July 3, 2024
The South Platte River – Deckers (Mark’s Run to the Mini-canyon and Fisherman’s Run)
Flows: 771 cfs @ 8a, rising to 855 cfs by 1p..
Moon Phase: Waning Crescent (5.6% illumination).
Water Temp: 38F @ 9a.
Water clarity: Clear to about 4’ or 5’.
Air Temp: 61F @ 8:30a –86F @ 4p.
Hatches: Midge: 8a to 10a. Caddis: Steady throughout the day/heavy is certain places. PMD: Spotted a few at 3p.
Spawning: No redds seen.
Flies: #10 Cranefly Larva, #16 Tungstone, #16 Tan UV Scud, #12 Tan San Juan Worm, #20 Flashback Black Beauty, #16 Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear, #18 Olive Foamback RS2, #16 Graphic Caddis, #18 & #20 Elk Hair Caddis, #18 Pheasant Tail, #18 Two Bit Hooker, #18 Puterbaugh Caddis.
Top producers: Black Beauty and Elk Hair Caddis.
We had just returned from a trip to Italy. We were gone for two weeks, and I had a lot of errands to run and things to get into order – and I was a little jet lagged. Normally I wouldn’t have gone fishing so soon from returning with so much to do. But the run-off had just started before I left, and I was hoping that it was still in progress when I got back.
It was.
This would be a solo trip. It was a holiday week and Brian had some family things planned.
The water flowing high in between the islands.
A lot of fishermen skip the run-off season, but I wanted to get a least one outing in while it was still in progress. Many years have gone by - during the extended drought that we experienced in Colorado - when there wasn’t much of a run-off to speak of. Not this year – we had a pretty good snowpack for the second year in a row. The run-off and resulting high flows peaked a couple of days before I got back, but the water was still spilling over the Cheesman Dam and the flows were still pretty high in Deckes.
In fact they were pretty high all along the South Platte River drainage, but I picked Deckers because I was going out the day before the 4th and I didn’t want to contend with the expected traffic on I-25.
There was one year – a long time past – guessing, but it had to be twenty years ago, maybe more when the flows on the South Platte River in Deckers were ridiculously high. High enough that they had to close the bridges that crossed the river for safety reasons.
I fished it then. I can’t remember exactly how high the flows were but they were well over 1,000 cfs - too dangerous to wade and I had to fish from the banks.
In the fast water the fish had congregated along the shore. I remember making upstream casts along the bank and getting hooked up pretty regularly. I may have netted a fish or two – maybe. Once the fish were hooked up they went straight to the middle of the river, got in the current and you could kiss them goodbye. But it was fun and memorable. It’s what I think of every time the flows are high.
I was relegated to fishing from the banks in the willows.
Besides the action, the other thing I remember is the adjustments that I had to make. The distance between weight and the first fly, the amount of weight, and the type of flies. These adjustments were made thanks to one of the guides from Flies & Lies – the local fly shop in Deckers . I ran into him in the parking lot after lunch and he reached out and asked if he could look at my setup. I gladly accepted his offer, and his advice was to adjust the distance between my weight and first fly to about ten inches and to use weighted flies as my attractor. Making these adjustments would help to keep my flies down in the zone where the fish were.
When the flows are high – or when they have just been bumped up – they kick up all kind of substrate including all sorts of larvae. Larger bugs than you normally see like craneflies, stoneflies, scuds, and worms. Things fish love to fatten up on.
The other adjustment I decided to make for this trip was to use heavier line. So the night before I changed out my 5x leader for a 3x one. Leaders are tapered, so a 5x leader means the end of the leader is a 5x thickness. The lower the number the thicker the leader – so a 3x leader is thicker than a 5x. Then I tied on 4x tippet to my leader and my flies. I wanted a heavier setup so that I could tighten up my drag and keep the fish from swimming into the middle of the river and the high current when I hooked them up.
While I was doing that, I also rigged up my flies. Something I normally do streamside. I picked a #12 Cranefly Larva – a very heavy fly - as my lead fly and followed it with a #16 Tungstone – and equally heavy fly, and then my #16 Tan UV Scud. The fish have found this fly irresistible during my last few outings.
I was content – I had my heavier line and heavy flies. I was ready for the fast water!
As I was driving to Deckers I was contemplating to stop at the Bridge Crossing Run first. It’s easy to get to and there is some soft water where I thought I might find some fish. I could spend the morning there then head down into Deckers and pick a spot there in the afternoon.
There wasn't a lot of room to move along the banks. (This one place that I could - it had about 40 feet of access.)
But when I got the Bridge Crossing Run there was a guy already parked there and rigging up. It’s a small run and I didn’t want to crowd him, so I continued on to Deckers. Mark’s Run was my next choice. It’s also has easy access and some soft water where the fish were likely to be.
When fishing in Deckers during run-off with high flows there are lots of spots that are hard to access. You have to climb down steep embankments to get to them. Once there, you likely won’t have a lot of room to navigate along the shore. And since wading into the water is dangerous, you have to climb back up the steep embankment to go the next spot. So easy access is important – especially for someone my age!
Luckily Mark’s was open. There was another guy fishing the top of the run but he invited me to fish the middle-to-bottom of it. The water was surprisingly pretty clear – clear enough to site fish. I could see clearly into the soft water and clear enough into the faster water to spot fish. But I didn’t see any. This was very surprising to me. They should have been in that soft water out of the fast current.
I covered as much of the run as I could – wading out about fifteen feet, until the current was too fast. This run has a lot of submerged boulders, and it wouldn’t be good if I would stumble on one and lose my balance in the fast current. I had no takers. Not even a sniff.
Next, I would go downstream to Between the Islands hoping to find trout in the soft pockets behind the boulders that line the run. This another place that you can sight fish. Before casting my flies, I walked along the run peering into the river looking at all the likely spots. The places where I’ve found fish time and time again. There were no fish in sight.
A brownie in hand. (I got him along the shore in the picture above.)
There have been times – many times – when I didn’t see any fish only to find that there were a few hiding in a run. Just because you can’t see fish doesn’t mean they aren’t there. But there weren’t there. No runs, no hits, not even a spooked fish. Nothing.
It seemed strange. Where were the fish? I would find out later that the water department raised the flows just as I had left my house. And it was a substantial raise – about 100 cfs. Did that through off the fishing? As the day wore on it seemed so.
After covering the Between the Islands Run I moved farther downstream to just before the Mini-canyon. There is some soft water along the bank before the river flows into the canyon. “There’s probably a fish or two there” – that was my thought. But again, no fish in sight and no action.
Jeez, I’ve been fishing for the better part of the morning, and I haven’t even seen a fish.
There is a spot downstream, below the Bend Hole. It’s a small pool of slack water along the bank that is often overlooked and it’s a place where I’ve found some nice fish when the flows are high. That would be my next stop.
Another look at the brownie. Notice how broad his tail is.
I’d have to drive there, and I parked in the area next to Crappers Run. I checked that out before heading downstream to the small pool. The water was hip deep one step off the bank. It didn’t feel right, and I climbed out and headed downstream.
I found the Bend Hole open and decided to try it before going farther down to the small pool. I couldn’t see any fish in the main part of the run and as I worked my way downstream I finally saw a fish. It was a rainbow in a seam near the shore just as the water flows out of the Bend Hole.
Getting to him was tricky. I was upstream of him and I had to wade into the water in order to get a decent cast and drift to him. I waded out a bit but not far enough to get a good angle. The speed of the water was picking up the farther I went out. I could feel the gravel giving way under my boots as I stood stationary in the river and the water would grab my feet as I attempted to take a step. I didn’t want to go any farther.
Getting no interest from that position, I waded out of the water and walked along the bank to get below the fish. Once in place I had many on target drifts to the rainbow, but not even a glance from him. No movement toward my flies. Then another rainbow appeared. Same thing. This was after many adjustments to weight and depth and change of flies. No interest.
I found a bunch of rising fish in the soft water along the bank.
After spending a good bit of time trying to entice a hit from one of these picky rainbows, I picked up my stuff - and frustrated - I left the run. My conclusion was that these fish just were not feeding – or if they were, they were feeding very selectively or opportunistically. There was no use wasting any more time on them.
When I got to the small pool I immediately spotted a small rainbow at the top of it. There is a small waterfall with lots of aerated water flowing into the pool. It’s a spot where I’ve hooked up several fish in the past. When you cast into the foam the water swirls and you can’t really tell where your flies are, but the fish chase them. Usually. This one didn’t.
Holy heck. What was going on!
After eating a late lunch I headed to Fisherman’s Run.
It is one of those hard to get to places in these flows. Normally we walk down a flight of steps and walk upstream along the bank to get to the run. But not in these flows. I’d have to climb down the steep embankment. I was thinking of starting at the Bridge Hole on the other side of the river where the access is much easier, but it was already taken.
So I climbed down the bank, sliding part of the way. After making it unscathed I found the run empty. No fish in sight. After covering the main part of it just because, I walked along the riverbank upstream of where we normally fish this run. I’ve found some nice brownies in the troughs and pocket water near the bank before.
There was a brownie alright – to the near side of a boulder in a trough. After several casts I found that my flies were too heavy – they were going under the brownie. That’s one thing I realized – in the high flows most of the fish will be in the softer water near the shore and an extra heavy setup is too heavy. You don’t need the extra weight.
I had to make an adjustment. I kept my cranefly larva on as my lead but changed my next fly to a #12 Tan San Juan Worm (a non-weighted fly) and followed that with a #20 Flashback Black Beauty. A couple of cast later and I finally had a fish on!
FINALLY!
An Elk Hair Caddis. (Caddis were hatching throughout the day and his one got some interest from rising fish at the end of the day.)
He hit a Flashback Black Beauty and headed straight to the middle of the river and the fast water. With my heavier setup and with my drag closed down I was able to turn him before he got there. After a hard fight – one befitting a brownie – I netted my first fish of the day. A nice one too – a 17” brownie.
FINALLY!
After that brownie – things dried up and I climbed back out of the river. It was not an easy climb and I didn’t want to have to do it again. But as I walked along the road toward Ray’s Run I spotted a nice fish tight to the bank sipping flies near the surface. I’d have to climb down the embankment to get to him. This one was not as steep or high as the last one though and down I went.
I arrived at the river just downstream of where I last saw the fish and carefully stepped into the river. Not wanting to spook the fish or step into water over my head!
The cast was upstream and tight to the bank. There was a tree between me and where the fish was and I had to make a blind cast around it. Not ideal, but it was the only way to get my flies to the spot where the fish was. In this case I could tell if my flies landed on top of the fish and spooked it, or if they were drifting into the zone, or anything really.
After a couple of cast the wind blew my flies into another tree along the bank. Now what? Could I wade around the one in front of me? If not, I’d have to break off my flies – the only way to them was to wade into the water. That’s what I did – very carefully. Luckily, I was able to get to my flies and release them. As I went, I noticed that I didn’t spook any fish. He must have moved on before I got hung up.
Back up the embankment and on the road. Now where? All this climbing was wearing me out. I wasn’t sure where to head next and walked down the road toward the Resort – peering into the river as I went.
A Puterbaugh Caddis. (This one got no interest from the rising fish.)
When I got to the upstream side of the Bridge Hole I spotted a nice fish. Like the one I saw earlier, he was coming up and eating flies off the surface or near it. That was interesting. All the fishing reports that I read mentioned that it was doubtful to find any fish feeding on the surface during these high flows. I bought into that line of reasoning and left my dry fly setup at home. I only brought one rig. My nymphing rig.
As I watched the fish, he disappeared. Moved on. I was ready to do the same then I saw another fish just a bit downstream – maybe fifteen feet – from where I saw the last one. He too was feeding on the surface. Then I saw another one.
OK. That was enough to convince me to climb back down the steep embankment. I went down as carefully as possible – not wanting to fall down it and not wanting to spook the fish. It wasn’t the most graceful decent, but I again made it unscathed and without spooking the fish.
Once in position I noticed a handful of rainbows feeding just below and on the surface about five feet off the shore in moderately slow water. There were more feeding tight to the bank where an eddie flowed back upstream. This was a good opportunity for a Dry/Dropper setup. It was now about 2p and throughout the day there was a steady caddisfly hatch. In some places more heavy than others. My guess was that was what these fish were feeding on.
I tied on an #18 Elk Hair Caddis as my “Dry” and followed it with a #16 Graphic Caddis as my “Dropper”. I would have rather tied on a Tabou Caddis as my dropper, but I haven’t had time to tie any up and I was fresh out of them.
After a couple of cast a rainbow came up and hit the Elk Hair. In my eagerness I set to quickly. It’s a mistake I make too often for my liking. Then I had a looker come up and inspect the Elk Hair. That was enough to decide to take off my Dropper and go with two dry flies.
Another variation of the Elk Hair Caddis. (This one got the most interest from the rising fish.)
I picked another Elk Hair Caddis, this one a #16. Besides being a little bigger, it was tied a little differently too. There are many variations of Elk Hair Caddis flies and this one was tied with an olive body, copper wire ribbing, and the usual hackle and deer hair. The fish seemed to like this one better.
I spent the rest of the afternoon casting my dries to the rainbows and missing take after take. It was one of those days. There were two that I felt my hook momentarily set in the fish’s mouth before they let loose and the rest I couldn’t figure out what happened. I even went as far as checking my flies to make sure the hook was still intact.
On one hit, the fish came up and sipped my fly and I waited until his head went back under the water and set. BAM! I had this guy dead to rights. That’s what I thought – but it was one of those time when I felt the hook set and a quick pull from the fish – then nothing.
Another time there was a rainbow feeding in the eddie right next to the bank about a foot in front of me. He was so close that getting a good cast and drift to him was almost impossible. When I did get a good drift to him, he ignored my flies. But he was clearly sipping flies off the surface – his nose no more than an inch below the surface before he would come up and grab one.
I finally decided to drop one of my flies right on his nose and when I did he sat there and looked at it for a bit then casually came up and sipped it. I set the hook straight up and with him being so close to me, I pulled the fly right out of his mouth - Ugh! It was the other time when I felt the hook momentarily set in the fish’s mouth.
The brownie - the lone fish of the day.
I had one more climb back up the embankment and I was completely exhausted as I walked to my car. The fish were along the shore in the slack water where I expected to find them, but I was surprised to find them rising.
There were plenty of opportunities to make it a good end to the day. But I missed them - so many hits and nothing to show for it.
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