October 5, 2020
Flows: 500 cfs
Water Temp: 60F @ 1:30p.
Water clarity: 3’ – slightly stained with floating debris.
Air Temp: 37 @ 9a – 75 @ 4:30p.
Hatches: Heavy midge hatch from 9a into early afternoon – then heavy again at 3:30p until I left at 4:30p. BWOs in early afternoon.
A river scene near Trumbull Colorado.
Deckers was our destination this week. On our last trip, Brian had mentioned that we hadn’t fished 11 Mile Canyon for some time and that we should give it a shot. That sounded like a good idea until I read that the work they’re doing on one of the valves in the dam could cause unannounced water quality issues.
Driving that far and being unsure of what you’re getting into didn’t make a lot of sense. So we picked Deckers as our second option. Not a bad choice – especially considering that the flows have been held steady. Even though they are high for this time of year.
We picked familiar territory to fish – and met at the Bridge Hole. Brian got on the river at 7:45a and fished Fisherman’s Run where he quickly caught a 12” rainbow on a Top Secret #22. Afterwards he was able to hook up several browns but only netted one on a #22 Mercury Black Beauty.
A colorful rainbow caught by Brian.
Photo by Brian Kenney.
I arrived at 8:30a and started out on the north side of the Bridge Hole where I could see fish feeding in the shallow water. At the time there was a pretty heavy midge hatch taking place. Since the fish in this spot are very skittish – I decided to fish a Hopper/Copper/Dropper set up. I had a Chubby Chernobyl as my Hopper and a #16 Red Copper John as my dropper. To match the midge hatch, I tied on a #22 Flashback Mercury Black Beauty and a #22 Top Secret Midge following the Copper John.
Although I was able to land a couple of small – very small – brownies and entice a nice rainbow to hit – I wasn’t having a lot of success. In fact the rainbow was able to break off! So I tried the south side of the river and changed my set-up to a nymph rig. I kept the #16 Red Copper John and followed it with a #22 Barr Emerger and a #22 Top Secret. Not having any success, I moved back to the north side.
Meanwhile Brian landed a couple more browns – one 14” and the other 15”. They hit a #20 Top Secret and #18 Chocolate Thunder. He called out for me to come over his way – as there was a lot of activity. But there were a few fish feeding in the deeper water mid-river and I wanted to see if I could get one or two of them before I went over.
One of Brian's brownies.
Photo by Brian Kenney.
I had replaced my Top Secret Midge with a #20 Chocolate Thunder and after several casts I was able to land a nice 15” rainbow. My initial thought was the change to the Chocolate Thunder did the trick. But he hit the Copper John. So it seems that I had to get the flies right in front of his nose for him to take.
After landing the rainbow, I had some equipment issues and a tangle that required retying. After getting everything back into order – the other fish that were holding in this spot had disappeared. So I decided to break for lunch and never made it over to Fisherman’s Run to join Brian.
My 1st one of the day. (He had faint cutthroat markings - but they didn't show up in this picture).
Another look - an aggressive one - at the rainbow. Caught with the Copper John.
After lunch I again fished the south side of The Bridge Hole and was able to land a 15” brownie. This one took a #22 Black Top Secret. As I was landing the fish, Brian moved to the north side of the Fisherman’s Run. After releasing the fish I moved into the south side.
It was a good mover for Brian, as he quickly landed a 12” rainbow. A bit later he landed a 16” brownie in the same spot. Both hit his #22 Miracle Midge.
A nice rainbow landed by Brian.
Photo by Brian Kenney.
We both ended up fishing along the north side of the Bridge Hole. After a bit, I decided to move up to Ray’s Run. There were a couple of nice fish holding in the seam near the north side of the river but I couldn’t get them to take. So I moved up to the top of the run. This area has boulders scattered about on the north side and the river takes a left hand turn here creating some some slack water.
An interesting shot of one of Brian's rainbows.
Photo by Brian Kenney.
It looked like a good place for fish to hold. Even though I couldn’t spot any – I decided it was worth a try. By this time I had replaced my flies. I had a #16 Euro-style Pheasant Tail followed by a #22 JuJu Baetis and a #22 Barr Emerger. I also added two pinches of mud to my #6 weight.
A view across Ray's Run.
No sooner had Brian showed up to let me know he was done for the day - I hooked up a nice 17” brownie. He ran downstream and as he did I adjusted my drag (loosened it) so that he could take some line. At the same time I followed him about 30 yards downstream where I finally got him in the net! Jeez – it had been a struggle for me all day and I was glad to get this one!!
My last one of the day - a 17" brownie.
The fish thrashed around in the net – and by the time I could grab him, he spit the fly. So I wasn’t positive of what he took. But I’m pretty certain that he took the Pheasant Tail because the line broke below it and the other flies were caught up in the net.
Soon after I had two other brownies on – both nice size – but wasn’t able to land either of them. The first one just bull rushed me to the other side of the river and broke off. On the other one – I had a good hook set and he began to run downstream. Then he abruptly turned and ran directly at me. This surprised me and I fumbled with my reel trying to quickly bring in the line. But the line went slack – and the fish was gone.
Even though my last two hook-ups got off - it was a nice way to end the day for me. And Brian had a lot of success throughout the day.
A view of Trumbull, Colorado. (Located on the South Platte River about 2 mile north of Deckers).
Can’t think of a better way to spend a beautiful fall day!
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