April 27, 2021 – Deckers (Mark’s Run to the Eddie Pool)
Flows: 72 cfs.
Water Temp: ~42 (DNM)
Water clarity: Crystal clear
Air Temp: 39 @ 8:30a, 53 @ 4p.
Hatches: Midge –~9a to 11a. BWO – 1:30 to 4p.
Flies: #18 Mercury Pheasant Tail, #22 BH Black Zebra Midge, #24 Top Secret Midge, #24 Jujubee Zebra Midge, #22 Black Rojo Midge, #18 Red Copper John, #22 Stalcup Beatis, #24 Flashback Black RS2, #24 Flashback Barr Emerger, #24 Mercury Black Beauty, #24 Sparkle Dun, #22 Parachute BWO, #22 Cripple.
Top producers: Black Beauty, Rojo Midge, Sparkle Dun, Cripple.
Amazing view of the Pike's Peak Wilderness Area.
A solo trip to Deckers on a Tuesday morning before another spring storm rolled in. I left home at 8a - a little later than normal and there was abundant wildlife along the entire trip there. Deckers is remote and the road there takes you over a pass and through a wilderness area. It’s not uncommon to see wildlife and nature in action along the way.
Despite the low flows, I was thinking the trout would be spread out in the faster, shallower water. With that in mind my plan was to start at Mark’s Run. If that was already taken, then I’d see if there were any fish in the run between it and the Cable Hole. Then I’d work downstream to the Between the Islands Run and then into the Diver Pool and below it to the Eddie Pool. Later in the day, my plan was to hit Mark’s Run or Between the Islands Run to see if there were any fish rising.
Releasing a rainbow caught in the Lower Island Run on a Sparkle Dun.
The Diver Pool – also referred to as The Mini-canyon and The Aquarium – is the deepest of all the other places and if the trout weren’t spread out in the shallows – they’d be there for sure. When I drove over the hill that drops down into this stretch of the river, I could see a couple of guys in the Diver Pool but the rest of the place seemed open. But when I parked at Mark’s Run I saw that there were two guys there too. When you get there later in the morning you have to be flexible and have alternate plans.
So after I got all geared up I headed upstream toward the Cable Hole. Between it and Mark’s Run is a long, braided stretch of river and you can see into most of it from the road. And there are usually fish all along it. But that wasn’t the case this morning. And when I got near the Cable Hole I could see that there was a guy fishing it from the north side of the river. I continued along the road (which is on the south side of the river) to see if I could spot any fish in the hole itself. To my surprise – I didn’t.
Hmm – wonder where the fish were hanging out?
The fish of the day. A 21" rainbow. You can barely see the tiny fly by the white spot in his upper lip. (The white spot is either and injury from another fly that got him there or from him rooting around in kelp looking for aquatic insects).
As I walked back toward Mark’s Run I saw one of the guys there netting a fish. A good sign! I continued on to the Between the Islands Run. It’s one of my favorite spots in this stretch of the river. But when I got there it didn’t feel right with the low flows. I usually can’t spot fish along this run – and I wasn’t able this morning either – and I just didn’t like the way it looked. So I moved on down toward the Diver Pool. Since I had seen a couple of guys in it earlier, I was going to go past it to the Eddie Pool just below it.
As I approached the canyon I saw that one of the guys moved up and the middle of it was now open. After asking if he was OK with me fishing it – that’s where I set up. And there were several fish feeding in the tailout of the fast water and on the other side of the river. They were suspended about 3/4s of the way to the surface. It looked promising.
But these fish were awfully picky. After making several adjustments to depth, weight, changes to my flies, and technique – I finally had a 14” rainbow in the net. It took a #22 Black Rojo Midge. Regarding the technique change – I started fishing with my standard nymph rig. But after making all the adjustments and changing my flies I still wasn’t able to fool any of the fish. So I rigged my alternate rod/reel up with a Hopper/Copper/Dropper (HCD) set up devised by John Barr, a noted fly fisherman and author.
Another look at the 21" rainbow. He was in the 5 to 6 pound range.
But even my HCD wasn’t that effective. I did get that one trout – but only after considerable effort. And I didn’t get anymore before I decided to move on. The only thing I could think of was that the trout were being very selective – keying on a certain size, shape, and color of fly. I was pretty certain that the fly would have been a midge since that was what was hatching. If that was the case, I must not have hit on what that fly was.
It was getting close to lunch time when I finally decided to move on. I headed back upstream toward the car. I had my lunch with me – but I forgot my camera in the car. So I thought I’d eat at the car and grab my camera. But before crossing the river to the lower island – I wanted to take a look into the run there. I call this spot the Lower Island Run. I’ve caught fish in this run before. There’s usually only a few fish in it and they are extremely skittish. With this in mind, I casted my flies into the water near the bank before entering the water. Eventually I covered the entire run and did spot a couple of fish – but couldn’t get them to take either. After making a mental note to come back for them later – I moved on to the car.
Looking downstream from Mark's Run.
After finishing lunch there was a different guy in Mark’s Run. He was at the upper part and I began to scout the lower part. If I didn’t spot any fish I was going to move downstream and fish the Upper Island Run. Along the way I did spot some fish. Nice rainbows – big ones this run is noted for. I asked the guy if he minded me fishing below him and he didn’t. The fish were moving about in the braids and then it started to rain and sleet.
And just after the storm moved in I got one of the rainbows to take. And yes it was one of the big ones! It was very weird though. I was still using my HCD setup. One of the distinct advantages of this setup is that you can detect a strike very quickly – even subtle ones. So when my Hopper (which is the indicator in this setup) just twitched, I set the hook. And the fish didn’t respond. What?
A duck keeping me company.
I was looking into the water wondering what was going on. I reset the hook out of instinct and that got his attention and he began to fight. Very strange. But after several runs I had this bad boy in the net. A 21” male. He took the #24 Mercury Black Beauty. It was a sight to see – this tiny fly embedded in his upper lip. But it was a solidly planted. So after fishing hard for a few hours I was able to land the fish of the day. I was happy!
After the rain stopped – so did the fish. I’m not sure where they went, but I couldn’t spot any more. Then I saw a few rise so I thought I’d try for them after removing my beebe split shot from my HDC. But this didn’t work and I decided to move on.
Releasing a rainbow caught in the Lower Island Run on a Sparkle Dun.
I was thinking of the fish in the Lower Island Run. But before getting there I tried the Upper Island Run and the Between the Islands Run. No luck in either. I still didn’t like the Between the Islands Run but gave it a shot anyway with my nymph rig. After loosing the entire rig on a submerged branch – I was pissed that I gave it a try – and left.
There were still a couple of fish feeding in the same spot in the Lower Island Run. Not sure if they were exactly the same fish or not but I was happy to find them. I was used my HCD rig – but changed the target flies to beatis since they were now hatching. After a couple of drifts into the seam where the fish were – he came to the surface and took an adult fly. So I decided to redo my rig with dries.
Releasing a brownie caught on a BWO Cripple.
After making that change and drifting the dries a couple of times to him – the fish came up to take one of them, then quickly pulled off right before eating it. A refusal. Then I remembered that I was using 5x tippet – that must have been what he saw. At least that’s what I thought. So I retied them with 6x – thinner tippet. But when I finally got everything redone – the fish was gone. Jeez!
I began to scout the rest of the run thinking there must be other fish rising. And then all of a sudden I spotted several fish rising in the seams. There are two seams in this part of the river and the fish were rising along both of them and in their tailouts. At sometime I had changed my lead fly from a Parachute BWO to a Cripple – and I was following that with my old trusty Sparkle Dun. And the fish were readily eating both!
Last one of the day - a 17" brownie who took the Sparkle Dun.
I had a good hour or so of pretty consistent activity and landed several browns and rainbows between 14” and 17”. After spending most of the day with only two fish – it was more than a welcome change of pace. And getting them on dries was icing on the cake!
After a bit the rising began to wane. So I began to wait until one came up and I’d target that one. There were a couple on the other side of the river that I saw. Getting a drag free drift to them was a challenge as there were two seams of faster water between me and them. But since there wasn’t any fish rising closer to me - I gave it a try. On my second cast I notice that the flies were sitting and floating perfect – then a strike. Bam! I had him hooked up. It was a 17” brown – my last one of the day.
No more rising fish – getting let in the day. Time to go.
The Lower Island Run juts to the left just before bending to the right and into the Mini-canyon.
A big rainbow, and several browns and rainbows on dries. It was a good day of fishing – and a good day to be out in the wilderness.
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