February 29, 2024
The South Platte River – Trumbull (Saile’s Run to the Slab Run) & Deckers (Fishermen’s Run to Ray’s Run).
Flows: 158 cfs.
Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous (86% illumination).
Water Temp: 38F @ 8:30a.
Water clarity: Very clear.
Air Temp: 28F @ 8:30a – 59F @ 4:15p.
Hatches: Midge: 8:30a – 4p (Size ~20/24.)
Spawning: A few redds seen but no spawning activity observed.
Flies: #22 Purple Blindside Midge, #16 Red San Juan Worm, #22 Black Beauty, #18 Red Copper John, #18 Bead Head Pheasant Tail, #22 Grey Foam Back Emerger, #20 Olive Jujubee Midge, #20 Parachute BWO, #22 Griffith’s Gnat, #12 Tan San Juan Worm, #22 Red Zebra Midge.
Top producers: Red Zebra Midge, Black Beauty, Tan and Red San Juan Worms, Gray Foam Back Emerger, Purple Blindside Midge.
The bottom of Fishermen's Run.
(I found a bunch of fish feeding along the bank - bottom right - in the afternoon).
We get an extra day on the calendar every four years. Leap Year.
What to do?
That’s easy. Go fishing. What else?
And that’s exactly what Brian and I did.
Not only was it an extra day – it was an extra beautiful day. Late winter and highs in the upper fifties with a bright blue sky.
Surprisingly, not a lot of fishermen were out. There was a lot of water that we covered, and there were no other fishermen is sight. Quiet. The sounds of birds chirping, water rushing and occasionally, the wind blowing through the bare trees and pines.
We picked Trumbull to start the day. It’s a place that we don’t fish a lot and that’s why we headed there. To try something different. Over the years I’ve had varying degrees of success there and mostly fished from the bridge downstream into the Peacock Hole.
Cabins lining the Peacock Hole.
It was 8:15a when we parked in the lot near the bridge, the Middle Trumbull Parking Lot. The sun was shining brightly and was warming as we geared up in the twenty-two-degree temperature. Once ready we headed to the river walking along a path through the willows and arriving at the Peacock Hole.
The Peacock Hole is lined with cabins along the west side of the river. The second to the last cabin - looking downstream - has a deck that overhangs the river. It marks the imaginary location of where the hole stops – for me that is. Moving farther downstream from there, the river gets slow and low – and even though I’ve caught a trout or two there in the past, I normally don’t fish it.
We came out of the willows on the opposite side of the river from the cabin with the overhanging deck. Me first, and I noticed two fish bolting from their lies near the bank. There was room for both Brian and I to fish upstream toward the bridge, but Brian wanted to fish the downstream side of the run, so I set up across from the cabin with the overhanging deck.
1st fish of the day for me.
My plan was to work from there upstream toward the bridge, but first I checked my flies. They were tied on as I had left them last week. A #18 Red Copper John leading followed by a #22 Black Beauty and a #22 Black Manhattan Midge. I replaced the Manhattan Midge with a #22 Red Zebra Midge and checked my weight and was happy with the .12g split shot I had on.
As I was getting things set up, I noticed a bunch of midges in a very small “cove” along the bank. It was a really a dug out where the water was very still and that was where the midges were hatching. Huh. Looking around a little more I noticed more midges in the slower water near the bank. In this section of the river, the water flows left to right and toward the opposite shore – forming slack water near the bank I was standing on.
Now ready, I began to cast into the middle of the river upstream of the deck and let my flies drift downstream and worked my way farther into the river until my drift was directly under the overhanging deck. No action, so I worked upstream repeating my pattern.
One of Brian's rainbows that he landed early in the day.
Brian Kenney.
There is a little tailout at the cabin upstream and adjacent to the cabin with the deck. It doesn’t look like much – the tailout - but I’ve caught several nice fish in it before. Even though I haven’t fished this part of the river in several years I still remembered the little spots that had held fish.
It was in that little tailout that I had my first hit of the day. A very subtle one at that, my indicator pausing just a bit. I wasn’t sure if it was the bottom or a fish – leaning more toward bottom – and I lifted my rod. I was a bit surprised when I felt a fish now fighting to get free!
I’ve become very aware of what I’m doing as I fight a fish, being as careful as possible to keep the fish either across from me or on the upstream side of me and under the surface of the water. Moving about is not easy to do when you have a fish on fighting to get free, especially in areas with rocks and boulders strewn about on the river bottom. If the fish gets downstream of you, invariably it will come to the surface where the current is the strongest – and it’s there that the fish is likely to break off.
Sticking to my method, I worked this bad boy to my net. A nice 15” brownie that took my #22 Red Zebra Midge.
A nice looking brownie in the net.
Brian Kenney.
One of the reasons we haven’t fished this part of the river over the past few years is because of the deck resurfacing work on the bridge. They had heavy equipment in the river and you could forget about finding fish anywhere near the Bridge Hole – so we avoided it.
As I continued to work the Peacock Run moving upstream into the Bridge Hole, I found that the work on the bridge changed the river structure underneath it. There used to be a nice, deep pool underneath the bridge and extending thirty feet or so downstream of it and you were sure to find at least a few fish in it.
Not now.
The bridge is in great shape, but the pool is gone. It’s now just a trough. I didn’t know it at the time and covered it as I have in the past, working upstream into it. After several drifts into it with no action, I waded across the river to take a look. That’s when I realized the pool was gone, now it's only a trough.
The fish were eating annelids.
Brian Kenney.
When we had started out with me working upstream, Brian had decided to work downstream. He had his sights set on Saile’s Run. It sits right along the road and there is a parking area next to it. We’ve fished it a couple of times in the past and as we drive by it on our way to Deckers we usually see one or more fishermen in it.
Brian wanted to start here, but there was a guy in it when we arrived – that’s why we continued on to the middle parking lot.
Once finished covering what used to be the Bridge Hole, I was ready to head downstream to meet up with Brian. As I waded back across the river to get my spare rod and backpack, I spooked a couple of more fish that were holding next to the bank. It finally hit me. The fish were lying along that bank sipping the midges that I saw earlier.
The brownies are finally moving about and feeding.
Now instead of heading downstream, I rigged up my Dry/Dropper. I kept my #20 Parachute BWO as my “Dry” and followed it with a #22 Bead Head Olive Zebra Midge, the followed that with a #24 Olive Jujubee Midge.
My plan was to position myself in the middle of the river and cast my flies back along the bank. But first I had to get into the river and hope I didn’t spook any fish that may be hanging out there – so I walked along the bank all the way to the bridge and waded into the middle of the river. I would work the bank from there to the end of the row of cabins.
The wind had picked up a bit and made for tricky casts. I wanted my flies in tight to the bank and placing them there with no wind is challenging enough! Despite the wind I was able to get my flies into position – most of the time. But there were no takers as I worked downstream. Then I worked my way back upstream covering the bank once more.
Still no takers.
Beautiful coloration on this rainbow.
Brian Kenney.
OK – I was now ready to head farther downstream and see what Brian was up to. As I walked that way I saw that he was in Saile’s Run and had it all to himself – and he was just releasing a fish. I hit a couple of fishy spots as I worked my way toward the run and when I got there Brian said he had netted six fish.
Wow. It was somewhere around 10a – maybe 10:30a – and he had already netted six fish! That’s a great start.
Brian pumped one of the fish he caught and said it had eaten a bunch of annelids and what looked like some earthworms – both brown in color. Even though the fish had taken brown colored annelids, Brian said he caught a couple on a #16 Red San Juan Worm.
A healthy colorful rainbow.
Well, I thought to myself “I have just the fly” – I had tied up a bunch of #10 Tan San Juan Worms a month or so ago – and I picked one out and replaced my Red Zebra Midge with it.
Interestingly, I did some research on annelids and found that there are 22,000 species of annelids – also referred to as segmented worms. Subspecies include the earthworm and leeches. In some cases, they look a lot like a midge larva in various sizes. These would be the segmented ones which we frequently fish. After thinking about it, the San Juan Worm looks more like an earthworm.
Brian was on the roadside of the run and motioned for me to join him, which I did positioning myself on the opposite side of the run. Brian was getting them in a trough that ran into the hole next to the road. I began to cover the river below the hole. Brian said that he could see fish in the trough earlier, but from my vantage point I couldn’t see into the river.
Another brownie in the net.
Brian Kenney.
Not being able to sight fish, I casted my flies into a foam line that formed where faster water met the slower water. That’s where I nailed my second fish – a smallish, 14” rainbow. She took the #22 Black Beauty. After retying them and now using them – I’m beginning to like that fly :))
We continued to cover the run – Brian mostly in the trough and me working the downstream side of it where I would land a couple more. One a 17” beauty of a brown and the other a 16” – equally as beautiful – rainbow. They both hit the Tan San Juan Worm which would be the hot fly of the day for me.
Right before we were ready to break for lunch, I noticed some trout moving into the shallow, slow water near the bank of the river that I was fishing from. The water runs right to left here and flows toward the opposite bank - with slower, shallower water on my side.
Got this brownie in the Slab Run.
I casted my flies to them but didn’t get any interest. In hindsight I should have switched up and tried my Dry/Dropper setup which is better suited for fishing in slow, shallow water. I’ve made a mental note of that and hope I remember it for the next time!
After breaking for lunch we decided to fish upstream of the bridge. There is a long run below the first upstream island which I call the Slab Run. So named because there is a concrete slab laying on the east side of the riverbank. We’ve had pretty good success in this run in the past, both of us landing nice size browns and rainbows.
Brian took the east side, and I took the west – and after a bit we both spotted some fish. The ones Brian was casting to had no interest in his offering. Mine neither.
Brian got this rainbow in Saile's Run.
Brian Keeney.
Upstream of the concrete slab the water is more shallow and faster. I couldn’t see any fish but new there are a couple of thigh deep troughs that run through it. I began to cover them just to see. On one of my drifts I unconsciously left my flies sit at the end of it. I was thinking of where to cast next – and I felt a hit.
I instinctively lifted my rod and had a nice fish fighting to get free. I wasn’t too confident that I had him hooked up tight but as he continued to fight I realized that he was. After a good fight, I finally netted him – a 17” brownie – that fought like a twenty incher! He took the San Juan Worm.
Mark that one down as “I’d rather be lucky than good”!
It was about 1p and we had a choice. Work our way upstream to the Mad Dog Hole or pick up stakes and head to Deckers and Fishermen’s Run. Brian was non committal and asked me to make the call. Midges were hatching throughout the day and I had visions of big rainbows and browns sitting in the troughs along Fishermen’s Run waiting to eat our flies.
It was bang - bang in Fishermen's Run.
I made the call. Fishermen’s Run.
We headed to the car and fifteen minutes later we were standing along Fishermen’s Run. We came in from the west side because the east side was covered in snow. It would be a very slippery hike down the bank from that side.
Brian was on the downstream side of the run and I was on the upstream side. We both quickly spotted some fish and casted to them. The one I was casting to eventually got spooked when my flies got caught up on a rock right in front of him. Brian said the ones he was casting to just weren’t interested.
I waded across the river so that I could fish the troughs - the ones I was thinking of when making the call. Brian waded in and fished the downstream side. We covered the run and found that there were no fish.
Dang it anyhow!
Part of the San Juan Worm sticking out of this brownies mouth.
I began to work upstream in the pocket water that leads into Ray’s Run – eventually making my way all the way into Ray’s Run. After a bit Brian came up and joined me. I was concerned that my spare rod and pack were still down in Fishermen’s Run and I told Brian I was going to go down and get it. Be right back.
After wading back down to Fishermen’s I collected my stuff and before leaving, I surveyed the run. That’s when I noticed a group of fish in shallow water near the east bank below the troughs. The canyon was starting to cast shadows on the water, but there was sun light in the spot that they were holding in and I could clearly see them.
OH YEAH BABY.
I put all my stuff back down on the bank and waded into the middle of the river with my nymphing rod in hand. Earlier I had switched out my Red Copper John for a Bead Head Pheasant Tail – making it a lighter rig. It would be close to perfect for the drift into the shallow, slow water.
The color line in the water near the bank is where I found a group of fish late in the day in Fishermen's Run.
My first hit in this run was as subtle as the first hit of the day and I lazily raised my rod. Didn’t set the hook hard. Up came a rainbow shaking his head and spitting my fly. I asked myself “What the hell are you doing – knucklehead”!
I blew my first chance, but there would be many more. Not sure how many I landed in that run – close to ten – from 14” to 17”, both browns and rainbows. They all hit the San Juan Worm except for one that took my #22 Grey Foam Back Emerger.
It was getting late and Brian was now downstream of me fishing the top side of the Bridge Hole. After catching another fish, I motioned him to come up to where I was fishing. I wanted to share the wealth – so to speak. The shadows were creeping across the river and now made it hard to see into the shallow water where the fish were holding, but I think they moved out by that time.
A beauty.
Fished out, I spotted for Brian as he covered the run. It was unfortunate, but they were now gone.
That was our queue.
The extra day had come to an end, and we were happy to take advantage of it – on the river.
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