Category Archives: Fishing Reports

Fishing Reports

Big Thompson River – 04/29/2013

Time: 10:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: AM in area across from first large turnaround after private section and in PM from Grandpa’s Retreat upstream

Fish Landed: 10

Big Thompson River 04/28/2013 Photo Album

As the first nice days of spring continued through the last weekend of April and into the first part of the week, I felt a strong urge to spend another day on a Colorado trout stream. I had work commitments for Tuesday and a dentist appointment on Wednesday morning, and then the weather was forecast to take a turn to a cold state again, but Monday was open so I announced my absence and planned a fishing trip. The caddis emergence on the Arkansas appeared to be lagging according to the reports from Royal Gorge Angler and ArkAnglers, and I didn’t want to make the long trip again without the strong probability of hitting the major hatch. I had a nice day on the Big Thompson on April 25 and the flows had increased moderately to 53 cfs, so I made Estes Park my destination. Temperatures were expected to hit 80 degrees in Denver, so I expected a pleasant day in the Big Thompson canyon below Lake Estes.

I departed Denver by 9:30AM and took the I25 North route and then cut over north of Longmont to Lyons to avoid the Boulder Turnpike and the associated road construction. I arrived at the river by 10:15 and I was making my first cast by 10:30. I chose a spot perhaps .5-1 mile below where I’d fished on Thursday where there is a large pullout/turnaround on the right side of the highway when traveling east. Once again I elected to fish with my new Orvis four weight and hiked down the road a bit until I encountered a parked car and looked for the associated fisherman. Sure enough another fisherman was located approximately forty yards downstream from the car, so I turned around and descended the small bank and began fishing above the car and slightly below a long narrow island.

Since the Chernobyl ant and salvation nymph combination worked well for me on my prior visit, I tied on the same combination and began prospecting the likely locations. The area below the island offered no interest from fish and then I worked up the narrow right channel around the island. Toward the tip of the island I made a long 25-30 foot cast and as the Chernobyl made a four foot drift toward me, it paused. I lifted my rod and a spunky brown trout bolted downstream and made several leaps. I landed the spunky guy and quickly released it to go on with its humble life. Things were looking promising as I’d landed a fish in the first 15 minutes on a beautiful spring day. Sometimes the early signs can be quite misleading.

With fresh optimism I retreated to the bottom of the island and worked up the wider and deeper left channel. I spotted quite a few fish, but they were showing no interest in either of my offerings. I fished hard for the remainder of the morning and covered all the likely pools, runs, pockets and riffles until I reached a point across and slightly below my car. I had nothing to show for my efforts except a tiring arm and a few tangles caused by the wind. I saw quite a few fish and experimented with many fly combinations including a deer hair caddis, yellow Letort hopper, beadhead hares ear, RS2, and beadhead pheasant tail.

After lunch next to the stream I converted to nymphing with a beadhead hares ear on top and a RS2 on the bottom. There were two very nice deep runs near my lunch spot and 10 yards upstream where I was certain the nymphs would produce, but my confidence was misplaced. I looked upstream and noticed another fisherman had cut in fifty yards above me and I realized I would not be able to progress further in this area. I did manage to land a second small rainbow in a pocket above the deep run, but then I was forced to return to the car and evaluate my next move.

My next move was to drive further downstream and look for open pullouts. Quite a few fishermen were also drawn to the river by the nice weather forecast, but a mile or so of travel yielded a small pullout just before the dirt road that leads to Grandpa’s Retreat. I quickly slipped into the space and grabbed my rod and walked down the road to a point just above the no trespassing signs. I removed the strike indicator and split shot and decided to return to my gold standard; a Chernobyl ant trailing a beadhead hares ear. Unfortunately the value of gold must have depreciated because these flies were not producing results other than a few refusals to the Chernobyl. Clearly the fish were looking up, but what would make them close the deal? Perhaps a smaller attractor was the answer, and could they be looking for wind blown ants on the surface? I found a lime green trude attractor in my patch and then added a parachute black ant. The white wing of the trude would allow me to follow the two dry flies.

By this time on Monday another huge factor came into play…wind. It had been vexing in the morning, but now the velocity really picked up. In the AM the wind was largely a cross wind, and this made it quite difficult to deliver my flies with any sort of accuracy. In the early afternoon the wind was a headwind and in order to cast my flies, I had to overpower the forward stroke. This allowed me to get the flies upstream, but I couldn’t check my cast and create slack to counteract drag. This may explain my lack of success with dry flies and the greater than normal refusals. The trude and ant combination proved to be no different, and I observed two or three refusals to the trailing ant.

As the afternoon moved along some high clouds blocked the sun and I began to observe some BWO’s ascending from the surface of the stream, and it wasn’t long before I noticed some rising fish. I clipped off the trude and ant and tied on a CDC BWO to see if I could cash in on the surface feeding activity. Unfortunately I lost awareness of my position and hooked my newly tied-on fly high in a tree, and spent a fair amount of time bending the limb down to retrieve it. I moved upstream a small distance and guess what happened? I did it again and scrambled to remove my fly a second time. This removal was much more difficult than the first, and I created quite a tussle with the tree. At last I was free and ready to focus on the rising trout, but as I reached for my plastic floatant dispenser that is tethered by a section of backing and usually lodged in a small pocket on my frontpack, I discovered that it was missing and all that remained was the frayed end of my backing cord. I didn’t relish the idea of fishing dry flies without floatant so I retraced my steps to the scene of my battle with the tree and sure enough found the red capped floatant bottle on the rocks beneath the tree. I knotted the remaining backing cord and resumed my quest for trout. It was proving to be one of those days, and I was mentally thankful that I hadn’t broken my rod or reel, fallen in the river, or punctured my waders.

Typical Rainbow

Typical Rainbow

Finally I was positioned by a nice stretch of river of moderate depth and spotted rising fish. It was still difficult to place my casts with any degree of accuracy using the tiny CDC BWO and without introducing the dreaded drag, but I did manage to land eight trout in the 8-12 inch range between 2PM and 4PM. I discovered that getting above rising fish and making casts down and across and then letting the fly drift downstream to the position of the riser was the most effective method of catching fish. This was easier said than done, however, and not all situations allowed me to execute this technique without spooking the fish.

Fish Taken Tight Against Rock

Fish Taken Tight Against Rock

By 4PM I’d wrestled with a couple more trees and lost a couple CDC BWO’s and the hatch seemed to be waning. I was weary of fighting the wind and the everpresent tangles and tree limbs so I decided to retreat to the car. It was a tough, humbling day on the Big Thompson and I was pleased to have landed 10 fish and not injure myself in the process. I did discover that there are quite a few fish in the stretch from Grandpa’s Retreat boundary back up to where the Big Thompson parallels the highway, and this information will prove useful in the future.

 

 

Arkansas River – 04/26/2013

Time: 9:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Salt Lick Access

Fish Landed: 20

Arkansas River 04/26/2013 Photo Album

I sent an email to Steve Supple asking if he was sufficiently recovered from a recent cold to join me on another fishing expedition to the Arkansas River. He replied on Thursday morning that he was taking antibiotics and felt good enough to make the trip on Friday. Judging from the fishing reports on the Royal Gorge Angler web site, I felt there was a slight chance of hitting the caddis emergence, but expected to at least have some decent action on BWO’s and caddis pupa with movement. The weather forecast called for high temperatures reaching 70 degrees with a period of cloudiness between 11 and 2 with a 30% chance of showers.

We got off to a nice early start and arrived at the Salt Lick Access area just above Five Points by 9:30AM, and we were ready to fish shortly thereafter. We noticed quite a few more fishermen in the pullouts than seen on our last trip in early April. I began my day of fishing in the nice run directly across from the steps down from the parking lot and rigged with a strike indicator, split shot, beadhead hares ear nymph and beadhead bright green caddis pupa. This combination didn’t produce any action in the long run so I crossed at the top and quickly prospected the small north braid and then moved opposite Steve in the long deep pool. This area also did not reward me for my casting, and meanwhile, Steve was landing several fish on his caddis larva imitation.

Steve Supple Fishes a Nice Run Near Salt Lick

Steve Supple Fishes a Nice Run Near Salt Lick

Hearing of Steve’s success with the caddis larva, I swapped the green caddis pupa for a go2 caddis as it showcases a shiny bright green body. At the top of the long deep pool another small channel enters from the north side of the river and features a deep hole at the bend just before joining the main river. The hole is 50% covered by foam, and on one of my drifts on the edge of the foam, I hooked and landed my first fish of the day, a small brown that fell for the hares ear. Next I moved up along the right, north bank to an area with large pockets between widely spaced exposed boulders, and here I landed a second medium size brown.

At slightly before 11AM I approached a nice run of moderate depth around some large rocks and I spotted five or more BWO’s fluttering up from the stream. As forecast by the Weather Channel, some clouds moved in and blocked the sun, and I was pleased to see some rising fish as the BWO hatch intensified. This prompted me to clip off the nymphs and I tied on a CDC BWO and this produced quite well as I landed six browns over the next hour or so from three separate deep smooth pool areas. It was too difficult to see rises in the faster moving water, but the smooth slower moving pools revealed fish actively feeding on the surface. At 11:45 it actually began to sprinkle briefly and I wasn’t seeing any likely pools or rising fish so I reeled up my fly and waded back to the highway side of the river and returned downstream and discovered Steve in the nice long deep pool just upstream from the steps and parking lot. Steve suggested I wade in above him as several fish were rising so I took his advice and waded in a few feet and began making downstream drifts in a nice current seam approximately 15 feet out from my position. Sure enough I saw a quick slurp and set the hook and landed number nine on the morning, a small nine inch rainbow.

Decent Brown

Decent Brown

Steve and I ate our lunches on one set of steps below the parking lot and after lunch I decided to walk down along the shoulder of highway 50 to the observation shelter at Five Points and then work my way back up to the parking lot. Steve on the other hand elected to fish in the nice pool and move upstream from there. As I arrived at Five Points I mentally evaluated my options. The BWO hatch appeared to have ended even though it remained relatively cloudy. We appeared to be too early for the caddis hatch as we saw minimal signs of caddis activity and my attempts to fish pupa with movement yielded nothing. I decided my best option was to prospect the ten feet of water along the bank with a Chernobyl ant as an indicator and a beadhead hares ear as my workhorse dropper. This strategy worked like a charm, and I landed eight additional fish in the two hours after lunch on the Chernobyl ant and hares ear combination. All the fish grabbed the hares ear except for one aggressive brown that slammed the Chernobyl.

Snake Rock

Snake Rock

The last two went for the hares ear as I swung it or lifted to recast so I decided to return to the nymph rig in case the fish were tuning into active caddis pupa. I removed the Chernobyl ant and replaced it with a strike indicator and split shot and then kept the BHHE as the top fly and added a beadhead bright green caddis pupa as the point fly. I fished these two flies with quite a bit of movement and landed three additional browns including one decent 12 inch fish. Just after I landed number twenty Steve appeared on the bank above me and asked how I was doing and whether I wanted to stay or move on. I asked if I could fish the remaining twenty yards before I reached the parking area, and he agreed. I failed to land any additional fish in two attractive areas, and then just before approaching the beach by the stairs, I snagged the flies on a large submerged rock and broke them both off. This made my decision to quit easy.

Steve and I kept our waders on as we decided to check out some water downstream in Canon City for fish feeding on caddis on the surface; however, when we parked in a parking lot east of Canon City and checked the water, it appeared to be dead. We decided to remove our gear and begin our return trip at around 3:45.

It was a decent day but we never encountered any significant caddis activity and the fish were smaller on average than normal. Steve and I agreed that the best action was the BWO hatch that occurred from 11AM to 12PM. We even shook the willows at the area east of Canon City and saw no caddis flitting up from the branches. The quest for Arkansas River caddis continues.

Big Thompson River – 04/25/2013

Time: 11:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: Downstream from first bridge after Noel’s Draw and back up to bend

Fish Landed: 17

Big Thompson River 04/25/2013 Photo Album

After another April cold snap and snowstorm I was anxious to get out on Colorado streams. I checked both flows and weather before settling on the Big Thompson River below Lake Estes. The DWR web site indicated flows of 40 cfs, but because this area is higher in elevation than the Arkansas and South Platte drainages, I was concerned about how cold it would be. The high in Denver was forecast to be low 60’s so that translated to low 50’s near Estes Park. I decided to give it a shot, but planned to depart at around 9:30PM and expected to be on the water by 11AM. This allowed time for air temperatures to rise to reasonable levels.

This plan worked pretty well and it was 49 degrees when I arrived at the first bridge downstream from Noel’s Draw and quickly prepared to fish. I wore my Under Armour long sleeve shirt along with my fishing shirt, fleece, and raincoat as a wind breaker and I was comfortable for most of the time I fished. I elected to test my Orvis four weight rod for the first time in 2013 since the Big Thompson is a smaller stream and the flows were relatively low. I decided to walk downstream across the bridge and then another 100 yards or so beyond a small bend in the river to a point where the bank was lower and the water spread out a bit. My choice for the initial stretch of fishing was a Chernobyl ant and a salvation nymph and this performed rather well as I landed five trout before I broke for lunch at 12:30PM. The first three fish of the day, two browns and one rainbow, were some of the largest I would land, so that was an auspicious start. I also noticed several splashy refusals presumably to the Chernobyl ant.

Beautiful Colors on This Big T Rainbow

Beautiful Colors on This Big T Rainbow

When I reached a cement structure that funneled runoff from the road to the river, I climbed up the rocky bank and broke for lunch. As usual I munched my lunch along the river even though the air temperature was probably in the low 50’s. I mysteriously broke off the salvation nymph right before lunch so I replaced it with a beadhead hares ear nymph after lunch, and this yielded three small fish, two from a deep hole slightly upstream from the cement culvert where I ended my morning fishing session.

40 cfs and Snow Visible on Hillside

40 cfs and Snow Visible on Hillside

When I waded above the bridge I noticed several active fish below the surface as they darted from side to side to intercept some form of drifting food. Unfortunately they were not interested in my Chernobyl ant or beadhead hares ear nymph, so I swapped the BHHE for a salvation nymph and then added a RS2 as a third fly and second dropper. I managed to prick one fish most likely on the tiny RS2, and then I observed a few fish actually break the surface as they sipped a tiny morsel from the film. It didn’t take long before I noticed some small BWO’s drifting slowly up from the surface of the stream, so I removed the three fly combo and replaced them with a single CDC BWO. It didn’t take very long before I landed a deeply colored rainbow on the tiny olive imitation.

Another Brightly Colored Rainbow

Another Brightly Colored Rainbow

Between 2 and 3PM I enjoyed some great suface action and landed six rainbows on the CDC BWO as well as experiencing several momentary hookups. Toward the end of this period before I moved upstream I hooked and landed a nice rainbow that was feeding in some relatively shallow smooth water 25 feet across from me. As I played this fish I noticed at least fifteen other fish scatter due to the splashing and commotion created by my hooked fish. I was amazed at the number of fish that were dispersed across this area just upstream of the bridge.

After the fish scatter event I decided to move on and skipped the faster water between the Santa Fe and the next bend in the river. I cut down to the river where there is a tiny island and just above the island there is a nice deep run with some small pools on either side. Here I spotted two fish rising on the right side and I began making some long casts and checking them high to create some slack upon landing. It took awhile, and I experienced a momentary hook up with the larger of the two fish, but eventually I duped the smaller rainbow into sipping my fly and landed it. Next I moved to the left side of the deep run and shot a cast to the top of the smooth area along the current seam. I didn’t see any rises or spot any fish, but as the fly drifted four feet, a silvery dart emerged from the bottom and shot a foot to the right and inhaled my imitation. This was the most exciting take of the afternoon, and I landed a fine Big Thompson rainbow.

Nice Run Delivered Two Fish

Nice Run Delivered Two Fish

The stretch of water above the pool was not as conducive to prospecting with the tiny CDC BWO and the hatch had pretty much subsided, so I decided to switch to an olive brown size 14 deer hair caddis. I’d spotted a few caddis flitting about so felt this might attract a few aggressive fish still looking toward the surface for a meal. This move proved to be reasonably correct and I landed three more smaller fish, one rainbow and two browns, on the caddis before quitting at 4PM.

All in all it was an enjoyable day particularly the BWO surface action between 2 and 3PM. I’d fished the area above the bridge many times before but never experienced much success, but the emergence of the tiny mayflies apparently made these fish more susceptible to my offerings.

 

Arkansas River – 04/21/2013

Time: 11:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: Below Spike Buck access area in the morning and then Five Points after lunch

Fish Landed: 13

Arkansas River 04/21/2013 Photo Album

Two weeks of winter weather in April certainly helped the snowpack and created some nice late season skiing conditions, but it did little to quench my growing desire to feel the throb of a nice fish on my fly rod. By April 21, 2012 I’d already been fishing nine times and landed 138 trout. I certainly don’t wish for another 2012 in terms of drought conditions, but I am anxious to try my new flies and experience some decent pre-snowmelt fishing. Another spring snowstorm was in the forecast for April 22-23, so Jane agreed to join me on a Sunday excursion south to Canon City and the Arkansas River to enjoy the small window of nice spring weather. High temperatures were forecast for the mid-sixties, and we were thankful for that.

Our first stop was the Spike Buck access of the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area. It was nice to use my Colorado State Parks pass to avoid the usual parking fee, and I quickly climbed into my waders and rigged up my four weight Sage fly rod. Jane, meanwhile grabbed the Sunday paper and set up shop at a picnic table along the south bank of the river. At 11AM it was in the high 50’s and I felt comfortable in my Columbia long sleeved shirt under my fishing shirt as I walked anxiously down the shoulder of Route 50. When I reached the large bend in the highway roughly 100 yards below the parking lot I cut down the bank to the river. I began my quest for trout with a weighted 20 incher and a bright green caddis pupa. I worked this combination as I moved upstream and experimented with dead drifting and active manipulation but failed to entice any interest. After twenty minutes or so of focused casting, I decided to make a switch and replaced the bright green caddis with a tiny RS2.

As I approached noon and moved closer to Spike Buck I finally picked up a small brown and had several momentary hook ups presumably on the RS2; however, the action was quite slow. I decided to pick up the pace and cover more water while dedicating only three casts to any target area unless it looked particularly attractive. Also the 20 incher didn’t appear to be doing anything, so I clipped it off and added a split shot and beadhead hares ear as my top fly while continuing to present the RS2 on the point. This helped quite a bit and in a short amount of time I landed another small brown on the beadhead hares ear. By 12:30PM I’d added a third small brown, and I was close to Jane and the car so I paused for lunch.

Jane's Setup at Spike Buck

Jane’s Setup at Spike Buck

We debated whether to eat at Spike Buck or move to another location, and since I wasn’t overwhelmed with the quality of the fishing, we decided to move to the next access area up the river at Five Points. We parked along the small cul-de-sac that leads to the protruding river overlook and grabbed a picnic table under a huge cottonwood tree. More clouds began to track overhead and the breeze picked up so I decided to put on my fleece. Jane found a nice spot for her folding chair after lunch on a small beach behind a large boulder that served as a windbreaker. Meanwhile I decided to once again walk down the highway around 75 yards and then descend the steep bank to the river.

When I arrived close to the water I saw a nice 25 foot pool behind some protruding boulders and proceeded downstream a bit further to get below this enticing area. Sure enough on the first cast to the head of the pool along the left side a ten inch brown struck the RS2 as I began to lift and recast. I was encouraged by this turn of events and added another larger brown that jumped my swinging fly along the right current seam. For the next two hours I worked my way up along the left bank and prospected with my nymph combination in all the likely pockets and slots. The wind picked up off and on and periodically some clouds blocked the sun. On several occasions I spotted emerging BWO’s, but never saw any rising fish.

Nicest Fish of the Day

Nicest Fish of the Day

My fish count moved from five to ten during this stretch and most of the fish grabbed the fly on the lift or swing. As I expected the RS2 produced but I probably landed two more on the hares ear. At three o’clock I arrived at the nice pool below the large rock wall that Jane was using as a wind screen, and peered into the dark deep water. I began tossing my nymphs upstream and allowing them to drift along the long current seam that was 15 feet out from the beach where I stood. On one of these drifts the indicator dipped just as the nymphs were about to swing away from the seam and I set the hook and landed another brown in the 8-11 inch range. On two subsequent drifts higher up near the start of the pool I experienced momentary hook ups.

As I was contemplating my next move, Jane appeared on the top of the large boulder, and inquired about my plans. I told her I’d like to fish for another half hour until 3:30 and if the action didn’t pick up I’d be ready to depart. I circled around the huge boulder and dropped back down to the river to a point where there was a twenty yard stretch of pocket water. I covered the pockets next to the bank quickly using my three cast and done strategy and arrived at a sweet spot where there was a nice long slot with some fairly deep smooth water from the midpoint to the tail. As I observed a cloud blocked the sky and the wind picked up a bit and I began to notice some fairly regular rises. Perhaps I could entice some of these fish to strike my RS2 as an emerger by employing my jigging method through the slot. The area I am describing was approximately twenty-five feet long but only eight to 10 feet wide and roughly in the shape of a banana. One fairly regular riser was eight feet below the point of the slot right where the riffles smoothed out. I cast my flies and indicator above that point and as the indicator moved five feet downstream of the rise point, it suddenly darted to the side and away from me. I immediately set the hook and felt the weight of a fish that was heavier than any I’d caught so far on the day.

Unfortunately after I stopped the downstream run and turned the fish, I realized that it was foul hooked on one of the small fins along the belly behind the head. I managed to plane the fish across the surface and into my net, and it was indeed a nice rainbow probably 13-14 inches in length. I was disappointed at this turn of events, but didn’t have time to dwell on it as I realized quite a few fish continued to rise in the area. I despaired of using my nymphs for these fish and undertook the task of clipping off the nymphs, removing the spit shot and disengaging the strike indicator. I opened my foam patch in my front pack and carefully removed a size 22 CDC blue wing olive. On the third or fourth drift I spotted a rise in the approximate location of my difficult to see fly and set the hook and enjoyed the throb of a 12 inch brown. After quickly releasing the brown and sopping up the moisture absorbed by my fly on my shirt sleeve, I fluffed up the wing, and flicked another cast to an area where I’d spotted a rise. Once again after several casts and accounting for the downstream gusts of wind, I spotted a rise near the anticipated position of my fly and set the hook into another brown.

I was pretty excited with this late afternoon hatch and two bonus fish that sipped my CDC olive, but just as quickly as the action commenced, the sun reappeared and the hatch was over. There were additional clouds in the sky to the west and perhaps they would induce another flurry of hatching BWO’s, but it was now nearly 4PM, and I could tell Jane was getting anxious to make the return trip to Denver. I circled around the deep pool below the large rock and observed the water for a bit, but nothing was showing on the surface so I reeled up the fly and clipped it off and prepared for the return to Denver.

It was fun to get out after a two week postponement due to weather, but the fish were on average on the small side. I saw no signs of an imminent caddis hatch, but the fish were somewhat active on the BWO nymphs and I did experience some decent albeit brief surface action. Hopefully the next snowstorm will pass quickly and I can return to Colorado streams for addtional quality fishing.

 

 

 

South Platte River – 04/04/2013

Time: 11:00AM – 3:00PM

Location: Whale Rock below Nighthawk and then the area just below where the Nighthawk road meets the South Platte

Fish Landed: 3

South Platte River 04/04/2013 Photo Album

With Thursday expected to be a nicer day than Wednesday, and being in wait mode at work until the office manager announced that the numbers were ready for February, I decided to undertake another fishing venture. I looked at the flows on the streams closer to Denver and settled on the South Platte River below Deckers. The flows out of Cheesman Reservoir were 97 cfs and they increased to 117 in the village of Trumbull. This is fairly low, but I’ve seen flows around 50, so I figured it wouldn’t be ridiculously low. I can reach the lower stretch of the South Platte in 1.5 hours so this played into my thouight process as well.

I took care of several chores and departed the house by 9:30 and traffic in Denver was light so I arrived at my destination and was in the water fishing by 11AM. I chose to park at the lot by Whale Rock a couple miles downstream from Nighthawk. The temperature was in the low 50’s when I began fishing so I wore one layer of fleece, and I was quite comfortable. Another fisherman was upstream in the area where the river divided around a small island and I wanted to fish the pool and eddy at the bend so rather than begin further downstream where the river shoots through some large boulders, I elected to begin at the bend pool.

I rigged with a strike indicator on my tapered leader and added a split shot then a beadhead RS2 and a zebra midge. I began at the lower end of the bend pool and began working my way up with casts directed to the seam between the current and the smooth pool on the opposite side. When I reached the midpoint of the seam, my indicator paused and I set the hook and felt the throbbing of a decent fish. The brown trout fought defiantly which surprised me as I expected a small 9-12 inch brown. When I finally netted and photographed my catch is stretched out to around 13 inches. I was quite pleased with this early outcome. When I cast to the very top of the seam I noticed another pause and hooked and landed another brown in the 11-12 inch range. I was feeling pretty confident as I’d now landed two fish in the first half hour.

Decent First Fish on South Platte River

Decent First Fish on South Platte River

I wasn’t able to coax anymore trout from the bend pool, so I decided to fish up stream a bit along the high bank where the main current ran. I was working the narrow slot between the current and bank but to no avail. Meanwhile the fisherman above me did in fact appear and began fishing the top of the run that I was headed toward. He must have seen me as he retreated fairly quickly, but I decided to return to the area below the bend to water that was totally undisturbed.

I hiked down a narrow path for 50 yards or so and moved into the river where it divided into a small side channel. I began working my way upstream covering a lot of water quickly. The depth was only three to four feet and extremely clear so I made long uptream casts on my side and three quarters casts toward the far side. Nothing was showing interest and in fact I was seeing only one or two small trout bolting for cover as I waded slowly upstream.

Finally I got to a nice deep run with a slower moving pocket on the inside. I was sure this would yield some action, but again I was disappointed. I spotted some nervous water next to the opposite bank, so I quartered a cast up and across. Sure enough as the flies began to swing away from the bank, a brown hammered one of the flies. I set the hook and the fish immediately cleared the water but the hook came flying back. I moved up a bit and in similar fashion the indicator stopped in a deeper trough and I set the hook so that a rainbow launched out of the water. Once again the excitement dissolved as the fly came flying back free of any grip on the fish.

When I reached the bend I decided to adjourn to the car to eat my lunch as it was close to noon. After lunch I walked up the road to the rocky area near the huge boulders. I fished this area thoroughly and carefully, but again no interest was shown if there were in fact fish present. A deep run above the large boulders and below the next parking lot provided another disppointment. I passed an elderly gentleman stooped over the river as he seined the water with his net and moved to another favorite stretch where the river flows next to the dirt road and over a very rocky streambed. I passed the lower portion as it typically fishes better with dry flies or dry/dropper rigs and moved up to the nice long deep run that feeds the rocky pool stretch.

Low and Clear

Low and Clear

I ran the nymphs through this attractive area quite thoroughly but once again I was surprised to see no evidence of fish. I was now losing confidence in my ability to land anymore fish under the bright blue sky with the relatively shallow flows and extremely clear water. I rounded the next bend and waded to two or three nice deeper areas where I’d enjoyed past success, but nothing was showing. Another fisherman was now above me in some riffles, so I walked back to the rocky area and clipped off my nymph apparatus and tied on a olive body caddis with a RS2 dropper. Surely this would entice some small browns from the rocky pool area. I methodically covered the bottom end and did notice two decent browns bolt under a large boulder next to the bank due to my wading upstream.

As I approached the best part of the pool, the elderly fisherman who had been seining the water appeared above me. He was at the very top of the pool and began making downstream casts. He kept a distance of around 20 yards, but he clearly was disturbing the top portion of the stretch that I had my eyes on. I fished out a nice pool/run 25 foot stretch where I’d landed fish previously and then climbed the bank and returned to the car.

I planned to fish for another hour so I decided to drive back to the area where the road from Sprucewood joined the road along the river. I parked where there used to be a pay phone and made some half hearted casts to some deep water behind protruding boulders, but again this proved fruitless. After the bend there was some nice water with rocky pockets next to the bank and I’d caught nice fish there in previous visits when I lived in Castle Rock. I crossed over and decided to at least try out one of my newly tied pool toys to see how they cast and float. I attached a tan body pool toy to my line and below the bend added a beadhead hares ear.

I began working upstream prospecting the likely pockets and seams along the northwest bank. I wasn’t catching fish but I was falling in love with the rythmn of casting and following the highly visible hopper imitation. It floated quite well although occasionally the poly indicator material became saturated so I gave it a quick dip in my dry shake. Next I moved up ten yards and reached an exceptionally juicy area where the river flowed along an angled log that protruded from the bank. Between me there was 15 feet of nice water with moderate depth with numerous submerged rocks on the river bottom. As I looked at the water, I spotted two trout nestled in a depression at the very tail of the pool by the point of the log. I began to drift my hopper and nymph over them and on perhaps the seventh drift, one of the fish actually moved from its position as my flies drifted overhead.

Since I wasn’t having much luck moving and prospecting I decided to focus on these fish and I clipped off the hares ear and replaced with a beadhead RS2. Again I thought I saw one of the fish wiggle its tail and move slightly when the nymph drifted by, but there was no take. I cast this combination for perhaps ten drifts and then reeled up and again switched the point fly. This time I tried a beadhead soft hackle emerger, and once again I began flicking casts above the position of the two fish. On the third of fourth drift I allowed the pool toy to drift further downstream than normal and as I lifted my rod to pick up the flies and recast, one of the browns angled up and grabbed the soft hackle emerger. After all this work I’d finally landed another 11 inch brown.

Fish Taken Above Rock Cluster

Fish Taken Above Rock Cluster

I released the small brown and worked upstream a bit further to a point where the main current runs along a long slate rock ledge. Dave Gaboury and I used to catch quite a few fish from this area and we called in Dave’s Run. At the very tail I spotted a couple fish dimpling the surface in a fairly regular pattern. I thought about transitioning to a CDC BWO, but thought perhaps I could drift the pool toy and soft hackle emerger and lift the trailing fly to elicit a strike. Mistake. The large indicator fly appartently spooked the feeding trout and the game was over. I belatedly clipped off the dry/dropper set up and tied on a CDC olive and then rested the water for five minutes or so, but the hunt was over and the fish discontinued their feeding.

It was now 3PM and I was quite tired and the fishing remained quite challenging so I elected to return to the car and ultimately to Denver. It was a gorgeous spring day to be outside, but very difficult conditions for fishing in the South Platte River.

Arkansas River – 04/03/2013

Time: 9:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Braids above Pinnacle Rock, Salt Lick access, and Parkdale

Fish Landed: 15

Arkansas River 04/03/2013 Photo Album

After a brief cold snap moved through Colorado on Monday and Tuesday, nicer weather was forecast for the remainder of the first week of April. Steve Supple and I planned to take advantage and scheduled our first trip to the Arkansas River for Wednesday, April 3, 2013. After experiencing the fishing aberration that is named Grey Reef, would we face a dose of reality and crash back to earth with a loud thud of a day?

I arrived at Steve’s house in Lone Tree at the appointed hour of 7AM, and we transferred Steve’s gear from the garage to my Santa Fe and set out on our trip to Canon City and beyond. Traffic stalled a bit in Colorado Springs as we met the morning rush hour and the fog was rather dense from Monument to Florence, but we managed to make the trip in a couple hours. We anxiously watched the dashboard air temperature as it hovered around the freezing mark and desparately prayed for the sun to break through the clouds and warm things up before we began to fish. Unfortunately as we pulled into a pullout along route 50 at the braids section above Pinnacle Rock, the temperature read 37 degrees. I once again wore my down vest under my waders and my ski hat but decided to eshew my toe warmers.

Steve elected to fish the channel that splits away from the road just across from where we parked and I began in a moderately deep run right next to the road and across from the car. I started out with the nymphing rig and tied on an Arkansas rubber legs and a beadhead RS2. In the first run I experienced a split second hook up but then things went dead until I moved above the Y where Steve’s channel split off to a nice deep run and pool. In the bottom of this stretch I also failed to create any interest in my flies, so I decided to abandon the RS2 and tie on a reliable beadhead hares ear nymph. This turned the tide, and toward the top of the run a small brown attacked the hares ear, and I had my first Colorado brown trout of the new season.

Shortly after landing the first fish, I snagged the nymph combination on a stick, and broke off both flies. The Arkansas rubber leg didn’t seem to be doing much, so I swapped it out for a 20 incher and plucked a replacement hares ear from my patch. This combination was a winner and I landed six more browns over the remainder of the morning until around 11:45 when I worked my way across to meet Steve and return to the Santa Fe for lunch. One of the seven morning fish was a nice 13 inch brown and I stopped to photograph it as it was my first decent fish in Colorado for 2013. Steve and I compared notes, and he seemed to be having similar success, but he was catching his fish on a baetis nymph imitation.

Nice Brown Landed in the Morning on Beadhead Hares Ear

Nice Brown Landed in the Morning on Beadhead Hares Ear

We decided to move to a new location for lunch so we drove back east on route 50 to the Salt Lick access and parked there. We took our lunches down by the river and observed a pair of small browns rising fairly frequently next to a large protruding rock in front of us. This prompted me to switch the hares ear for a Craven soft hackle emerger BWO imitation as I began fishing a nice long run after lunch. I experienced two momentary hook ups as the soft hackle emerger made a swing at the end of the drift, so I crossed to the north bank and worked upstream imparting action to my flies and landed three more small browns on the tiny wet fly.

There was an exceptionally brief BWO hatch in the hour or so after lunch, but I hesitate to call it a hatch as I observed minimal surface feeding. Clearly however the fish were active on the emerging nymphs and I began to catch fish by jigging my nymphs on direct downstream drifts back toward me and executed bad downstream mends to induce takes on the acceleration. When I’d landed around 10 fish, it seemed that the action slowed, so I swapped the soft hackle emerger for a beadhead RS2, and this resulted in a couple more fish. I was catching fish but they were spaced apart and required quite a bit of casting and covering a fair amount of stream real estate.

Upstream from Salt Lick Access

Upstream from Salt Lick Access

Eventually neither of my flies were producing so I decided to try a bright green caddis pupa on the off chance that the fish were beginning to tune into these bugs which become very prevalent in a few weeks. Sure enough I added three more browns to my count on the caddis pupa and they attacked the fly aggressively on the swing. I began to impart movement on every drift and this paid modest dividends.

Afternoon Brown Attacked Green Caddis Pupa

Afternoon Brown Attacked Green Caddis Pupa

By 2:30 I reached a stretch of fast pocket water and decided to retreat back to Steve’s position and worked my way back across the river to the bank next to the road. Steve was working the pool above the parking lot with tiny BWO dry flies, and he was experiencing a bit of success, but we decided to make another move to the Parkdale recreation access.

The river is quite wide at Parkdale, but a few attractive spots presented themselves. Steve gave me a nice deep run below a huge protruding boulder directly across from the picnic tables where we parked. Meanwhile he moved up along the bank to a nice stretch more suitable to his dry flies. I worked the water below the boulder thoroughly with one split second hook up and then went above the boulder to drift my flies next to a huge 5 X 10 foot foam area. On the fifth or sixth drift a fish attacked the caddis pupa as it accelerated from beneath the foam to the run next to it. I set the hook and immediately a 14 or 15 inch brown jumped from the foam. I played the fish on an angle to my right to the top of the faster riffles just above the boulder. I decided to switch and angle the fish sideways to my left to bring it around and hopefully tire it, but the fish somehow broke free during this maneuver. When I reeled up my line I discovered the green caddis pupa was missing and all that was left was a broken knot. Needless to say I was disappointed.

I moved up the river across from Steve and decided that this water begged for a dry fly, so I sat down on the bank and removed all the nymph gear and replaced with a brand new tapered leader. I tied on a small CDC BWO imitation and made some nice downstream drifts, but to no avail. Eventually I climbed up on the bank and shuffled down the path to the picnic table area and half heartedly cast in a marginal spot near the car. In a short amount of time Steve joined me and we decided to call it a day.

We both landed double digit fish that were on the small side even for the Arkansas River. Normally this would be a satisfying opener for Colorado, but coming off the euphoria of big rainbows and lots of them on the North Platte, it was a bit of disappointment. It will take some time to come back to the reality of local fishing.

North Platte River – 03/27/2013

Time: 9:00AM – 1:00PM

Location: Fremont Canyon then Grey Reef section below dam

Fish Landed: 7

North Platte River 03/27/2013 Photo Album

A good night’s rest at the Red Butte Ranch Bed & Breakfast performed wonders on our weary bodies, and we awoke anxious for another day of fishing. Two new guests arrived the previous evening from Fort Collins and they were preparing for a day of guided fishing on the river with Greg. Apparently it was their fourth consecutive year of booking a guided float trip with Greg at the end of March. We chatted with them over breakfast and made our plans for the day. Greg suggested giving Fremont Canyon a try as it was between Pathfinder and Alcova Reservoirs and above the flushing flows. He told us that it was smaller water with flows at 75 cfs and the guide shop reported some clients landing monster trout the previous day. Originally Steve and I planned to fish downstream from the B&B and then migrate to the area below the dam; however, we decided to accept Greg’s advice and drive to the Fremont Canyon stretch to start our day. Greg steered us in the right direction on Tuesday, so why not continue to follow his suggestions? Our plan for Wednesday was then to drive west to Fremont Canyon and fish there for awhile or all morning depending on our success. If it did not work out, our default was to return to the area below Grey Reef dam where we’d experienced success on Monday and Tuesday.

High temperatures were forecast for the mid-50’s on Wednesday so I was less concerned about keeping my hands warm, but I cracked open a pack of handwarmers nonetheless just to be safe. I placed them in my down vest so I could thrust my hands deep in the pockets inside my wader bib should my hands become cold. Steve and I packed up all our belongings, paid for our lodging, said our goodbyes, and hit the road for our drive to Fremont Canyon. We missed the left turn initially, but did a quick U-turn and recovered from our mistake. A five mile drive on a side road off of 220 led us to a parking lot overlooking the North Platte River in Fremont Canyon just below Pathfinder Dam.

Fremont Canyon Stretch of North Platte

Fremont Canyon Stretch of North Platte

We quickly grabbed our rods and descended the steep path from the parking lot down a bank to the river. As Greg described, the river was much smaller in this area but discolored to an olive brown hue. We immediately began drifting our eggs and worms in a nice run below the parking lot. Three or four fishermen were above us in some runs and riffles closer to the dam. I elected to start in the midsection of a long run and Steve began at the top. On perhaps the tenth drift through the soft water on the opposite side of the run, my indicator dipped and I set the hook and felt the weight of a decent fish. Unfortunately it wasn’t as large as it felt because I’d foul hooked the 13 inch rainbow in the belly. I skimmed it up over the surface of the water and brought it to net and released it.

Steve and I continued to prospect the pea soup colored water for an hour or so with no sign of fish other the foul hooked experience. After hooking a fish on practically every drift the previous day, it was difficult to adjust to this new lack of action situation. Finally after an hour of futility, I met up with Steve and we agreed to retreat to the stretch below Grey Reef since we knew that was yielding fish. We ascended the bank and placed our rods in the car and in a short amount of time we were parked in the parking lot below the dam. Quite a few fishermen occupied both sides of the run and pool created by the outflow from the pipe where water was being released from the bottom of the dam.

Steve decided to try the near side of the river first where we fished on Monday, but I was intrigued by the idea of crossing the dam and exploring the far side. Greg told us that we could cross on the walkway that spans the dam, and I discovered this to be true. Once on the opposite side I hiked down a well worn path to a spot just above and across from  the boat launch area. I had a fuzzy orange egg fly as my top fly and the chocolate San Juan worm on the point. I flicked a cast or two into a short pool and run in front of me and in a short amount of time I hooked and landed two twelve inch rainbows, one on the egg and one on the worm. I was pleased with the instant action after many fruitless casts in Fremont Canyon, but I was spoiled by the size of the fish landed the previous day.

A Fine Rainbow Landed Wednesday Morning

A Fine Rainbow Landed Wednesday Morning

Next I moved down to a nice deep run directly across from the boat ramp and began drifting this area, but nothing was happening. After I’d covered fifteen yards of this run I decided that I wasn’t getting deep enough so I added a second split shot, but this resulted in numerous snags so I pinched off one of the beads and returned to one split shot. Finally I decided that this water wasn’t going to yield any fish, so I returned to the pool where I began and moved up to the next nice area above it. Here I managed to land another moderate sized rainbow. For the remainder of the morning I worked my way back up the river toward the dam. A small long island split the river between the dam outlet and forty yards above where I began, so in a short amount of time I was fishing the smaller left channel.

17 Inch Rainbow Was Wednesday Highlight

17 Inch Rainbow Was Wednesday Highlight

Toward the bottom of this channel I hooked a fish and it felt larger than the earlier hookups. I battled the fish up and down the river a bit and eventually coaxed it to the shallow rocks near my feet and netted a fine 17 inch rainbow. I was pleased with this turn of events and positioned it on a rectangular rock for a photograph and then released it to swim again. Shortly after this and just above in a nice deep run I once again hooked a heavy fish, but it didn’t seem to possess the energy to rip off line in a long dash the way the rainbow had demonstrated. Sure enough as I played the fish and finally brought it up to the net, I realized that I’d hooked a monster 15 inch sucker. After days of catching fat rainbows, it was surprising to hook a different type of fish, but a sucker was not my preferred choice.

15 Inch Sucker in the Net

15 Inch Sucker in the Net

I continued fishing up along the left bank and ended up landing seven rainbows during the morning and early afternoon. Meanwhile Steve had made the walk across the dam, and he was covering the run across from the boat launch with more success than I’d enjoyed. When I reached the pool at the top of the island I was close to a number of fishermen, so I waded back on the bank and walked down the path to Steve. It was now 1PM so we decided to reel up our flies and call it a day since we had a four hour drive back to Denver in  front of us.

It was another fine day on the North Platte River, and I’m looking forward to a return in the not too distant future.

North Platte River – 03/26/2013

Time: 8:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: Red Butte Ranch downstream three miles and then Grey Reef dam downstream 9 miles.

Fish Landed: 29

North Platte River 03/26/2013 Photo Album

Steve and I were up bright and early on Tuesday morning. Ruth was up at 3:30AM as she worked an early shift, but she prepared breakfast for us before she left. After a light breakfast Steve and I dressed warm for a day on the river and migrated to the heated garage where we climbed into our waders. Greg meanwhile put our rods together and rigged our leaders with strike indicators, split shot and flies. I used my toesies from skiing on my feet even though I was expecting to remain in the boat all day. In addition I broke out the handwarmers I’d purchased at Wal-Mart and placed them inside my ski mittens.

Greg informed us that our strategy would be to float from the Red Butte Ranch downstream for three miles or so and in this way we would be ahead of the flush. Once we took out, we would transport the drift boat back to the dam and float downstream from there for nine miles to another take out. By the time we started our float at the dam, Greg expected us to be behind the flush with water levels essentially down to non-flush levels. Steve drove his Subaru to the morning takeout with Greg so Greg could park his truck and trailer there, and then the two returned to Red Butte Ranch.

Our Guide, Greg

Our Guide, Greg

Once they returned at 8AM, I helped Greg guide the drift boat across the shallow riffles to a spot just above a deeper drop off and then Steve waded out to join us. I remembered that I forgot my neoprene gloves, so I waded back to the bank and returned to the garage to retrieve them, and then waded back to the boat again. We began with Steve in the rear of the boat, and I took the position in the bow. Greg rigged my 6 weight Scott with an orange egg fly and a purple leech. Steve started with a similar egg fly and trailed a red annelid fly. It didn’t take long before my indicator dipped and I set the hook and I was attached to a heavy fish. Unfortunately as I got the fish close to the boat I realized that it was foul hooked in the dorsal fin. Greg and Steve congratulated me, but I wasn’t as excited as them. The fish was a nice fat specimen in excess of fifteen inches, but I announced that I don’t count foul hooked fish. Greg and Steve took the position that they did and it was harder to fight and land a foul hooked fish than a fish hooked in the mouth. I still wasn’t convinced and maintain the opinion that it is only fair to count fish hooked in or very close to the mouth.

We continued on and I landed a second foul hooked fish, but Steve was having better luck in the rear of the boat as he landed quite a few fine hard fighting rainbow trout with several in the 15 – 17 inch range. Eventually we found a spot where I hooked and landed a couple twelve inch rainbows and then added a third as we got closer to the take out ramp. My mouth hooked fish were interested in the top egg fly during this morning drift. The air temperature registed 25 degrees when we began our float at 8PM. I placed my handwarmers in my mittens and kept them beside my seat at all times. Every time Greg rowed the boat from one choice location to the next I inserted my hands in the mittens and grabbed the handwarmers and made a fist. They proved to be lifesavers.

Steve Shows a Nice Rainbow

Steve Shows a Nice Rainbow

By 9:30AM we arrived at our take out location so we aided Greg in securing the boat in the trailer and then we drove west on 220 to the boat launch below the dam and we were back on the water fishing by 10AM. Steve and I switched positions so I began the late morning drift in the rear of the boat. There were quite a few other guides and drift boats along with wade fishermen in this area and Greg knew two of the other guides as they operated out of the same guide service. The first couple of miles below the dam were very attractive with more runs and riffles giving the water more character and making it easier to spot likely productive water. It didn’t take long before Steve and I were hooking and landing fish. One memorable location was within a half mile of the boat launch where a deep run split the river in half and several wade fishermen were on the left side as we faced down river, and three boats were maneuvering along the right side. Each boat would drift the right side of the run and when they reached the bottom, the guide would row back to the top and repeat the same drift. We probably hooked and landed eight to ten nice rainbows from this area.

We Pass Another Boat Near the Launch Point

We Pass Another Boat Near the Launch Point

Eventually we grew weary of this scene and moved on down the river. Greg worked the oars and pulled ahead of the other boats, and we continued to find sweet spots in the river where we made multiple drifts and landed many fish. Quite a few of the productive areas looked nondescript to Steve and I, but Greg’s 20 years of guiding on the North Platte River paid dividends as he knew where all the troughs and drop offs were. During this period of the day my line offered a yellow plastic egg fly and a rabbit strip leech with a purple body. Roughly 1/3 of the fish were hitting the leech and the other 2/3 went for the egg.

At around 1PM Greg pulled the boat up on the muddy shore and declared it was time for lunch. Our lunches were enclosed in plastic and we munched them down in the boat. After lunch Steve and I once again switched places, and I resumed my position in the bow of the boat, and shortly after we began my indicator dipped and set the hook and I was connected to a larger fish than previously experienced earlier in the day. The fish began to charge below the boat and then surged back toward me and repeated this several times as I maintained a taut line. On one of these cycles Greg spotted the fish and announced it was a large brown trout. I really wanted to land this fish as we had landed only rainbow trout on the trip up until this point. The brown made a hard run up the river above the boat by twenty yards or so and then as I maintained pressure, the line released and fell to the water in a limp state. I reeled up my line thinking that a fly broke off only to find that both flies were in tact and somehow the large brown had managed to work its way free from the fly.

Needless to say I was quite disappointed with this turn of events, but I continued to focus on my line and within the next half hour I hooked but failed to land three more rainbows. These also felt like decent fish, probably in the 15-18 inch range. Finally I broke the losing streak and landed a 14 inch rainbow and my fortunes improved from there. Between 1 and 4 we floated the remainder of the nine miles to the take out. The fishing remained quite good and we found numerous troughs and runs that we drifted through repeatedly and caught fish on nearly every drift. Amazingly the average length of the fish we caught was probably around 14 inches and we scoffed at 12 inch fish. At some point Greg swapped out my leech for an annelid worm, but the egg was really my top producer.

By 4PM we arrived at the scheduled take out and Greg’s truck and trailer had been shuttled to the parking lot. Once again Steve and I helped Greg crank the drift boat up and out of the river on to the trailer bed. We jumped in the car and returned to Red Butte Ranch where we took hot showers and then drove back to Casper for dinner at Jay’s.

As I reflect back on the day I realize it was one of the finest days of fishing I’ve ever experienced. I landed 29 fish in total with perhaps 5 additional foul hooked fish and another 15 hookups that I was unable to land. Over the course of the day I hooked nearly 50 fish and Steve estimated that he hooked in the vicinity of 60. It was rare that I made a drift with my flies and didn’t have some sort of action. Steve and I estimated that we experienced at least 15 doubles where we were both playing fish at the same time. In addition to the nice quantity of fish, the average size was also a nice surprise. Most of the fish were in the 14 to 15 inch range, but I also landed several in the 17 – 18 inch range. These fish were all rainbows and hard fighters and they featured wide girths making them quite heavy for their length. The weather was very tolerable in the late morning and afternoon as the temperature climbed to the high 40’s and when combined with the periods of sunshine was quite pleasant. Once we moved ahead of the other boats we pretty much had the entire river to ourselves.

Greg was an expert guide and coach. He was adept at reading the water and worked hard to provide multiple passes in areas where we were having a lot of success. The North Platte River will remain a destination that I hope to return to in the near future.

North Platte River – 03/25/2013

Location: Between Grey Reef dam and boat launch ramp

Time: 4:00PM – 6:00PM

Fish Landed: 3

Each year on the first weekend of January the Fly Fishing Show visits Denver, CO and this year I gave my friend Steve Supple a call and asked if he was interested in joining me. He agreed and we met inside the doors shortly after the show opened on Friday. We browsed the various booths at the show and agreed upon a series of presentations to attend. One of the presentations that piqued our interest was the one on the North Platte River in Wyoming and specifically the Grey Reef stretch just west of Casper. Neither of us had ever fished this water in spite of it being only a four hour drive from Denver. Four hours may seem like a long trip, but it isn’t much further than the Frying Pan River and shorter than destinations such as the Conejos River, Rio Grande and Green River. The guide service at the show was offering a special of $300 for a guided float trip if booked and taken prior to April 1. Steve and I agreed to talk closer to March and possibly book a day of fishing on the North Platte.

As February flashed by I kept trying to remember to check back with Steve to see if he remembered the presentation and if he was still interested in joining forces for the float trip.  I got caught up in skiing and Brady and Kara’s wedding and pretty much gave up on the idea when I discovered an email in my inbox from Steve. Apparently Steve had made plans for another fishing trip, but it fell through at the last minute, and he was interested in doing the Grey Reef trip. I quickly replied back that I was in, and Steve went ahead and contacted the guide service and booked the guide and lodging near Casper. Steve selected the Red Butte Ranch Bed & Breakfast as it was associated with the guide service and offered river access.

We made plans to drive to the Red Butte Ranch on Monday, March 25, departing Denver at around 9AM. This would enable us to check in at the guide service and the bed & breakfast and then we could potentially spend a few hours wade fishing the river. The guided float trip was booked for Tuesday and Steve and I decided to do some additional wade fishing on Wednesday before returning to Denver.

As the trip approached I kept a close eye on the weather and unfortunately a storm moved into Denver and dumped 10 inches on Saturday March 23. After the storm moved out, the air temperature high hovered around 32 on Sunday and the forecast for Monday was highs of 32 again. I checked Casper, WY on my weather app and learned that Casper could expect a high in the upper 30’s. This was moderately better, but still quite cold for fishing. Highs on Tuesday were projected to be upper 40’s near Casper.

Steve arrived at the appointed hour on Monday and we quickly tossed my gear in his Subaru Outback and began the journey. The trip was uneventful and we arrived at the guide service by 1PM and checked in with Liz and paid for our day of guided fishing. Our guide was Greg, and he lived with Ruth at the Red Butte Ranch so this was turning out to be quite convenient. Next we visited the fly shop that was next door to the guide service and inquired about flies. We learned that flushing flows were being initiated from Grey Reef dam, and it was important to work around the releases. The surge of water was released in the morning and then worked its way down the river at a pace of three miles per hour. The fly shop suggested driving to the area below the dam in the late afternoon as the flush would have already moved downstream.

The hot patterns were eggs and worms and leeches so I purchased a few of each. The rainbows were in the early stages of spawning so the flush knocked eggs loose and these served as food for downstream rainbows. The high flows of the flush caused the water to go over the bank and dislodge worms, so this explained the success of the worm flies. The worms were referred to as rock worms and annelids. I also purchased a Wyoming fishing license for each of the days we expected to fish, and then we were off to our lodging.

The Moon Above Wyoming Horizon

The Moon Above Wyoming Horizon

When we arrived we met our guide, Greg, and he showed us our room and offered the heated garage as a place to put on our waders and prepare to fish. We took advantage of this and gathered our clothing and gear. I decided to string my rod in the warmth of the garage as I anticipated cold numb fingers once we arrived at river’s edge.

The drive to the river was approximately nine miles and we pulled into a nice dirt parking lot next to the river. We were right below the dam and quite a few fishermen were circling the pool created by the torrent of water gushing out of the large pipe at the bottom of the dam. I put on my neoprene fingerless gloves and wore my down vest under my waders. Steve and I moved over to the river and began fishing a series of nice stairstep runs between the dam and the boat ramp. I decided to go with the nymphing setup that Taylor Edrington taught me and added a chenille egg and red annelid below the thingamabobber. Almost immediately Steve hooked and landed a couple fish, but I wasn’t having any luck and after five minutes or so I became snagged to something on the bottom of the river. The water was too deep to wade close, so I ended up snapping off both flies.

I retreated to the bank and labored to replace my flies as the cold temperatures now began to take their toll on my hands. There was a mild breeze as well that enhanced the evaporation and that in turn further chilled my fingers. I managed to tie on another pink egg and a red San Juan worm that I made myself as I’d only purchased two of the annelid style flies at the fly shop. Once again I began casting to the seam and softer water between me and the strong run approximately twenty feet away, and once again I got snagged to the bottom. This time I decided to wade out a bit in an effort to save my flies, but alas, this proved to be futile and I broke off two more flies. I was pretty frustrated at this point, but to make matters worse, I stumbled on a rock as I waded back to the bank, and caught my balance by thrusting my right arm into the river. I prevented a full dunking, but my three layers on my arm were now soaking wet and I gashed my middle finger on my right hand on a rock.

The small wound began to bleed so I walked down to Steve and asked if he had bandages. He told me he had some in the car in a green bag, so I returned to the car. By the time I reached the car my hands were so cold that I could barely feel the scrape, but I found a towel in my bag and dried my hands and placed a bandaid around my finger. I plunged my hands into the deep pockets of my down vest and held them there for quite a while until they were warm enough to resume fishing. I was really regretting leaving my ski mittens in the suitcase back at the ranch.

When I returned to the river, I decided to abandon the area that had created an hour of frustration and moved downstream below Steve. Finally in a nice riffle area the indicator paused and I set the hook and battled a fine 17 inch rainbow that grabbed my chocolate San Juan worm. At least all my frustration paid dividends with a fine fish landed as my first fish of 2013. I continued working my way down the river and managed to land two more rainbows on a chocolate San Juan worm.

The New Zealand Room at Red Butte Ranch

The New Zealand Room at Red Butte Ranch

By six o’clock Steve and I were on the verge of shivering so we decided to quit and return to the warmth of the lodge. It was a great move, and after hot showers, we drove back to Casper and ate dinner at the Armor Silver Fox. After dinner we found the nearby Wal-Mart and I purchased some hand warmers. Greg suggested that we get up by 6:30 so we could get an early start on Tuesday. All I could think about was how cold it would be that early in morning on a day forecast to reach a high of 49 degrees.

2012 Season

As in previous years, I am attempting to highlight my ten best fishing days of the previous season. I counted 73 outings on my 2012 fish counter so it took quite awhile to read about these experiences and cull the list down to 21 qualifiers. I read the 21 remaining candidates and in some cases scanned them a third time. Finally after much consternation, I’ve ranked my top ten fishing experiences of 2012. I began fishing on March 13 and ended on November 21 and visited the stream 73 times resulting in 930 landed fish. It was an outstanding year. Here are the top ten.

River in Full Color Near Wellsville

River in Full Color Near Wellsville

1. South Platte River (Wildcat Canyong) – 8/17/2012

It was the earliest I ever ventured into Wildcat Canyon and the flows at 167 cfs were the highest I’ve experienced in this beautiful remote stretch of the South Platte. I landed 35 chunky fish and most were brown trout, another unusual aspect of this trip. The fishing was ridiculously excellent using the most basic of approaches…hopper/dropper.

South Platte River 8/17/2012 Photo Album

2. Arkansas River – 04/24/2012

Breaking the tip of my beloved Sage rod while landing a feisty rainbow couldn’t ruin this outstanding day on the Arkansas River. The fabled caddis hatch was never found on this day, but no matter, as I landed 22 larger than average trout including some fine hard fighting rainbows. The workhorse RS2 took many fine fish on this day in April.

Arkansas River 04/24/2012 Photo Album

3. Frying Pan River – 08/24/2012

I struggled to match the intense early afternoon hatch, but more than salvaged the day by landing nice fish on the gray comparadun as fish apparently looked for stragglers after the main emergence. An area frustrated me for an hour in the morning but a triumphant return in the late afternoon was very gratifying.

Frying Pan River 08/24/2012 Photo Album

4. Frying Pan River – 09/14/2012

Keen observation enabled me to notice an early BWO hatch resulting in some nice fat fish prior to being pushed out of my hard earned prime spot on the upper water by insensitive fishermen. Fortunately this bit of adversity forced me downstream to the spring area where I experienced the best green drake action of 2012.

Frying Pan River 09/14/2012 Photo Album

5. Arkansas River – 09/28/2012

Plenty of break offs and lost fish, but still a great fall day on the Arkansas River landing larger than average trout on the beadhead hares ear and RS2 extended from a Letort hopper. Large fish from relatively shallow lies always makes for exciting fishing.

Arkansas River 09/28/2012 Photo Album

Largest Rainbow I've Seen Out of S. Boulder Creek

Largest Rainbow I’ve Seen Out of S. Boulder Creek

6. Taylor River –  08/12/2012

The Parachute hopper and beadhead hares ear combination caught fire. The highlight was a fifteen inch brown landed from an obscure location with less than two feet of water.

Taylor River 09/28/2012 Photo Album

7. Red Mountain Creek – 09/01/2012

Catching oversized fish compared to the size of the stream is always fun, and that’s exactly what I experienced on Red Mountain Creek on the Soward Ranch near Creede, CO.

Red Mountain Creek 09/01/2012 Photo Album

8. Arkansas River – 04/13/2012

I experienced a great day catching trout on caddis pupa by imparting jigging action and downstream mends. Catching twelve trout on caddis dry flies in late afternoon was icing on the cake and the best action I saw during the Arkansas caddis hatch.

Arkansas River 04/13/2012 Photo Album

9. South Platte River (Wildcat Canyon) – 09/09/2012

Dan and I spent a wonderful weekend backpacking into Wildcat Canyon and experienced some outstanding fishing on Sunday September 9. Dan outfished me on this special day, and Dad was extremely proud.

South Platte River 09/09/2012 Photo Album

Monster Rainbow Took Orange Scud

Monster Rainbow Took Orange Scud

 

10. Roaring River – 06/28/2012

The beauty of greenback cutthroats is unsurpassed. Size isn’t important when I’m in such a beautiful setting catching these high country gems.

Roaring River 06/28/2012 Photo Album

There you have it, my arbitrary assessment of the best ten fishing experiences of 2012. There were many fine days that didn’t make the cut, and in fact every day of fishing is a day to remember, thus this blog.