Time: 11:00AM – 4:00PM
Location: Eleven Mile Canyon
South Platte River 09/23/2017 Photo Album
Outstanding September fly fishing continued on Saturday, September 23, as 2017 evolved into another banner year. One ingredient missing from my life over the last five years was the presence of my son, Dan, and daughter, Amy, as they lived in distant locations that necessitated infrequent visits. One half of this situation self corrected at the end of August, when my son and his girlfriend moved back to Colorado.
Shortly after Dan’s arrival in Denver, we scheduled a fly fishing weekend. The original plan consisted of two days of fly fishing and one night of camping on the weekend of September 23 and 24. As the long anticipated days approached, however, the weather forecast deteriorated. Rain was predicted to move into Colorado late on Saturday afternoon and then continue through the night and into Sunday morning. Making the scenario even more adverse was the forecast high of 51 degrees on Sunday. Dan and I conferred and decided to adjust our plan to a single day of fly fishing on Saturday. Cool temperatures and overcast skies on Saturday prior to the rain actually sounded very conducive to excellent fly fishing.
On Saturday morning at 11AM Dan and I found ourselves next to a beautiful section of the South Platte River. The temperature was in the upper fifties, but bright sunshine dominated large gray clouds for the first three hours of fishing. We were both prepared with an extra layer and rain gear in case the late afternoon showers became a reality. I selected my Sage four weight rod, and I began my day with a tan pool toy hopper and a beadhead hares ear nymph. Dan, meanwhile, waded to the eastern side of the river, and he began with the same lineup of flies.
Dan Works the Left Bank
We fished in parallel for the first two hours, as we slowly migrated upstream, and we had a blast. I scooped fourteen trout into my net, before we took a break to eat our lunches. Dan’s catch rate was a bit lower, but he landed eight respectable fish including quite a few very nice rainbows in the thirteen inch range. Initially I fished with a single dropper, the hares ear, but after twenty minutes I added an ultra zug bug as the second dropper. During the first half of the period prior to lunch, the hares ear was the hot fly despite being in the less advantageous upper position. As the day progressed, however, the ultra zug bug seemed to produce more fish, and prior to lunch I replaced the hares ear with a salvation nymph and shifted the ultra zug bug to the top position.
Low Level Foliage on Fire
This nymph combination was the mainstay of my lineup for most of the remainder of the day, although I experimented with an emerald caddis pupa and RS2 for short intervals. After lunch the salvation nymph went on a hot streak, as it tempted fish on dead drifts, and also as it began to swing at the end of long passes through attractive runs and slots. For the final fifteen minutes I removed the dry/dropper system and knotted a size 10 Jake’s gulp beetle to my line. The beetle continued to impress me with its late season effectiveness, as two brown trout slurped it, after I plopped the foam terrestrial in two relatively shallow slow moving pockets along the bank. The first beetle eater was a thirteen inch brown trout that may have been my best brown of the day. At one point during the afternoon I lost all three flies, when a hooked fish crossed lines with Dan’s. The necessity to rig anew caused me to replace the pool toy with a size 8 Chernboyl ant, and the foam attractor accounted for one medium sized fish.
Picture Perfect
Dan stuck with his hopper/dropper setup throughout the day, and he enjoyed a solid streak of landed fish over the last hour. Although Dan’s fish count was somewhat below mine, he seemed to land larger fish on average as well as more rainbow trout. He began the day with a pool toy, but lost it to a rock or branch and replaced it with a size 8 Charlie boy hopper. The Charlie boy became saturated, and the deer hair wing was matted, so I gave him a yellow fat Albert. The bright color and improved buoyancy really seemed to elevate his fish catching game.
Very Nice South Platte Brown Trout
Large clear smooth pools proved to be very challenging, as were deep holes. Our most dependable structures were runs, riffles and pockets of moderate depth. I was surprised to land quite a few relatively large brown trout from shallow pockets near the right bank. By the end of the day my fish count mounted to twenty-six, and it included five rainbow trout with the remainder identifiable as brown trout. Dan estimated his final tally at eighteen.
Gorgeous Spot Pattern
At four o’clock light rain commenced so we quickly pulled on our raincoats and returned to the car. As predicted the rain intensified, and it was accompanied by thunder and lightning, and we were relieved to reach the car safely. The heavy rain and drop in temperature vindicated our decision to reduce the fishing trip from two days to one.
Saturday developed into perhaps my favorite day of 2017. The fish count and size of fish were a nice bonus, but being able to spend a day fishing with my newly returned son was the true reason for my satisfaction. We never encountered another fisherman, and we occupied a gorgeous remote setting. I treasure days like Saturday, and I hope that a few more are in my near term future.
Fish Landed: 26