Time: 11:00AM – 2:30PM

Location: Below Deckers

South Platte River 04/04/2022 Photo Album

A skunking or tough day on the river builds character. If that is the case, my character was enhanced greatly by today’s 3.5 hours of fly fishing. I suspect that if I were to count my worst outings over the last ten years, a high percentage resulted from a trip to the South Platte River downstream from Deckers, CO. In spite of my lack of success, the density of fishermen remains above average, and I am continually baffled by this circumstance. Perhaps I choose the wrong times to fish there, or maybe I am prospecting in unproductive locations, but my results do not merit the hordes of anglers that frequent this popular destination.

Focused on a Straggler

With high winds in the forecast for Tuesday and a skiing trip on the schedule for Wednesday I decided to take advantage of a promising weather forecast on Monday, April 4, 2022. I left my house in Denver at 9:00AM, and this enabled me to arrive at my chosen dirt parking lot along the South Platte River by 10:40AM. I quickly pulled on my waders, donned my fleece cardigan, and assembled my Sage four weight; and I was ready for action. I hiked along the road for .2 miles and then dropped down a moderately steep path to begin my quest for trout. I rigged initially with a yellow fat Albert, beadhead black mini leech, and salvation nymph; and within the first thirty minutes I landed an eight inch rainbow trout and experienced a refusal that resulted in a temporary foul hook. My optimism soared with this early interaction with South Platte River trout.

My One and Only

Unfortunately this pretty much summed up my body of success on Monday. During the afternoon at approximately 1:00PM, I connected very briefly with another trout, but it quickly turned its head and slipped the hook thus prompting some phrases that should not be repeated here. That was the sum total of my action on Monday, April 4.

I fished a dry/dropper in the early going as described above, but before lunch I switched to a nymphing set up with a New Zealand strike indicator, split shot, beadhead salvation nymph and sparkle wing RS2. This approach was a reaction to my belief that I needed to get my flies deeper particularly in locations with deep pockets and seams. I carefully observed the places of moderate depth that I approached, as I attempted to sight fish, but I never spotted a target. This is what caused me to surmise that the trout were hugging bottom in deep troughs and seams.

Pretty Spot

After lunch I prospected the section of the river that sluiced through some massive boulders, and it was here that I generated a very brief temporary connection with a trout.  When I reached the next parking lot, I decided to return to the car, and I moved it upstream another .3 miles, and then I returned to a point just above my earlier exit. Another fisherman occupied my desired space, so I cut in fifty yards above him to fish a very attractive section of moderate depth and medium current velocity over a large boulder strewn bottom. I elevated my focus in anticipation of some action; but, alas, a barrage of futile casting was my unfortunate outcome. This section produced some fine brown trout and a nice blue winged olive hatch during a trip in May of 2021.  During Monday’s visit to to this favorite section of the South Platte I noticed a very sparse emergence of blue winged olives, but the total number of sighted mayflies was less than ten, and not enough to prompt any surface feeding. I was convinced that my RS2 would draw interest, but that never became a reality.

Switched Back to Dry/Dropper Here

For the last forty-five minutes I reverted to the fat Albert and my PM trailers were a beadhead hares ear nymph and a classic RS2. I tossed this combination for awhile, and eventually exchanged the hares ear for a size 12 prince with the hope of gaining more depth, but once again my fishing theories proved without merit. I lacked confidence and was quite bored by 2:30PM, and with the car parked only twenty yards away, I executed an exit strategy and called it a day.

During the course of the day I tested the yellow fat Albert, black mini leech, salvation nymph, sparkle wing RS2, ultra zug bug, hares ear nymph, flesh colored San Juan worm, prince nymph and classic RS2. Only the salvation nymph produced, the fat Albert induced a refusal, and I suspect the temporary hook up was attributed to the RS2.

The high temperature rose to the low sixties, and wind was essentially a nonfactor. It was a great day for humans but apparently not to the liking of the South Platte River finned residents. Of course, I built character and hopefully this will serve me well during future difficult outings in 2022.

Fish Landed: 1