Time: 10:30AM – 3:15PM

Location: Eleven Mile Canyon

South Platte River 09/19/2025 Photo Album

After a decent day on Wednesday, I had an open calendar on Friday, and the weather report was very favorable, so I logged a second day of fly fishing during the third week of September. I reviewed the usual options and settled on the South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon. The high at Lake George was projected to be in the low seventies, and the flows were steady at 123 CFS. The heavy rush hour traffic lengthened my drive a bit, but I arrived at a pullout next to the river by 10:00AM.

What Lies Ahead

I quickly geared up including my Sage R8 four weight, and I shuffled down the road a short distance to begin my day of fly fishing. After walking less than .1 mile, I encountered a young man sitting next to the road, and he appeared to be waiting for another fisherman. I surveyed the river farther downstream, and I spotted the wide-brimmed hat of another angler, so I reversed direction and cut down a short bank almost directly across from my car.

Another View

Hit That Slick

To begin my search for trout I selected an amber ice dub body chubby Chernobyl, an olive perdigon and a classic RS2. The total length of my offering from the chubby to the RS2 was around three feet. I began prospecting the deep pockets and runs around a series of exposed boulders, and it was not long before I connected with trout. I steadily worked my way upstream, while prospecting the seams and deep slides, and by the time I broke for lunch at 11:45AM, the fish count rose to eight. Two of the eight were quite robust rainbows in the thirteen to fourteen inch range, and the best of the two mashed the chubby Chernobyl. Unfortunately in the process of attempting an escape, the angry rainbow broke off the two trailing nymphs including my valuable olive perdigon. It is valuable because the tungsten beads are expensive and because I have a limited backup supply to last through the remainder of the season.

Aiming Back

Productive Section

After lunch I persisted with the dry/dropper, and I managed to boost the fish count to ten, but the difficulty factor ratcheted up. The two fish landed in the early afternoon also crushed the chubby Chernobyl, and for some reason it seemed like the fish turned away from nymphs in favor of surface feeding. One of the rainbows was the longest of the day at around fifteen inches, but it barely fought and appeared to be in a sad state of health. It was very slender, and I feared that it would not recover, but eventually it slapped its tail and returned to the faster water in the river. In addition to the landed trout, the chubby also attracted quite a few refusals,

Lovely Colors

After fifteen minutes of futile casting, I decided to take a cue from the trout, and I converted to a double dry configuration. I removed the three fly dry/dropper combination, and I tied on a peacock hippie stomper and a size 14 olive body deer hair caddis. The move paid instant dividends, as I temporarily hooked up with a fish on a downstream drift through a deep trough, and then a brown trout attacked the caddis.

Submerging

I continued my upstream progression with the double dry and increased the fish count from eleven to fifteen. Another very healthy rainbow trout of fourteen inches was among these catches, and it crushed the caddis almost before it landed on the water. I was feeling pretty smug about my switch to the double dries, but then a wave of refusals took over followed by an hour of no action. During the period when the caddis was taking fish, I noticed a sparse number of very small mayflies, likely blue wing olives, but the fish never responded with rises. The thin hatch did, however, coincide with the period of effectiveness of the olive caddis. I am not sure there was a connection other than the fact that the trout were tuned into food availability on the surface.

Some Attractive Slicks

Caddis Smacked Here

The one hour of futility convinced me that it was time to call it a day. I considered reverting to the dry/dropper, but I concluded it was too late in the day to undertake the conversion. Friday was a fun day. The section that I fished was delightful, as I prospected the many likely fish holding spots and met with reasonable success until the last hour. The weather was gorgeous. and after the initial encounter, I never met another angler. Three respectable rainbows highlighted the day, but I also netted three brown trout in the twelve inch range. It was a success on a late summer day in September.

Fish Landed: 15