Time: 11:00AM – 2:30PM

Location: Cheesman Canyon above Second Bend after Cow Crossing

Fish Landed: 0

South Platte River 04/11/2010 Photo Album

The forecast called for temperatures in the 70’s, so I decided to give the South Platte another chance. As I drove up Jarre Canyon towards the South Platte I noticed a significant amount of remaining snow on the hillsides and feared the river would be muddied by low elevation snow melt. When I reached the river below Nighthawk, my fears were realized. The river was flowing green-brown with minimal visibility.

I decided to drive to Deckers and check out the water above Horse Creek. Sure enough, Horse Creek was feeding turbid water into the main river, and the South Platte was crystal clear above the tributary. There were quite a few fishermen in the stretch above the bridge, so I decided to hike into Cheesman Canyon. I parked at the Wigwam parking area and put on my waders and hiked to the canyon holding my rod and lunch box.

I hiked in quite a ways to get above the many fishermen on the lower water. I finally stopped at a nice spot above the second 90 degree bend after Cow Crossing. I tied on a yellow Letort hopper and trailed a beadhead RS2 and then a brown bead midge larva. I noticed occasional midges fluttering over the water. I fished up the river in some nice juicy runs, but had no success and didn’t spot any fish. I got to some nice deep runs, so switched to a nymph set up with strike indicator and beadhead hares ear and beadhead RS2. This also didn’t bring any action, so I returned to a long rock next to the river and had my lunch.

While eating lunch at around 12:30 I observed a sparse emergence of BWO’s. I also hiked up the bank a bit for a high vantage point and thought I spotted a trout holding in a pool close to the opposite bank. After lunch I waded ¾ of the way across the pool to the far side where I’d seen the fish and ran my nymphs through the area, but no take. I continued working my way up the river for quite a distance switching between deep nymphs and hopper/dropper. Finally between 2 and 2:30 I spotted 5 to 6 fish holding in a nice pool near the left bank. I tied on a CDC olive and trailed a non-beadhead BWO nymph, but could not attract any of the observed fish.

Eventually I hooked a branch along the edge and disturbed the pool after dislodging the fly. I decided to call it quits since I had a long hike back out of the canyon and a drive back to Denver.

Time: 11:15AM – 2:30PM

Location: Whale Rock

Fish Landed: 3

South Platte River 03/28/2010 Photo Album

With temperatures finally forecast to reach 60 degrees, I decided to visit the South Platte River downstream from Deckers on Sunday. Jane agreed to accompany so we packed a lunch and left the house around 10AM. As we drove from Sedalia there was a lot more snow on the hills, and we were concerned about the condition of the steep Nighthawk Hill. When we turned on to the dirt road at Sprucewood, we could see it was packed dirt and mud, so we made the descent and turned right and parked at the Whale Rock parking lot.

It was still chilly when I began, so I had on a fleece top over my fishing shirt. I walked down the road beyond the parking lot then cut some footprints through the snow on the relatively steep bank and approached the river. The river was running at a nice flow, probably 200, and mostly clear with a tinge of color from the nearby snowmelt.

I rigged up with a strike indicator, split shot, San Juan worm and beadhead hares ear to start. I covered a fair amount of water with no action. I was constantly clearing moss from both the flies. But after 45 minutes of fishing, I caught two small browns in some 3 foot deep riffle sections. The first brown grabbed the San Juan worm and the second took the BHHE.

I continued working my way up along the roadside bank, but to no avail. I quit fishing at around 12:30 and climbed the bank and walked back to the car where I found Jane reading in her chair with her hood pulled up due to the wind. I ate my lunch and then decided to hike up the road beyond the next parking lot, and fish the rocky stretch that borders the road where I’ve had much success over the last several years. I knew there were fish in this area from past experience. Jane decided to drive the van to the next parking lot and read there.

I cut down the short steep bank to the river above a large boulder and fished the first deep run with the nymphs with no success. I moved up to the next pool/run and switched my flies to a Chernobyl ant trailing a BHHE. The next series of pools were shallower so I felt the dry/dropper could fish deep enough. I didn’t have any success in the next pool, but in the third pool, I caught a 9 inch brown on the BHHE. I continued working the remaining attractive water in this manner along the road and then around the bend and through a riffle stretch until the river came up close to the road again. I had no success in this area, although another fishermen and his young son came down this stretch with spinning rods, and this may have spooked the fish.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, so the likelihood of a hatch was remote. I spotted only occasional midges in the air. I was growing weary of the lack of action, so we called it quits at around 2:30 and returned to Denver.

Time: 10:00AM – 5:00PM

Location: Eleven Mile Canyon

South Platte River 07/09/2006 Photo Album

Dave Gaboury and I fished all day on the South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon in spite of heavy rains and flooding across Colorado during the previous two days. In fact, it rained off and on all day while we fished, and the precipitation was quite heavy at times. Despite these conditions the water was essentially clear most of the day, because the South Platte River is a tailwater from Eleven Mile dam in the area where we fly fished.

Typical Water

I managed to catch six small trout, and roughly half were rainbows and the other half browns, and they were caught on a hopper/dropper rig. At two times during the day, I fished at length to clusters of trout feeding on hatching mayflies. During the morning I spotted a pod of six trout rising regularly in a mid-stream pocket behind rocks. I suspected they were taking tricos, so I returned to the car and obtained my trico spinners, but I was unable to tempt any of the trout except for a very small rainbow.

Small Brown

During the afternoon after a short downpour which clouded up the water for a bit, I spotted three or four fish rising in a slack area along the far bank. I believe they were rising to BWO’s, but I was unable to connect with any of the visible fish.

Landed Fish: 6

Time: 12:00PM – 3:00PM

Location: Dirt road below Nighthawk

South Platte River 06/25/2006 Photo Album 

Upstream from Parking Lot

I fished the area with a parking lot upstream from Whale Rock. The flow was at 235 cfs, and that was higher than previous trips to the South Platte. I landed three small trout. It was pretty slow, but the lack of action may have been attributable to the abundance of tubers disturbing the water.

Fish Landed: 3

More Floaters

Time: 2:00PM – 5:00PM

Location: Below Whale Rock parking area

South Platte River 06/04/2006 Photo Album

Dan, Eric, and Wei Descend Bank to Start

Jane and I escorted Dan and his two friends, Eric and Wei, to the South Platte River. We fished from around 2:00 – 5:00PM, and then we grilled brats and a veggie burger and had a picnic dinner. Wei landed one trout, Dan caught two and landed one, and Eric hooked up on one but did not land it. June 4 was a beautiful day in Colorado.

Fish Landed: 0

Yum. Brats

Time: 3:00PM – 6:00PM

Location: Downstream from Parking Lot before Whale Rock Area

South Platte River 06/03/2006 Photo Album

View of Bend

After meeting with success on Memorial Day, I checked the flows, and the South Platte River below Cheesman Dam was 71CFS. This flow rate remained low and fishable compared to other streams that were under the influence of snow melt. Based on this information I headed to the Nighthawk area somewhat upstream from where I fished on Monday. I arrived and began fishing around 3PM until 6PM. I landed 5 trout, several of very nice size. Today I will be guiding Dan and friends in the stretch I fished on Monday.

Fish Landed: 5

Nice Brown on Beadhead Hares Ear

Time: 11:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Nighthawk

South Platte River 05/29/2006 Photo Album

I checked the flows, and most rivers were high and muddy with snow melt. The only real option near Denver was the South Platte River in the Deckers area, which was actually running relatively low at 52 CFS. I went for a run and took my time before arriving at the stream at around 11AM. I turned right at the bottom of Nighthawk hill and headed to the parking area near some very large boulders personally named Whale Rock. I knew there was some nice pocket and riffle water near this lot that does not typically receive much pressure. I had no information regarding fish density since the Heyman Fire, but this was an area I enjoyed in the pre-fire era.

Starting Stretch

I ate lunch first, and then hiked along the dirt road and cut down the steep bank, crossed to the other side and continued until I reached the white water drop off. There was a very nice deep pool just before the major spill over. I put a yellow Letort hopper on top with a beadhead pheasant tail below. The two fly combination generated flashes to the hopper but no take, and eventually I shifted my position, until I was directly downstream, where I could obtain better drifts and cover the water more effectively. With this shift in approach I began to catch fish. I caught 5 trout from the first pool; one or two on the hopper and the rest on the beadhead pheasant tail.

Brown Takes Caddis Pupa

Eventually I moved on and began prospecting with the combination in likely locations. I noticed a bunch of caddis flitting about, and the beadhead pheasant tail was not producing to my liking, so I tied on a beadhead bright green caddis pupa. This was the ticket. I caught nearly all my fish on this fly. Toward the end of the day it began to unravel. I had amazing luck in very shallow shelf lies where the water fanned out toward the bank. The river was very low compared to normal, but the fish did not seem to be exceptionally skittish.

Deep Hole Produced Five

Around 3PM as I worked my way to near the parking area, I began to spy yellowish mayflies floating above the water accompanied by sporadic rises. A pair of fishermen above me departed just as the hatch commenced. They left me two beautiful runs going into pools with rising fish. I was about to call it a day at twenty fish, but when I saw the mayflies, I absorbed a boost of interest. I nipped off the hopper and caddis pupa and tied on a size 16 PMD comparadun. This was a winner, and I experienced great fun over the next hour taking trout on the surface. After I rounded the bend, I caught one or two, but refusals became more prevalent, so at this point I called it a day.

Fish Landed: 26

Indicator Fly

Time: 12:00PM – 4:00PM

Location: Cheesman Canyon

South Platte River 05/07/2006 Photo Album

With a beautiful spring day forecast; Amy, Jane and I hiked into Cheesman Canyon to enjoy the outdoors. I enjoyed a few hours of fishing and caught three beautiful trout. This may be our favorite Colorado location.

Fish Landed: 3

Rod in Deep Bend

A Second Brown Takes Huge Dry Fly

Time: 9:00AM – 1:30PM

Location: Deckers area.

South Platte River 04/01/2006 Photo Album

Choppy Stretch

I caught three rainbows in some early season action on the South Platte in the Deckers area.

Fish Landed: 3

Caddis Abdomen

Dark Cahill Wet Fly

Cutbow with Slash

South Platte River 11/06/2005 Photo Album

I made a late season trip to the South Platte River on November 6, 2005, and the linked photo album documents the day. My fish counter indicates that I landed seven fish, but I did not prepare a fishing log entry to provide more details.

Fish Landed: 7

Close Up of Olive in Box