Time: 10:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Eleven Mile Canyon

South Platte River 04/22/2026 Photo Album

As I considered options for Wednesday, April 22, 2026, I reviewed weather, flows and fly shop reports. Very quickly I became aware that high winds were forecast across all of Colorado. I chose to visit the South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon, because I felt the south to north flowing river would be sheltered more from the wind than the East – West flowing Arkansas River and Eagle River.

The Pool Beckons

I departed Denver at 8:00AM and made the drive to Eleven Mile Canyon without incident. The flows were in the 63 CFS range and low and clear. I arrived at my chosen parking location by 10:15AM, and the air temperature registered 59 degrees on the dashboard display. The weather app forecast wind speeds in the 15 to 18 MPH range, and I immediately felt the impact of the wind, as I prepared to fish. I chose my Sage One five weight to combat the wind, and I wore my raincoat as a windbreaker. Both moves proved to be solid choices.

Decent Fish

I hiked down the dirt road for .2 miles, and then I cut to the river and began fishing with a peacock hippie stomper and an olive perdigon on a four foot dropper. Because of the low, clear conditions I chose a smaller and lighter top fly and a single nymph with a tungsten bead to quickly get deep drifts.

Boulder Searching

Between 10:30AM and noon I progressed upstream and managed to land two small trout. The first one was a brown trout less than twelve inches, and it darted to the surface and smacked the hippie stomper. Number two was an even smaller rainbow that nipped the olive perdigon.

Tail Sag

As I munched my lunch next to a gorgeous pool, I decided to switch things up. I replaced the stomper with a size 8 gray chubby Chernobyl and beneath it I added a 20 incher and a hares ear nymph. From 12:30PM until 2:30PM I tossed the three fly dry dropper, and I landed two trout that snatched the 20 incher. One was a respectable thirteen inch brown and the other was an eleven inch rainbow trout. I covered a huge amount of stream real estate in the process of landing these two fish. Clearly the action was very slow, and I attributed the lack of results to the wind and the absence of insect activity. I cycled through several additional flies on the point including an orange scud, sparkle wing RS2 and a supernova PMD. None of these flies found favor with the South Platte River trout.

Along the Rock Wall

At 2:30PM I arrived at a wide pool, and I spotted a few sporadic rises in a run near the far bank. My nymphs were not yielding much in the way of results, so I removed the three fly system and shifted to a double dry fly arrangement. The front fly was the peacock hippie stomper, and I trailed a mole fly behind it. I tossed these flies for the remainder of my time on the river, and I upped the fish count from four to seven. I landed one brown from the area, where I first spotted rises. Surprisingly the brown was fooled by the hippie stomper.

Hard Earned

Number six emerged from a deep and short pocket in the middle of the river, and this rainbow trout of fourteen inches was easily the best fish of the day. I was about ready to quit, but I decided to visit one more nice pool, and I stood fifteen feet back from the bank and lobbed a cast to the slow moving shelf near the bank. By now I had swapped the mole fly for a soft hackle emerger. I allowed my flies to sit motionless, and suddenly out of nowhere a twelve inch brown trout emerged and sipped the soft hackle emerger.

Productive Spot

I continued fishing the double dry for another ten minutes, but the wind was gusting, and I was weary, so I called it a day. Wind was the overriding factor on Wednesday, April 22. Casting was a chore, and I had to frequently wait for gusts to end in order to cast upstream. I spotted a few blue wing olives, when I observed rises, but I suspect the adults were rapidly blown off the water and not available to the trout for any significant amount of time. For some reason nymphs were mostly ignored. Wednesday was a tough day, and I probably should have given more credence to the wind forecasts.

Fish Landed: 7