Category Archives: Fishing Reports

Fishing Reports

South Boulder Creek – 04/25/2014

Time: 10:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: 1.5 miles down the path from the parking lot. Started fishing at the spot where a large vertical rock makes passage difficult.

Fish Landed: 9

South Boulder Creek 04/25/2014 Photo Album

Temperatures were projected to reach the low 70’s in Denver on Friday, April 25 so I decided to take a day off for fishing. I was frustrated by several difficult trips to the Arkansas River and had my eye on South Boulder Creek. I discovered this fishery several years ago on a train ride to Fraser, and it became my favorite spot for fishing close to the Denver metro area. I checked the flows, and they were running at 102 cfs, and I knew from previous trips that this is a good level.

I took my time on Friday morning to allow the air temperature to warm up, and after an hour of driving I pulled into the parking lot high above the canyon where the stream flows out of Gross Reservoir. I was the first car in the lot, but as I prepared to fish two more vehicles arrived, and two fishermen jumped out of each car. I decided to wear my fleece top and stuffed my raincoat in my backpack along with my lunch so I could hike quite a ways down the path and eat my lunch by the stream.

Just as I was ready to close the hatch and embark on my hike, a Denver Water truck pulled into the lot and a bearded man jumped out. He walked to the trash can and checked it, and then on the return trip to the truck he asked to check my license and that of the two gentlemen in the vehicle parked next to me. We each complied with his request, and then the other two fishermen at the far end of the lot volunteered their licenses for review as well. As I walked to the trailhead, the Denver Water employee called out and asked if I went to Bucknell. I replied yes, and then he told me he went to Penn State. After some additional conversation I learned that he was from Plymouth Meeting, and he did have a bit of a Philly accent.

South Boulder Creek on Friday

South Boulder Creek on Friday

High clouds remained in the sky for most of the morning and consequently the sun never broke through to warm the air temperature. As I walked briskly along the trail, I created enough body heat to remain comfortable, but once I arrived at my starting point, I was a bit chilled. I began fishing with a Chernobyl ant and then added a long tippet section of 5X and attached a beadhead hares ear. Finally I extended another 18 inch section from the bend of the hares ear and tied on a soft hackle emerger.

Chernobyl Ant on My Line

Chernobyl Ant on My Line

I began prospecting some attractive runs and pockets around large exposed rocks and in short order experienced a refusal to the Chernobyl ant. At least it was good to know that fish were present and looking toward the surface for a meal. I experienced a couple refusals to the Chernobyl, but continued working upstream and eventually landed a nice rainbow that gobbled the soft hackle emerger. I cast into a pocket and allowed the Chernobyl to be pulled back upstream by an eddy below an exposed rock, and the rainbow  grabbed the soft hackle emerger and pulled the Chernobyl under, although I actually saw the fish dart away from the rock and grab the subsurface fly.

Very Nice Rainbow Landed in the Morning

Very Nice Rainbow Landed in the Morning

The morning and in fact the remainder of the day continued pretty much in this fashion. I fished the Chernobyl ant, beadhead hares ear, and size 20 soft hackle emerger and landed nine fish. One gullible trout nailed the Chernobyl, and two fish snatched the beadhead hares ear in the afternoon. All the other fish that I landed favored the soft hackle emerger.

The sun never appeared in the morning, and because my sungloves were wet from handling fish, the evaporation caused my fingers to ache. This finally forced me to stop for lunch at noon, and I removed the sungloves and placed them in the zippered pocket of my waders. In addition to cold hands, my feet felt like stumps due to the icy flows coming from the bottom of the dam. The sun did come out during lunch and warmed me a bit before I resumed after lunch.

After lunch I found a spot where I could cross to the opposite bank, and I prospected up along the south side for quite awhile. I always favor the side of the stream away from the road or main path, and this did in fact seem to help in the afternoon. Also since I’m righthanded, the left bank was more natural for me to hook casts under overhanging branches and into soft pockets behind rocks and current breaks.

Attractive Stretch with Slower Current

Attractive Stretch with Slower Current

At around 2PM I was wading along the bank when I stepped on something that shifted under my weight. I looked down and spotted a net under my foot, so I reached in the creek with my hands and extracted it. Initially I thought it was fairly old and not desirable, but after swishing it in the water and removing old rotting leaves, I realized it had one of those plastic nets that doesn’t snag ones flies. It was a large net with a long handle, and it had a mayfly logo engraved at the top of the handle and the word Brodin above the mayfly. I decided to try and carry it back to the car with me, but I wasn’t ready to quit fishing so I stuffed it between the straps of my backpack and wedged it between my back and the backpack.

Major Find Was This Brodin Net

Major Find Was This Brodin Net

This lasted for a bit, but then it almost fell out, so I used the broken cord attached to the ring on the handle and tied it to my belt. This worked better but the net and handle were so long that the net dangled down to the water surface, and it hampered my wading for the last 1.5 hours. At approximately 2:30 I’d gone without any action for quite a while, so I decided to make a change and replaced the Chernobyl with a size 14 stimulator. I removed the hares ear and added a single dropper consisting of the beadhead soft hackle emerger.

The stimulator did arouse some interest, and I experienced two or three rises and momentary hook ups, so I think the fly attracted fish, but it wasn’t exactly what they were looking for. By 3:30 I’d gone quite a while without landing a fish, so I decided to find a rare crossing point and quit for the day.

It was a fun day on South Boulder Creek in a gorgeous location relatively close to Denver. The weather remained much cooler than I expected, but I managed to land nine fish and had four or five momentary hook ups and a couple foul hooked fish. With options quickly diminishing due to early snow melt, it was nice to enjoy some dry/dropper fishing on South Boulder Creek.

Arkansas River – 04/21/2014

Time: 10:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: Salt Lick, Spike Buck, and Parkdale access areas

Fish Landed: 3

Arkansas River 04/21/2014 Photo Album

Are my skills permanently eroding or am I in a slump or are external factors controlling my fly fishing results? I’ll choose to blame external factors such as weather and streamflows for now, but if the 2014 fishing outings continue down the current challenging path, I may need to reevaluate.

My friend Steve and I exchanged emails and settled on a trip to the Arkansas River on Monday, April 21. The weather was projected to be warmer on Tuesday and Wednesday, but we were concerned that the wind would be more adverse, so we decided to make the trip on Monday when high temperatures would peak in the sixties. I had my gear packed on Sunday night and was able to leave the house by 6:30 and arrived at Steve’s home in Lone Tree by 7:15. We were off early, and this paid dividends as it allowed us to park along U.S. 50 above Salt Lick access by 9:30. The air temperature hovered around 52 degrees as we prepared to fish, and I pulled on two layers thinking I would shed at least one when Steve and I met again at noon.

River High and Murky at Starting Point

River High and Murky at Starting Point

Steve walked back down the highway toward Salt Lick to begin his fishing, and I migrated west along the shoulder and then scrambled down a steep rocky bank to the river. The river flows were elevated for April with the DWR site reporting flows at Parkdale around 800 cfs. We anticipated this, but we did not expect the turbid water that appeared below us. There was visibility of around two feet along the edges of the river, so we assumed this would allow the fish to see our offerings if we presented our flies in the five to ten feet of water along the bank. Given the higher flows, we assumed this was actually the only water that the trout could hold in.

Working the water along the bank is exactly what I did over the next two hours as I worked my way up the river and scrambled over large boulders to fling my nymphs into all the likely protected pockets and slack water areas where I expected to engage hungry trout. I began with a weighted 20 incher and trailed a bright green go2 caddis, but these apparently didn’t appeal to the tastes of trout in this area of the Arkansas River. I worked through numerous fly changes including an emerald caddis pupa, prince nymph, San Juan worm and apricot egg. None of these turned the tide. As 11AM arrived and passed I decided to follow the advice of the Royal Gorge Anglers web page and moved to a RS2 in case the blue winged olive nymphs became active.

I also replaced the 20 incher with an iron sally as the top fly, and finally in the period between 11:30 and noon, I hooked and landed a nine inch brown on the iron sally. As I released the fish I realized that it was approaching noon, and I needed to hustle back up the bank and down the highway to meet Steve. Steve reported that he landed three small browns early on, but had not enjoyed any action since. We decided to move on and try new water, so Steve executed a U-turn, and we drove east to the Spike Buck access parking lot. Here we took our lunches down to the boat launch area and observed the water from some large rocks while we ate.

Intermittent clouds blocked the warming rays of the sun, and when this occurred gusts of wind swept up the river. Fortunately the wind was blowing out of the east and up the river so casting was not as difficult as my last trip to the Arkansas River. Halfway through consuming our lunches, we began to observe small mayflies skittering across the surface of the water in front of us. The small BWO’s didn’t remain on the surface more than a fraction of a second before they were swept up in the air by the wind. For fifteen minutes or so as we watched, there was actually a fairly dense emergence, but we did not spot any rising fish nor any fish hovering below the surface.

Second Fish Landed on Monday

Second Fish Landed on Monday

After lunch Steve decided to fish upstream a bit, and I walked downstream to the last point before the river crashed through a narrow chute. I decided to try one of my soft hackle emergers and went with a combination of the emerger on top and a RS2 as the bottom fly. I began to work my way up the river along the left bank and managed to land two additional brown trout in the twelve inch range. Both of these fish snatched the emerger on the lift or swing, so movement appeared to be key to attracting fish. This sounds like great action, but in reality this took place over an hour and a half, and I was convinced that I should be seeing and landing many more fish during this fairly strong BWO hatch.

Soft Hackle Emerger Fooled Two Brown Trout

Soft Hackle Emerger Fooled Two Brown Trout

In fact, I did not spot many fish over the course of the entire day, and this is highly unusual for the Arkansas River. Normally as I work my way upstream I startle numerous fish that dart from cover tight to the rocky bank, but none of this was occuring on Monday. Perhaps the murky water afforded the fish more cover than usual, and they felt safe spreading out to holding locations in the river behind current breaks, and I was largely excluding the middle of the river from my prospecting?

At 2PM Steve and I met up and decided to move once again, and this time we migrated east to Parkdale where we parked at the upstream edge of the access area. I grabbed my rod and walked down the exit road for quite a while and then battled through some stiff dead vegetation to the river. I never fished in this area before, so this was a bit of a scouting expedition. Unfortunately sometimes scouting trips enable one to dismiss certain water, and this was one of those occasions. The stretch of water below the boat launch was a 50-75 yard long featureless trough. I gave it a chance and began at the base and began casting my nymphs upstream within five to ten feet of the bank. I covered the entire stretch until I reached the riffle at the top, and during this one hour of exploration I didn’t see nor hook a single fish.

I exited the river at the boat ramp and walked back up the road and found Steve casting near the picnic tables near the car. We both decided that we were weary and not having any success and looking forward to snacks on the drive home more than continuing to fish.

Steve Calls It Quits

Steve Calls It Quits

I’m beginning to fear that the current conditions on the Arkansas River will continue right into snow melt, and I will miss productive pre-season outings before the river rages out of control in May. Since my trip to Wyoming I’ve experienced four fishing outings, and the highest fish count was three. Is this a slump, permanent erosion of skills, or convergence of adverse conditions? Too early to know, but I’ll keep plugging away.

 

South Platte River – 04/15/2014

Time: 11:00AM – 4:30PM

Location: Upper mile below dam and then downstream on north side of twin tunnels

Fish Landed: 3

South Platte River 04/15/2014 Photo Album

Three hours of blue wing olives hatching and abundant quantities of large trout would seem to portend a great day of fishing, and it was, but not without some hardship. At the beginning of the week I studied the weather forecast as I was hoping to fish on Thursday and ski on Friday. Monday was cold with leftover snow accumulations from Sunday night. Tuesday called for highs in Denver in the low 60’s. Wednesday was not an option due to commitments at work, and Thursday projected as another cold front with high temperatures spiking in the 40’s. Friday was the nicest day, but I’d already committed to spring skiing at Vail with friends.

I decided that Tuesday would be the day, but now I needed to determine a destination. I eliminated the Arkansas River quickly as it represented a long drive, and my results the previous week were disappointing. The Big Thompson was only flowing at 26 cfs so that sounded challenging, and a report on the St. Vrain River below Buttonrock stated that one of my favorite destinations would not be open until 2015 due to September flood damage. Flows on the South Platte River in Waterton Canyon were over 300 as well as the South Platte below Cheesman Dam. These are reasonable levels, but they increased from the low one hundreds in the last two days, and I haven’t had good results when water levels change dramatically.

The South Platte River below Eleven Mile Reservoir, however, was running in the high 80’s, and the high temperature was projected to be in the low 50’s, so this became my choice. I took my time getting ready as I knew it would take some time for the air temperature to get to tolerable levels in the mid-40’s. At 7:45 I was set with the car loaded with all the necessary items for a day on the river. I encountered heavy traffic on interstate 225 near the junction with I25, but again I wasn’t trying to arrive early, so I relaxed and listened to music from my iPod.

When I arrived at the entrance to Eleven Mile Canyon and paid my day use fee, the temperature was 39 degrees, so I drove very carefully and slowly to the dam to check out the water. The water appeared to be delightful, but shaded areas displayed a couple inches of snow and the wind was shaking the trees and willows along the stream. I didn’t encounter other fishermen until the last mile or two below the dam, and here I discovered quite a few, so I executed a U-turn in the parking lot and reversed my direction. I found a nice large gap between parked cars approximately a mile below the dam and pulled over and prepared to fish. I killed some more time by eating a granola bar and slowly applied sunscreen to my face and hands. I couldn’t delay any longer so I opened the door and absorbed a cold blast of wind.

 

Starting Point in Eleven Mile Canyon

Starting Point in Eleven Mile Canyon

I didn’t spare any layers and pulled on my Adidas pullover, a heavy fleece cardigan, and my down vest and then pulled my waders over the top while wondering how the Michelin man manages any mobility. To top things off I donned my New Zealand brimmed hat with ear flaps and after stringing my Loomis 5 weight, I was on my way. I followed a worn path thirty yards downstream and cut over to the river. I didn’t notice any surface activity, so I waded downstream a bit further to the tailout of a long riffle and tied on a Chernobyl ant with a beadhead RS2 dropper and began working the soft water along the left bank. Already I was noticing the difficulty of casting into a stiff headwind, but it was early in the day, and I didn’t give it too much thought.

After covering some marginal water without any action or seeing any fish scattering from bank lies, I came upon a nice deeper pool and riffle behind some exposed rocks serving as a nice current break. I paused and observed the water and immediately I spotted two then three then at least five to ten nice fish holding in the pool and run. Unfortunately these fish were totally ignoring my Chernobyl and RS2, so I clipped off the nymph and replaced it with an apricot egg and then added a third fly, a size 20 soft hackle emerger.

Soft Hackle Emerger Spent Some Time on My Line

Soft Hackle Emerger Spent Some Time on My Line

It was downright cold, and the wind continued to be a nuisance, but the sight of nice fish finning in the pool ahead of me allowed me to ignore the weather difficulties. As I prospected my three fly menu, I began to observe swarms of tiny midges buzzing along the surface of the river. The fish were also becoming more active, and my polarized lenses allowed me to see them moving subtly from side to side. This behavior usually indicates feeding on subsurface nymphs and larva in the drift, but they were having none of my soft hackle emerger.

As all this observation was going on, I now began to notice larger insects tumbling across the surface, and upon closer examination and during a lull in the wind, I spotted a blue wing olive mayfly riding by me on the surface current. This was followed with a few sporadic rises from two of the fish in front of me. I couldn’t understand why my soft hackle emerger wasn’t attracting interest since historically it worked in these same circumstances on other rivers. But the fish were active, and my flies weren’t effective, so I concluded a change was in order.

Off came the Chernobyl, the egg, and the soft hackle emerger; and they were replaced with a size 22 CDC BWO dry fly. I began overpowering forward casts in order to punch the tiny fly into the headwind, and as I did this, the frequency of trout breaking the surface picked up a bit. Unfortunately none of the trout were in a regular rhythmic feeding pattern, so it was difficult to choose which fish to focus on. I spotted a fish to my right and fifteen feet upstream that rose a couple times, so it became my target. This fish was moving around quite a bit subsurface, but occasionally it rose to the surface and gulped a mayfly from the surface film.

15" Rainbow Was First Fish Landed

15″ Rainbow Was First Fish Landed

I cast repeatedly and shifted my target  off and on, but eventually I returned to the fish described above and after perhaps half an hour and 50 casts, the fish tipped up and sucked in my imitation. I executed a solid hook set and played a strong rainbow trout, and after a few strong but futile runs, I was able to slide my net beneath the 15 inch pink sided warrior. I shuffled over to the bank and managed to grip the fish long enough just above the net to snap a photo. I’m being extremely conscious of not removing fish from the water more than a few seconds as I go forward. I approximated the rainbow’s length at 15 inches, and it exhibited a healthy girth for that length of fish.

CDC BWO Fooled Two Rainbows

CDC BWO Fooled Two Rainbows

Fish continued to rise in this area after I rested it a bit, but I was anxious to move on, so I waded up along the right bank a bit. In previous circumstances such as this, I’ve had success getting above fish and drifting my dry fly downstream to their position, so I tried this for a bit, but on this windy day in April the technique was having no impact.

The next water above the current break was a wide riffle approximately three to four feet deep with a stronger main current running along the left bank. As I approached the water I could see at least seven or eight fish in the riffle. They appeared as dark fish shapes against the light sand bottom of the river. Careful observation also revealed that these fish were rising sporadically to the surface, but they were also moving about and taking something subsurface. I resumed my furious casting into the wind and began covering the locations where I spotted fish. This went on for another hour or so, and I did manage two or three momentary hook ups with my tiny fly. It seemed that I should be getting more attention from my fly given the increased amount of surface feeding from this pod of fish.

Another 15" Rainbow Sipped CDC BWO

Another 15″ Rainbow Sipped CDC BWO

My theory is that the trout were accustomed to seeing the adult BWO’s tumbling across the surface due to the strong wind, and my artificial floated along without any sort of skittering or movement. Finally after an enormous amount of exaggerated casting into the wind and some frustrating momentary hook ups, I noticed a fish tip up near my fly, so I set the hook and felt the weight of another nice fish. When I eventually landed this beauty, my net revealed a silvery pink striped rainbow that was nearly the same size as my first fish. I carefully snapped another head shot and released this gem back into the river.

I was now verging on shivering uncontrollably, but as long as the hatch was continuing I was hesitant to return to the car to warm up and eat lunch, but there was no more deferring of this necessary reprieve in my fishing day. I returned to the car and quickly ate my minimal lunch and warmed my body and feet. Sheltered from the wind inside my SUV, I was amazed at how comfortable the day was.

Another car arrived while I was preparing to resume fishing, and it parked along the road forty yards further upstream, but I decided to return to my exit point and resume assuming I still had some space to work before conflicting with the new arrivals. When I arrived back at the river, I quickly passed some unattractive water until I approached some nice deep runs and riffles approximately twenty yards below the pullout with the forest green car that arrived as I was preparing to fish. Once again I could spot some nice fish in this area, but not nearly the concentration that I’d witnessed further downstream. The hatch had now waned to very sporadic tumbling mayflies, and there may have been one or two visible rises while I was watching.

I made some good casts and presentations to the areas where I observed rises, and I experienced one more momentary connection, but I was now bumping into the territory of the next group of fishermen, so I climbed up the bank and returned to the car. I broke for lunch at 1:30 and after this brief resumption of fishing, it was probably 2PM when I unlocked the car and threw my gear in the back. I decided to drive further downstream to the bottom of the special regulation area and fish there for the remainder of the afternoon.

I found a nice wide pullout a half mile or so beyond the twin tunnels and this was above a wide smooth pool where the river could spread out briefly after going through a more narrow canyon stretch. I descended to the top of the pool, and I was weary of casting tiny dry flies into the wind over very selective fish, so I decided to try the strike indicator nymphing technique. Also I was not seeing any mayflies on the surface anymore, but I did see quite a few extremely small cream colored midges swarming about. I elected to go to an indicator and split shot and beneath that I tied an orange scud and then a small size 22 RS2.

RS2 Took a Rainbow Late in Day

RS2 Took a Rainbow Late in Day

I worked some nice deep pockets along the left bank and did spot an occasional fish that ignored my offerings, but then I approached a nice long narrow deep pool. Before I cast, I could see five or six decent fish lined up across the river in some slower moving water at the top of the pool. I didn’t hold out much hope that my nymphs would fool these fish since the surface was rather smooth and my cast would surely create a noticeable surface disturbance. I made five or six half hearted casts above the visible fish, and tried to impart some movement and swing to my flies. Miraculously on the seventh or eighth drift I was shocked to see one of the lined up fish closer to the far side dash two or three feet to the side to snatch something, and it was approximately where my trailing fly was, so I set the hook and found myself attached to the fish.

What a thrill as I battled another rainbow and brought it to my net, and this fish measured around 13 inches. I’d already conceded to a two fish day, so this late surprise was a bonus. I was reinvigorated by this catch and continued working my way upstream with the nymph offerings, but unfortunately my new enthusiasm was not rewarded. By 4:30 I was once again chilled and the relentless wind forced me to climb the steep rocky bank to the road and return to the Santa Fe.

In spite of the low fish count of three, it was a very enjoyable outing. Being able to see large actively feeding fish always gets my juices flowing, and that’s what held my interest for most of Tuesday on the South Platte. I will certainly look for additional opportunities to visit Eleven Mile Canyon in the spring of 2014 before the water management folks open the gates and release large volumes of water from the dam.

Arkansas River – 04/09/2014

Time: 10:30AM – 2:00PM

Location: Below Texas Creek

Fish Landed: 3

Arkansas River 04/09/2014 Photo Album

The story line for Wednesday is wind. I was anxious to go fishing after nearly a two week hiatus, and when I noticed the weather forecast for March 9 with a high temperature of 78 degrees, I exercised poor judgment and discounted the “windy” part of the report.

The fly shops near the Arkansas River were raving over the blue wing olive hatches, so I decided to make the trip. As it turns out, I spent more time driving than fishing with five hours necessary to make the long trip to lower Bighorn Sheep Canyon and back. I arrived at the parking lot at Texas Creek by 10AM, and after putting on my gear, rigging my rod, and hiking along the path to the area below the island it was nearly 10:30AM. I worked the sweet run below the island with a weighted 20 incher and a RS2, but these flies didn’t produce any fish in spite of some great drifts through very attractive water.

Nice Area Where Channels Merge Below Island

Nice Area Where Channels Merge Below Island

When I arrived at the head of the run, and the two fly combination continued to fail, I replaced the RS2 with a bright green go2 caddis. This generated more interest, and I landed a tiny brown trout that was less than six inches and then hooked another small fish that managed to free itself from the fly. Next I worked up along the right side of the island, and once again entered a slump until I arrived near the top of the right channel. Here I finally felt the tap of a fish and responded with a hook set that led to the throb of a live fish. The first fish of the day was a skinny brown trout of approximately 12 inches. I continued along the right bank and added another nine inch brown that pounced on the go2 caddis, and by noon my stomach was growling so I walked back to the car for lunch.

First Decent Fish Landed

First Decent Fish Landed

I grabbed my lunch bag and water bottle and climbed down the bank below the bridge and sat on the stone beach so I could observe the water while I ate. Sometimes this enables me to spot or observe fish, but on this day, I simply watched the water flow and the wind blow the willows. While I was eating lunch two gentlemen arrived in their pick up truck, and they were ready to fish before me, so they went through the gate and hiked down the path. I was relatively close behind, and I intended to begin fishing after lunch where I ended the morning. Unfortunately the two fishermen stopped at that exact spot, so I dropped down to the river a good distance above them and began working my way back toward the bridge.

The 20 incher was not producing any fish, so I moved the go2 green caddis to the top position and then knotted a BWO soft hackle emerger to my line as the point fly. For the next two hours I worked these flies upstream through the 15 feet of water next to the right bank. I continued under the bridge and another 300 yards beyond, and I added one eleven inch brown trout to my count. The fishing was extremely frustrating due to the constant wind, and my attempt to fish a two fly nymph set up. Because I am right handed, most of my casts required a backhand sling, and needless to say this resulted in numerous entanglements.

The flows were up somewhat for this time of the year and running around 674 cfs when I normally expect around 500 cfs. The water was slightly off color but not enough to impact the fish’s visibility. I discovered that quite a few fish were resting in the clear low water next to the bank, but they were very skittish. In order to cast the indicator, split shot and flies into the strong wind, I needed to accelerate my forward stroke and push my rod tip down toward the surface of the water. Unfortunately this style of casting resulted in quite a splash when the split shot and indicator splashed down in the relatively shallow water within five feet of the bank. I observed at least twenty fish scattering and hiding due to the disruption caused by my approach and casting method.

Unfortunately there really wasn’t an alternative. If I tried to fish from above, the fish would see me and scatter even more hastily. If the wind had been less of a factor, I would have tried a buoyant attractor with a nymph dropper to cover the shallow edge water, as these flies would have caused less disturbance. However, the wind was so strong that this approach would have resulted in the flies landing at my feet with each cast no matter how much I overpowered the forward stroke.

The wind, the tangles, and the constant fruitless casting finally took their toll on me, and I reeled up my line and returned to the car at 2PM. It was a difficult day on the Arkansas River, and I learned that air temperature is not the only factor to consider when choosing a day to fish in Colorado.

The Sign is Self Explanatory

The Sign is Self Explanatory

Clear Creek – 03/29/2014

Time: 2:30PM – 4:30PM

Location: Clear Creek Canyon 2-3 miles upstream from CO route 93

Fish Landed: 3

Clear Creek 03/29/2014 Photo Album

A rare mild day on Saturday March 29 gave me the itch to get out my fly rod and test the waters. The high temperature was projected to reach the mid to upper 60’s, and the weather experts predicted the wind would be moderate compared to what I could expect to encounter Sunday and Monday. I wrapped up some garden chores and completed my long run in preparation for the Cherry Creek Sneak 10 miler and then downed a quick lunch, packed my gear and departed. Since I was off to a late start and didn’t want to drive very far, I decided to sample the closest water, Clear Creek in the canyon just west of Golden, CO.

I drove two or three miles into the canyon, and many pullouts were filled with vehicles, but eventually I spotted several nice wide shoulder areas without cars. The water appeared to have nice alternating pocket stretches and smoother pools, so I executed a U-turn and parked on the shoulder facing east. I put on my waders and boots and strung my rod and carefully scrambled down a steep bank. I began fishing with a Chernobyl ant trailing a beadhead hares ear, and within the first 15 minutes I experienced two refusals to the Chernobyl. This was good news as the fish were looking to the surface for their meal despite the icy water temperatures, but it was frustrating that they wouldn’t close the deal. The water was a tinge off-color, so that was another reason I was pleased to spot fish inspecting my fly.

I moved on and switched the hares ear for a salvation nymph, and in the next nice deep pool another fish appeared below the Chernobyl and then dropped back to the depths. What should I do? It was pretty clear the fish were not interested in my beadhead subsurface nymphs, so I decided to switch the dry fly offering and clipped off both flies and replaced with a size 16 deer hair caddis with an olive body. This didn’t even provoke any refusals, so I scaled up and tied on a size 14 stimulator with a gray body. This generated another refusal or two from some tiny trout. Not only were the fish in this stream small, they were playing hard to get. Clear Creek is renowned for dumb fish that rise readily to attractors, and these fish were certainly rising, but they weren’t slamming the fly like they were supposed to.

Clear Creek Where I Began Fishing on Saturday Afternoon

Clear Creek Where I Began Fishing on Saturday Afternoon

I sat down on a rock and decided to make a radical change to my approach. I added a strike indicator and a weighted 20 incher and returned to a beadhead hares ear. This proved to be futile, and eventually I snagged a rock in a spot where the water was deep and fast causing me to snap off both flies. Perhaps the discolored water meant that worms and eggs were present in the subsurface drift? These flies worked on the North Platte so why not try them here? I extended my leader and crimped on a split shot, apricot egg and chocolate San Juan worm and began to cover the attractive water. These flies did not attract one iota of interest; however, in one deep run a small brown trout rose and inspected my neon red strike indicator!

How should I interpret this action? In the past when this occurred, I tied on a dry fly that displayed some red coloration; and I had some success with this strategy, so I elected to try it again. I found a size 14 royal wulff in my fly box, removed all the nymphing gear, and tied on the red and peacock dry fly. I began prospecting this gaudy fly that doesn’t really imitate any natural insect and guess what happened? I landed three small trout barely over six inches and in addition had several refusals, a foul hooked fish, and a momentary hook up on a fish that escaped. That represents a lot of action over a hour of fishing, but as 4:30 approached I decided to call it quits and head home.

The fish were tiny and infuriating in their selectivity toward attractor flies, but I partially solved the riddle and managed to land a few fish. Solving the problem is what attracts me to this sport and keeps me coming back.

North Platte River – 03/26/2014

Time: 9:00AM – 12:00PM

Location: Tailwater just below Grey Reef Dam

Fish Landed: 7

North Platte River 03/26/2014 Photo Album

Despite the fact that Steve and I were not committed to wake up early to meet an appointment as was the caseTuesday morning, we both awoke at 6PM to the sound of barking dogs. Given the number of guests sharing one bathroom, rising ahead of the crowd was probably a good thing. The same two gentlemen from Ft. Collins that stayed at Red Butte Ranch a year ago were present again, and four additional fishermen rented the family cabin, so Ruth had a full house for breakfast. We savored our egg, ham, hashed browns, nut bread and yogurt and washed it down with tea and water.

Steve and I allowed the fishermen scheduled for a float trip to clear out, and then we gathered our things and paid our bill and departed. Originally we planned to fish near the Red Butte Ranch before the flush arrived, but the four fishermen staying in the cabin were already waded in the river and staked out their spots so we changed our plans and drove to the tailwater below the dam. We stopped briefly at the Grey Reef Fly Shop across from the afterbay, and we each purchased a few flies. I bought three pine squirrel leeches since they were productive on Tuesday, and I hadn’t tied any.

Looking Back Toward the Dam in the Morning When the Flows Were Still Up

Looking Back Toward the Dam in the Morning When the Flows Were Still Up

The temperature was amazingly 44 degrees at 9AM on Wednesday, so that was a pleasant surprise; however, the wind was a significant factor and swept across the relatively flat terrain unrelentingly. Only a couple fishermen were wade fishing between the boat ramp and the flume shooting from the dam, so Steve and I pretty much had our choice of water, and we decided to once again cross the dam on the footpath similar to Monday and fish back along the south side of the river. When we reached the far side we realized the flow was still fairly high, probably in the 1000 cfs range.

A Pine Squirrel Leech

A Pine Squirrel Leech

Both of us kept our rods rigged in the same manner that Greg set us up, and we began fishing with the egg/red annelid worm combination on top and a pine squirrel leech on the bottom. Steve elected to begin where the river branched off from the main current and curled around the point of a long narrow island while I walked down the river a bit and began near the bottom of the island. Because the flow was strong at 9AM compared to Monday, I added a second split shot to my line. Much to my amazement I hooked and landed a thirteen inch rainbow fairly early, but then I fished through a 45 minute period with no action. I continued to slice 2X line through the currents, and this came in handy when I snagged my flies on a fairly frequent basis.

Fuzzy Flies in the Center Are Pine Squirrel Leeches When Dry

Fuzzy Flies in the Center Are Pine Squirrel Leeches When Dry

By 10 o’clock I approached some faster water near the top of where the left channel curled around the island, and the flows had dropped noticeably. Since I had two split shot on my line I decided to drift my flies through some of the faster current toward the center of the run instead of working the  inside seam and slower water that bordered it. Much to my surprise, I hooked and landed three fine rainbows from the faster run of moderate depth including a 17 inch silvery rainbow that sported a broken off woolly worm-style fly in its lip. I took a photo and removed my annelid worm and the broken off fly from the rainbow’s lip.

Stretched Out to 17 Inches

Stretched Out to 17 Inches

When I reached the top of the island, I circled back to the area across from the boat ramp. This water looked very attractive, but between 2013 and Monday, I had yet to extract any fish. Finally along the current seam I managed to hook and land a small (by Grey Reef standards) rainbow of thirteen inches.

Next I moved back upstream to a section between the boat ramp and the bottom of the island. By now the level of the river had returned to normal flow for the end of March of around 500 cfs and the river structure was much easier to discern. I was at the bottom of a pair of nice pools that stretched for 30 feet below some current breaks, so I began casting upstream to the slack water and allowed my flies to drift back toward me along the current seams at the margins. By using this approach I landed two more nice rainbows including a colorful 15 inch specimen. One of these fish attacked the leech as I imparted some movement by twitching it at the tail of the drift.

Close Up of Another Nice Rainbow Landed on Wednesday

Close Up of Another Nice Rainbow Landed on Wednesday

Steve decided to cross back to the side of the river near the parking lot, so I moved upstream to a long wide riffle stretch just below the island and fished it thoroughly while Steve crossed over at the dam. I didn’t have any luck in the riffle so I reeled up and attached my flies to a rod guide and hiked back across the dam to the other side of the river to join Steve. We worked some nice areas for another half hour or so, but by noon we had run out of interesting water, so we decided to explore some access points downstream that we’d observed on our float trip the previous day.

We continued down the dirt road that led to the Grey Reef access for another three or four miles and stopped and checked out Pete’s Draw and The Redds. Pete’s Draw looked enticing on the opposite side of the main river current, but we didn’t feel we could effectively fish it from our wading positions, so we returned to The Redds. We were in the process of preparing to experiment with a nice run at The Redds, but I ran into some equipment problems, so we decided to call it quits and make the four hour return trip to Denver.

Wednesday morning yielded some decent fishing, and we got to experience the higher flows and then the rapid decline and the adjustments that this type of rapid change in water level requires. We now face the prospect of fishing Colorado rivers and in all likelihood catching smaller fish on average, but I know from past experience that it is really the enjoyment of being on the river and the challenge of fooling fish regardless of size that keeps me coming back.

North Platte River – 03/25/2014

Time: 9:00AM – 4:30PM

Location: From Grey Reef dam downstream to Lusby takeout.

Fish Landed: 31

North Platte River 03/25/2014 Photo Album

Well how did the the 2014 float trip on the North Platte River compare to the fishing that we experienced a year prior? If you read the header information of this post, you already know the answer to that question.

The “flush” and 2X are really the storylines of this outstanding day of fishing on the North Platte at Grey Reef. The flush is a process whereby the Bureau of Reclamation and Wyoming Game and Fish ramp up the flows from Grey Reef dam for five days during late March. The process begins at midnight and ends by 10AM as the outflow from the dam begins at 500 cfs and increases to a peak of 4000 cfs and then declines back to 500. The purpose is to remove fine sediment from the gravel spawning beds used by the river’s trout, and judging from the fishing experience in 2013 and 2014, this event is yielding outstanding results.

Our day of guided float fishing, Tuesday March 25, coincided with the next to last day of the flush. We learned in 2013 that this has minimal negative impact on the fishing since the local guides know how to work around it, and in fact it may improve fishing as the high flows dislodge annelid worms, leeches, and eggs from the stream bottom and vegetation.

Steve and I arose at 6AM on Tuesday morning, and this allowed plenty of time to have a nice breakfast at the Hampton Inn and then gather our essentials for a day of fishing. We drove to the Red Butte Ranch where we met Greg Mueller, our guide. We each gave Greg the rods and reels we planned to use for the day, and he rigged them in the preferred Grey Reef manner while Steve and I adjourned to the garage and climbed into our frozen waders and wading boots. Once again I broke out handwarmers and toe warmers as I availed myself of every possible ploy to remain reasonably comfortable in the cold temperatures of early spring in Wyoming. The high was forecast to reach the low fifties, but the morning period before the sun rose high in the sky was my concern.

Fishermen at Grey Reef Launch

Fishermen at Grey Reef Launch

We jumped in Greg’s truck and made the brief trip to the Grey Reef boat launch, and I couldn’t help noticing that the air temperature was hovering at 23 degrees at 8:30 in the morning. Was the weather forecast accurate? Quite a few fishermen, guides and drift boats arrived at the boat ramp simultaneously, but Greg jumped in quickly, and we took off slightly ahead of the others. Steve graciously allowed me the position in the bow while he took his seat in the rear, and we pushed off. Greg had me set up with two separate yellow-green eggs paired a couple inches above an annelid worm fly along with a single split shot and a red and white thingamabobber near the junction with the fly line. Steve had a similar set up, but instead of two egg and worm combinations, he had a pine squirrel leech as his bottom fly.

Wide Section with Snow Covered Peaks in the Background

Wide Section with Snow Covered Peaks in the Background

It didn’t take long before my indicator dipped and I set the hook and felt the throbbing weight of a nice fish. As I cautiously played the fish in a manner similar to my custom in Colorado, Greg announced that we were using 2X tippet on all the connections, and pointedly suggested that I should “reef the fish in quickly”. He was right as the combination of the Scott six weight rod and 2X line made it virtually impossible for the rainbows to break off. Amazingly the abundant population of rainbow trout in the North Platte River below Grey Reef demonstrate virtually no fear of fishing line.

Dave Displays His Nicest Catch of the Day, an Eighteen Inch Rainbow

Dave Displays His Nicest Catch of the Day, an Eighteen Inch Rainbow

The rest of the day continued pretty much in the manner I just described. Very little time transpired between hook ups, and Steve and I landed 30 plus fish each between 9AM and 4:30PM when we pulled up on shore at the Lusby take out. Of course each of us experienced 3-5 foul hooked fish and perhaps five additional momentary hook ups in the span of eight hours of fishing. Part way through the morning, Steve began to catch fish on his pine squirrel leech, so Greg removed my bottom egg/worm combination and replaced them with a dark colored leech. The leech became equally as productive as the eggs toward the middle of the day, but the egg seemed to outperform in the early morning and late afternoon.

A Crayfish I Landed on a Midge

A Crayfish I Landed on a Midge

There was also a period during the late morning when Greg added a small bionic midge as a third fly to my setup, but the only midge success I can report is a four inch crayfish that latched onto the tiny fly. All my trout were rainbows except for a small thirteen inch brown that I landed quite early in the float. The size of the rainbows ranged between thirteen and eighteen inches, and I managed to land two or three in the upper end of that range.

A Nice 17 Inch Rainbow Landed by Dave

A Nice 17 Inch Rainbow Landed by Dave

In my opinion the fishing on March 25 was just as outstanding as our previous float trip a year earlier. Catching thirty rainbow trout averaging 14 to 15 inches in eight hours is a superlative experience that I won’t soon forget, and in fact my major concern is that I’m spoiled for Colorado fishing just as the season kicks off. What a way to start the 2014 season with an action packed day on the North Platte River! The weather also played a part in our enjoyment as the sun warmed the air quickly and the high temperature actually reached 60 degrees late in the afternoon. Three cheers for the flush and 2X.

 

North Platte River – 03/24/2014

Time: 2:00PM – 5:00PM

Location: Below Grey Reef Dam

Fish Landed: 1

North Platte River 03/24/2014 Photo Album

At roughly the same time a year ago my friend Steve and I completed a fishing trip to the North Platte River below Grey Reef dam, and we had a great experience, so we decided to return for an encore. We were both amazed by the quantities and size of fish we were able to land in this tailwater fishery four hours away from Denver, CO. Steve took care of the booking details and arranged for a full day guided float on March 25 with the same guide that we used in 2013. We also attempted to book lodging at the Red Butte Ranch similar to our previous trip, but that didn’t work out exactly as planned. The main question in our minds was whether the fishery was as excellent as our 2013 trip indicated, or was it just an aberration caused by some confluence of factors?

The parallels between 2014 and 2013 were uncanny. Once again we planned to leave on Monday morning and drive to Casper, buy our fishing licenses and supplies, check in to the bed and breakfast, and then visit the tailwater and wade fish for a few hours. Our guided float trip was once again scheduled for Tuesday, and then we expected to wade fish on Wednesday into the early afternoon before packing everything up and returning to Denver. This mirrored our previous trip, but more eerie was the developing weather pattern. In 2013 a storm dumped snow in Wyoming on Saturday and that was followed by a cold snap of a couple days with gradually warming temperatures on Tuesday and Wednesday. The weather forecast for 2014 matched this almost degree by degree.

Steve arrived at 8:15AM on Monday, and I was all set with my bags packed so we loaded the car and departed. There was some fresh snow on the highway between Ft. Collins and Cheyenne with signs warning of icy patches, so Steve was extra cautious as we traveled through this area. We stopped in Casper for a quick lunch and arrived at the North Platte Fly Shop by approximately 1PM. Steve and I each purchased non-resident Wyoming three day fishing licenses and continued on our way to the Red Butte Ranch bed and breakfast. Unfortunately upon our arrival we learned from the owner, Ruth, that she had overbooked and there weren’t any beds for us on Monday night! We still had the New Zealand room for Tuesday, but needed new accommodations for Monday night.

Ruth put us in touch with Liz, and owner of the guide service, and Liz reserved a room for us at the Hampton Inn in Casper. This added another 15 miles or so to our trips to and from the river, but it worked out to be a nice back up plan. Once this small snafu was resolved Steve and I jumped in the car and drove to the Grey Reef access area below the dam to do some wade fishing and introduce ourselves to the North Platte River in 2014. The thermometer in Steve’s Subaru registered 39 degrees as we drove along the wide two lane highway, and I was apprehensive about my ability to keep my hands in a tolerable condition to handle a fly rod.

Steve Ties on Flies

Steve Ties on Flies

When we arrived at the parking lot we bundled up, and I resorted to toe warmers and hand warmers as I slid into my waders and pulled on my New Zealand hat with ear flaps, and my warmest down parka barely squeezed under my waders. We elected to cross the dam using the footpath and then hiked down along the opposite shore to the area across from the boat ramp. I began with an apricot egg fly and below that offered a red annelid worm with a neon orange thread head. This combination didn’t produce any action, although I was able to avoid getting my hands wet and thus the uncomfortable bone chilling cold that comes along with that experience.

Eventually I removed the annelid worm fly and replaced it with a chocolate brown chenille San Juan worm as this fly produced several fish during my wade fishing in 2013. The chocolate worm did in fact produce a fish, but it turned out to be foul hooked, so I had to get my hands wet under the most unfavorable circumstances; releasing a fish that didn’t count.

I failed to bend down the barb on my egg fly and as I released the foul hooked rainbow, the egg fly got stuck in my net. After much twisting and pressure on the egg, I was able to free it, but the hook now penetrated only the bottom one fourth of the soft sphere. I thought about switching out the egg fly for another newly tied model, but given the cold conditions, I decided to gamble with the cripple. Sure enough I moved up to a wide riffle stretch of moderate depth, and the indicator paused, and I set the hook and felt a pulsing weight on the other end. The euphoria of a live fish only lasted for a moment, and then the fish popped free. I reeled in my flies to inspect, and it should be no surprise what I saw; the fish apparently bit the egg and pulled it off the hook!

A View Downstream from the Footpath Across the Dam

A View Downstream from the Footpath Across the Dam

Steve and I continued working up the left bank with minimal success, and then we crossed to the side next to the parking lot and found some nice water below a cluster of fishermen pounding the flume where the water pours from the base of the dam. At some point during this interim time I snagged my flies on a rock or stick and broke them both off, so I tied on another apricot egg fly and returned to the red annelid worm. I positioned myself in a nice spot where the main current spilled over some large rocks and created a nice deep tail out, and here I began drifting my two fly combination. Unfortunately there was some sort of snag eight feet below the head of the run that kept grabbing my flies on every other drift, but when the indicator dipped on the third pass I set the hook anyway and felt something throbbing like a live fish. Sure enough I got a glimpse of a rainbow, but just after seeing the fish, the rod stopped throbbing and I was once again attached to a non-living underwater obstacle.

I worked my flies free and moved down a bit so I could fish the bottom of the run and avoid the annoying snag.  This proved to be my best move of the day, and on the fourth or fifth drift I felt some weight and set the hook and began to battle a strong rainbow. Eventually I subdued my combatant by sliding my net underneath the bright rainbow. Since this fish was my first landed fish of the trip and roughly 17 inches in length, I couldn’t resist taking a photo and in the process submerged my left hand in the icy currents of the North Platte. After snapping three shots, I released the rainbow and thrust my hands in the wader bib pocket and clenched the hand warmers for ten minutes.

A Better View of the Head of the Rainbow and the Annelid Worm

A Better View of the Head of the Rainbow and the Annelid Worm

Once my hands arrived at a barely tolerable state again, I resumed fishing and had one more momentary hook up, but Steve wasn’t having much success either and the sun was sinking in the western sky, so we decided to adjourn to the Hampton Inn and dinner in Casper. The woman at the front desk checked us in and then recommended a restaurant called Poor Boys a couple blocks away. We took her advice and enjoyed a pleasant dinner before returning to the warmth of our hotel room.

Despite the frigid temperatures we managed to land a few fish and tested out the flies we diligently tied in preparation for our Wyoming trip. The weather forecast predicted highs in the low 50’s for Tuesday, so we anxiously anticipated our full day float. Would we have as much success as we did in 2013? Stay tuned.

 

Arkansas River – 03/13/2014

Time: 10:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Above Spike Buck access and then downstream from the parking area in the afternoon

Fish Landed: 6

Arkansas River 03/13/2014 Photo Album

I fished once in February for roughly three hours on the South Platte River below Deckers on a day when every fisherman with cabin fever in Colorado decided to venture outside to enjoy the abnormally nice weather. I failed to land any fish, and this brief experience served to wet my appetite for a legitimate fishing day. I examined the weather forecast regularly in hopes that there would be another nice spring day, and sure enough the high for Denver on March 13 was projected to touch the low 60’s.

Meanwhile the Royal Gorge Angler web site announced the arrival of molting golden stoneflies in the Arkansas River corridor and the presence of blue winged olives in Canon City and lower Bighorn Sheep Canyon. The confluence of these factors was all I needed to schedule a day trip to the Arkansas River on Thursday March 13.

As I left the house on Thursday morning I felt both excitement and apprehension. Ever since the first day of trout season in Pennsylvania during my youth, I get extra excited for my first serious fishing outing of the year. At the same time there was a sliver of doubt that I could still catch fish after a winter layoff.  I knew the air temperature would be quite chilly in the morning, but I left the house at 7:20 in spite of this sound reasoning. It was my first day trip to the Arkansas River, and I have to admit that there was an extra dose of adrenaline circulating through my body.

My lack of patience haunted me as I encountered heavy rush hour traffic at the junction of I225 and I25, but once I negotiated this slow stretch, I resumed normal speeds and made the trip in three hours. The dashboard thermometer displayed 49 degrees as I turned into the pullout .5 mile upstream from the Spike Buck access area, but when I exited the car it felt more like the upper thirties with a cutting wind slicing through my shirt. I decided to wear my down vest in addition to my Adidas pullover and supplmented these layers with my recently purchased New Zealand fishing hat.

Rod Strung and New Wading Staff Ready

Rod Strung and New Wading Staff Ready

Because of the wind and the likelihood of cold water temperatures, I assumed that I’d be fishing deep most of the day, so I assembled my Sage 9 foot, 4 weight and then configured my nymphing rig using a Thingamabobber and five foot section of level 3X line. When I was ready, I walked down the road for two-tenths of a mile or so and scrambled down a steep rocky bank to the river. The flow was fairly normal for March, but some low level snowmelt upstream was causing a tinge of cloudiness, although I concluded the clarity would not be an issue.

I began my day with an Arkansas rubber leg to imitate the lighter coloration of molting stoneflies, and then I knotted a copper john to the point 18 inches below the stonefly. I reminded myself that I committed to using the copper john more frequently, and when would a better scenario present itself than slightly murky cold early season flows? This was all sound reasoning but I fished a twenty yard stretch of river with no action, and it was now approaching 11AM, so I decided to abandon the copper john and put my faith in an RS2. This proved to be a solid move and I hooked but failed to land a fish that apparently spit out the tiny RS2.

After this second failure of the season to land a hooked fish, I experienced another unproductive period, and the Arkansas rubber legs wasn’t doing anythng, so I clipped it off and replaced it with a Dave’s beadhead hares ear. The hares ear and RS2 combination finally paid dividends, and I landed a skinny 12 inch brown on the RS2 by 11:30AM. This was my first landed fish of the year, so I paused to photograph the spunky brown just above the water and quickly returned it to the icy flows. After reading an article about the significant increase in mortality when exposing a trout to air for more than 30 seconds, I’ve pledged to really limit my photography to shots of fish still in the water or held just above the water, and I honored my pledge on Thursday.

First Fish Landed in 2014, a Skinny 12" Brown

First Fish Landed in 2014, a Skinny 12″ Brown

I decided to move along at a more rapid pace as the key seemed to be covering a lot of water, and by noon I’d landed two more small brown trout on the beadhead hares ear. It was good to discover that both the RS2 and hares ear were capturing the attention of the Arkansas River brown trout.

By noon my left hand was curled and stiff and displayed the appearance of a red claw, so I quickly returned to the Santa Fe and the welcome shelter from the wind and ate my lunch while my hands warmed up. After lunch I attempted to fish without my down vest and New Zealand hat, but after moving to the edge of the water just below the car, a stiff wind kicked up and made me reconsider. I returned to the car and added a fleece layer to the Adidas pullover and donned my New Zealand hat once again.

Nice Stretch of Water Above Spike Buck

Nice Stretch of Water Above Spike Buck

After another slow period I abandoned the hares ear and RS2 and experimented with a 20 incher and BWO emerger. The reports stated that the stoneflies got darker after molting thus my move to the 20 incher; and my thinking suggested that perhaps the fish would more readily see the soft hackle emerger in the slightly olive-tinged water. From 12:30 until 2:00PM I continued working my way upstream and covered a lot of water before I added a fourth fish from a nice deep run in the channel closest to the road that flowed around a small island. Shortly after this I snagged a rock or stick and ripped off both flies so I tried an iron sally and returned to the RS2.

Very few fishermen were present on the Arkansas River on Thursday, but as I moved around a bend in the river I encountered one. He waved his hands apparently to let me know he was there, so I beat a hasty exit and walked down the road to the Santa Fe. The fishing wasn’t that great anyway, so I moved back down route 50 to a small slanted pullout just beyond the entrance to Spike Buck. I grabbed my gear and crossed the highway and walked downstream fifty yards or so and cut down to the river. For the remainder of the afternoon I fished along the bank closest to the highway and covered all the slower moving pockets and pools. Some clouds moved in and blocked the sun off and on, and this seemed to provoke even more wind, but I stuck with my method and managed to land two additional small brown trout on the RS2. The last two fish seemed to respond to the swing that naturally took place at the end of the drift.

It was nice to land six fish in my fist full day outing of the season, but it was a slow day by any measure. Six fish in five hours of fishing is a slow catch rate, and the size of the fish was disappointing both in terms of length and weight. I attribute the slow day to wind, icy water temperatures, and the corresponding lack of insect activity. I did not see a single blue winged olive and only observed sparse clusters of infinitesimal midges after lunch. Despite these factors, I’m already noticing a weather forecast for highs in the seventies during the early part of next week. I’m always optimistic.

South Platte River – 02/16/2014

Time: 11:30AM – 2:30PM

Location: Near Nighthawk and then in special regulation water below Oxbow Ranch

Fish Landed: 0

South Platte River 02/16/2014 Photo Album

What do you get when you combine a sixty degree day along the Front Range of Colorado with Sunday of Presidents’ Weekend and the South Platte River? You get a crowded stream with three or four cars in very pullout. That’s what I discovered today. Apparently a lot of fishermen had the same idea to find a cure for cabin fever.

I did some minor organization to make sure I restored all my gear after jumbling it a bit for my trip to Argentina, and then I packed a lunch and took off by around 10:30AM. I arrived at the first pullout after turning right at the bottom of Nighthawk hill and geared up for my first fishing outing of 2014. It felt rather warm but a stiff breeze kicked up periodically so I pulled my fleece over my fishing shirt and then rigged my Orvis four piece four weight rod and crossed the road to the river. It was probably around sixty degrees when I began; quite nice for the middle of February. There were three or four fishermen upstream and around the first bend and several fishermen at the next pool downstream, but I found some nice space across from the parking lot.

New Chernobyl Ant Tested

New Chernobyl Ant Tested

I elected to begin with one of the new fold-over Chernobyls that I tied recently and below that I added a salvation nymph. By the time I added tippet to my leader and tied on the two flies and began fishing it was around 11:30. I covered the water upstream for around forty yards, but didn’t see any fish. The next fisherman above me was blocking my path, but fortunately he grew weary of his position and exited by noon so I crossed to the north bank and began working the runs and pockets near the shore. The water was off color a tinge so I decided to insert a San Juan worm below the Chernobyl ant and then added the salvation nymph a foot or so below the worm.

South Platte River Near Nighthawk

South Platte River Near Nighthawk

I was now drifting my three flies in some nice runs and pockets with a water depth of three to four feet. The stretch I was approaching is one of my favorites and generally delivers a fish or two so I increased my focus. Sure enough as the Chernobyl drifted on the outside of a nice current seam, the foam fly paused and I set the hook and saw a twelve inch brown trout as I lifted it toward the surface. Alas, this would be my only opportunity for a fish on this early season venture, but the brown somehow shook free, and I was left with a limp line.

I moved upstream another 15 feet or so to an attractive area where I always spot a brown trout tight to an angled log, and sure enough I thought I spotted a fish next to the log and in front of a large submerged rock. I made four or five drifts over this spot, but on the next cast I misfired a bit too far and wrapped the nymph and worm around a willow branch. I needed to disturb the sweet run to retrieve my flies and sure enough a nice brown of 13 to 14 inches darted from the rocks as I waded through.

I continued a bit but quickly bumped into another fisherman deliberately nymphing the deep ledge rock hole so I waded back toward the road and returned to the car. There were a lot of fishermen in the area so I decided to move to the catch and release area five or six miles upstream. I loaded my gear in the RAV and surveyed the river for approximately eight miles until I passed Trumbull. There were three or four cars, if not more, in every pullout so I passed them up and made a U-turn and began retracing my path back toward Nighthawk. Part way between the bridge downstream from Oxbow Ranch and Scraggy View I noticed a large pullout on the left that only had one pick up truck, so I pulled in and prepared to resume fishing.

South Platte in Catch and Release Area

South Platte in Catch and Release Area

By 1:30PM the wind had become a serious issue. The water next to the parking lot was a wide shallow unattractive area with no cover for fish, so I waded upstream a bit to a place where I’d seen rising fish on previous visits, although the structure of the stream was only moderately improved. I tossed the Chernobyl plus San Juan worm plus salvation nymph for a bit but nothing was happening so I swapped the salvation nymph for a zebra midge as I noticed quite a few midges buzzing about in the air. I continued working my way upstream for another forty yards through some nice runs of moderate depth, but once again my flies were not attracting any interest. The gusting wind became unrelenting and the sun glare made it difficult to follow my fly, so at 2:30 I reeled up my flies and clipped them to the rod guide and called it a day. I was actually feeling quite chilled as I no longer wore my fleece, so this contributed to my decision to surrender on Sunday, February 16.

It was fun to get on the river in February, and my fold-over Chernobyl seems to be solid, although it still hasn’t faced the cycle of catching and releasing a fish. The crowds and wind however were more than I bargained for. I made a mental note to only fish the South Platte River during weekdays in the future.