September 7, 2021 – Deckers (Mark’s Run, Fisherman's Run, the Bridge Hole, and Ray’s Run)
This bull elk was grazing on the side of the road in Happy Canyon.
Brian Kenney.
Flows: 174 cfs.
Water Temp: 48F @ 9a.
Water clarity: Crystal clear.
Air Temp: 37F @ 8:30a - mid-70s@ 4p.
Hatches: Midge 9a – 12N and 3p – 4p, Damselflies 8a – 12N, PMDs 1p – 3p, BWOs light 1p – 2p.
Flies: #10 Chubby Chernobyl, #16 Red Copper John, #22 Black Beauty, #22 Top Secret Midge, #20 Mercury Flashback PMD Pheasant Tail, #20 Barr Emerger, #22 Chocolate Thunder, #16 Red Quill, #20 Parachute Adams, #18 BH Hare’s Ear, #22 Black RS2, #20 Purple Mercury Zebra Midge.
Top producers: Chubby Chernobyl, Copper John, Black Beauty, Top Secret Midge, Mercury Flashback PMD Pheasant Tail, PMD Barr Emerger, Hare’s Ear, RS2, Purple Zebra Midge.
I haven’t been able to get out on the water over the past three weeks. So come Tuesday I was really looking forward to getting out on the river and hooking up some trout! I wanted to do something easy and stay closer to home, and my hope was that Deckers would be in good shape. And it was!
A chilly 37F greeted us as we arrived at the river’s edge. Our plan was to fish the last section of public water of the South Platte River in Deckers. That would include the Cable Hole to the Mini-Canyon. This is a relative easy place to wade with little climbing involved. It also holds some very good fishing spots.
My 1st of the day - taken at the top of Mark's Run. He took the #16 Red Copper John.
The flows have held steady at about 175 cfs for over the past week. That’s a little below the historical average but stable flows are always a good thing. And the lower flows makes for easier wading - also a good thing.
This time of year there a lot of different flies hatching in the Deckers area. The PMDs and stoneflies are starting to tail off, but the fall BWOs are starting to appear. And you still have the midges, caddis, tricos, and terrestrial - a smorgasbord of flies for the trout to choose from.
This female cutbow was taken out of the top of Mark's Run on a Chubby Chernobyl.
There was a strong midge hatch in progress when we arrived at 8a but surprisingly, no tricos. Well Brian did spot a couple – but that was it. Once on the water we were surprised to see damselflies hatching. At least I think they were damselflies. It’s hard to tell the difference between them and dragonflies. Both are aquatic insects and have the same number of wings, and their bodies are very similar. The damselflies are smaller though – between 1 ½” and 2” - and their wings are very narrow near their bodies. That’s what these ones looked like.
They provide a big meal and the trout loved them! There were rather large splashes periodically as the trout aggressively took them. Brian was lucky enough to actually witness a trout come up and eat one of them. I was afraid that the trout would be keyed on them and not interested in any other flies. That has happened to us once when crane flies were hatching and another time when a there was a huge termite hatch.
Lucky for us – that wasn’t the case.
Brian got this rainbow on the north side of Mark's Run.
Brian Kenney.
It was a bit surprising to us that the river was open from the Bridge Hole all the way to the Cable Hole. There may have been a couple of other fishermen along the way - but that was it. And Mark’s Run was open. When we got there, there was only one other truck parked in the parking lot, but the occupant was nowhere in sight.
Brian was first in and began fishing the middle of the run. A bit later I set up at the top of it on the south side (road side) – where the river bends slightly to the right looking downstream. The water is shallow there with riffles giving way to a nice run of faster, braided water. There is also slower water that’s skinny at the bend and widens as you go downstream.
Brian with a nice Rainbow taken out of the middle of Mark's Run.
My plan was to fish the HCD (Hopper/Copper/Dropper) setup. With the prolific midge hatch, I decided to tie on a #22 Black Beauty and #22 Top Secret Midge as my target flies and used a #18 Red Copper John to get them down. I used my trusty Cubby Chernobyl as the Hopper and indicator.
My first cast didn’t make it as far into the faster water as I wanted. In fact it didn’t make it to the fast water at all. There was a slight wind in my face and it messed up my cast. I adjusted for that on my second cast and got it into the seam of where the fast water meets the slow. And BAM - I had a fish on! Just like that – a 15” rainbow.
The usual smorgasboard. Caddis, BWO, and midge nymphs,
Brian Kenney.
As I worked to get the fly – the Copper John – free from the fish’s mouth I was thinking “this could be a great day”. And it would turn out to be one!
I continued to work the upper part of the run and was working my way out further into the faster water, when I spotted a fish out of the corner of my eye. He was in the shallow, slow water. So I casted into it and watched as my Chubby disappeared beneath the surface. I quickly set the hook and had my second fish of the day on. It was a nice 17” cutbow.
I netted this nice brownie at the back end of Mark's Run - on the north side.
When I netted him, I was surprised to see that he took the Chubby. Every other time when a fish has taken my Chubby I could see him come up and hit it. Not this time. All I remember was that the Chubby was pulled under the water. It must have been a lightning quick strike – or maybe I was a bit distracted? Not sure, but I was glad that he hit it.
Meanwhile Brian had moved to the top of the run and was fishing the other side of the river. He was working the bank just upstream from the two huge trees that were somehow knocked over and landed a 16” rainbow. He took the Bead Head Hare’s Ear. As he released the fish, I began to work downstream towards the middle of the run. I wanted to fish it and the end of it.
Mating Damselflies.
I walked down the side of the river and as I waded into the river I began to cast in front of me. This is something I do as a matter of practice. You never know, there may be fish there and you don’t want to walk up on them and scare ‘em off. And you’ll find fish in the shallower water more often than you think. So before I wade in, I drift my flies out in front of me and if nothing hits I take a step further out and do it again. It takes some time to eventually get where you want to go, but sometimes you catch a few fish along the way! That’s the point, right?
And that’s just what happened this time. I was drifting my flies about midway from the shore to where the water is faster forming a few feeding lanes and bang I had a fish hit. I could tell right away that it was a bigger one and it gave me quite a fight. It was an 18” rainbow and when I got him in the net I could see that he hit my Top Secret Midge.
An 18" rainbow taken out of the middle of Mark's Run on a Top Secret Midge.
After releasing him I waded out to where I left off and began to move towards the end of the run. I wanted to fish the river about ¼ of the way from the other bank. There you will find a lot of pockets, small pools, and seams where brownies like to hang out. I’ve also found some nice – really nice – rainbows there too.
Back at my spot - I got set up I could see fish feeding. A couple were in a trough and one was behind a boulder. I targeted the one closest to me and began to drift my flies along his feeding lane. After a few drifts and some weight adjustments, I got him to hit. It was a brownie about 18”. One thing about the brownies is they put up a great fight – and this one did.
Another rainbow. Brain got this one in the middle of Mark's Run.
Once I netted him, I waded over to a large boulder in the middle of the river and sat there to release the fish. I didn’t want to have to wade all the way back to the other side of the river – where I could have more control over the situation. As I was trying to get my fly – the Black Beauty – out of his lip, he wiggled and got my trailing fly stuck in my finger. So it was a mess for awhile and once I was finally able to get the fly out of my finger and the other one out of his lip – he was exhausted and very stressed. But I was able to revive him and he eventually swam away.
There were more fish still out there feeding and I was able to hook up a few more of them – a couple more brownies and a rainbow. They were in the 16” to 18” range with a wide girth. Two of them took the Top Secret and I got another one on a BH Pheasant Tail. I had a couple more hooked up that broke off – one of them right in front of my net!
A brownie taken out of Ray's Run on a Mercury PMD Pheasant Tail.
While I was fishing the end of the run, Brian had moved back to the south side of the river and was fishing the middle of the run. He was just upstream from where I had landed that 18” rainbow earlier. As he was fishing that area I decided to wade back across the river to retrieve my dry fly set up. There were some fish rising and I wanted to see if I could get one on a dry.
As I was rigging up a couple of dries on the bank, Brian had a fish take. It was a 17” rainbow and he got him on Purple Mercury Zebra Midge. It was a strong fish and gave Brian all he could handle just to get the fly out of his lip and pick him up for a picture!
Brian got this 20 incher at the top of Ray's Run.
Brian Kenney.
Once I had my dries tied on I headed back to the spot at the end of the run. There was one fish in particular that I wanted to target. He was rising along the far bank sipping adult flies. I wasn’t sure what he was eating but it was getting toward 11a and I thought maybe PMDs were starting to hatch. With that in mind I had tied on a #16 Red Quill as my target fly, followed by a #20 PMD Sparkle Dun.
The fish was still there when I got in position. Earlier I had drifted my HCD rig passed him and he came up and gave my Chubby a thorough inspection. I got a bit twitchy while he was taking a look and he broke off. That’s why I wanted to try a couple of dries. On about my third cast into his feeding lane he came up and hit the Red Quill – but I missed the take. Dang it!
This rainbow was in the shallow water - about mid-river - in Ray's Run.
After several more casts and no interest – I decided to break lunch. Brain had the same idea and we waded to the shore to enjoy lunch at the car. Brian suggested that we try the Bridge Hole and Fisherman’s Run after we finished lunch. So when we finished, we headed that way.
Both holes were open when we walked into the river. Brain started on the north side of Fisherman’s Run and I started on the same side, but in the Bridge Hole. The fishing was slow though. After about an hour I had a couple of rainbows in the net and Brian had a sucker.
Brian got this 20" sucker in Fisherman's Run.
Brian Kenney.
So we decided to head upstream into Ray’s Run. There was a guy fishing the lower part of the run – casting dries. Brian headed up to the top of the run and I went into the middle of it. This section of the river is pretty wide with shallow sand bars in the middle of the river. Toward the north side there are braids of feeding lanes – troughs of various depths – and toward the south side of the river there are boulders creating small pockets.
At first, I sighted fish in the troughs and in the shallow water near the sand bars. The guy that was in the lower part of the run left and I now had from the middle to the end of the run to myself. My first hook up was in the shallow water at the middle of the run. It was a 19” rainbow that ate a #20 Mercury PMD Pheasant Tail. He was healthy and put up quite a fight - taking me all the way down to the end of the run.
A hefty 19' brownie taken out of Ray's Run.
After releasing him I was planning to move back toward the middle of the river and fish the near trough. I spotted some fish there while I was fighting the rainbow. But I didn’t make it that far. There were several fish feeding in the shallow water in front of the trough – so I began to cast to them. And they were eager to take my offering!
For a good hour or so – I was catching fish on every third cast. Some time on consecutive casts! It was fun. They were all in the 18” to 20” range and both rainbows and brownies and they all took either the Mercury PMD Pheasant Tail or a #20 PMD Barr Emerger.
A couple of ducks keeping us company.
I even caught the same fish twice! It was a 19” brownie to boot. After I released him I saw him swim toward the middle of the river – but lost track of him as I was cleaning my flies and getting ready to go back out. As I began to wade toward the middle of the river I saw a big brownie sitting in front of one of the boulders. I wasn’t sure at the time if it was the same brownie I just released – so I drifted my flies to him. And he hit the Pheasant Tail! After thinking about it – it had to be the same brownie. He was resting in front of the boulder and instinctively hit my fly when I drifted it to him. Any other brownie would have bolted as soon as I walked up on him.
By this time I was calling Brian to come down and join me. It was just too good to keep to myself. He had landed a nice 20” rainbow at the head of the run and stayed there for awhile. So I kept fishing my spot – and landing fish! What an afternoon.
A rainbow taken out of Ray's Run.
Brian eventually came down to meet me. The fish were still there and he had one hooked up – but it was able to break free before he could net him. But the activity began to slow considerably. After a bit we decided to call it a day.
A view upriver from the middle of Ray's Run.
And what a day it was. It was great to be back out on the water and it was one of those days that the South Platte River in Deckers is renown for. Lots of big rainbows and brownies!
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