Time: 11:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: Eleven Mile Canyon

South Platte River 10/09/2024 Photo Album

The continuation of summer-like weather deep into October had me yearning for another day of fishing. My recent visit to Eleven Mile Canyon was a success, and the flows remained at 107 CFS, and the weather forecast a high of 70 degrees at Lake George, CO, so I made the drive.

Quite a few cars occupied pullouts along the lower open section of the canyon, but I passed them by and arrived at my preferred wide pullout by 11:00AM.  Another car was present, but that angler was positioned downstream from the pullout in a very long and smooth pool. This did not interfere with my plans whatsoever, so I geared up and pulled my Sage One five weight from its case. I ambled up the dirt road along the river and found a reasonably safe path down the steep bank, after which I rigged my five weight with a peacock hippie stomper, salvation nymph and sparkle wing RS2.

Pockets Around Exposed Boulders

Using my last trip as a proxy for Wednesday, I decided to focus on the faster water and pockets around exposed boulders and only spend time in the large pools, if rising fish were present. I essentially adhered to this strategy up until 2:00PM. In the half hour before lunch I landed four small rainbow trout in the eight to nine inch size range, and these spunky fighters attacked the salvation nymph.

After lunch I swapped the sparkle wing for a prince nymph and positioned it above the salvation. This combination delivered two small brown trout, and then I finally landed an eleven inch rainbow. At the tail of a nice small pool, a trout grabbed the salvation nymph, as it began to lift and swing, and this rainbow proved to be a twelve inch specimen that boosted my fish count to eight. I was pleased with the catch rate, but the size of the trout was severely lacking.

Wide Riffle Area Delivered

Best of the Day

As I approached the large bend pool, another angler slid down the steep bank, and he was positioned across from me. I made a few half hearted casts to the run nearest to my side of the river, but then I stripped in my line and advanced to the bend. The upper portion of the gorgeous bend pool was occupied by another angler with pure white hair, so I once again skirted the area and moved around the bend to an area with a wide set of riffles that spanned the entire western braid. I typically give this stretch a decent amount of attention, but the results were historically lacking. On Wednesday I devoted quite a few casts, and toward the upper third of the moderate depth water, the stomper dove, as a magnificent fifteen inch rainbow snatched the salvation nymph. The nymph had barely hit the water, when it was greedily consumed. Number nine made my day, and I moved on.

Second Nice Rainbow Came from This Area

Headed Home

In a very non-descript slow moving spot that could not have been more than three feet deep, a fish suddenly darted to the surface and crushed the hippie stomper. I set the hook, and it immediately streaked downstream, but I arrested the run and coaxed it into my net. Another rainbow in the fat thirteen inch range looked up at me, and it was not pleased that I interrupted its feeding time.

I was now at the upper tip of the narrow island, so I decided to inspect the long, smooth pool next to the very steep bank that borders the access road. The sun was bright, and I considered removing my raincoat, but a large ominous gray cloud moved into the southwestern sky. I decided to wait. The decision proved prescient, as the temperature dropped, and a brief rain shower developed. As the weather turned, a sparse blue wing olive hatch commenced, and the long, smooth pool displayed some random dimpling

Top of Long, Smooth Pool

I decided to make the conversion to dries, and initially I tied on a size 22 soft hackle emerger and applied floatant and fished it like a dry fly. I executed across and downstream casts and drifts, but it was extremely difficult to track the low floating emerger in the glare. After some futile casting, I swapped the soft hackle emerger for a Klinkhammer BWO emerger, and although the white wing was more visible, the fish were uninterested. I paused to reevaluate, and I decided to revert to a smaller soft hackle emerger.

Dry Fly Reward

For some reason I cast upstream and to the left along a current seam, even though I never saw a rise there, and a nice fourteen inch rainbow trout sipped the low riding fly. My confidence rose, but additional casting in the pool proved fruitless, so I moved on up the river. I planned to hit the attractive pocket water above the massive pool around the bend, but when I moved to the top of the pool, I spotted some rises along the entering currents. I tried my soft hackle emerger and then exchanged it for a CDC olive, and after an abundant quantity of casts, I landed a small brown trout to elevate the count to thirteen.

The sun peeked out again and this ended the blue wing olive activity, so I converted back to a dry/dropper with the peacock hippie stomper, an ultra zug bug and a hare nation nymph. I worked these flies aggressively around exposed boulders and deep runs for another thirty minutes, but it seemed that the fish developed late afternoon lockjaw, so I shut it down and climbed the steep bank in preparation for a .6 mile hike back to the car.

Wednesday was an enjoyable day on the South Platte River. Thirteen was a decent quantity of fish, but the size was somewhat lacking, although three very respectable rainbow trout made my efforts worthwhile. I experienced a bit of dry fly action, and that is always welcome late in the season. If the weather holds, I hope to log a few more fun days on Colorado streams.

Fish Landed: 13