January 11, 2022 – South Platte River. Trumbull & Deckers (The Mad Dog Hole to the Patio Hole & the Mini-Canyon to the Cable Hole)
Flows: 130 cfs.
Water Temp: DNM.
Water clarity: Very clear. Could see into the river close by – but sun angle limited vision farther into the river.
Air Temp: 8F @ 8a - 43 @ 4:30p.
Hatches: Sporadic midge 11a to early afternoon, Sporadic BWO 1:30p – 3p
Flies: #12 Chubby Chernobyl, #18 Red Copper John, #18 Guides Choice Hare’s Ear, #24 Mercury Flashback Black Beauty, #24 Olive Jujubee Midge, #18 Beadhead Pheasant Tail, #24 Chocolate Thunder, #24 Mercury Olive RS2, #24 Top Secret Midge, #20 Red Midge Larva, #24 Olive Juju Baetis.
Top producers: Olive Jujubee Midge and JuJu Baetis.
A very cold start to the day. Looking downstream from Saile's Run into the hamlet of Trumbull.
December 28, 2019 – 844 days from last Tuesday - was the last time I came up empty handed while fishing. I know this because I wrote a blog about it. In it I said “it probably won’t be the last time”. Well – I was correct on that point. And I said as much to Brian as we pulled out of the parking lot – with me catching zero fish – “this wasn’t the first time, and it probably won’t be the last time”.
It does happen. Its hard to explain the feeling when it does – especially when you invest so much of your time trying to improve and maybe perfect your craft. I guess it’s a little humbling, an empty feeling, a feeling of an opportunity lost. As we were pulling out, Brian’s response was “now you know how I felt last week”. I didn’t ask how he felt – but it was probably the same.
Believe me - it sucks. You want to catch fish. That's why you're there. Right? But its not the end of the world. During those 844 days, I’ve fished on average once a week and caught on average a conservative estimate of four to six fish each time out. That’s a lot of fish.
As I read though my December 28th blog it was uncanny how similar the days were. I will touch on those similarities as I recount our day on the river.
Looking upstream from Saile's Run. Ice covering the branches of the willows and tree branches.
We picked Deckers as our destination (same as Dec ’19). There were a couple of reasons for picking Deckers. One was that the weather was supposed to mild for early January. Our arrival time was 8a – and it was forecasted to be in the high 20s at that time. The high for the day was supposed to be in the low 50s. The other reason was because we’ve been fishing the Tailwater every week for the past six or so weeks and we wanted to try something different.
The forecast was off. 6F greeted us as we arrived at the parking lot in Trumbull which is a little hamlet about 2 miles north of Deckers. (It was 10F on that Dec ’19 day). Way too cold to fish! We putted around for a bit – taking pictures, checking the surrounding area. Then we decided to take a drive to the Resort to see if anything was happening.
Nothing was.
As we drove back to the parking lot the sun was just peeking over the mountain to the east and it was beginning to warm up. It got to a toasty 10F as we parked. Besides Brian, there were a couple of other anglers gearing up and getting ready to hit the water.
The sun shining on the tops of the western mountains in Trumbull.
I stayed in the car. With the heater running! Thinking these guys are nuts.
We picked the Trumbull section of the South Platte to start partly because its sunny along most of that stretch of river and because someone had mentioned a hole called the Mad Dog to Brian a while back. It was supposed to be a good spot. Also, I’ve fished Trumbull in the winter in the past and had good success from the Bridge Hole downriver to the Saile’s Run. The Mad Dog Hole is upriver from the bridge – so we had a good stretch of river to fish. As long as it wasn’t crowded.
We agreed on the way that if there was a lot of cars in the parking lot – we’d just move on and find another place. Not surprisingly, it was empty when we arrived. All the sane fishermen we still home – drinking hot coffee by the fireplace.
After a bit I got out and geared up. Then walked along a path on the north side of the river to find Brian and the Mad Dog Hole. It is about 1/8 of a mile – maybe more – upriver from the bridge. The only way to get there is to hike along the path that I took – or you can go in from further upstream and hike down. Either way, it’s a hike in.
A winter scene as I walked toward the Mad Dog Hole. The ice covered branches sparkled in the sun.
It struck me as being in the wilderness. As you walk along the path, thick willows line the edge of the river and then further down they give way to a pine forest. The Mad Dog Hole sits at the end of an island with deep holes on either side of its downstream side. The upstream side is faster, riffled water that leads into the deeper holes at the end.
I liked the place.
I didn’t fish at first – just scouted around the island looking into the water to see if I could spot any fish. The water was very clear – clear enough to sight fish. Even though there were plenty of fishy spots – I didn’t see any fish. I didn’t see any bugs hatching either.
Brian had already covered the holes at the end of the island and was now fishing the fast, riffled water along the east side of the island. I had just walked along the tip of the island toward that side and looked up to see Brian set his line. It went tight – fish on!
I was surprised. With the very cold night and morning with no bug activity – I didn’t expect any active fish. I was wrong. Brian landed a nice 16” brownie on his #24 Olive JuJubee Midge. He checked his watch and noted it was 9:45a.
Brian with his first catch of the day.
At that time it was starting to warm up. The sun was now fully over the eastern mountains and shining brightly on us. That is as long as you weren’t in the shade from the many pines along the bank. I stayed out of there!
It was warming up and fish were hitting – so I decided to tie up. It was now about 10a. I started out with my Hopper/Dropper rig with a #16 Red Copper John as my dropper followed by a #22 Red Midge Larva and a #24 Mercury Flashback Black Beauty. Brian and I both covered the runs on both sides of the island, the head of the island, and the deep pools at the end. Neither of had a hit and neither of us saw see any fish.
After a bit Brian decided to head down river. I wanted to try all the runs and pools again – this time with my nymph rig. So I tied it up with a #18 Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear followed by a #24 Top Secret Midge and a #24 Olive Jujubee Midge. I then proceeded to cover all the spots again – twice. With no action or fish spotted I decided to move downriver.
Our plan was to fish some of the spots along the way to the car and meet there for lunch. There are a lot of nice runs along the way. They give way to another, smaller island. There is a beaver dam on the stem of the river that flows to the north side blocking the water from flowing freely. So the south side was the only one fishable. Up to the smaller island – the river was open and I hit all the fishy spots. I didn’t have a good feeling though. I wasn’t able to see any fish and I didn’t know the structure of the river. There was a lot of moss though – especially for this time of year.
Along the Mad Dog Hole in the morning.
Brian Kenney.
As I got to the other side of the small island I could see four fishermen lined up from there to just below the Cement Slab Run where Brian was set up. The guy fishing just below the island had just caught a couple of 12” brownies. I really didn’t have a spot to fish so I crossed the river with the intent to walk down to the Bridge Hole. I hit some of the runs from that side of the river – but again I just wasn’t feeling it.
As I began to wade out of the river to head to the Bridge Hole, Brian hooked up what looked like a nice fish. He could see that it was a rainbow – and a nice size one at that. I found out later that the fish broke off.
Construction crews were out working on the bridge. They’re replacing the surface of it. As I looked downriver into the Bridge Hole I saw what I thought was a fisherman pulling himself out of the water and onto the exposed deck of the bridge. What the heck! But it wasn’t a fisherman – it was one of the workers who was decked out in waders.
Needless to say the Bridge Hole was fouled. With all the noise and with guys climbing in and out of the water to work on the bridge the fish were nowhere in sight. So I continued on upstream towards the Patio Hole. I fished spots along the way that produced in the past but had no action this time. I covered it twice then decided to head back upstream. It was lunch time.
The river flows into the pine forest you head upstream from the bridge.
I had forgot my watch at home so I didn’t know exactly what time it was – but I was hungry. As I walked upstream I looked under the bridge to see that Brian was still in the spot where I had left him and I saw a guy further upstream of him landing a fish.
I figured I may as well walk up and watch them as I ate. Sitting streamside just downriver from Brian I noticed a nose come out of the water. I pointed it out to Brian and then a little later I saw a nice rainbow come completely out of the water – in the same seam just upstream from him. We were on the north side of the river and I thought I’d grab my rig and head over to the south side and fish that run from there. It looked like a better angle to fish it from.
About half way into the river there is a deep channel. Much deeper than I had expected. But I could still cast into the run and get a good drift. I made a mental note of that deeper channel though for future reference. It looks like a good spot for fish to hang out in.
This run is just below and the tail end of the Cement Slab Run. As we fished this spot the other two guys above us had left. So Brian and I covered the run from just below the small island all the way down to the tailout of the Cement Slab Run. Brian could see a few fish at his feet. They were feeding on whatever he was kicking up. We call them “Boot Lickers”. Brian coined that phrase.
Another winter scene. The willows are really thick along this stretch of the river.
They were the only fish we sighted.
Its not good form to fish for the Boot Lickers. Kinda takes away from the sport. But Brian said the guy I saw landing a fish as I walked up was doing just that. Oh well – if his goal was to have fish in the net with no regard to how – so be it.
With no further action we decided to head downstream to more familiar territory. So we got in the car and drove down to below the Deckers Resort.
Our first choice was to fish Ray’s Run. We found it occupied so we headed to our second choice – the Lone Rock Campground Run. It too was occupied so we headed further downstream toward our third choice – Mark’s Run. That was occupied too! But there was room below Mark’s Run to the Lower Island Run. Not a lot of water – but something.
I started out fishing the run just below the upper island then moved downstream on the south side of the river into the Between the Island Run. Brian was on the north side. We fished that for a while – again seeing no fish and not getting any hits.
I saw a few BWOs hatching and decided to change my flies. When I was done, Brian had mentioned that the Mini-Canyon had opened up and he headed that way. When I was done tying – it looked like Mark’s Run had opened up too. So I headed that way.
When I got there the guy who had been fishing it was still there – changing his flies on the bank. There was some room at the lower part of the run – a spot that I like to fish. After getting his OK to fish it – I waded out. I brought my nymph rig with me thinking that it was more versatile. I could change the depth by changing either my weight or my indicator – or both.
There are a lot of pockets in this section of the river and a few deeper seams. As I got into position I finally spotted a fish. A nice rainbow in the 19” to 20” range. He was behind a boulder in one of the small pockets. I casted to hime. First using up and across cast and drift, then up and down, then down and up. He didn’t take any of my offerings so I moved to the other side and casted to him from there. I’m sure I had my flies in front of him on a least a couple of the drifts. But he didn’t take and he wasn’t moving. He wasn’t feeding.
Brian got this 13" brownie in Ray's Run on a Juju Baetis.
Brian Kenney.
I reluctantly moved on. With no action all day and finally seeing a fish – it was hard for me to go. But I did and began to cover the seams, looking into the various pockets to see if I could spot any more fish. But there were none to be found.
I then moved downstream to Between the Islands Run still fishing with my nymph rig. After a few casts with nothing but kelp on my flies I decided to move down to the run just before the Mini-Canyon. In retrospect, I should have been fishing my Hopper/Dropper in that section. Frustration was setting in and I abruptly left instead of changing up.
There were no fish in the run above the Mini-Canyon. As I was fishing it, Brian came up. He had landed a 12” rainbow in the top of the Mini-Canyon and had also hooked up a really nice one. But that one broke off. Literally. He broke the hook. It was a size 24 – very small. We’ve both had that happen. Big fish – small hook. Fish wins some of the time.
After covering that run I decided to head down to the Road Hole. I would stop at Mark’s Run if it was open. But it wasn’t. So I moved on down to the Road Hole. It is another spot where you can sight fish and I usually see and catch a few in that run. Sometimes on dries. As I walked up peering into the small seam along the road there was nothing in sight. I covered it a few times just to see. I didn’t want to waste too much time – it was getting late and I wanted to cast to fish if at all possible.
So I waded across the river and walked up to the Cable Hole. The sun was now low in the sky and was reflecting off the water making it very hard to see into it. There were also shadows from the trees and outcroppings at the top of the canyon making it even more difficult to sight fish. So I casted to where I caught fish before. But there was no one home.
We saw a lot of wildlife on the way to and from Deckers. Wild turkeys, herds of deer and elk among them.
It was getting about that time and I headed back downstream. As I walked that way I saw Brian in Mark’s Run. It had apparently opened up after a I walked past it earlier. He had landed a nice 13” brownie in the run across from the big, downed tree. He was now a bit downstream and I decided to give it a try. After about fifteen minutes we decided to call it a day.
So the day ended for me without even a hit - not even a sniff!
As for more similarities between this day and the one on December ’19 – on that day in December I fished between the Cable Hole and the Mini-Canyon. The same stretch of the river that I fished this past Tuesday. I also noted in that blog I should have use my Hopper/Dropper setup on some of the same runs.
An opportunity lost. I just couldn’t get into a rhythm and couldn’t get that “be one with the river” feeling. And evidently, I didn’t get my flies in front of any feeding fish.
There will be more opportunities. They begin next week – and I plan to take advantage of them and continue to enjoy my time on the river.
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