Category Archives: Fishing Reports

Fishing Reports

Eagle River – 06/13/2021

Time: 9:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Downstream from Eagle Fairgrounds

Eagle River 06/13/2021 Photo Album

My day of fly fishing yesterday, June 13, 2021, easily qualifies as my best of the year so far. I take great pride in being a do it yourself fly fisherman. What does this mean? I read books and magazine articles and attempt to figure out the nuances of this diverse sport on my own. I tie my own flies, study entomology, monitor stream flows and correlate them to fishing conditions. In short, I attempt to use every resource at my disposal to build experience, so that I can achieve success without the aid of professionals.

This does not mean that I do not embark on the occasional guide trip, and Sunday was one such adventure. My good friend, Dave G., sent me a list of his scheduled guide trips for the 2021 season, and I decided to join him for two single day floats and one three day and three night extravaganza. Our float trip on the Eagle River with Cutthroat Anglers was the first of these three ventures. and what a day it was! Dave G. and I met our guide, Reed, at the boat launch just downstream of the Eagle Fairgrounds arena at 9AM, and we were on the water by 9:30AM. We drifted downstream for six hours and took out at a crude boat ramp at an RV park between Gypsum and Dotsero.

Typical Bankside Pocket

The sun was bright and intense all day with nary a cloud in the sky. The high temperature probably peaked in the upper eighties. As I write this, I checked the flows, and they remained in the 1100 CFS range. We fished from an inflatable raft, and this is the craft of choice on the Eagle due to many exposed rocks even at high flows. For the morning session Dave G. conceded the front position to me, and this proved to be advantageous. We switched positions after our bankside lunch, and then Dave G. once again suggested a shift with an hour left in the afternoon.

Behind the Branch

I tested dry flies twice during our float, but the fish seemed to much prefer nymphs during the bright conditions, so the surface fly experiments were short-lived. Without a doubt the top producer on the day for both of us were size 12 olive-black Pat’s rubberleg nymphs. Reed’s familiarity with the river paid big dividends, as we concentrated on drop offs from shallow shoals and deep pockets and holes along the bank behind current breaks such as large rocks or fallen logs. Making long casts ahead of the boat toward the bank with my Scott six weight ruled the day, and my exercise regimen for my wrist, elbow and shoulder seemed to pay off.

Prime time was from 10:30AM until 1:00PM, when we enjoyed our lunch break. Reed spotted a few pale morning duns during this time, which probably cued the trout to convert from rest to feeding mode. When we stopped for lunch at 1PM, my fish count was paused at eleven, and these trout were all netted during the active time frame. After lunch I incremented the count to fourteen, but the afternoon period was clearly much slower due to the elevated temperatures and the absence of aquatic insects. I am tempted to blame my shift in boat position, but Dave G.’s afternoon from the front of the boat was equally slow.

My Prize Cutbow

Very Fine Brown Trout Took My Fly

What about the quality of the fish? The size of the trout is what qualifies June thirteenth as likely my best day of the year. Of the fourteen trout landed, all were cutbows or rainbows except for three brown trout. Two of the browns were quality fish in the fifteen inch range, but the rainbows and cutbows were a notch above. A couple rainbows were below twelve inches, but the remainder exceeded thirteen inches, and the prizes were two twenty inchers. The first in the twenty inch range was a cutbow. We were pounding the right bank, and Reed announced a short pocket behind an overhanging branch that most assuredly held a fine fish. I anticipated the spot thanks to Reed’s accurate description and flicked a short cast just beyond the nuisance branch, and within a second of Reed’s proclamation of a fish residing in the bucket, the chubby Chernobyl dipped, and I was connected to the bruising cutbow. I did not have a firm grip on the rod, and the force of the first move of the trout caused the rod to jam against my knuckles, and then, in an attempt to regain the proper grip, I caused the fly line to wrap around my wrist. I allowed the streaking fish to head upstream, while I quickly used my right hand to slide the loop over my left hand. At this point I was in a position of control, and I used the six weight, nine foot rod to tire my catch and guided it into Reed’s large, long handled net. Whew! What a fight and what a beast of a fish.

Very Pleased With This Beauty

The second twenty-incher emerged from a nice slow moving seam along the left bank. Once again the chubby dipped, and I responded with a quick hook set. The ‘bow did not display as much girth as the cutbow, but it acquitted itself quite well with several missile-like streaks that forced me to allow line to spin off the reel. Pound for pound the rainbow probably packed a stronger resistance than the cutbow.

Guide’s Go To Accessories

The seven remaining cutbows and rainbows were not slouches, as several in the fifteen to eighteen inch range graced my net. These Eagle River fish were fresh and energetic after weathering the peak of the run off. I have experienced some outstanding days edge fishing the Eagle River during high water periods, but I cannot claim to have landed as many fish in the fifteen to twenty inch range. I take pride in my DIY capability, but a few professional guide outings remain welcome growth opportunities. I nearly always learn something new from the instruction of a guide. I have three days at the end of the next week to fish, and the Eagle River may have earned another day.

Fish Landed: 14

Frying Pan River – 06/11/2021

Time: 2:00PM – 4:00PM

Location: Just upstream from Dallenbach Ranch wedding venue.

Frying Pan River 06/11/2021 Photo Album

I forgot how much fun it is to fly fish the Frying Pan River. It has been at least two years, since I last made the acquaintance of this jewel of a tailwater in the Roaring Fork Valley.

That Smooth Slick Yielded a Brown Trout

My daughter, Amy, moved from Portland, OR to Carbondale, CO to be close to her boyfriend. She obtained a physical therapy position in Carbondale and rented a condominium in the same town. Jane and I were anxious to pay a visit to Amy and her boyfriend, Phil, and we finally made the trip on Friday, June 11.

We arrived in Carbondale at 11:00AM and spent an hour chatting, and Phil and Amy provided an apartment tour, before we cycled to Dos Gringos Burritos for a tasty lunch of tacos. After lunch I was anxious to wet a line, so I left Jane, Amy, and Phil and made the short drive to the Frying Pan River. Because June 11 is early in the season, and the heavy pale morning dun and green drake hatches were not in progress on the upper river, I decided to gamble on the lower water. I stopped at a pullout upstream of the Dallenbach Ranch wedding venue.

Salvation and Chunky Brown Trout

The river was in spectacular condition with crystal, clear visibility and flows in the 125 CFS range. The air temperature was around eighty degrees, and very little cloud cover blocked the intense rays of the sun. Before departing for my stint on the Frying Pan River, I checked the fishing report at the Taylor Creek website, and it mentioned midday hatches of blue winged olives and pale morning duns, so I armed my line with a tan size 8 pool toy hopper, a size 16 salvation nymph (PMD imitation), and a size 20 sparkle wing RS2 (BWO imitation). These three flies clicked immediately, and I maintained them for two hours of exceptional fishing on the Frying Pan River.

Speckles and Stripes

I steadily worked my way upstream for .4 mile and landed eleven trout. All but two were brown trout, and the landed population included a pair of fourteen inch browns, and a thirteen inch rainbow, and the remainder were predominantly feisty twelve inch browns. The prime targets were deep slots near large boulders, and pockets of moderate depth.

Promising Small Shelf Pool

In addition to eleven landed trout, I experienced quite a few refusals to the pool toy. Surprisingly very often the flash of a refusal to the hopper revealed the position of a trout, and during a subsequent drift the reluctant surface feeder grabbed one of the trailing nymphs. The pool toy converted one fish, and seventy percent of the remaining landed trout nabbed the salvation nymph, while thirty percent locked in on the RS2.

Length

In summary, I had a blast. I moved fairly rapidly with a flurry of casts to likely spots, and very frequently a hungry trout responded with a grab. The catch rate was fantastic, the size of the trout was excellent, and I basked in the gorgeous natural setting. Hopefully Amy’s presence in the Roaring Fork Valley enables many future visits to the Frying Pan River.

Fish Landed: 11

Yampa River – 06/09/2021

Time: 10:00AM – 3:00PM

Location: Town of Steamboat Springs

Yampa River 06/09/2021 Photo Album

Wednesday was my day to fish. We broke camp at Steamboat Lake State Park and loaded the Santa Fe in such a way that made my fishing gear accessible, and then we completed the thirty minute drive to Steamboat Springs. The flows dropped precipitously from the 1,000 CFS mark to the 650 – 700 CFS range for Wednesday. The reduction was quite noticeable, and it made quite a few stretches of the river in town more accessible to a wading angler.

As usual, we parked at the Howelsen Hill recreation area, and we immediately noted a group of young women under the gazebo listening to a long-winded speech from a man apparently knowledgeable about women’s softball scholarships. We concluded that a Triple Crown softball tournament was in progress, and college scouts were present for the showcase event. Jane planned to go for a walk before lunch and then cycle the Yampa Trail afterward.

A Bit More Space to Fish

I quickly pulled on my waders and fishing gear and assembled my Sage One five weight. The air temperature was close to eighty degrees, and Wednesday evolved into a bright sunny, warm day. I hiked downstream for .2 miles and then dropped down a steep rocky bank to the river and began my quest for trout. After four separate sessions of lake fishing on Tuesday  with only a momentary connection as a result, I was very eager to once again revel in the throb of my rod. The river remained high, but it was obvious that it receded quite a bit from the previous Tuesday and Wednesday, as I could wade along the edge more easily, and a few decent pockets and riffles existed beyond the narrow edge of the river.

Pleased with This Beauty

During the morning I utilized a tan pool toy hopper, 20 incher and iron Sally in the early going, and when the 20 incher failed to produce, I shifted the iron Sally to the top nymph position and cycled through a hares ear nymph and salvation nymph on the point. Two rainbows nabbed the iron sally and a brown trout grabbed the hares ear in the first hour. Fish numbers four and five were brown trout, and they each favored the salvation nymph.

Number five was the last fish of the morning and one of the better catches of the day. A fourteen inch brown trout emerged from a skinny run along the bank that could not have been more than two feet deep. It was rewarding to land such a fine specimen after casting to a marginal lie. I halted my fly fishing progress at noon and hoofed it back to the car, where Jane had already begun her lunch. I relaxed at a picnic table next to the softball field, and listened to Jane’s recount of her morning activities.

Nice Girth

After lunch I decided to progress upstream through a section that I mostly avoided the previous week. At higher flows it is very difficult to access, because dense vegetation grows tight to the bank of the river, and the swift current makes it nearly impossible to move upstream along the edge of the river. The flows on Wednesday made such an approach possible although still quite challenging.

Respectable

My decision proved sound, and I increased the fish count from five to eleven, before I quit at 3:00PM. Several nice brown trout in the thirteen and fourteen inch range were part of the afternoon catch as well as a chunky thirteen inch rainbow. Number eleven was the highlight of the day, as a fat fifteen inch cutbow nipped a sparkle wing RS2 at the very top of a short pocket that bordered the bank. I was very excited with this development on a warm late spring day in June.

A Favorite Spot Ahead

I attributed my moderate catch rate on June 1 to the lack of significant insect activity, and my observation on June 9 supported that theory. When I first began in the morning a squadron of lime-colored Sallies fluttered up from the vegetation and stream. After lunch I began to notice quite a few small blue winged olive mayflies along with a couple pale morning duns. The denser population of small mayflies prompted me to substitute a sparkle wing RS2 for the salvation, and it was that fly that sparked the relatively rapid action between 1PM and 2:30PM. In addition to the six landed fish, I tangled with a couple escapees that seemed to be of above average size. It seemed that the uptick in mayfly emergence activity spurred the appetites of the Yampa River trout.

Cutbow Was Last and Best of the Day

Wednesday was a fine day by this angler’s standards. The catch rate was a bit low, but I achieved double figures, and four of my netted trout were in the thirteen to fifteen inch range. The pace of action improved in the early afternoon after the appearance of a decent number of blue winged olives. The weather was a bit warm, but after the chilly spring of 2021, I welcomed a bit of heat. In a week or so the pale morning duns should make an appearance, and I am contemplating a return visit to the Yampa. Stay tuned.

Fish Landed: 11

Pearl Lake – 06/08/2021

Time: 1:30PM – 2:30PM

Location: Across from boat launch

Pearl Lake 06/08/2021 Photo Album

After two frustrating hours on Steamboat Lake on Tuesday, June 8, I convinced Jane to accompany me on a drive to nearby Pearl Lake. I was convinced that the smaller lake would be more protected from the wind, and the greater intimacy would aid in spotting fish, whether they be rising or cruising the shoreline. We arrived at 1:15PM, and since I remained in my waders and had my rod strung from the morning sessions, we immediately departed and followed the trail to the right of the boat launch. We circled around the end of the lake and settled on the bank on the opposite shoreline from the boat dock.

Pearl Lake Let Down

I began my quest for a lake fish with a hippie stomper and salvation nymph, but no rising fish and some chop on the surface made this approach seem hopeless. I exchanged my floating line for a sinking tip version and knotted an olive sculpin imitation to the end of my 4X tippet. For the remainder of my time on Pearl Lake I trailed several flies behind the olive sculpin including a yellow and red bucktail, a bright green caddis pupa and a cream wooly bugger.

Looking the Part

During my hour on Pearl Lake I was thorough in my search and used various methods of retrieval while counting my flies down to different depths, but I observed no sign of a fish. After thirty minutes of casting and stripping, we hiked around the next bend, and I prospected the deep drop off water twenty feet beyond the bank, but again I was unable to report the slightest evidence of a trout. Jane grew bored, before I did and returned to the car, and then I finally surrendered as well and followed her lead.

An hour of fly fishing at Pearl Lake failed to satisfy my yearning for the throbbing weight of a trout on my line.

Fish Landed: 0

Pine Lake – 06/04/2021

Time: 10:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: South side of lake mostly

Pine Lake 06/04/2021 Photo Album

OK, so I fished for stocked rainbow trout. Catching trout from a lake of any kind is an ongoing challenge for this novice stillwater fisherman. How did I do this time? Read on.

A week ago Jane and I made the trip from Denver to Pine Valley Ranch Park after some serious pickleball in the morning. On June 4, 2021 I decided to make the trip solo in order to log additional time on the lake. Also by foregoing pickleball I intended to get an earlier start.

Both objectives were achieved. I arrived at the lower parking lot at Pine Valley Ranch Park by 10:15AM, and this enabled me to be on the water fishing by 10:30AM. I hoped to revisit the upper end of the lake, where I achieved a small degree of success on 05/28/2021, but a youth with a small spinning rod, who was accompanied presumably by his grandmother preceded me. As I approached, however, the pair abandoned their spot, and the woman announced that “there were lots of trout, but they were not hungry”. Another young male angler was positioned toward the west end of the channel, but I decided to try the eastern end that was recently vacated.

End of the Lake

I knotted a peacock hippie stomper to my 5X tippet and then added a size 18 olive-brown deer hair caddis on a short six inch dropper, and I began to flip casts to visible fish. Unfortunately the trout were preoccupied with invisible food items, and they ignored my large offerings. A few brave finned residents inspected the hippie stomper, but they eventually shunned the imitations. Not wishing to invade the space of the young angler, I hooked my flies to the rod guide and took a walk around the western end of the lake, until I found a nice open space on the southwest side of Pine Lake. I began spraying twenty to thirty yard casts to the deeper part of the lake, but without rising or sighted fish, my prospects seemed rather slim. I spent fifteen minutes pursuing this futile strategy, when I observed the occupant of the channel area walking along the north side of the lake, and I quickly reversed my path and claimed the channel section that produced six rainbows in two hours on May 28.

Nice for Stocker

For the remainder of the morning I sight fished to the shallow water inhabitants, and I landed five trout before I broke for lunch at 12:30PM. All these fish were clearly stocked, and surprisingly four crushed the hippie stomper, while one fell victim to the size 18 caddis. I also tested a size 24 griffith’s gnat, but it was ineffective unlike the previous Friday, when the tiny peacock speck was a favorite. After lunch on the bank next to the canal-like waterway, I resumed fishing and swapped the griffiths gnat for a size 20 parachute Adams. The small Adams repaid my confidence, as it produced one of the larger rainbow trout of the day.

Although you might expect this fishing to be rather easy, it was not. I executed numerous casts to sighted fish, and more often than not they simply swam by my imitations. Occasionally they slowly moved below the hippie stomper and nudged it, but failed to eat the medium sized foam attractor. Inexplicably on rare occasions one of the targeted fish darted a foot or more to gobble the hippie stomper. Why the stomper produced random aggressive assaults was beyond my comprehension, but I was pleased with the variance in behavior. This area of the lake contained significant gobs of green algae or moss, and it was a nuisance to pick the slime off both flies after four or five casts. Another element of difficulty was the need to make fairly long backhand casts because of my position on the north side of the slough and the presence of dense willows along much of the section.

Beaver House I Walked Over

By one o’clock the fish count rested on six, and the random rises in the area ceased, and I grew bored with backhand casts and picking slime, so I stripped in my line and waded across the channel in order to explore the western shoreline of the lake. I waded along some mucky reeds and crossed over the top of a beaver house, and then I paused to scan the water for rises of visible fish. None of these appeared, but a long mammal came into view, and just as I recognized it as a beaver, it raised its tail and smacked it down on the water to create a loud whacking sound. Beavers do this to warn their mates. I watched the beaver circle around the western bay three or four times, while I recorded several videos, and then I moved toward the southwest shoreline. A man and young girl arrived on the north shore, and they, likewise, spotted the beaver, and the girl began to chant “go away beaver”. Perhaps in response to the chant the beaver executed one more tail thwack, and then it dove beneath the surface. I moved on and disregarded any additional beaver activity.

Same Fish, Better View

I was next perched on a gradual beach in the extreme southwest corner of the lake, and I began casting the hippie stomper and parachute Adams to the deeper area. Two fly fishing anglers occupied spots roughly thirty yards to the east, but I gradually worked my way toward them with no success. When I reached a long narrow deadfall that extended into the lake for twenty feet, I fired a cast to the deep area beyond the tip of the fallen tree, and a small rainbow rose and crushed the hippie stomper. Imagine my surprise, when I netted number seven from the large lake. This was my first landed fish from Pine Lake that did not originate from the shallow channel, where I began the day.

I continued to fire casts to the area surrounding the angled tree without success, and then the pair of anglers to the east decided to call it a day. This opened up the entire south shore, and I began to gradually move in an easterly direction. I duped a few more fish with the hippie stomper, but quite a few refusals crept into the equation as well. The gap between surface action was fairly long, and I was frustrated with my inability to determine what caused the random attacks on my hippie stomper.

West End

After a lengthy lull with a few refusals and some splashy rises, I contemplated another change. This time I decided to swap the trailing dry fly for a beadhead nymph, and I selected a size 16 salvation nymph. I cannot explain the choice other than the thought, that I wanted flash, and I harbor exceptional confidence in the salvation. Can you guess how this change played out? It was a stroke of genius. I fired forty foot casts to random areas and allowed the hippie stomper to rest for thirty seconds. In the absence of a response from lake residents, I began to strip the flies with short strokes, and quite often the hippie stomper disappeared, and I was connected to a rainbow trout chowing down on the flashy salvation nymph. In some cases, the trout attacked the hippie stomper, but more frequently the salvation was the object of desire of the stocked trout.

Silvery Sheen

The fish count mounted from seven to seventeen, once I uncovered the winning technique. I could have continued tormenting Pine Lake trout, but by 4PM I was tired, and I broke off the salvation as a result of an abraded knot. Rather than replacing the salvation with another fresh version, I decided to call it quits. What a fun day! Sure, most of the landed trout were stocker rainbows, but I was mentally stimulated with the challenge of unlocking the code for success. Once I settled on the nymph dropper, the trout responded. I love the feeling of confidence, when I find the secret key. I discovered that an abundant quantity of fish remain in Pine Lake, and I will likely pay it another visit or two before run off winds down.

Fish Landed: 17

Yampa River – 06/02/2021

Time: 9:00AM – 11:00AM

Location: Steamboat Springs

Yampa River 06/02/2021 Photo Album

I rarely deploy streamers, even though I know they are a very effective method of catching large trout. Wednesday, June 2, 2021 was a rare occasion, when a streamer made an appearance on the end of my line. How did it turn out?

Tuesday was a fairly average day on the Yampa River, and it failed to live up to my expectations for edge fishing, when flows are in the 1,000 – 1,300 CFS range. At 5PM I packed up my gear and remained in Steamboat Springs to grab some barbeque on Tuesday evening, before I drove to Stagecoach State Park to claim my campsite reservation. Only two other campers occupied sites on the McKindley Loop, and I was pleased with the solitude, since I was extremely tired from fighting the heavy currents for six hours on Tuesday. Since dinner was in my rearview mirror, I completed my fishing notes, and then I tuned in the Trailblazers vs. Nuggets game on satellite radio. I managed to listen to three quarters, until my eyelids grew heavy, and I clicked off the game and climbed into my sleeping bag in the rear of the Santa Fe. I decided to learn the result of the game, when I woke up on Wednesday morning. As it turned out, I missed a memorable double overtime win by the Nuggets in which Damian Lillard scored 55 points. Going to sleep early was probably a sound move to avoid stress on my heart.

My decision to forego a tent enabled me to get a reasonably early start, and I was back at Howelsen Hill by 8:45AM on Wednesday morning. I quickly donned my waders and assembled my Sage One five weight and ambled along the south side of the river, until I was thirty yards above my starting point on Tuesday. I was required to leave by 11:00AM in order to be back in Denver in time to accompany my wife to a Rockies game at 6:10PM. I chose to fish the same, albeit shorter, section of the river on Wednesday because refusals from Tuesday haunted my dreams. I knew that respectable fish occupied the prime spots, and I was convinced that I could fool them a day later.

I began with a yellow fat Albert, 20 incher, and iron sally. I reasoned that the chubby Chernobyl and pool toy hopper matched the size favored by the resident trout, but the body color was off. I guessed yellow might be the answer due to early season golden stonefly activity. The absence of any significant hatch other than some tiny blue winged olives convinced me that the trout were in an opportunistic frame of mind, and the most prevalent early season food source was dark and golden stoneflies, thus, the 20 incher and iron sally.

A Rare Brook Trout

I worked my way upstream in a very focused manner, and in the early going I landed a small brook trout and temporarily hooked a fine rainbow trout. However, my strategy did not play out in the manner that I envisioned, and at 10:30AM the fish counter remained at one, and I was once again in a state of disappointment. I was near the pedestrian bridge across from Howelsen Hill, and two attractive deep pools remained ahead of me. I decided to deviate from my normal stubborn adherence to dry/dropper and indicator nymph fishing, and I deployed a streamer. I opted to forego changing to a sinking tip line and instead knotted a sparkle minnow to the leader on my floating line. The sparkle minnow was heavily weighted, and this allowed me to sidestep adding weight.

Sparkle Minnow Shines

A Top Notch Pool at Flows Over 1000 CFS

The first deep shelf pool was rather marginal, but I stripped the flashy baitfish imitation through the area ten times with the slim hope of inducing a strike. Either the area was devoid of fish, or the aquatic inhabitants were not interested. I moved on to the main attraction, the large eddying pool just downstream from the Howelsen footbridge. Once again I began firing casts to all areas of the pool, but I focused my probing on the current seam that curved along the rapid flow near the middle of the river. I allowed the streamer to sink a bit, and then I stripped it in with all manner of movement – fast, slow, erratic, across the current, upstream against the current and even downstream. Nothing. It was 10:45AM, and I was about to get a jump on my return trip, while once again judging streamer fishing as an ineffective fly fishing technique invented to sell expensive flies.

Zoomed on the Sparkle Minnow

Showing Off

I tossed a cast toward the middle of the seam, and as I made rapid, short strips to swing the fly through the tail section, I felt a pronounced bump. Could that have been a fish? I was convinced it was, and this small bit of action elevated my concentration. Two casts later I fired a short missile to the top one-third of the pool, and as I stripped the fly back toward my position along the bank, I felt a tap and then a grab. I was connected and swept the rod sideways, and this action provoked a heavy throbbing through the five weight rod. I held tight, as a splendid cutbow streaked up and down the pool, until I guided it into my net. Needless to say I was thrilled with the fourteen inch beauty and with the rare streamer fishing success story. I snapped quite a few photos and gently returned my Wednesday prize to its home in the Yampa River.

Wednesday morning was nearly a significant flop, but a major deviation in my normal approach yielded an exciting result. I landed rainbows and browns on Tuesday, and that fact, along with the small brook trout and cutbow on Wednesday produced a grand slam! Netting a gorgeous cutbow on a sparkle minnow was easily the highlight of the day, and perhaps a streamer will find a place in my arsenal more frequently in the upcoming weeks, as the flows on the rivers and streams begin to abate.

Fish Landed: 2

Yampa River – 06/01/2021

Time: 11:00AM – 4:30PM

Location: Town of Steamboat Springs

Yampa River 06/01/2021 Photo Album

I sat down at my computer on Memorial Day to survey the stream flows on the many rivers and streams, that I regularly frequent. Imagine my surprise, when i learned that the flows on the Yampa River in Steamboat Springs were in the 1,000 – 1,300 CFS range. Historically I enjoyed many excellent days of fly fishing during high but clear flows, as the rivers subside, and the Yampa was already in my desired state on June 1! I called the Steamboat Flyfisher and conferred with a young lady, who told me that the river peaked at 1,500 CFS, and it was indeed receding and clear. I immediately decided to build a trip into my plans so as not to miss my favorite post run off conditions.

Fortunately I had no prior commitments for June 1 and 2, so I completed most of my packing on Monday night for an overnight camping stay and a day of fly fishing on the Yampa on Tuesday, June 1, 2021. I reserved a campsite on the McKindley Loop of Stagecoach State Park, and the forecast of a warming trend starting on Tuesday reinforced my decision to spend a couple days in the Yampa River Valley.

An early departure on Tuesday enabled me to arrive at the parking lot by Howelsen Hill at 10:30AM, and I was positioned on the southern side of the western end of the river ready to cast by 11:00AM. The temperature, when I began, was in the low sixties, and the thermometer climbed to seventy by the time I quit at 4:30PM. The flows were indeed in the 1,100 – 1,300 CFS range as depicted on the DWR streamflow graph. The river was stained a bit, but visibility remained quite good for my purposes. The elevated flows did not surprise me, but it was tough to get around as a result of high velocity along the bank and thick vegetation blocking land access at many spots.

Tight to the Bank

I pulled my Sage One five weight from its rod case and decided to wear only my fishing shirt with no additional layers. For starters, I knotted a tan ice dub chubby Chernobyl , a 20 incher, and a go2 bright green caddis pupa to my line; but the combination failed to produce in the early going, so I swapped the caddis pupa for a pink San Juan worm. These three flies finally delivered positive results, as I netted three fish before lunch. The two rainbows grabbed the 20 incher and a brown trout greedily gobbled the San Juan worm. After lunch the worm no longer satisfied the appetites of the fish, so I exchanged it for an iron Sally, and the chubby Chernobyl, 20 incher and iron Sally served as my main offerings for much of the remainder of the day, as the fish count grew from three to seven. During this time period three fish favored the iron sally and one crushed the chubby Chernobyl. Along with the seven landed trout, I suffered numerous refusals to the chubby Chernobyl, a couple foul hooked fish, and some temporary connections. It was good to see trout looking to the surface in spite of the high flows, but something was amiss with the large attractor.

Stretched Out

At Ease

In an effort to eliminate the refusals I tried a peacock hippie stomper along with a purple haze for a bit, but the resident trout displayed zero interest. I decided to return to the dry/dropper approach, since it at least created interest, and I tested a tan pool toy, coffee/black Pat’s rubber legs, and an iron sally. The iron sally enabled me to add two to the fish count, so the new lineup was somewhat of a success. The last hour was a challenge, as I cherry picked some prime spots, but the flows surged with ice cold snow melt, and that seemed to give the trout a case of lockjaw.

River Running Through the Willows

The high flows yielded limited prime locales, and the fish were in the moderate size range, but I scratched out nine successes over 5.5 hours to salvage an average day. I suspect the fishing will improve as the flows drop below 1,000 CFS, and this will also enable easier movement and better holding lies. I observed a sparse blue winged olive hatch after lunch, but the trout seemed to ignore it. The absence of significant bug activity probably explained the slower catch rate compared to previous visits when flows exceeded 1,000 CFS. I have come to understand that high flows that concentrate the fish along the bank are one variable required for run off edge fishing success. The other major factor is the timing of the conditions over the latter half of June, when a variety of insect hatches coincide with fish hugging the banks. I look forward to another day next week, when Jane and I camp at Steamboat Lake State Park.

Fish Landed: 9

Back to Rainbows

South Platte River – 05/26/2021

Time: 11:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: Downstream from Deckers

South Platte River 05/26/2021 Photo Album

I was encouraged by my visit to the South Platte River in the Deckers area on 05/17/2021 and anxious to schedule a reengagement. A cool day on Wednesday, May 26, 2021 with lots of cloud cover made a second trip to the South Platte River below Deckers a reality. Flows were a moderate 110 CFS, and an Instagram photo from someone I follow revealed some discoloration, although it was not enough to cancel my plans. I arrived at a sanctioned parking lot at 10:30AM, and after I set up my Sage four weight and walked along the road for a tenth of a mile, I was perched on the edge of the river prepared to fly fish. The flows were ideal from my perspective, and as shown on the Instagram photo, there was a slight stain, which was actually favorable for approaching trout.

Lunch View from the Tip of an Island

I debated whether to utilize an indicator system, but after careful consideration I adopted my standard dry/dropper configuration. I began with a tan pool toy hopper and trailed a salvation nymph and classic RS2. Between 11:00AM and noon I was unable to hook and land a fish, although I did experience a momentary connection to one of the nymphs and two swirls to the hopper. After lunch I removed my raincoat and stuffed it in my backpack, as the air temperature rose to comfortable levels, although the sun continued to be an intermittent presence.

Deep Water Beyond Gravel Bar Looks Encouraging

My slump continued for the thirty minutes after lunch, but then a fifteen inch brown trout assaulted the RS2, as I began to lift at the tail of a drift in front of a large exposed boulder. Earlier thoughts of a skunking penetrated my thought waves, so I was very pleased to tally a notch on the fish counter. After I photographed and released the much appreciated brown trout, I continued upriver in a renewed state of optimism; however. another hour elapsed with nothing to show for my diligent effort. I began changing the bottom fly and cycled through a hares ear nymph and orange scud. At one point I noticed two spaced out rises, so I shifted my approach to a double dry. I kept the pool toy hopper in place and added a soft hackle emerger without a bead. The soft hackle generated a refusal, but that was the extent of the double dry fly response.

Number One Was a Stunner

The absence of additional surface activity caused me to revert to the dry/dropper method; however, I replaced the pool toy hopper with a peacock hippie stomper and knotted a go2 bright green caddis pupa below it and followed the caddis pupa with a classic RS2. Surely the bright caddis would attract some afternoon interest. I was correct in this assumption, as a chunky thirteen inch rainbow smacked the go2 caddis around 1:30PM. The hard fighting rainbow might have been a stocked fish, but I was pleased with it nonetheless.

Decent Rainbow Trout on Go2 Caddis Pupa

Some large gray clouds moved into the area for most of the remainder of the afternoon, and I spotted the occasional blue winged olive, as they flitted up from the river. The fish count paused on two for a lengthy period of time, and I was fairly certain that I would return home and record that number on the analytics page of this blog.

I persisted, however, and I struggled to find some commonality with the type of river structure that provided success. Of course, it was difficult to ascertain a pattern, when only two trout succumbed to my search. By 2:30 the low light and wind seemed to induce some baetis activity, as the RS2 became popular. In a large pocket along the right bank, a relatively slow current flowed over moderate depth, and three brown trout less than twelve inches nabbed the RS2. In each case I made an upstream cast, and the hippie stomper paused briefly, before I lifted the rod tip and realized I was attached to a spunky fish. During this time frame I also experienced three or four temporary connections, and these instances seemed to result from a lift or strip near the end of the drift.

Lots of Spots

By 3PM I had covered quite a bit of South Platte real estate, and I was approaching a pullout occupied by several vehicles, so I crossed the river and climbed a short, steep bank and hiked back to the car. When I reached the Santa Fe, I thought about the fish that I hooked near the beginning of my day and the two refusals, and I decided to revisit the same spot. I remembered that the river reflected off a long rock along the far bank, and the current cut a deep trough, as it gouged gravel with the accelerating flow. I quickly found the spot and waded into position, so that I could execute an across stream cast such that the hippie stomper and two nymphs drifted through the natural funnel along the rock.

Point of Attack Was Next to Exposed Rock Along the Bank

On the third drift, as the hippie stomper neared the downstream end of the long rock, I spotted a dip and reacted with a swift hook set. Wow! I felt heavy vibrating weight, as the live object on the end of my line executed several headshaking dives. I gained some line with a couple strips, but then the fighter raced downstream below an exposed rock, and I released at least ten feet of line, before the aquatic warrior stopped. Once again I stripped line and gained the upper hand on a sixteen inch brown trout, which I scooped into my net, while my heart rate elevated to excitement levels. The lanky trout was not happy, and it squirmed and splashed in an effort to free itself from the rubber net. I took a video and snapped a few photos and then gently released the river resident to live on to fight another day.

Wide Body

I decided to end on a positive note, so I hooked my fly in the rod guide and returned to the nearby car. My day was punctuated by the first and last fish with a few small wild fish in between and accompanied by a ton of fruitless casting. Seven fish in four hours was certainly a below average catch rate, but the ability to fish in a river on May 26, when run off predominates most of Colorado, was much appreciated.  I suspect that I will return if the flows remain in the fifty to two hundred cfs range for the foreseeable future.

Fish Landed: 7

Davis Ponds – 05/25/2021

Time: 11:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: Davis Ponds

Davis Ponds 05/25/2021 Photo Album

If you are a long time follower of this blog, you know that I am not a big fan of fishing in stillwater. Unfortunately the options for fly fishing in flowing water are dwindling in Colorado, as snowpack shifts from solid to liquid form late in May. The run off conditions have actually been delayed as a result of colder than normal weather in April and May of 2021. Nevertheless, the inevitable has begun, so I turned my thoughts to lake fishing options on May 25.

I enjoyed several trips to Davis Ponds during my recovery from heart surgery in June of 2020, so I decided to test the waters once again on Tuesday. Temperatures in the seventies in Denver translated to sixties for the Davis Ponds area, and I am pleased to report that my fishing outing was a splendid spring experience. Before choosing Davis Ponds as my destination, I checked the DOW stocking report, and this useful document informed me that the Davis Ponds were stocked on May 11, two weeks ago. I was hopeful that some fish remained to entertain me.

Murky Pond

I arrived at the Davis Ponds trail parking lot at 10:30AM, and I quickly climbed into my waders and assembled my Sage four weight. Strong winds provided some concern, and intermittent gusts continued at the ponds, but my fishing position was somewhat protected, and I was not significantly impacted by the strong air currents. The pond water was significantly stained with only a foot or two of visibility, and this unfavorable condition factored into my choice of flies. I searched through my fleece wallet and extracted a black nosed dace streamer and dark cahill wet fly. These were throwback flies to my early days of fly fishing and fly tying, so I was anxious to determine, if they could still produce fish thirty-five years later. The black nosed dace displayed a silver body and white bucktail underbody, which I hoped would stand out in the turbid water. The dark cahill contained a muskrat fur body, and when wet, the dark fly contrasted with the brownish tan water in the pond.

The dark cahill proved to be a solid choice, as I netted five stocked rainbow trout, before I broke for lunch at noon. I tossed the two fly combination in all directions and stripped it back to shore with short pulsing pulls. Fairly early in my pursuit of trout I noticed periodic schools of stocked trout, as they swam at a fairly quick pace parallel to the shoreline. Several of the early catches resulted from stripping the flies in front of the advancing cluster of trout.

Dark Cahill Victim

After I reached four landed trout, the action paused noticeably, so I made a switch and replaced the black nosed dace with an emerald caddis pupa. With this two-fly offering in place, I landed a fifth trout on the dark cahill, but then another extended lull caused me to reconsider. The presence of periodic rises caused me to ponder the idea of a dry fly, so I removed the wet flies and changed to a size 18 olive body deer hair caddis. I focused on the water near my position, and when I spotted a rise, or when a fast moving cluster of trout swam by, I fluttered the caddis in the area, and this tactic paid dividends, as I boosted the fish count from five to twelve. During this period I also endured quite a few long distance releases due to the small hook and the tentative nature of many of the takes.

Unlike blue winged olive activity, it seemed that the surface feeding ticked up, when the sun reappeared from the clouds. The tiny deer hair caddis became waterlogged, and I was having difficulty tracking it, particularly after longer than normal casts, so I resorted to my popular ploy and placed a peacock hippie stomper in front of the caddis. I continued to lead the migrating fish with the two-fly combination, or I cast to the vicinity of single rises, and the fish counter climbed again to twenty-three. Surprisingly most of these afternoon fish smashed the hippie stomper, as it seemed the school of cruising fish competed to inhale the large attractor dry fly. Once again the hippie stomper amazed me with its versatility.

Hippie Stomper in Lip

Tuesday was another very enjoyable day at the Davis Ponds. Hopefully during the next month I will make another visit or two. The setting is spectacular with spaced out ponderosa pines and green meadows and gray rock facades overlooking the area. Sure, I was catching small stocked rainbow trout, but solving the puzzle of what the trout were eating remained a challenge. Bring on the snow melt. I am ready for stillwater action in 2021.

Fish Landed: 23

The Path Back

South Platte River – 05/22/2021

Time: 11:00AM – 3:00PM

Location: Eleven Mile Canyon

South Platte River 05/22/2021 Photo Album

Fishing with my son, Dan, is an event that I truly value. Unfortunately we only found one occasion to experience a stream visit together in 2020, and that evening outing on the North Fork of the St. Vrain Creek was not very productive. It took place in late June, when Dan was trying to enjoy all his favorite activities, while the hours of daylight were abundant. As I recall, the flows remained on the high side, and that made fly fishing a bit challenging. The birth of my grandson, Theo, dramatically reduced Dan’s availability for fishing outings in 2021, but we finally scheduled a trip to the South Platte River for Saturday, May 22, 2021. My wife and Dan’s mother, Jane, volunteered to babysit for Theo on Saturday, thus liberating Dan for a fishing trip with his father.

Starting Point

We drove to a favorite stretch of the South Platte River on Saturday morning, and we were positioned on opposite sides of the waterway by 11:00AM. The temperature was in the low sixties, and the wind gusted in the fourteen to sixteen mile per hour range for much of our time on the river. The South Platte was flowing at 55 CFS in the section that we chose to explore, and this made the act of fooling trout more difficult than normal at higher flow rates.

Dan Begins His Day

Dan crossed the river to prospect the left (east) bank, while I embarked on wading along the west side. Dan began with a size 8 fat Albert and beadhead hares ear nymph, and I elected to tempt the river residents with a pool toy hopper, beadhead hares ear, and salvation nymph. Dan retained the same two workhorse flies throughout the late morning and afternoon, while I swapped out the salvation for a classic RS2 and emerald caddis pupa. We moved up the river in parallel, and by the end of the day we each managed to net seven fish, all brown trout.

Congratulations, Dan

A Small Gem

Our results were subpar compared to most visits to this stretch of the South Platte River, but we were both satisfied with a pleasant experience in a spectacular outdoor setting. I always admire the huge red sandstone rock formations, the spaced-out ponderosa pines, and the sparse vegetation consisting of yuccas, cacti and short tufts of grass. The scent of the evergreens and smell of the tumbling river simply supplement the special nature of the South Platte River environment.

Dan on a Roll

The trout were on the small side compared to my memory of previous visits, but by the afternoon we registered a few spunky fighters in the twelve inch range. We quickly learned in the morning session, that marginal pockets no more than three feet deep failed to produce, so we covered a significant amount of water and skipped shallow sections. Deep runs and seams near large exposed boulders were definitely the most productive types of structure, and we sought out these holding lies. Most of my landed brown trout grabbed the hares ear nymph; however, one crushed the pool toy hopper, and another nabbed the salvation nymph. In addition, I connected temporarily with a few aggressive fish, and I was haunted by four solid boils to the hopper that failed to connect.

The most rewarding aspect of my day on the South Platte was the rare one on one time with my son. We caught up on all aspects of our lives. Hopefully we will not face another lengthy interval, before we can repeat a fun day of fly fishing.

Fish Landed: 7