Aug 24, 2020
Flows: 622 cfs.
Water Temp: 60F @ 1:30p.
Water clarity: ~ 4’ – varying depending on location.
Air Temp: 63 @ 9a – 86 @ 4p.
Hatches: Midges from 9a into the afternoon. Light PMDs 1p-4p.
Looking downstream from the Pine Tree Hole.
The Denver Water Board continued to bump up the flows out of Cheeseman Reservoir last week – then held them steady in the 620 cfs range for the past 3 days. At these flow, the river is flowing twice it’s historic average. The high flows present challenges for the fishermen – and that was the case in Deckers yesterday.
When the flows kick up as they did in the past couple of week the river becomes stained and is hard to see into – making sight fishing harder. You will also encounter more debris floating in the water. With the higher flows the fish will move closer to the banks and try to find slow water enabling them to expend as little energy as possible to eat. With the fish close to the banks – they are easily spooked. Then there are technical adjustments that the fisherman must make. Add all this up and it presents a challenge.
Realizing all this – I decided to fish what is generally a more challenging area even in the best of conditions. I just wanted to see if I could make the necessary adjustments to be successful in challenging conditions. Trying to push my limits! So I started at the Bend Hole with the plan to work the south side of the river – near the bank – down to the Deckers Resort. This is a distance of about ½ mile – with limited holes to hit along the way.
At 600 plus cfs – wading is very difficult and for me – dangerous. So I do not venture to far from the bank – if at all when the flows are that high. So that reduces the number of places that you’ll find feeding fish – thus limiting the number of holes that I could hit along the way. And as mentioned previously – the fish are very easily spooked. Just a slight slip climbing down the bank and they bolt. I know, it happened to me a number of times yesterday.
I parked just beyond the Bend Hole and my original plan was to not fish it. But as I walked by I spotted a fish feeding 3 feet off the bank in softer water. So I rigged up with nymphs. With the higher flows you need to add additional weight. It’s also recommended to have your weight closer to the 1st fly. Instead of the normal 18” or so – you need it closer to 10”.
So when I rigged up – I had my weight (one #2 split shot) closer to my 1st fly – it was about 12”. But my 1st fly was a Cranefly Larva, which is tied using a lot of lead. So that took care of the extra weight. I then tied on a #20 Black Sparkle Wing RS2 followed by a #22 Flashback Black Beauty. I also used 5x tippet – thinking the it would be OK in the slightly stained river and that I would need the extra strength to fight the fish in the faster water.
At the time – 9:15 or so – there were midges hatching, so that’s why I went with the Black Beauty. And with the high flows there may have been some Craneflies dislodged, so that made sense. In the past, when Brian has pumped stomachs in Deckers – he usually finds a bunch of baties (black ones) – so I figured I had all the bases covered by using the Black RS2.
Well the fish I was casting to didn’t agree. BTW – I spooked the 1st fish I saw that was about 3” off the bank. But I did spot another one out a little farther and in faster water. I tried everything I could think of short of changing flies – more weight, less weight, longer leader, shorter leader – nothing worked. So after awhile I moved on.
The next spot that I hit has a deep pool near the bank that’s created by a larger boulder. It’s at the beginning of what is called the Rock Garden. I usually find a few brownies hanging out in the pool and just outside the seam where it meets the faster water. And sure enough – I spotted a fish feeding up in the column in the seam. He was feeding at what looked like 3’ or so below the surface.
This pool is somewhat unique as you have to climb down the bank which leads to a small area where you have to stand in the water. The water is very shallow at that point – but you can’t move more than a few feet in either direction because of obstructions – rocks, deep water, etc. I had the same rig and after about 6 casts or so I was wondering if I might have spooked him as I was climbing down. Once down from the bank you loose the vantage point of seeing into the water – so I wasn’t sure.
Then he hit. It was a no doubter. He just hit one of my flies and ran – and ran right into the fast water mid-river. I couldn’t move much but I had the 5x tippet on so I tightened down my drag and was able to get him near the shore into the slower water. In fact I had the fish right in front of me and was getting ready to reach for my net. Then he took me around a submerged rock. I could see it – about 3 feet out – and I made an adjustment as soon as I could to free the line. But it was too late! Just after I freed the line the fish took another run and the frayed line snapped. Ugh – that was a nice fish in the 15” to 17” range.
I lost all of my flies except the Cranefly Larva on that one and had to tie on all new ones. When I did, I used 6x tippet because I was thinking that maybe the 1st fish I was after could see the 5x. Not sure – but I use 6x most of the time and I’m a creature of habit. Once I find something that works – I have a hard time changing. This time I tied on a #20 Black Flashback Pheasant Tail followed by a #22 Black Rojo Midge.
After a couple of casts I hooked up a beauty. It was definitely a larger fish and he ran right into the fast water. This one took me out farther and I now had the 6x tippet on which I was worried about. But I didn’t change my drag setting – I couldn’t as the fish would have just ran out more line. I crossed my fingers and held on – and was able to get him into the slower water. He took a couple of jumps out of the water and then started thrashing around on the surface – and spit the hook! Jeez – that one was in the 17” to 20” range. But as mentioned earlier – I couldn’t move after him - I was boxed in by the boulders and deep water. Oh well.
I did finally hook up and land a nice 15’ brownie - he took the Black Pheasant Tail. And with that, I moved down to the next hole – the Pine Tree Hole.
Here's the 15" brownie. He hit the #20 Black Pheasant Tail.
This is one of my favorite spots in high water. There is a waterfall with rocks near the bank that create a nice pool with slow water. There are additional, smaller rocks in the pool that the fish usually hang out near to feed. It’s not hard to cast and you can actually wade into the water if you want to. The only thing is with the clear, slow water the trout seem to be very selective and they have a lot of time to inspect your offering.
There were fish in there feeding – but they wouldn’t take. It’s frustrating to me when this happens and I’ll be damned if I leave without catching at least on of them. But that wasn’t to be. I started thinking – are these fish more stubborn than me – or visa versa? After about 1½ hours, without any fish I talked myself into moving on. It was getting close to lunchtime – and at that time - I’ve only hit 3 holes.
So I moved on to a couple of other spots that I like – but in one, the fish were in a spot that was impossible to cast to. And in the other, I spooked the fish as I approached. So I broke for lunch.
After lunch I went back to the Pine Tree Hole. Damn right! I noticed a few PMDs flying around so I changed my flies. This time I tied a #16 Hare’s Ear followed by a #20 Pheasant Tail PMD and a #20 Black Sparkle Wing RS2. This time it worked!
Looking upstream from the Pine Tree Hole. (Notice the slower water to the left).
I was able to land a 14” rainbow and a couple of brownies in pretty quick succession. They all hit the #20 Pheasant Tail – which is becoming the go-to fly! I had another one on – but he quickly spit the hook.
A 16" brownie took the Pheasant Tail PMD.
There is room to move in the Pine Tree Hole, but there is a waterfall just below it. And as you’d expect the fish immediately swim for it once you hook them up. So when I got into these ones, I clamped my hand on the reel and wouldn’t give them any line. This risks breaking the tippet, but I thought why not? Either that, or they’d hit the fast water and be over the waterfall and gone. So I did – and it worked!
A 15" brownie taken on a #20 Pheasant Tail PMD.
Yes it was a challenging day – but I wanted it that way.
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