Author Archives: wellerfish

South Platte River – 04/04/2022

Time: 11:00AM – 2:30PM

Location: Below Deckers

South Platte River 04/04/2022 Photo Album

A skunking or tough day on the river builds character. If that is the case, my character was enhanced greatly by today’s 3.5 hours of fly fishing. I suspect that if I were to count my worst outings over the last ten years, a high percentage resulted from a trip to the South Platte River downstream from Deckers, CO. In spite of my lack of success, the density of fishermen remains above average, and I am continually baffled by this circumstance. Perhaps I choose the wrong times to fish there, or maybe I am prospecting in unproductive locations, but my results do not merit the hordes of anglers that frequent this popular destination.

Focused on a Straggler

With high winds in the forecast for Tuesday and a skiing trip on the schedule for Wednesday I decided to take advantage of a promising weather forecast on Monday, April 4, 2022. I left my house in Denver at 9:00AM, and this enabled me to arrive at my chosen dirt parking lot along the South Platte River by 10:40AM. I quickly pulled on my waders, donned my fleece cardigan, and assembled my Sage four weight; and I was ready for action. I hiked along the road for .2 miles and then dropped down a moderately steep path to begin my quest for trout. I rigged initially with a yellow fat Albert, beadhead black mini leech, and salvation nymph; and within the first thirty minutes I landed an eight inch rainbow trout and experienced a refusal that resulted in a temporary foul hook. My optimism soared with this early interaction with South Platte River trout.

My One and Only

Unfortunately this pretty much summed up my body of success on Monday. During the afternoon at approximately 1:00PM, I connected very briefly with another trout, but it quickly turned its head and slipped the hook thus prompting some phrases that should not be repeated here. That was the sum total of my action on Monday, April 4.

I fished a dry/dropper in the early going as described above, but before lunch I switched to a nymphing set up with a New Zealand strike indicator, split shot, beadhead salvation nymph and sparkle wing RS2. This approach was a reaction to my belief that I needed to get my flies deeper particularly in locations with deep pockets and seams. I carefully observed the places of moderate depth that I approached, as I attempted to sight fish, but I never spotted a target. This is what caused me to surmise that the trout were hugging bottom in deep troughs and seams.

Pretty Spot

After lunch I prospected the section of the river that sluiced through some massive boulders, and it was here that I generated a very brief temporary connection with a trout.  When I reached the next parking lot, I decided to return to the car, and I moved it upstream another .3 miles, and then I returned to a point just above my earlier exit. Another fisherman occupied my desired space, so I cut in fifty yards above him to fish a very attractive section of moderate depth and medium current velocity over a large boulder strewn bottom. I elevated my focus in anticipation of some action; but, alas, a barrage of futile casting was my unfortunate outcome. This section produced some fine brown trout and a nice blue winged olive hatch during a trip in May of 2021.  During Monday’s visit to to this favorite section of the South Platte I noticed a very sparse emergence of blue winged olives, but the total number of sighted mayflies was less than ten, and not enough to prompt any surface feeding. I was convinced that my RS2 would draw interest, but that never became a reality.

Switched Back to Dry/Dropper Here

For the last forty-five minutes I reverted to the fat Albert and my PM trailers were a beadhead hares ear nymph and a classic RS2. I tossed this combination for awhile, and eventually exchanged the hares ear for a size 12 prince with the hope of gaining more depth, but once again my fishing theories proved without merit. I lacked confidence and was quite bored by 2:30PM, and with the car parked only twenty yards away, I executed an exit strategy and called it a day.

During the course of the day I tested the yellow fat Albert, black mini leech, salvation nymph, sparkle wing RS2, ultra zug bug, hares ear nymph, flesh colored San Juan worm, prince nymph and classic RS2. Only the salvation nymph produced, the fat Albert induced a refusal, and I suspect the temporary hook up was attributed to the RS2.

The high temperature rose to the low sixties, and wind was essentially a nonfactor. It was a great day for humans but apparently not to the liking of the South Platte River finned residents. Of course, I built character and hopefully this will serve me well during future difficult outings in 2022.

Fish Landed: 1

 

Clear Creek – 04/03/2022

Time: 1:00PM – 3:15PM

Location: After Tunnel 1

Clear Creek 04/03/2022 Photo Album

After a week filled with pickleball, gardening and skiing, I was itching for a fly fishing outing. Although the weather was not ideal for other activities, I determined that I could tolerate temperatures in the low fifties for an afternoon in Clear Creek Canyon. I read my post from 04/10/2021, and a twelve fish day over three hours encouraged me to make the short drive to the section of the stream just west of Golden, CO.

I ate my lunch before leaving the house and managed to arrive at a crowded pullout high above the creek by 12:40PM. The other four cars that surrounded mine were associated with rock climbers, as I was near a very popular climbing destination. I wore my light down North Face parka and my billed hat with earflaps, and I crossed the bridge and hiked along a path on the south side of the creek away from the highway. I was positioned next to the stream ready to cast by 1:00PM, and I was approximately .4 mile below the bridge.

Inviting Pool

I knotted a yellow fat Albert to my line and added a beadhead hares ear nymph and krystal stone, and I began to prospect the pockets and runs along the left bank. Within ten minutes I connected with a small trout that quickly evaded my fly, but then after another brief interval I hooked and landed a small brown trout that snatched the trailing krystal flash. I was pleased to be on the scoreboard, and this reinforced my commitment to Clear Creek and the stretch that I occupied.

Head Turned Back

For the next 2.25 hours I continued upstream and explored all the spots that displayed depth and slower current velocity, and I added eight more trout to my count to bring my total for the day to nine. Jane wanted me back at the house by 4:00PM, so I quit at 3:15PM within one fish of double digits, but I am trying to reduce my penchant for counting fish, so staying at nine was a good thing.

Promising Stretch

One of Two Rainbows

In the early going I replaced the krystal stone with a beadhead ultra zug bug to add weight and generate a deeper drift, and the ultra zug bug produced. With an hour remaining I swapped the unproductive beadhead hares ear for a beaded mini leech. The mini leech accounted for my last fish, and all the fish between my first and last snatched the ultra zug bug from the drift. I also experienced five or six temporary hook ups, so the action was rather steady over the 2.25 hours of fishing.

Pretty

Another Nice Run

The air temperature never warmed above fifty degrees, and my hands and feet morphed into stiff joints by the time I climbed the steep bank and returned to the car. The sky was slate gray during the entire afternoon, and I never saw any insect activity other than a few random midges. I considered Sunday to be a successful early season venture on a nearby stream, and a return is certainly a likely possibility.

Fish Landed: 9

Arkansas River – 03/28/2022

Time: 10:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: Chafee – Fremont County Line

Arkansas River 03/28/2022 Photo Album

The last of a string of very nice days prompted me to make my second fly fishing excursion of the year. The forecast high temperature in the Salida, CO area was 72 degrees, and this prospect along with flows in the 300 CFS range enticed me to make the nearly three hour drive to the Arkansas River for a day of fly fishing on a much larger body of water than that which I explored on Friday.

I arrived at my familiar pullout by 10:10AM, and this enabled me to make my first cast to the river by 10:30AM. The air temperature at the start of my day was 54 degrees, and I wore my light fleece cardigan, and it remained in place for the five hours I spent on the river, and I was never too warm. With winds in excess of 10 MPH predicted for the afternoon, I rigged my Sage One five weight, and this allowed me to utilize my new fly line for the first time. The line was a gift from Jane at Christmas.

The only other fisherman I saw all day happened to be parked in the same pullout as me; and, of course, he was ready before me and had first dibs on the river. He hiked quite a distance east along U.S. 50, before he dropped out of view in his descent to the river. My favorite location on the Arkansas River was downstream in the same direction, although I prefer crossing to the opposite side, and I contemplated that ploy, but in the end I opted for solitude and began working my way upstream along the south bank that bordered the highway. The south bank probably absorbed more fishing pressure than the north side, but I prefer the structure of the water on the highway side of the river.

Optimistic About This Section

I configured my five weight line with a beadhead yellow-light green Pat’s rubberlegs, and below it I added a mini leech with no bead. These two flies were present with a nymph rig that included a split shot and a New Zealand strike indicator. I began prospecting the water and quickly learned that the slower shelf pools and seams along the faster currents provided the most action.

During the first 1.5 hours, before I broke for lunch at noon, I landed one trout and endured four temporary hook ups. The Pat’s rubberlegs accounted for the single landed brown trout, and the success story was accompanied by four temporary connections. After a decent trial period I exchanged the mini leech for a size 22 zebra midge, and I suspect the long distance releases resulted from the tiny midge fly.

Molting Pat’s Rubber Legs Was Desirable

After lunch I continued with the deep nymphing approach and persisted with it until I quit at 3:30PM. I never saw any insects besides tiny midges and a very rare caddis. I was anticipating some blue winged olive action, but either it was too early in the season or the bright sun combined with a lack of cloud cover prevented a BWO appearance.

Lunch View

I managed to increase the fish count from one to seven, and the additional six included a twelve inch brown trout, and five browns in the nine to eleven inch range. The average size for the day surpassed the length of my North Fork of St. Vrain catches on Friday, but I have to admit that my expectations for size and quantity were a bit higher.

I Suspect a Moth

After a lull in action with the Pat’s rubberlegs and zebra midge I switched to a 20 incher and classic RS2. Five of the six PM fish that I landed chomped the 20 incher, and one grabbed an emerald caddis pupa, after I replaced the RS2. A couple more fish felt the penetration of one of my flies, but they managed to evade my net.

Another Decent Brown Trout

Between 2:30PM and 3:30PM I covered a significant amount of water and failed to land a single fish. In fact, I never experienced a look or refusal or temporary connection. I swapped the emerald caddis pupa for an iron sally during this time frame, but the move proved futile. The wind gusts made casting upstream a formidable challenge, and I finally surrendered at 3:30PM and climbed the bank to the highway, and walked a mile along the shoulder back to the car.

Juicy Shelf Pool

Monday was a fun day under bright sunshine with temperatures eventually touching the upper sixties and possibly nudging seventy. The wind was a nuisance, but I logged quite a bit of fishing time before it became a hassle. I suspect the absence of significant insect activity explained the slightly below average catch rate. I will probably return to the Arkansas River in a few weeks when the blue winged olives make a more sustained appearance.

Fish Landed: 7

03-25-2022 North Fork of St. Vrain Creek

Time: 10:45AM – 3:30PM

Location: Button Rock Preserve

03-25-2022 North Fork of St. Vrain Creek Photo Album

I must admit that my first fishing outing of 2022 was  a bit disappointing, but at least I lit up the scoreboard with six fish. Unfortunately they were quite small. One twelve inch brown chomped a fat Albert after lunch, but the other landed trout were in the six to eight inch range. As I look back on first days in Colorado, I can remember a few skunkings on the South Platte River, so at least I avoided that embarrassment.

The high temperature was predicted to be in the mid-60’s in Denver, so I checked the options within a one day drive of Denver, and I settled on the North Fork of St. Vrain Creek. A high in Lyons, CO was predicted to peak at 62 degrees, and the flows on the small tailwater hovered in the 25 CFS range. The South Platte River on a Friday was risky due to crowding, and the temperatures were colder in the narrow canyon that carries the flows of South Boulder Creek. These were my alternatives.

Snow Remains on the Bank

I arrived at the Button Rock Preserve parking lot by 10:00AM, and I quickly pulled on my waders and assembled my Sage four weight rod. I considered the shorter and lighter Orvis Access, but periodic gusting wind convinced me to go with the rod that carried a stiffer backbone. The temperature, as I embarked on the dirt road that follows the creek, was 42 degrees, and I wore my light down parka and New Zealand hat with earflaps. These clothing choices were welcome, particularly, when I waded through shaded areas. A fair amount of snow remained along the stream; however, the creek was very clear and devoid of any ice or snow.

Fish Number One of 2022

After a medium hike I configured my line with a peacock hippie stomper, beadhead hares ear nymph and salad spinner. I cast this combination for thirty minutes and managed to land my first trout of the 2022 season. It was a seven inch brown trout that munched on the hippie stomper, and I was quite pleased to be on the scoreboard. In the next half hour before lunch I swapped the salad spinner for the ultra zug bug to gain more depth, and this fly accounted for a second and slightly larger brown trout.

Number Two Nabbed an Ultra Zug Bug

I tied some beaded mini leeches on Thursday, and I was itching to break them in, so I exchanged the hares ear for the mini leech after lunch. In order to support the extra weight of the larger bead on the mini leech, I replaced the hippie stomper with a size 8 fat Albert and added a sparkle wing RS2 on the point. Amazingly the fat Albert produced two fish including a twelve inch brown, and that was my largest fish of the day.

Best Fish of the Day Ate a Fat Albert

During my time on the North Fork I cycled through a large array of flies including a soft hackle emerger, sunken ant and prince nymph in addition to those already mentioned. At one point I revisited the hippie stomper, and it yielded a small brown in addition to several refusals. Between 1:15PM and 1:30PM I spotted four or five blue winged olives, as they danced along the surface during a gust of wind. A few dimples revealed rises in some slow moving sections, and I converted to a single CDC BWO, but I was unable to fool any surface feeders. In addition, three small gray stoneflies fluttered above the creek just before the blue winged olive emergence, and I tried a non-beaded gray soft hackle emerger in an attempt to mimic the small stoneflies, but this ploy also failed to lead to success.

Gorgeous Pool Beckons

After I reverted to the peacock hippie stomper accompanied by a size 14 prince nymph and sunken ant I managed to land two more small trout on the prince. I covered a significant amount of water including some very attractive pools, and the small trout were my only reward. By 3:30 my back began to cramp, and I concluded that 4.5 hours was an excessive amount of time for my first outing of the season, so I hooked my fly to the rod guide and made the return hike to the parking lot. It was fun to get out on a stream again, and I am anxiously checking the weather for another opportunity to fly fish in the near future.

Fish Landed: 6

Gray Deer Hair Caddis – 03/12/2022

Gray Deer Hair Caddis 03/12/2022 Photo Album

Gray is another favorite deer hair caddis color, and I cast this fly quite frequently. In a manner similar to the olive deer hair caddis, I utilize this fly as the point on a double dry, when the trout are picky about the larger stimulator or hippie stomper. It works quite well in these situations. I have also encountered situations where trout refuse the light gray caddis, and I switch to a light gray comparadun with success. The similar size and body color to a pale morning dun seems to attract interest, but the wing configuration is wrong. At least in this case I appreciate the attracting quality of the light gray deer hair caddis. For more on the deer hair caddis go to my post of 02/22/2021.

Popular with Trout

I took inventory of my light gray caddis and determined that I required some replacements, and I produced eight new models. I am certain that these flies will see abundant time on my line in the upcoming season.

Eight Completed

Olive Deer Hair Caddis – 03/07/2022

Olive Deer Hair Caddis 03/07/2022 Photo Album

This fly is one of my workhorse dry flies, as I extract it from my fly box quite frequently. During the spring grannom hatch, it is a very effective imitation, but it also performs admirably throughout the season.

Closer

My 02/22/2021 post does an excellent job of discussing all things olive caddis. I mention using it in a double dry configuration, and in this post I would like to reinforce the effectiveness of this strategy. During the 2021 season I tossed a hippie stomper and olive deer hair caddis quite frequently with excellent results. A bushy stimulator combined with the olive deer hair caddis was another killer combination.

Nine Size 16’s

I also tend to knot a deer hair caddis on my line, when I approach a lake, and I am not sure what to try. The small and sparse deer hair caddis seems to be a food item that stillwater residents are familiar with, and they respond accordingly. Sometimes the high mountain trout grab the caddis even though they are primarily feeding on small items such as midges and ants.

After I counted my backup supply, I manufactured nine additional dry flies for 2022. Bring on the caddis.

Olive Stimulator – 03/05/2022

Olive Stimulator 03/05/2022 Photo Album

Olive is a third favorite body color for stimulators. On several occasions I used an olive stimulator successfully during a green drake hatch. The body color matches, and the dense hackles create the illusion of rapid wing movement. The wing angle deviates from the traditional mayfly upright style, but when green drakes are struggling to get airborne, the wing position may be a secondary consideration.

Opposite Side

My post of 01/29/2020 does a nice job of providing additional background information regarding stimulators. Check it out.

Trout Candy

My supply of olive stimulators was somewhat depleted, so I generated an additional four for the 2022 season. I am quite anxious to break these in on some wild western trout in the near future.

Gray Stimulator – 02/23/2022

Gray Stimulator 02/23/2022 Photo Album

My post of 1/29/2020 does an excellent job of updating on my favorite applications of the gray stimulator. It also describes some of the pitfalls to avoid while tying stimulators, and a review of Charlie Craven’s video on www.charliesflybox.com will ensure that any tier avoids these missteps.

Excellent

Stimulators comprised a large proportion of the flies in the fly box that I lost last September, so I turned to the vise and cranked out six additional size 14’s. Gray is a favorite all around body color for me, as it seems to work well across a broad spectrum of natural body hues of stoneflies and caddis. I produced six additional heavily hackled flies for the upcoming season.

Zoom the Pile

Yellow Stimulator – 02/22/2022

Yellow Stimulator 02/22/2022 Photo Album

If you click on my 02/21/2017 post on the yellow stimulator, you can read an interesting narrative about some of my early success with this fly. My devotion to this fly endures six years later, and I examined my supply and churned out another batch of four to increase my inventory to adequate levels.

Yellow Stimulator

The yellow stimulator in sizes 14 and 12 are especially effective during yellow sally and golden stonefly emergences, and these tend to peak in the late June until mid-July time period; however, I often knot one of these bushy imitations to my line outside the prime yellow stonefly time period. Guess what? They work throughout the season.

Hair Stacker Added

Stimulators are not exceedingly difficult to tie, but some precision at several key points can improve the output significantly. No tier is more precise in their instruction than Charlie Craven, so I usually review is tying video, before I dive into stimulator production. His method follows the classic approach including using fine wire to bind down the palmered hackle. I personally do not like applying wire to a dry fly, so I skip that step and tie in a saddle hackle in front of the tail and wind forward. Otherwise, i follow his steps without deviation.

Klinkhammer BWO – 02/21/2022

Klinkhammer BWO 02/21/2022 Photo Album

Background information and a materials table may be found in the following two posts: 03/06/2021 and 02/23/2020. I lost my fly box during 2021, and this put a dent in my supply of Klinkhammer BWO’s, so I devoted some hours to replenishing my supply with six additional versions.

A Thing of Beauty

My primary BWO imitation is the CDC BWO, but on occasions where the trout ignore the CDC style, I resort to Klinkhammer BWO’s. Sometimes it produces, but at other times it is also avoided. I concluded that the tough blue winged olive days occur when the wind is strong, and the adult mayflies bounce and skip on the surface of the river. It is very difficult to imitate the erratic movement with a fly, but I have on occasion prompted a response with a quick twitch or lift in front of a sighted trout. Even after forty years of fly fishing, I continue to experiment and learn new tricks.

Six New Klinks