Time: 10:30AM – 2:00PM

Location: Eleven Mile Canyon

South Platte River 06/23/2026 Photo Album

I was disappointed with my day on Monday, June 22, and I was reluctant to spend another day on the Arkansas River, even though I was strategically camped right next to it. I pondered my options and concluded that my chances of success were much higher on the South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon. The last time I looked, it was sluicing along at 100 CFS, and in fact, now that I looked at the graph, it was in the 80 CFS range on Tuesday. The South Platte River became my destination on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. Of course, June 23 was my wedding anniversary, so I was conscious of the need to be home at a reasonable time.

Mt. Princeton

Before I leave the Arkansas River, however, I should comment that I enjoyed a beautiful evening. The campground was less that half full and, therefore, relatively peaceful compared to the normal June whitewater rafting crowd. After dinner I grabbed my stool, iPad, and a dessert snack and moved to the beach at the end of the boat launch ramp. I sat and read my latest book for a couple hours, as the sun set behind the collegiate range. Between 8:15PM and 8:45PM the daylight waned, and the river came alive with rising fish. The surface action was very sporadic and not consistent enough to spur me to return to the car for my fly fishing gear, but the activity was a far cry from the doldrums experienced during the afternoon, Caddis appeared to be the main attraction for the eagerly feeding fish.

Great Start

After packing up my tent and gear on Tuesday morning, I made the one hour and thirty minute drive to my chosen spot in Eleven Mile Canyon. The temperature, as I prepared to fish, was in the low seventies, and it was clear that Tuesday would be another hot one. I fit together my Sage R8 four weight and departed for the river. I was reluctant to use my Sage R8 early in the season on some of the larger rivers, in case I tangled with larger fish that required the extra leverage of my five weight, but what a pleasure it was to cast the R8.

Promising Pool

I began the day with a peacock hippie stomper and size 16 olive-brown body deer hair caddis fished in a tandem dry fly rig. The results were immediate. I landed four trout in the first pool, and all snagged the trailing caddis. Yes, three were on the small side, but one brown stretched to twelve inches. Compared to Monday, however, the action was red hot.

Evidence of a Double

The Larger of the Double Featured

Before I broke for lunch at 11:45AM, I built the fish count to nine. Among my landed fish was a double; I hooked and landed two fish at once. The larger brown of thirteen inches smashed the hippie stomper, and while I played it to my net, a small brown trout slashed at and grabbed the trailing deer hair caddis. It is always interesting, when this rare feat unfolds, and I believe even rarer, when it happens with two dry flies.

Riffled Surface

After lunch I continued upstream, and the hippie stomper became a bit of a distraction, as refusals to the larger lead fly became frequent. I made a change and placed a size 14 light gray deer hair caddis in the upper position and trailed the size 16 olive-brown version of the deer hair caddis. This ploy produced positive results for a bit, and the fish count climbed to twelve, before fish began to look and drop or refuse the caddis. What now?

A Fine Rainbow Joins the Party

During the early afternoon I noticed a few size 16 mayflies, which I assumed were pale morning duns. Maybe the fish were attracted to the gray body of the caddis, but then retreated, when they failed to observe an upright wing? I replaced the olive-brown caddis with a size 16 light gray comparadun.

Looking Ahead

The rest is history. I increased the fish count from twelve to twenty-one, before I quit at 2:00PM. It seemed that the average size of the trout landed during the pale morning dun event were larger. A fourteen inch brown trout was the prize of the day, and two rainbows in the thirteen inch range graced my net as well. The trout consumed the comparadun with confidence.

Beast of the Day

By 1:30PM the PMD action subsided, but I continued prospecting with the caddis and comparadun tandem hoping that some opportunistic trout would search for stragglers. Alas, that was not to be, and I ended the day with twenty-one after a futile last half hour. The temperature, as I exited the canyon, was 85 degrees, so I suspect that the bright sun and warming water temperatures sent the trout to the bottom for coolness.

Rainbow Trout Lurking

Tuesday was a fine day on the South Platte River. I landed twenty-one trout, and all responded to dry flies. Caddis and pale morning duns were the ticket. Camping near Buena Vista proved strategic, as it allowed me to arrive earlier, than when I commute from Denver, and the best part of the day was late morning and early afternoon. I am very concerned over the water situation in Colorado, as fishing levels compare to early August in the middle of June. Stay tuned.

Fish Landed: 21