Time: 11:30AM – 4:00PM
Location: Between Wolcott and Eagle, CO
Eagle River 06/16/2021 Photo Album
With Jane off on a girl’s birthday trip to Angel Fire, NM, I was free to plan some run off fishing. Amazingly the Yampa River dropped precipitously from 650 CFS last Wednesday to 250 CFS on June 16. PMD’s were probably making a strong appearance, but the Yampa in Steamboat Springs at lower flows can be temperamental, and I had better options. Also, tubers at low flows can impact the Steamboat Springs fishing experience negatively.
Two freestone rivers falling within my favored range were the Arkansas River and the Eagle River. The Ark below Salida was 1500 CFS, and the Royal Gorge Angler website cited fish in a barrel action, but I learned that Taylor Edrington can sometimes be prone to exaggeration.
Site of Number One
The Eagle River was falling steadily, and the gauge below Milk Creek registered daily lows of 900 CFS. I love edge fishing the Eagle at these high but falling levels, and I had a very positive experience on Sunday with Cutthroat Anglers, so I made this my destination on Wednesday.
Rafters Still Active on the Eagle River
Wednesday was another bright, hot and sunny day with a high of 100 degrees forecast for Denver. The temperature when I arrived at my chosen pullout along US 6 was already 80 degrees at 11:00AM. I considered wet wading and probably should have, but I knew I would be hiking through pickers and rough vegetation, so I stuck with waders. I can confirm that perspiration was part of my experience on Wednesday. I assembled my Sage One five weight and ambled to the edge of the river and configured my line with a tan ice dub chubby Chernobyl, olive-black Pat’s rubberlegs, and an iron sally. My first cast was in the water slightly after 11:30AM. In the half hour before lunch I landed a cutbow that gobbled the rubberlegs. This trout measured in excess of sixteen inches, and it caused a significant sag in my net.
Pat’s Rubberlegs Again
Fatty
The early cutbow was an auspicious beginning to my day, and after lunch I resumed my search for robust Eagle River trout. The chubby and rubberlegs remained on my line from beginning to end, while the point fly rotated among the iron sally, salvation nymph, emerald caddis pupa, and a bright green caddis pupa. The iron sally, salvation, and bright green caddis pupa each accounted for a fish along with the chubby Chernobyl, and the remainder snatched the rubberlegs from the drift.
Scarlet Knight
Oohs and Aahs
Favored trout lies were deep troughs or slots next to large boulders and current seams. At 900 CFS the trout remained in close proximity to the bank. I expanded my rule of five drifts and move, and in several cases it took ten passes to gain the attention of the trout. I attribute this to the presence of fast, deep water, which is more forgiving of repeated casts.
Dark Knight
Now for the best part of the ten fish landed, at least five were in the fifteen to eighteen inch range. My net felt the weight of two additional cutbows of similar dimensions, as the one landed in the first thirty minutes. A couple of brown trout extended to fifteen inches, and three more fighting rainbows stretched to the thirteen to fourteen inch range. Even these slightly smaller trout were muscular bullets that tested my 3X tippet. Speaking of 3X, I learned from my guide on Sunday that the Eagle River trout are not leader shy at 1100 CFS, so I adopted his usage of heavy tippet to gain an advantage over the larger fish.
Home for Wednesday Night
Wednesday was another exceptional day on the Eagle River. Ten trout in four hours of fishing is not a torrid catch rate, but it is above average. This was accomplished despite the lack of any significant hatching activity. I did spy some small caddis on streamside rocks and vegetation, but the highly anticipated pale morning duns and yellow Sallies failed to make an appearance, and the caddis never became a major menu item. The factor that made Wednesday special was the size of the fish. All but two of the fish were bruisers in the thirteen to eighteen inch range. The average size was comparable to my netted fish on Sunday, but Wednesday’s success was accomplished without the benefit of a raft, guide, or an attention grabbing hatch. I am a happy fly angler.
Fish Landed: 10