South Platte River – Cheesman Canyon (Family Hole to the Steel Riffles.)
October 3, 2023
Flows: 250 cfs.
Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous (79% illumination).
Water Temp: 54F @ 1:30p.
Water clarity: Crystal clear.
Air Temp: 41F @ 8:45a – 63F @ 4:15p.
Hatches: Midges: 9a – 10:30a. PMD: 11:30a – 3:30p. Heavier after 1p.
Spawning: None observed – no redds seen.
Flies: #10 Chubby Chernobyl, #18 Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear, #20 Flashback Black Beauty, #22 Mercury Baetis, #20 PMD Barr Emerger, #16 PMD Pheasant Tail, #18 Bead Head PMD Pheasant Tail, #24 Grey Sparkle Wing RS-2, #18 Parachute Adams, #22 BWO Sparkle Dun.
Top producers: Bead Head PMD Pheasant Tail, Chubby Chernobyl, Barr Emerger PMD.
I wanted to try something different.
As I was thinking of places that I haven’t been to in a while, Cheesman Canyon came to mind. It occurred to me that I haven’t been there once this year. The flood that wreaked havoc on the canyon a couple of months ago had something to do with that.
Now with fall in the air – and a couple of months for the fish to recuperate from the flood – it would be a good time to change that.
Looking upstream into the Ice Box Run.
Besides the fishing, I was really curious to see the effects of the flood. My plan was to keep it simple. Hike into the closest spot which would be the Family Hole. It’s a great spot and I wouldn’t have to hike along the Gill Trail inside the canyon. The trail, with its loose gravel is hard to converse even when it’s in good shape -and it wasn’t supposed to be in good shape now. There were parts of it that were totally washed away during the flood. I didn’t want to deal with that.
It was a brisk 41 degrees when I arrived at the trailhead with partly cloudy skies. A good day to be out hiking.
After putting all my stuff in my backpack, I headed to the river. The first fifteen minutes or so is not really that difficult of a hike, but it’s at elevation so a break here and there is in order. The last five to ten minutes is more difficult even though it’s all downhill. Very steep with that pesky loose gravel making it a little of a slip-sliding event.
Besides getting some exercise, the beauty of the canyon makes it all worthwhile. And the fishing can be lights out at times making it even better! This is definitely one of my favorite places to fish.
The fish can be finicky though. There have been times when I could clearly see fish feeding and they would totally ignore my offerings time and time again. The clarity of the water – which enables me to see them – is one of the factors in their selectivity. They can clearly see the flies – and on those days they pick the naturals most of the time.
Looking upstream into the Family Hole. (You can barely see the sandbar in the river below the steep hill on the left.)
Other times I’ve been here, and the fish are eager to take whatever I’m offering. Those are the “lights out” days. The ones that bring you back. The ones that you remember.
This would be one of the in-between days. The water was crystal clear, and the fish were very picky – but it’s one that I’ll remember for the size and beauty of the few fish that I netted and for the challenge that they presented. As I often do, I replayed the day on the drive home and thought of things I could have done differently to trick those finicky fish.
I’m already thinking and planning my execution for my next trip there.
The Family Hole is the last hole before the private water of the Wigwam Club. It’s a big hole and can accommodate quite a few fishermen. I arrived to find only two other fishermen in it. One was near the fence that marks the beginning of the private water, and the other guy was in the middle of the run.
I chatted with the guy who was in the middle of the run and then asked if he minded me fishing a bit upstream of him at the bend that leads into the last part of this hole. He said it was fishing a bit slow and he’d had one in the net so far. And he said he didn’t mind if I fished that spot upstream of him.
The 1st fish of the day was a beauty!
The effects of the flood were immediately recognizable. Across the river from me I could see where the water from the flood had eroded the side of the canyon and washed a bunch of granite pebbles down into the river forming a granite beach. And below it you could see a sandbar in the river. Neither of which was there before. I would find other areas of the river – lots of them - suffering from the same effects. New beaches and sandbars. And there was muck along parts of the riverbank - thick silt. Only time will tell what the lasting effects on the insects and fish will be.
On this day though, there were midges in the air and I was a bit surprised when the guy I was chatting with said he had baetis flies tied on. But as I walked upstream and began to put my rod together I could see some baetis in the air too. I was guessing BWOs. It was early in the day for them – but they were clearly there.
The water was crystal clear and it was flowing a bit low even though it was above its historic average. The terrain of the canyon is such that the river is kinda wide in a lot of spots and where it’s not, it’s very tight. So in the wide spots – such as the Family Hole – the water is low, even at the higher flows.
Taking all this in, I decided to start with a Hopper/Dropper setup. My Hopper – a Chubby Chernobyl – would act as my indicator and hopefully not spook the fish in this clear water. I then tied on a #18 Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear to act as my Dropper and I followed that with a #20 Mercury Flashback Black Beauty and a #24 Grey Sparkle Wing RS-2. My thought was this setup should cover everything.
An example of the effects of the flood - a new granite pebble beach and sandbar.
I began casting to line of fish in a seem that leads from the bend into a pool below me. On about my third cast – BANG – a fish hit. He was downstream of me and when I set the hook – I evidently pulled my fly out of his mouth! You gotta be kidding me!
Well – it would be hours before I got my next chance. Really. Even with several trout in sight I wouldn’t get a sniff. In fact at times they would run at the sight of my Chubby floating downstream toward them. What – spooked by a hopper? Yes, these fish were finicky.
Actually I did have another chance before I landed my first fish.
After trying for the fish in that seem - which was in the sunlight – I moved into a part of the river where the water was running a little faster and was in a shadow. In the faster water the trout don’t have as much time to decide whether to hit your fly or not. And the water shouldn’t be as clear in the shadow.
Even in the shadow I could see a trout next to a rock and I targeted him. As my flies drifted past him I saw him swim out from the rock and thought maybe he too got spooked by my Chubby, but he wasn’t. He was chasing my flies and had one in his mouth. But when I lifted my rod to recast he broke off. Damn it – another missed opportunity!
Another look at the brownie.
The guy below me eventually left, and later I moved down into his spot. There is a deep pool – the one just below the seam I started in – and it gives way to some deep pocket water. I could see fish in the pockets but I couldn’t get them to take. It was about 11:30a by now and the PMDs were starting to hatch.
I could see them in the air and I quickly decided to make a change to my setup. I had made several changes to my flies prior to this – different types and sizes, different weights, etc – but I was really excited to make a change to PMDs. I’ve had so much success recently with my Pheasant Tail and Barr Emerger PMDs.
I tied on a #16 Hare’s Ear to act as my Dropper and followed it with a #18 Bead Head PMD and a #20 Barr Emerger PMD. I had lightened up my rig earlier to fish the shallower water upstream and was thinking that this setup should give me sufficient weight to get my flies down into the deeper water where I could see fish.
After getting everything tied up I made my first cast. As my flies floated into the zone a brownie came up and casually sipped my Chubby. This was a total surprise to me. Not once did I see a fish come to the surface to eat anything prior to this fish.
My 2nd fish of the day was even bigger - and as beautiful - as the 1st.
I was shocked that he actually ate my Cubby, but I was ready. It was slo mo all the way!
As soon as he sipped my Chubby I set the hook hard and I could immediately feel his weight. Oh yeah – this bad boy was big! And he didn’t disappoint – fighting like the brownie that he was. After I got him tired out – I had his head out of the water and was leading him to my net – then he saw me and got a second wind. Out he went on yet another run. He would take a few more but he finally tired and I got his head out of the water again and netted him.
A real beauty. 19” in all!
This is what I’m talking about! It made my day - and yep, I will remember this one!
After a while I was ready to pull up stakes and head upstream to the Ice Box. Before doing so, I decided to give the seam above the pool one more shot. The fish were still lined up in it just as they were in the morning when I started. After a few drifts through the seam one of the rainbows hit. BAM!
Another look at the rainbow.
As with the big brownie, as soon as I set the hook I could feel his weight and I knew I had a nice one on. He was a fighter and took me downstream into the deeper pocket water where he finally tired and I brought him to the net. A healthy and brightly colored 20” rainbow. He took the Barr Emerger PMD.
I wasn’t getting a lot of fish but the ones I did get were beauties. It was about all I could do to get my hand around the girth of the rainbow and I admired him before releasing him back into the river.
Now content, I picked up my stuff and headed upstream to the Ice Box. At the bottom of this run to about the middle of it - you will find pocket water. The river is wide here and the water flows slow and at times you will find a lot of rising fish in the pockets. Further upstream there is faster water in the middle of the river and a deep pool along the south – river right – bank.
As I walked along the run I spotted a fish rising in a small pocket near the south shore at the end of the pocket water. I watched him for a bit and it looked like he was coming up to take emergers. Hitting them just below the surface. My Hopper/Dropper was a perfect setup for this. Just as I grabbed my rod and got ready to cast the wind started to blow just below gale force.
I was concerned about moving around too much for fear of spooking the rising trout. As I slowly lifted my rod for my first cast into the pocket the wind took my flies into a nearby bush. Ugh! I slowly moved over to the bush to free my flies. Then on my second attempt the wind again took my flies and it looked like they were tangled up in the same bush.
I went over to the bush and I saw what I thought was my Chubby in it. But when I got to it I discovered it was someone else’s fly that must have broke off in the bush. My flies were wrapped around a tree trunk behind the bush!
OK – I had to watch the wind on my back cast. Got it!
This was a smallish rainbow - but fun to catch.
Once I was actually able to get my flies into the water I had to get them into the right seam. The one that flowed directly into the pocket where the fish was. On about my fourth attempt I did just that and watched as the trout came up and ate one of my flies. He hit the Bead Head Pheasant Tail PMD which imitates a PMD in the pupae stage – an emerging fly.
He wasn’t as big – about 15” - or as beautiful as the ones I caught earlier, but it was fun to watch him come up and hit my fly. In the clear water I could see him take the fly and set as soon as he did.
I then moved a bit upstream to check the deep pool near the bank. I usually find fish in this spot but they’re hard to fool. The water is crystal clear and slow. I’ve had luck fooling them out further in the seam that forms with the fast water. At the top of the pool I spotted a trophy rainbow. Had to be between 25” and 30” – a real beauty.
I wanted that guy!
He was about mid-column near a submerged boulder sipping insects as they floated to him in the current that flowed around the boulder. Had to be PMDs – that was my thought.
The Steel Riffles.
I didn’t want to get parallel to him – which I normally would do – because in the clear water he could see me just as easy as I could see him and I didn’t want to spook him. So I took up a position behind him and casted into the faster water that fed back to where he was.
On my first cast, another rainbow – a big one, but not a big as the one I was targeting – came up and inspected my Chubby. Just before eating it, he broke off. Ugh – that would have been fun if he ate it!
I had several on target drifts to the big guy – and he took a good look at one of my flies a couple of times – but never took one. I decided to change up my flies – and made a bad choice. Earlier I had read that with the low air pressure that we would have on this day, the fish would eat bigger flies - a leech would be a good choice in this case.
With that in mind, I tied on an Egg Sucking Leech as my Dropper – replacing the Hare’s Ear. On my first cast, the big rainbow saw the leech and moved out of the way as it floated to him. Then on my second drift he decided he saw enough and he moved further into the pool behind the submerged boulder then disappeared.
Releasing the brownie.
In retrospect, in that situation in the slow, clear water I should have gone with smaller flies not bigger ones. Oh well – I have to put that in my memory bank for the next time.
Sometimes you just overthink – or take what you read at face value and not apply it to the situation at hand. And that’s what I did.
After that I moved upstream into the Steel Riffles where I’ve found some nice browns and rainbows in the pockets and small pools that are sprinkled about in it. I did find one rainbow sitting in a seam at the end of the run. This is one of the spots where I’ve had success in the past.
On my first drift through the seam he came up to take a look at my Chubby. Just as the rainbow in the Ice Box, he pulled off at the last second. After that he wasn’t interested in my flies – even though I had several on target drifts.
I scouted the rest of the Steel Riffles and didn’t see any other fish. There is fishy water upstream of where I was but it was getting late and I didn’t want to venture any further into the canyon. I still had a laborious hike out of the canyon ahead of me and wanted to conserve my energy.
He doesn't look happy!
So I move back downstream to the Family Hole and would give it one more try before gearing down and packing out.
I explored the area and moved downstream toward the fence that marks the end of public water. I’ve fished the downstream side of this run before but haven’t been all the way down to the fence before. As I waded toward it, it reminded me of fishing for bonefish in the Florida Flats. The river was wide and the water was shallow, and I was surprised to find fish feeding in it. A lot of fish.
There were little depressions here and there and some nice troughs – both holding fish. They looked like they were actively feeding and occasionally there were some risers scattered about.
There have been times when the fish were active and I could see them move three feet – sometimes more - to take one of my flies. But today - aside from the three fish I netted and the one I missed – the fish just sat there and watched my flies drift by right I front of their noses. These fish were like that – no takers.
The brownies are starting to color up for their fall spawn.
But I noted that this is a spot that I’d like to spend more time in. Maybe I’ll hit this spot first next time and try to crack the code.
The hike was worth it. Even though I was totally spent by the time I made it back to the car.
The crisp fall mountain air. The beauty of the canyon. The sight of a big, brightly colored rainbow or brownie in the crystal-clear water. And the challenge of getting them to take one of your flies and fighting them to the net. This is fishing "The Canyon" - and what makes the hike worthwhile!
Yorumlar