May 2, 2022
The South Platte River in 11 Mile Canyon - Bend #2 to the Beaver Run.
Flows: 123 cfs.
Water Temp: 50F @ 12:30a.
Water clarity: Crystal clear.
Air Temp: 37F @ 8:30a – 58F @ 4p.
Hatches: Light midge 8:30a to 12N. Light BWOs 12N to 4p (when we left).
Releasing an 18" rainbow in the Beaver Run.
Flies: #18 Guides Choice Hare’s Ear, #22 Mercury Black Beauty, #18 Sawyer’s Style Pheasant Tail, #18 Canyon Cripple, #24 Top Secret Midge, #24 Grey Sparkle Wing RS2, #22 Black Beauty, #22 Stalcup Baetis, #18 Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail, #22 Top Secret Midge, #20 Pheasant Tail, #20 Prince Nymph, and #18 Dad Bod.
Top producers: Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear, Sawyer’s Style Pheasant Tail, Canyon Cripple, Mercury Black Beauty, Black Beauty, Top Secret Midge, Pheasant Tail, Prince Nymph, and Dad Bod. .
This week we decided to try out another canyon. That’s one of the great things about fly fishing in Colorado – so much to choose from. And quality choices they are.
The South Platte River flows through the 11 Mile Canyon and meanders its way for a short distance before it empties into Lake George. As we were driving along the road between where it empties into the lake and the entrance to the canyon we were greeted by a Bald Eagle in flight over the water. We are seeing a lot of them lately – and it's always quite a sight.
Looking into Bend #2.
We are starting to see some run-off from melting snow here in Colorado, but it’s not in full force yet. The reservoirs along the South Platte River drainage are high (from the 80% range to the high 90% range) and once the snow begins to melt at the higher elevations they should get full and we will start to see the flows increased out of the reservoirs. This usually happens in mid-to-late May, so we have a small window of opportunity to fish the tailwaters at manageable flows.
With the manageable – low – flows, sight fishing is in. This especially true in 11 Mile Canyon right now. The water is crystal clear and it’s not hard to spot the trout. The rainbow spawn is full on too. That’s not necessarily good in my book, as they’re distracted and not so interested in feeding. But there are still some that are and then you have the brownies and Snake River cutthroats to work with too!
One of Brian's cutbows.
Brian Kenney.
We planned to start at the Upper Road Hole. It’s our goto place to start and it usually provides a good start to the day. I was expecting Brian to have a couple in the net by the time I walked up to it. But as I peered over the willows along the road there was a guy in the hole and it wasn’t Brian. Darn it – someone must have beat us there.
I was at the lower end of the run along the road and I could see a few fish in one of the pools. So I walked downstream aways and crossed the river. It's very difficult - if not impossible - to fish most of the spots along the road, from the roadside. When I got to the other side of the river – the guy was to move my way. I asked if he minded if I fished this particular spot and to my surprise he said he’d prefer that I didn’t. Hmm…
So I walked around him heading upstream. The upper part of the run was now open – and as I did, the guy followed my up. He was protecting the whole run and didn’t want anyone else to fish it even though it’s big enough to hold three or four fishermen.
Looking upstream into the Upper Road Hole.
Oh well. We decided to head downstream. There are plenty of other spots to fish – so we wished the guy good day and left.
There’s a spot I call Between the Logs that I like to fish. For some reason there always seems to be a lot of fish in a deep trough along the south bank and in the shallow water along the north side. They’re easy to spot - harder to catch.
As I walked up to the run there they were. Some in the trough and some in the shallow, riffled water. A few were tight to the bank where I entered the river. Casting my flies to them was a challenge. They were so tight toward me. After a few drifts I decided that I would wade into the river and cast back to them. I needed more room.
My 1st fish of the day - an 18" Snake River cutthroat.
On my last drift before doing just that – one of the fish hit. It was a nice 18” Snake River cutthroat. I was surprised by his size. He didn’t look that big as he was feeding in the water. I would get a few more right there along the bank – brownies, rainbows, and cutbows. They were hitting the #22 Mercury Black Beauty.
My rig was setup with a #10 Egg Sucking Leech as my lead fly, followed by the Mercury Black Beauty and a #24 Top Secret Midge. After catching those trout along the bank, I decided to change out my Top Secret for a #22 Black Beauty. They didn’t seem interested in the Top Secret.
Brian got this rainbow in the Beaver Run.
Brian Kenney.
The fish in the shallow riffled water were now starting to scatter and I could still see the fish in the trough along the other side of the river. They looked like really nice size ones too – so I headed over.
One of the logs – half submerged in the river – sits at the top of the trough. The water flowing over and around it have dug out the trough and the fish sit in there feeding on the insects that float into it. I’ve not had a lot of success getting them in the past though. But I can never pass up the opportunity.
The water is faster flowing into the trough and deeper, so I had to add some mud – weight - to my rig in order to get my flies down to the fish. After doing so, I could see that my flies were in the zone but I was having a hard time getting my flies in front of the fish.
Releasing a rainbow in the Between the Logs Run.
Attempting to get my flies in front of my weight and indicator, I began to use big, upstream mends. This helps to get the flies into the column of water that is flowing to the fish. It’s not the easiest thing to do but I’ve found that it makes a big difference in the presentation. A lot of times you think that your flies are on target by looking at your indicator only to find out that your indicator is on target – but not your flies. Getting your flies in front of the indicator helps solve that misconception.
This eventually worked. As my flies were drifting through the trough my indicator paused and I set the hook. It felt as though I had a snag. I pulled up again – and after a slight hesitation – I felt a fish wiggle. Sometimes when you foul hook a fish – he will act that way. It seems he doesn’t feel the fly on whatever part of his body that you foul hooked. Then after realizing it, he fights to get free.
This seemed to be what happened. And this was a big fish. He took me downstream and I wasn’t being as careful as I usually am fighting a fish because I thought I fouled him. Then as I got him across from me I could see that he wasn’t foul hooked – he had my fly firmly implanted in his lip! Then I began to take more care in how I was handling him and I got him to where I could net him.
A brightly colored rainbow in Brian's net.
Brian Kenney.
He was now slightly downstream of me – and I mean slightly, only about arms-length. But this is not the usual way I intend to net a fish. I usually like to have them slightly in front of me – then I lift up and let the fish float down into the net. Nice and neat!
As I reached behind me to net the big rainbow ----- he came free. He sat there for a second as if he didn’t realize he was now free – then bolted. Damn it!
I would spend the rest of the morning in that run. No one else was in sight the whole time and I had more than a handful of fish in the net. Brian was further downstream of me and I assumed that he was having similar success, if he wasn’t he’d have probably come back up my way.
Bend #4.
It wasn’t until lunch that I actually saw another angler. He was fishing the downstream side of Bend #4 and I was at the top of it. The river bends to the right as you look downstream – and there is a small, deep pool that forms on the north side of the river as it bends. I’ve caught a few fish in the pool before and that is where I was fishing.
There were a number of nice size rainbows that I could see at the top of the pool. They were in the shallow, riffled water just before it gave way to the pool – and then just inside the pool. I could see some fish in the middle of the pool too. I managed to spook the big rainbows in the shallow water. This happened when my flies got hung up on the bottom just in front of them. But I eventually landed a nice 18’ brownie. He took my #22 Black Beauty.
I was happy to see that a standard Black Beauty still works. I haven’t fished mine lately – using the Mercury and Flashback versions instead. I really should have caught more fish in that pool and was a little disappointed in my technique and subsequent results - or lack thereof. But after releasing the brownie I decided to head further downstream to see how Brian was doing.
A view from my streamside lunch just above Bend #4. The pool is the glassy water in front of the willows.
As I suspected earlier, Brian was taking fish in the Beaver Run. There are several foot paths leading into the run and the one I picked led to exactly where Brain was fishing it. He had caught several rainbows between 14” and 18”, and one measuring 19”. It would be the biggest fish of the day between us. He got them on an assortment of flies – a #22 Top Secret Midge, a #20 Pheasant Tail, a #20 Prince Nymph, and a #18 Dad Bod.
The BWOs had begun to hatch while I was upstream in Bend #4. But since my Black Beauties were working, I didn’t change them over to BWO imitations. But now in the Beaver Run, I decided to change them out. I wasn’t sure which fly to use a my lead -attractor - fly and thought the Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear would be good to start with. I picked a size 18 and followed it with a #22 Stalcup Baetis, and a #24 Grey Sparkle Wing RS2.
For weight, I used a .12g split shot. The Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear is tied with a tungsten bead which added additional weight, but all-in-all it was a rather light setup. With the low water, I didn’t think I’d need a heavy rig and I wanted my flies to float in the mid-column.
Releasing a brownie that took a Black Beauty in the pool at Bend #4.
They were keying on my Guide's Choice Hare's Ear and I got a couple on my Sawyer’s Style Pheasant Tail. The Sawyer’s Style Pheasant Tail is a pattern that I made up to imitate a baetis as described by Frank Sawyer who originally created the Pheasant Tail in England during the 1800’s. It looks a lot like a standard American Pheasant Tail, except it doesn’t have legs. Frank said that in his observation of the beatis, they held their legs in tight to their bodies when they swam.
It’s interesting to me that the this fly worked as the fish seemed to be more than willing to take the Guide’s Choice which has soft hackle wrapped around the thorax to imitate legs. Why they hit both is what was interesting.
Brian got a bunch of rainbows - like this one - in the Beaver Run.
Brian Kenney.
The water was crystal clear and I could spot a few fish in a deep trough about mid-river and casted to them. After several casts and no takers I decided to move upstream to see if I could find other fish that might be more willing.
As I waded up I spotted a rainbow in a more shallow trough with faster water flowing through it. On my second cast I had him on – a 17” beauty. After releasing him I spotted another one slightly upstream from where the last rainbow was lying. I quickly had him in the net. Then I had another one just a quickly – but this one broke free after jumping clear out of the water. They were all hitting the Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear.
It was now about 1:30p and the fish were moving into the shallow, riffled water and the BWOs were still hatching. A good combination! I was at the top of the run and could see fish in the shallow water. As I did in the morning, I made big, upstream mends in order to get my flies in the flow that led directly to where the fish were lying. As my flies floated to the targeted fish I would see them move slightly – or sometime dart – and I would set the hook. There was no other indication that fish had eaten one of my flies.
Each time I’d hook up the fish. It was very similar to dry fly fishing in that I could see the fish move – which indicated a take – almost like watching a fish rise to take your dry fly. And it was equally as fun. I continued to move up and down the run using the big, upstream mend technique and they continued to take my offering.
What fun.
The rainbows were healthy and brightly colored.
Meanwhile, Brian was having success too landing rainbows along the run. At one point another angler joined us and we all took turns alternating spots along the run. The other guy was fishing exclusively dries even though there wasn't a pronounced rising. He did entice one rainbow - but it broke free as he was fighting it to the net.
On our last outing in the Cheesman Canyon during the big BWO hatch I watched as a lot of the fish ate the bugs just below the surface. In fact I got a couple of them when my flies - wet from the rain - sunk just below the surface. With that in mind I decided to create a Cripple pattern to use as a Dropper.
A Cripple is designed to imitate an insect – a BWO in this case – that is stuck in his shuck as it is floating on, or just below the surface of the water. The fish hit these readily because they’re easy prey. My version – which I called the Canyon Cripple – looks very similar to a wet version of a BWO except that I wrapped hackle around the thorax and tied Partridge feathers in front to look like legs.
I was really anxious to try my new fly but there were only a few fish rising – and they weren’t rising in a steady rhythm. That's not enough action for me to change to a dry fly setup.
Got this rainbow in the morning in the Between the Logs Run.
It was getting late in the day when I decided to tie one of my Canyon Cripples - a #18 - on as my target fly and fish it as a wet fly. My thinking was it would look like a drowned cripple. And low and behold it worked!
It fooled my last fish of the day – an 18” brownie. It was a rewarding feeling – observing behavior, then devising something to imitate that behavior - and then seeing it work. I’ll be using it more in the future.
The fish were still out there and they were still hitting, but it was time to leave. Another week in a different canyon – with lights out fishing!
Wow!
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