Flows: 77 cfs
Water Temp: 42F @ 10a.
Water clarity: 6’
Air Temp: 20 @ 9:45a – 43 @ 5p.
Hatches: Female Tricos from 11a to 4:30p.
Flies: #18 Red Copper John, #24 Mercury Midge, #24 Mercury Black Beauty, #22 Jujubee Midge, #18 Pheasant Tail, #20 Black Sparkle Wing RS2, #20 Flashback Barr Emerger, #20 Parachute BWO, #22 Matt's Midge, #22 Sparkle Dun BWO.
Last week Brian and I had targeted this Wednesday to get out for a fishing trip. We weren’t sure where, but it was either the Pueblo Tailwater, 11 Mile Canyon, or Deckers. Colorado had a cold front move in over the past week-end, bringing with it cold temperatures and snow to the front range. We weren’t sure what to expect temperature wise – but the forecast for Wednesday looked pretty good.
We chatted on Sunday and decided that Deckers looked to be the best bet based on flows and weather forecast. They were predicting a high of 50F in Deckers, higher than what was expected in Pueblo (which is unusual). And so far, the flows were being held pretty steady.
At the same time, my youngest son Sam and his wife Mary Beth were expecting their baby girl and her due date was Saturday, the 24th. Saturday came and went – and she didn’t have her. But on Monday night Sam took Mary Beth to the hospital. We were anticipating news of the baby’s arrival at any time, but by Tuesday night when we went to sleep – she still didn’t have her!
Due to COVID protocols, we couldn’t go to the hospital and there are no visitations allowed after the baby is born. The plan was for Sam to send photos, Facetime when possible and so forth. Then we would see the baby when they came home.
So I was sticking to my plan to go fishing and I set my alarm to wake me at 5:45a on Wednesday. This would get me into Deckers at about 8:30a or 9a when the temperatures were supposed to be in the low 30s. Then just after my alarm went off, Sam sent a note to tell us that the baby would be born any minute. And she was – at 6:22a Wednesday - Sylvia Kathleen Polce was born.
Sylvia Kathleen - 10-28-20.
It was a very exciting morning with lots of texting and pictures. Mommy and baby were both doing great and Sam was a proud new dad! Keeny and I were so happy for them - and proud of them too.
A proud father with his new baby girl!
And here is the proud mom!
I figured that I may as well go fishing – since everyone was doing well and we couldn’t go see them. So I packed up – albeit later than planned, but feeling a little relieved and very proud of the new family.
What a great way to start the day!
A river view.
Oh yeah – then the fishing. The morning was very crisp in the low 20s when I left Lone Tree. The drive through the snow covered mountains breezed by as my thoughts were with the new baby Sylvia and all the memories that a new baby brings. It was still 20F when I pulled into the Bend Parking lot at 9:45a. Much colder than I was planning or expecting!
A brisk, beautiful Colorado morning.
Some unexpecting things popped up for Brian and he couldn’t make it. So I was solo and my plan was to fish the pockets in the Rock Garden and work my way to the top of Ray’s Run in the morning. Then in the afternoon check out the Horseshoe Bend Run.
Looking upstream in Crappers Run.
The river was open from the parking lot - which is next to Crappers Run - all the way to the Fisherman’s Run. So I gave Crappers Run a shot to start and then moved into the Bend Hole. In that short span, a bunch more fishermen arrived so I had to leapfrog past a couple as I moved into the Rock Garden. To my surprise, I didn’t spot any fish in the pockets. Even though, I casted into several of them but there wasn’t anyone home.
Looking into the Rock Garden.
Even with the sun well up, light was a problem. In the bending canyon with the low light of autumn, you run into areas where you can readily see into the water – then you hit a shadow and can’t see anything. So it made sight fishing – which is my preferred way – very difficult.
When I made it to the head of Ray’s Run – at about 11a – there was a hatch starting and it looked like BWOs. But they looked big for BWOs for this time of year. So I wasn’t certain – but changed one of my flies to imitate a baetis anyway. (BTW - my new fly net was left in the car! More on that later).
I couldn’t see any fish due a huge shadow cast from the canyon wall, but I was covering a tailout of a deep run. The weight I was using was a small split shot – a #6 – which is the smallest, lightest one and I wasn’t getting any action. My flies seemed to be swinging way up in the current, so I added a pinch of mud to my split shot. Then on my second cast I had a 15” rainbow on. She hit the Red Copper John and put up quite a fight – taking me down into the middle of Ray’s Run.
The 1st and only fish of the day.
Once I released the rainbow, I walked back up to the spot that I originally was in - then worked my way downstream. At spots where the sun shone into the water, I could see fish. Sometimes I could only see half of them and other times they would be in the clear light, then move into a shadow and disappear. This made for difficult fishing for me.
I like to watch my flies drift to the fish to see if I have the right depth and to see if they make any movement toward them. The low light and shadows made this impossible on most casts and threw me off. I could see plenty of fish in feeding lanes but I wasn’t getting any takes. Alternately, I tried all the tricks - more weight, more depth, less weight, less depth, different flies. And to make matters worse, the wind kicked up.
So I was pretty frustrated when I broke for lunch. Only one fish in the net, a bunch of fish that wouldn’t take, and a cold wind. But I was thinking of coming back for more after lunch. A glutton for punishment? No, this is what fishing is all about. Finding the secret.
(While writing this blog and researching flies I caught later in the day - I'm pretty certain the fish were selectively feeding on Tricos. A fly pattern I did not try.)
After lunch, I decided to stick with the plan and head to the Horseshoe Bend Run. I hadn’t been there for quite awhile and I wanted to reacquaint myself with the area. When I got to the run at about 1p, there were fish rising to what I again thought was a healthy BWO hatch. But they were actually female Tricos - I caught a couple using my new bug net which I remembered to grab after lunch. But I misidentified them as BWOs on the stream - ouch!
This is from my vantage point from the Horseshoe Bend Run.
About my bug net, my other bug net was lost awhile ago – and I never replaced it. As time went on, I noticed that I started to guess at what was hatching and wasn’t being as scientific as I could be. So I bought a couple more – just in case I lose one of them! And it paid off. As I said earlier, these flies seemed large for BWOs - and that would apply to Tricos too - for this time of year. But when I inspected what I ended up identifying as female Tricos up up close, I noticed that their bodies were not that big, but their wings were – making them seem bigger overall than they really were.
And even though I misidentified the fly while on the stream - I was able to ID it later. This will definitely make me a more informed fisherman in the future. What I now notice is the BWO is uniformly a olive green color throughout it's whole body, including it's head - and has 2 tails. The female Trico also has an olive green body, but it's thorax is black and the tip of it's rear end is darker - and it has 3 tails.
A female Trico.
Even though I misidentified the hatch on the stream - I learned something by further inspection later at home. So I won't make this mistake again. As it was, I was able to entice a couple of hits with midge and BWO dun imitations. And I missed them! I had a few refusals - where fish pull off at the last minute – but that was it. In retrospect, I now know what a female Trico looks like and will use flies that are more imitative of them during their next hatch.
I spent the whole afternoon in that run determined to get at least one of them. But it wasn’t meant to be. Before I realized it, it was about 4p and it was time for me to start heading for the car. I was again frustrated that there were feeding fish right in front of me – but I couldn’t catch them. It was a humbling experience but also a learning one.
On my way to the car, I spotted a few fish rising near the rock in the Lone Rock Campground Hole. So why not see if I could fool one of them on the way? I ended up spending another hour fishing to sporadically rising fish. And I actually hooked one up - he hit the Matt's Midge. But appropriate for the day – he got off after a brief struggle.
So that was my day. Even though it was a frustrating and humbling fishing experience – the whole day was made bright with the arrival of Sylvia. And with the thought that she may one day join me on the river.
Sylvia - a few hours old and very alert!
I think there is a fly rod in her future!
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