Time: 11:00AM – 3:00PM

Location: Eleven Mile Canyon

South Platte River 08/11/2025 Photo Album

I planned to drive to Amy’s condo in Carbondale for two days of fly fishing, but the Lee Fire had other ideas. It made little sense to drive into the county, where the fire was raging and growing, so I changed my plans and stayed in Denver. Hopefully the firefighters will gain control, and I can make the trip next week.

Instead of driving to fish on the western slope, I turned my attention to the Front Range. I already made plans to fish South Boulder Creek on Tuesday or Wednesday with my son, so I shifted my attention south to the South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon. I was pleased to note that the flows at Lake George were in the 125 CFS range, so I made that my destination. The high temperature in the canyon was projected to reach the low seventies, and that was advantageous for the fish and the fisherman.

Short but Fat

I arrived at my usual pullout along the canyon road by 10:30AM, and after I assembled my recently repaired Sage One five weight and hiked up the road a short distance, I dropped to the edge of the river. I planned to focus on the faster pockets around boulders and devote minimal casts to the large pools, unless I spotted rising fish. I adhered to this strategy throughout the day, as no significant hatches drew the fish to the surface.

I anticipated a trico hatch, but I never really observed evidence of such an event. On two occasions I spotted a very sparse emergence of tiny size 22 mayflies, but they were not tricos. I also noted a few random caddis and a yellow sally or two, but these aquatic insect appearances were so random, that I did not attempt to imitate them with my offerings.

Full Length

To start the day, I configured my line with a peacock hippie stomper, a size 22 RS2 and a sunken trico. The trico ploy was insurance in case a hatch and spinner fall occurred early, before I arrived. I suspected that I would see some lingering spinners in slow eddies, but this was not the case.

I Stepped Closer

In the forty-five minutes, before I broke for lunch at 11:45AM, I landed four trout This included a thirteen inch brown trout and a similar sized rainbow. The other two fish fell beneath the one foot length. The RS2 duped the first fish, the rainbow; and the hippie stomper accounted for the other three fish. The stomper also instigated quite a few refusals, and in several cases I foul hooked the fish with a trailing nymph.

Big Bow Was to the Right of the Exposed Rock

The sunken trico was totally ignored, so after lunch I replaced it with a beadhead PMD supernova. The supernova picked up a decent fish, but soon thereafter it broke off, while I battled a fish that slurped the hippie stomper. I added a new length of tippet and replaced the supernova with a size 18 pheasant tail nymph. The stomper, RS2 and pheasant tail remained on my line for most of the early afternoon, and the pheasant tail was the favorite of the South Platte River trout between 1:00PM and 2:30PM.

Another Plump Rainbow

The action slowed considerably by 2:30PM, so I made a significant change to my lineup. I swapped the hippie stomper for a size 8 tan body pool toy hopper, and I replaced the RS2 with a hares ear nymph while maintaining the pheasant tail. The makeover was ineffective, and I ended my day at 3:00PM after logging ten landed fish.

Just in Front of the Rock on the Right

The quality of the fish on Monday was actually a bright spot. In the afternoon I brought a pair of fat fourteen inch rainbow trout to my net along with a thirteen inch brown trout. A couple twelve inch rainbows were also among my catch.

Submerging

My strategy of targeting the faster runs and pockets among structure proved effective, although the fishing on Monday was steady rather than fast action. Twice I actually saw the side of a fish flash which prompted me to set the hook, and then I discovered that I was attached to a decent fish.  I never tested a double dry, although the frequency of refusals to the hippie stomper suggested that perhaps that may have been a productive approach. I encountered only a few anglers, until I bumped into a group of four near the end of my time on the river. I also notched three or four long distance releases, so the action extended beyond the ten landed fish. Given the lack of insect activity, I felt fortunate to record double digits on August 11.

Fish Landed: 10