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

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

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

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.