count from two to five. One of these additional landed fish was a stunning cutbow of fifteen inches with rosy cheeks and a bright orange slash. I was rather pumped. As the dark clouds moved overhead, the wind began to gust, and my ability to cast accurately was constrained. In addition, the mayflies either halted their emergence, or they got blown off the water, because surface feeding became a historical event.

Excellent Spot

This mini storm that lacked precipitation lasted ten minutes, and then the air calmed, but the clouds remained. I spotted occasional mayflies, but never as dense as the brief period before the weather event. Nevertheless, intermittent rises occurred, when I observed closely. The next fish I managed to hook put up a major tussle and broke off the light gray size 16 comparadun, so I replaced it with a size 16 cinnamon version. It proved to be a stroke of genius. The fish count mounted from five to twelve, before I called it quits at 2:30PM.

Mature Brown Trout

The game during the early afternoon consisted of a lot of observation. I prospected likely spots, but as I did so, I spotted very subtle surface disturbances, and then I honed in on those locations. Some of my best catches resulted from across river casts, where I allowed the comparadun to drift downstream ahead of the hippie stomper. On quite a few occasions, a trout grabbed the comparadun at the tail of a pool right before the fly accelerated.

Such Dark Colors

How was the quality of the fish? Superb. Of the twelve fish landed on the day, two were cutbows, and the remainder were brown trout. Other than the small number two, these browns were unbelievable fish. They were fat and fit and displayed vivid markings. They fought ferociously characterized by fierce head shaking, diving and rolling on the line. I was simply blown away by the 3.5 hours of fishing.

From the Swirls

Adding to my euphoria was the fact that all but the first two fish were fooled by a dry fly. Several times I considered reverting to the dry/dropper, but in each case a hefty brown trout would sip my fly and dissuade me from making the switch. By 2:30PM I arrived at a bridge, and rather than commit to another section, I hooked my flies to the guide and hiked back to the car to greet Jane.

They Keep on Coming

What a day! Twelve stunning fish in 3.5 hours of fishing during a sparse pale morning dun hatch. Dry flies were favored, and downstream casts seemed to do the trick. I overcame a frustrating impediment to my fishing early on, when I lost my tapered leader. Improvisation was the name of the game. I was concerned about low flows and tubers, but neither seemed to pose a barrier to my success.

Fish Landed: 12

 

Arkansas River – 06/20/2025

Time: 10:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: Near Salida

Arkansas River 06/20/2025 Photo Album

I was pumped up to edge fish the Arkansas River on Wednesday, but a spike in flows caused me to doubt my plan, and I detoured to the South Platte River. As I considered options for Friday, June 10, I renewed my desire to test the receding flows on the Arkansas River. The DWR graph for Nathrop indicated that the flows leveled out at 1800 CFS, and they were on a downward curve to the 1550 CFS range on Friday morning. This was all I needed for motivation to make the two hour and forty-five minute drive to Salida. My illness waned to a minor irritation, so that was another positive factor for a day of fishing. The high temperature in Denver was forecast to reach one hundred degrees, so that was a concern, although the snow melt and high flows were expected to buffer against the high air temperatures, unlike the South Platte River where no such volume offset was available.

The Descent to the River

High but Clear

I arrived at my chosen destination a bit after 10:00AM, and I was prepared to fish by 10:30AM. Normally I would have fit together my Sage One five weight, but its status was still listed as “repairing” on the Far Banks web site. Hmm, I wonder how active the repairing is? Instead I pulled out my Scott four piece six weight. I bought this rod for my trips to Alaska and Argentina, but I had not used it in a couple years. I am a nonconformist, when it comes to reels, as I am right handed but have my reel set up to be reeled with my right hand. You may ask how this works? If I hook a fish, I normally just strip line to bring it in. If I end up using the reel, I make a quick hand switch and hold the rod with my left and reel with my right. At any rate, I thought I remembered that the reel on the Scott was set up to wind left handed, and this was an impediment to my usage.

Finally on the Board

As I prepared to fish, I pulled out the reel with the six weight line , and I was pleased to learn that it was set up for right handed reeling. With this advantageous discovery, I decided to deploy the Scott six weight on Friday. I was fishing a big river, with high water, and strong gusts of wind and the possibility of larger than average fish. A six weight made a lot of sense.

Salvation Did the Trick

I hiked along the river for .4 mile and then angled down a steep bank. The river was indeed running fast and tight to the banks, but clarity was quite good. I began my day with a yellow Letort hopper fished solo. I read that golden stoneflies were present, and I figured the size 10 Letort hopper was a solid imitation. The hopper gambit was a total bust, so I switched to a yellow fat Albert trailing an iron sally and salvation nymph. In the forty-five minutes before lunch I notched two refusals to the fat Albert. It made me wonder, whether I abandoned the yellow hopper pattern too soon.

Another Representative Trout

After lunch I resumed my progress along the left bank. The lesson I learned was that the speed of the current was the prime factor dictating trout holding locations. In the morning I wasted time fishing very marginal relatively shallow runs and riffles next to the bank, as the current was a bit too swift. The key to finding trout was current breaks such as trees and large boulders. If I found slower moving current with some depth near these structures, I generally found trout.

Tough Wading Here

Between noon and 3:30PM I landed nine trout. This included a splendid pair of fifteen inch brown trout along with a pair of smaller relatives, but the rest were respectable browns in the twelve to thirteen inch slot. All these fish were quite healthy, and they put up spirited fights. They were probably extra combative, since they probably had not experienced a hook in quite some time.

Hot Spot Among Rocks

The size of the fish was more than acceptable, although the catch rate was fairly average. Of course, had I hooked the five refusals and landed the four fish that escaped, my day would have looked considerably more impressive. Two of the larger long distance releases broke off both nymphs in their frenzied efforts to escape. Why are the best fish always the ones that get away?

Long One

By 2:30PM I suffered a lengthy pause in action, and refusals to the fat Albert were prevalent, so I decided to try a double dry. I removed the dry/dropper elements and switched to a size 12 yellow stimulator and trailed a size 14 olive-brown deer hair caddis. These flies yielded two brown trout, with the second and last fish on dries being a very fine fifteen inch brown trout.

Better View

Boulder Field

Nine fish in 4.5 hours of fishing was fairly lackluster; however, I tangled with some very nice trout that required careful fish playing skills. I improved my ability to identify likely fish holding locations. If I do the Arkansas River edge fishing again, I will be more selective with my casting. Rediscovering my Scott six weight was perhaps the highlight of the day, and it will surely see more action during edge fishing season, if my Sage five weight remains out of commission.

Fish Landed: 9

South Platte River – 06/18/2025

Time: 10:30AM – 2:30PM

Location: Eleven Mile Canyon

South Platte River 06/18/2025 Photo Album

Baby sitting duties prevented me from fly fishing last Wednesday; however, I salvaged a fun day on a lake on Friday, June 13. Hurdles to the pursuit of chasing trout continued to plague me, as I contracted an illness that took me out of action late on Fathers Day through Tuesday; however, by Wednesday morning my energy was back. One nuisance symptom of my condition remained, but I felt well enough to embark on a fishing trip.

But where should I go? I eagerly tracked the receding flows on the freestones I love to frequent, as run off wanes, and I was surprised to see that the Arkansas River was already within the range of edge fishing. The Yampa River in Steamboat was actually prime for edge fishing, but the long trip made that option unworkable. I was nearly settled on the Arkansas, but when I checked the flows on Tuesday, I noticed a distinct spike in flows at the Salida and Nathrop gages. I was concerned that heavy rain on Tuesday caused the sudden increase, and perhaps this was accompanied by a loss of clarity. It was too late to call a fly shop.

Next to the Large Rock on the Right

When I checked again early on Wednesday morning, the spike leveled out at 1800 CFS at Nathrop, but I was reluctant to risk the long drive, and I wanted to leave before the fly shops opened at 8AM, so I defaulted to the South Platte River at Lake George. The graph of flows there was nearly an unending straight line in the 85 – 90 CFS range. I had decent success on my last visit there on 06/10/2025, and I assumed that conditions would be similar. I made the drive to Eleven Mile Canyon.

Very Respectable

By the time I arrived, geared up and assembled my Sage R8 four weight, it was 10:30AM. I began my day with a peacock hippie stomper trailing a size 16 olive-brown body deer hair caddis on an eighteen inch section of tippet. As I stood on the bank making my first couple casts, a trout rose next to a rock, and it was no more than five feet away from me. I dropped the flies in the current without even casting and allowed them to drift along the rock, and on the second pass, a very respectable thirteen inch brown trout aggressively smacked the caddis. It was quite an auspicious start to me day.

Early Beast

I added a second small brown, as I advanced up the river, but then the fly fishing gods exacted their payback for my early good fortune. First, I set the hook into nothing and launched the flies into a tree limb high above the river. After some persistence and an excessive struggle, I was able to bend the branch tip down to the river, where I was able to unravel and rescue the flies. Next I failed to pause to allow the flies to straighten before making the forward cast, and this error along with some gusting wind, caused the flies to confront me in a massive snarl. It was so bad that I had to cut off both flies and dispose of the tangled leader that connected the stomper to the caddis.

Fine Looking Area

After these two time consuming disruptions to my karma, I made a thirty foot cast across the river to a nice riffle next to some overhanging branches. I really thought it was a futile effort, but much to my amazement a decent fish smacked the hippie stomper. I raised the rod and connected and in the process lifted the nose of a decent-sized rainbow above the surface, but in a flash the fish was gone. I stripped my line in and discovered that both flies broke off, and I suspect I scarred the knot on the hippie stomper in my efforts to unravel the tangle.

Nice Rainbow

What else could go wrong? One more thing. I finally settled into a rhythm and began prospecting likely trout lairs, when another angler appeared and waded into the river no more than twenty yards above me. I was dumbfounded. I fished out a remaining attractive section, and then I climbed the bank and moved upstream. As I passed the angler, I told the invader that I assumed he did not see me, and that explained his presence in my space. He said that was the case, and then uttered “life can be hard”. I was again dumbfounded and simply shook my head. There was no apology or offer to move somewhere else. I hiked along the road a good distance, offering him a courtesy he did not extend to me, and then I cut back to the river.

Pleased

By now at least an hour had elapsed, but I began to fish my double dry in earnest, and the results were outstanding. I spotted very sporadic rises, and small caddis dapped the surface occasionally, and my hippie stomper and deer hair caddis seemed to be of interest to the river inhabitants. I boosted the fish count from two to fifteen, before I paused on an exposed mid-river rock for lunch. Among my catch were a couple twelve inch rainbows and four browns in the twelve to thirteen inch range, and one seventeen inch cutbow. Yes, you read that correctly. The beast rose and crushed the hippie stomper at the very top of a long pocket. I was shocked by this outlier.

Productive Water Ahead

After lunch at 1:00PM the game changed. The fish stopped responding to my double dries. I spotted a light yellow body mayfly slowly ascending toward the sky, so I swapped the caddis for a pale morning dun. Nothing. By 1:30PM I decided to replace the comparadun with a light gray deer hair caddis, and while paused to make the changeover, I pulled out my stream thermometer. I submerged it for more than two minutes in a spot with some depth along fast moving current, and it registered 66 degrees. Before I plunged it into the water, it displayed 77 degrees, so I knew it was functioning properly. 66 degrees represents the threshold of when one should stop fishing in order not to harm trout by playing them in elevated stream temperatures.

Cutbow Monster

It was only 1:30, so I decided to drive up the river toward the dam with the hope that the water temperature would be lower near the bottom release. I parked where I normally stop on early spring outings, and I hiked to the same sections that I was familiar with. I made some casts at the top of a nice long entering run to a medium sized pool, and this provoked a splashy refusal. Next, however, I once again tested the water temperature, and I was surprised to learn that the thermometer continued to register 66 degrees. I used my better judgement and called it quits at 2:30PM. The air temperature on the dashboard display was 80 degrees, as I began my return journey.

Fifteen trout landed in two and a half hours of fishing is very respectable, and quite a few were above average beauties. This was accomplished in spite of a series of time consuming disruptions. I fished only dry flies, and the fish were quite receptive to my offerings. The hot spots were the cushion in front of large exposed boulders, and quite often the trout grabbed the caddis, as I began to lift in front of the boulder to make another cast. Slight twitches and movement seemed to instigate trout predator behavior. The warm water temperatures were a disappointment, and I am concerned with a heat wave in the forecast for the remainder of the week. Could the water managers increase the flows? I am thankful that I carry a stream thermometer.

Fish Landed: 15

Curtain Ponds – 06/13/2025

Time: 1:30PM – 3:30PM

Location: Near Copper Mountain

Curtain Ponds 06/13/2025 Photo Album

On 06/17/2024 I endured a similar experience on Clear Lake, and on that occasion I salvaged a decent day of fly fishing by moving on to the Curtain Ponds. On 06/13/2025 I repeated that same cycle of events. Clear Lake was dead, so I cut my losses and migrated west along Interstate 70 to the Curtain Ponds near Copper Mountain. I drove in my waders, so upon my arrival at the ponds, I was essentially ready to fish.

Small Waves Greeted Me

My Sage four weight was already rigged with the mini chubby, a prince nymph and a hares ear; so I decided to give the three fly configuration a test at the outset. The sun was out most of the time, but intermittent clouds created wind and riffles. I fired casts toward depressions fifty feet from shore, and in the early going I managed to land two small brook trout that grabbed each of the trailing nymphs, as I began to strip the flies back toward me. This success, however, failed to reoccur, and the nymphs continually picked up vegetation from the weed beds, so I modified my approach.

Brilliant

I replaced the mini chubby with a peacock body hippie stomper, and then added a size 16 olive-brown deer hair caddis on an eighteen inch dropper. The double dry performed quite well, and I carried on with the combination for the rest of the afternoon. I snapped off the two flies on a bush at one point, but I replaced them with another set of stomper and caddis.

Getting Closer to the Bank

During my two hours on the pond, I landed twenty-two small brook trout. They were all within the six to eight inch range, but they were perfect gems with iridescent vermiculation along their backs and bodies along with orange bellies and white tipped fins.

A few of the catches molested one of the flies, as they sat motionless, but more frequently they attacked the caddis, as I began to strip. I allowed the flies to sit for ten to twenty seconds, and then I gave them a quick pop to create a wake from the stomper. This was followed by a second pop, and then, if no take resulted, I stripped faster back toward my position. I estimate that seventy percent of the hookups were produced by the caddis, and the remainder resulted from the hippie stomper. Refusals were part of the game, but takes far outnumbered the indecisive snubs.

Scintilating

For the third time this spring, I enjoyed a double. That is, I caught two trout on the same cast. In this case the larger brook trout engulfed the hippie stomper, and while I was playing it to my net, a smaller fish grabbed the trailing caddis. This was the first double on dries for this season.

Third Double of 2025

By switching locations I managed to salvage a decent day. Of course the fish were small, but I still had a blast fooling the small battlers. Not every cast was successful, and the sudden slashing of a hungry brook trout was always a surprise. I suspect that Clear Lake is off my list for 2025.

Fish Landed: 22

 

Clear Lake – 06/13/2025

Time: 11:15AM – 12:30PM

Location: Clear Lake on Guanella Pass

Clear Lake 06/13/2025 Photo Album

My grandson Benny was ill and unable to attend daycare on Wednesday and Thursday, so us grandparents stepped in to provide care. This eliminated those two days from consideration for fly fishing. On Friday morning I had a doctor’s appointment at 8AM, but I decided that I could visit a relatively local lake, if I prepared ahead of time.

Big Horns

That is, in fact, what transpired, and I set out for Clear Lake on Guanella Pass after my appointment. I had decent success in the small mountain impoundment in previous years in early June, so I decided to give it another test. I arrived by 10:45AM, and after I pulled on my waders and boots and assembled my Sage four weight, I hiked a short distance to my favorite spot. Alas, as I slowly scrambled down the bank to the edge of the lake, I discovered four anglers surrounding my favorite spot.

Target Area Surrounded by Anglers

I surrendered to the crowd, and I established a position north of the other fishermen. The lake was already quite low, and for the most part the surface was smooth under very bright sunshine. These were not prime conditions. I rigged with a peacock hippie stomper and olive-brown deer hair caddis, and I began to fan casts to the mirror-like surface. The next twenty minutes tested my patience, as the flies sat unmolested. I failed to observe a single surface rise during my entire time at Clear Lake. I began to experiment with different retrieves including pops and stops and steady strips, but none of these tactics generated interest from a fish.

Hippie Stomper and Deer Hair Caddis

Slowly the competing anglers began to depart, and I interpreted this as a bad sign. The last of the folks that were present, when I arrived, moved on, but a young man in shorts with a spinning rod descended above me, and he began to launch long casts to the far shoreline. He seemed to have a bobber with a spinner beneath it, and the bobber scooted along the surface creating a wake. Eventually he crossed to the opposite bank and worked his way north and away from the area that I wished to occupy.

Smooth Like a Mirror

While this was going on, I decided to kill time and allow the water to rest, so I pulled out my lunch and relaxed on a large boulder. Once my lunch was completed, I changed my set up to consist of a tan body mini chubby Chernobyl, a prince nymph and a beadhead hares ear nymph. I crossed to the opposite shoreline, and I began lobbing casts in a southward direction, as I covered the deep drop off that produced in previous years. In spite of some nice casts and thorough coverage of the area, I was unable to generate even a look, until finally the top fly bobbed, and I set the hook. I quickly stripped in a six inch brook trout, and I was pleased to avoid a skunking at Clear Lake. I continued working my way along the bank, until I reached shallow water, and then I called it quits and modified my plan for the remainder of the day.

Fish Landed: 1

South Platte River – 06/10/2025

Time: 10:30AM – 3:00PM

Location: Eleven Mile Canyon

South Platte River 06/10/2025 Photo Album

With Ireland and jet lag in the rearview mirror, I was anxious to return to Colorado waters. Run off was in full swing, so my choices were limited to tailwaters or lakes. I checked the flows on the South Platte River at Lake George, and I learned they were in the 88 CFS range, and my choice became a no brainer. I love Eleven Mile Canyon, and flows in that range were a bit low but well within my desired range. Air temperatures were projected in the upper seventies, and that reinforced my desire to visit the canyon tailwater.

Prime Water

I arrived at my chosen pullout by 10AM, and as I geared up at the tailgate of my car, another angler ambled by on his way to fish the section that I chose. This irked me a bit, but it was open water, and he got there first. I wore only my fishing shirt and stuffed my raincoat in my backpack. My rod choice was my old Sage four weight. I was in a position to begin casting by 10:30AM, and my line displayed a size 14 peacock body hippie stomper and a beadhead hares ear nymph. In the early going I managed a pair of relatively small brown trout, and the hares ear accounted for both; however, spots that looked very attractive failed to produce. The hippie stomper was attracting attention in the form of looks and refusals, so I concluded that the fish were looking toward the surface for their meals.

Looking Up the Canyon

I removed the long dropper leader and the hares ear, and I replaced them with a one foot tippet with a size 14 olive-brown body deer hair caddis. Cha-ching. This pairing clicked, and I moved the fish count from two to ten before I broke for lunch at noon. Credit goes to Max of Charlies Fly Box who posted an Instagram video that recommended caddis in the riffles for fast action. His advice was accurate.

Olive-Brown Deer Hair Caddis on Its Nose

After lunch I continued my advancement through pocket water and riffles, and I increased the fish count to fourteen by 1:00PM. By now the sun was bright and the air temperature was in the upper seventies, and it seemed that these conditions placed the trout in a state of lethargy. The double dry suddenly failed to attract interest, so after a long dry spell, I returned to the dry/dropper methodology. I spotted one solitary golden stonefly, so I chose a tan body mini-chubby Chernboyl as my top fly. Beneath it I brought back the hares ear, and then I added a second nymph in the form of a salvation nymph. The length of the leader from mini chubby to salvatoin was around four feet.

Pockets to Pick

I cast to all the likely spots, but it was as if the river was a victim of a recent fish kill. I removed the salvation and replaced it with an olive perdigon. After an enormous amount of casting and moving, I managed to land two nice rainbow trout in the final two hours. One bow snagged the hares ear, and the other clamped down on the olive perdigon.

Promising

On the day I landed four rainbow trout with one chunky specimen approximating thirteen inches in length. A brown trout stretched the tape to thirteen as well, and the other rainbows were around twelve inches in length. The remainder of the catch were less than a foot long.

Another Fine Rainbow

While both dry flies were working, the deer hair caddis was preferred over the hippie stomper. I estimate that the ratio of caddis dry fly takes to hippie stomper takes was seven caddis for every three stompers. Moderate depth riffles and medium depth and long pockets were the most productive river structures. The big deep pools were a waste of casting energy.

Run Near the Bank Delivered

A sixteen fish day, while most of the waterways were blown out with high water, was appreciated greatly. The last two hours were tough, but the morning action was fast and very entertaining. Perhaps another visit to the South Platte is in my future.

Fish Landed: 16

 

 

River Suir – 06/04/2025

Time: 9:30AM – 4:30PM

Location: Near Ballymacarbry

River Suir 06/04/2025 Photo Album

Kevin, my guide, suggested that our day on Wednesday might be more challenging than Tuesday. His lowering of my expectations was prescient.

Frenchy

Once again he collected me from the B&B at 9:00AM, and we proceeded to the Clonanav shop. I snugged on my waders and wading boots over my layers of fleece, light down, and a rain shell. I was glad for all the layers, even though we enjoyed long intervals of sunshine. Periods of overcast, wind, and light rain between the sunshine made my choice of attire proper.

Mayfly

The River Suir is a powerful river, and although the Irish guides complained about low water for the time of year, it seemed to be running swiftly from bank to bank. Kevin fixed me up with a Klinkhammer dry and a frenchy dropper, and I was off and running. For Wednesday Kevin brought along a wading staff, and I was pleased to have it; however, it was longer and heavier than I was accustomed to.

Big Fast Moving River

Since the River Suir is a larger waterway, I was forced to make long casts. My line had a shooting head, and it took me quite awhile to adjust to this line configuration. For me, the hard part was lifting the long line to recast after a drift. I was waiting too long, and stripping the front section into the rod, and this then required abundant casting to get the shooting head back outside the guides. Once Kevin demonstrated how to pick up, when the orange section was at the tip, my casting improved significantly, although probably not up to the expertise of those who do it frequently.

Keeping It Wet

The other issue was the glare on the water, and this was especially problematic, when I zinged out a sixty foot cast. I was out casting my vision. Nevertheless, I managed to land four brown trout before lunch including a dink six incher, a thirteen incher, and a fourteen inch fish. The last morning fish was a very fine trout in excess of fifteen inches, but exceedingly fat, and it demonstrated the hardest fight of the trip. This fish craved the bottom of the river, and it dove repeatedly. At one point Kevin readied his net, and this angered the fish and goaded him into another extended fight that included diving and head shaking.

Fat One

After lunch we moved upstream to some very attractive water, where a long seam bordered a strong center run. During the afternoon session, I alternated between chucking a streamer, dry/dropper and a single dry fly. I experienced hits and brief hookups with the streamer and one connection on the caddis dry. In the latter case a sizeable brown moved a foot beneath the water and then crushed the dry fly, but I only nicked its lip, and it dashed downstream to safety. It was the most visual take of the trip.

Silvery

I doubled the fish count from four to eight, and this included a pair of fish in the fifteen to sixteen inch range along with a pair of sub one foot browns. For the last hour we moved to the River Nire, my home on Tuesday, and I covered a riffle section and a long slow-moving pool. Once again I took advantage of the shooting head, and Kevin taught me to aim high, so the line turned over and fluttered down on the extremely smooth water of the large pool. This avoided slapping the line down with the risk of spooking fish. Fish were rising sporadically throughout the pool, but I was unable to tempt a bite despite a fly change to a small olive comparadun. Finally in an act of desperation, Kevin returned me to the dry/dropper technique, and on the first cast after the change, a hard charging brown in the fifteen to sixteen inch range grabbed the frenchy. This was number eight, and as a light rain changed into steady precipitation, we called it quits.

End of Day Pool

Wednesday was an eight fish day that could have easily been double digits, had I improved my conversion rate. I caught five very respectable browns, but most importantly I learned some new techniques and improved their application. Hopefully I can reinforce them during future outings in the western U.S.

Fish Landed: 8