Time: 11:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: Eleven Mile Canyon

South Platte River 10/27/2025 Photo Album

With nice days dwindling during the 2025 fly fishing season, I jumped on the chance to fish on Monday, 10/27/2025. Air temperatures have arrived as a prime factor in choosing a fly fishing destination, and after I surveyed all the likely locations, I settled on the South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon. The high in Lake George was forecast to peak at 61 degrees, and that was well within my comfort zone.

Looking Up the River

I arrived at my chosen roadside pullout by 10:30AM, and after pulling on my fleece hoodie and raincoat and assembling my Sage R8 four weight, I was prepared for a day of autumn fishing. I recently saw an Instagram post lauding the superb streamer fishing on a Colorado river. I decided to take advantage of the information, and I loaded my reel with my sinking tip line and knotted a size 8 Mickey Finn bucktail streamer to my line. I crimped a split shot a foot above the streamer, and for thirty minutes before lunch, I cast and stripped the streamer in all directions and varying degrees of stripping speed and movement. I never saw so much as a follow. I have no confidence in my approach to streamer fishing. I suppose I need to fully commit to the method and experiment with different streamers and varying amounts of weight.

Pleased to Land a Fish

Run Near Far Bank Produced

I ate lunch at 11:45AM across from the car, and then I returned to the Telluride and swapped the sinking tip reel and line for my normal four weight. For the remainder of the afternoon I worked my way up the river with my reliable dry/dropper configuration. I suppose repetition breeds confidence, and confidence yields fish. An amber ice dub chubby Chernobyl and olive perdigon were constants on my line, and I cycled through several flies on the end position. I began with a salvation nymph and then converted to a hares ear nymph and ended with a small apricot egg.

Headed Back

One aggressive brown trout clobbered the chubby Chernobyl and created a nasty snarl in the process. One of the early fish nabbed the salvation nymph, and the remainder snatched the olive perdigon. Seven fish in 3.5 hours of focused fishing does not translate to hot action, but given the timing in late October and the absence of insects, I was pleased with the results.

Shelf Pool Was Explored

Two landed fish were rainbow trout in the thirteen to fourteen inch range. Two trout were on the small side, and the remainder were average trout in the twelve inch slot. Large deep pools were unproductive as were seams and glides of moderate depth in areas where the stream widened. I focused most of my attention on long and deep troughs and slots particularly where the deep hole was right above the junction of two faster currents.

Spread Out in the Net

Future outings in 2025 are weather and health dependent. The month of November calendar is sprinkled with various dentist and doctor appointments. I will keep my eyes and ears open for opportunities to extend the season

Fish Landed: 7