January 3, 2022 – Pueblo Tailwater (The Diver Hole to the Tree Hole)
Flows: 104 cfs.
Water Temp: 38F.
Water clarity: ~4’.
Air Temp: 10F @ 8a - 51 @ 4:30p.
Hatches: Light midge 10a to early afternoon, Heavy BWO 12N – starting to dwindle at 4p (time we left the water).
Flies: #12 Chubby Chernobyl, #16 Frenchy, #20 Mercury Pheasant Tail, #24 Chocolate Thunder, #24 Mercury Flashback Black Beauty, #16 Red Copper John, #18 Red Midge Larva, #22 Olive Mercury RS2, #24 Flashback Barr Emerger, # 20 Black WD40, #22 Parachute BWO, #22 Cripple., #18 Sparkle Dun, #24 Black Beauty.
Top producers: Flashback Black Beauty, Chocolate Thunder, Frenchy, Parachute BWO, Black Beauty, Sparkle Dun, Red Midge Larva.
We knew it would be a cold start. The forecast was predicted to be 18F at 8a. Our arrival time. It was colder than that. 10F. Cold – as it was when we fished 11 Mile Canyon in the winter a few years ago. That type of cold is what led us to winter fishing in Pueblo.
A scene when we arrived at the Nature Center Parking lot.
Planning ahead, I brought a thermos of hot coffee. My plan was to have a couple cups of hot joe and let it warm up a bit – then gear up and hit the water. Brian didn’t hesitate – just got out of the car like it was any other day and began to gear up. Cold just doesn’t seem to bother him. When its that cold, my fingers begin to sting when I’m about halfway done gearing up - and by the time I’m done, there are no feelings left in them.
Strangely, the place was more crowded than ever before. One guy was there when we arrived and 3 other guys showed up just after we arrived. The parking area was packed. And everyone except for me didn’t hesitate to get out and gear up.
After I finished my second cup I checked the weather to see when it was supposed to get warmer. What I found was that it wasn’t going to get warmer until about 11a. Then it was supposed to be in the low 30s. It was going to be in the teens until about 10a.
Winter has arrived on the Tailwater.
Jeez, I didn’t want to wait that long. So I got out and began to gear up. The sun was not shining brightly. High, thin clouds were obscuring it. But it was warmer in the sun than in shade. I took my time. Even though I had gloves on, I took breaks putting my hands either into the sun or in my pockets to warm them.
As I slowly got ready I was chatting with another guy who seemed to be taking his time too. We talked about how the river’s been fishing and the different places we’ve fished. And how cold it was. I told him that my fingers bothered me more than anything else and he asked if I’ve ever tried latex gloves. It didn’t register right away what they were, so I asked him to show me his.
They were the standard issue latex gloves that doctors and nurses wear. He said he wore them under his fingerless gloves to keep his hand dry. He had an extra pair and offered them to me. I’m not a fan of latex – I just don’t like the feel or the smell. But I accepted his offer and tried them out. They did help a bit and I was able to tie on flies with them on. They kept my fingers dry but they didn’t do a whole lot to ward off the cold. I may try them again in the future.
Brian fishing the run below the #2 Plunge Pool.
I met Brian at about 9a – he was in the #2 Plunge Pool. I didn’t begin to fish right away, choosing instead to watch him, fish check the river, check the water temp – just biding my time. Brian had landed a little guy in the pool before I got there and he had a fish on while I watched him fish the faster water below the pool. It quickly got off though.
It was encouraging to see that he was getting some action – even in these adverse conditions.
It was about 9:30a and I decided to cast my flies. I used my Hopper/Dropper setup that was still rigged as I had it when I left the river last week. I didn’t have a “true” Dropper on because I changed it to a Mercury Pheasant Tail last week in the afternoon as the fish began to feed higher in the column, near the surface.
The #1 Plunge Pool.
It was setup for those conditions – but it wasn’t ideal for the current one. There were no midges hatching and with the cold weather the fish were most likely deeper, near the bottom of the river. But I gave it a try for a bit. Then I decided to bite the bullet and change out my Pheasant Tail for a true Dropper so that my flies would sink to where I thought the fish were.
And I began to fish in earnest. Brian and I had this section of the river to ourselves and we covered it several times without any further action. In fact I didn’t even have the slightest hint of a hit. It was close to 10:30a when we decided to head up to the Flag Hole.
It was open and again we had that whole section to ourselves. We also had the same result. Ugh.
A seam I like to fish above the #1 Plunge Pool.
After covering that place frontwards and backwards, I headed to the Antennae Hole. I felt confident that I’d get a least one fish out of there. After a bit, Brian joined me. Speaking of confidence – after we fished the entire area without either of us getting even a hit, Brian said “I think I forgot how to fish”.
I’ve had this feeling before. When you’re fishing hard and not getting any results it can shake your confidence. When I’ve felt like this in the past, it had a negative effect. I’d cast into a run or pool not expecting to get anything – therefore, not paying close attention. Then I have a fish hit and miss him. Things like that.
You have to have confidence – in your flies, your presentation, and yourself! My response to Brian was “we both know how to fish and we’re better at it than most”.
I don’t know why, but even though I still didn’t have the slightest hint of a hit – and even though I thought that I could get skunked on this day – I was still confident and upbeat. I was letting the river come to me. Kept covering the water. Looking for even tiny spaces that I thought fish may be lying in – giving them a shot.
It was icey along the bank of the river.
It was now 11:30a and it was warming up. And the BWOs were hatching! And I still didn’t have a hit. We were now in the Tire Hole. Brian at the very top – some other guy in the middle – and me at the bottom. After covering my area without nary a hit – I decided to take a break and eat lunch.
That always seems to help!
Before I exited the river to eat, the guy in the middle of us left. As he walking by he said he caught one 13” rainbow and lost a bigger one. And that was it.
When I was done eating I moved to the middle of the run. The spot the other guy was in. I’ve had success here in the past but nothing this time. So I moved downstream – letting my flies float midriver in front of me. I hook up a lot of fish doing this – but nothing this time.
This weir forms the end of the Tire Hole.
I was now at the very end of the Tire Hole. There is a weir that marks the end of it and forms a small seam and a small pool behind it. I looked at the seam and thought to myself – there has to be a fish in there.
I was on the north side of the river and the seam was bending away from me. After several casts and no action I thought it might fish better from the other side. So I waded across the river – downstream of the seam so I didn’t spook any fish that might be there.
Once across the river a waded partially into the small pool behind the weir and casted into the seam. I covered it from top to bottom. From near side to far side and had not takers.
My 1st fish of the day. An 18" female that took either a #24 Chocolate Thunder or a #24 Flashback Black Beauty.
I was planning to leave the spot and began to walk my flies down the seam fishing my Hopper/Dropper. As the flies floated down my Hopper went under the surface. At first I thought it got caught up in a tiny whirlpool but it never came back up. So I set the hook. This all happened in slow motion and probably only took a few seconds.
When I set the hook my line went tight. Tight line – yeah baby! Fish on – and it had some size to it. I fought it for quite a bit and never got a look at it. It was staying low in the water and putting up a good fight. I noticed that in the pool there were tree branches along the bottom. Some were laying from the more shallow side and facing into the deeper water.
I finally got the fish to the surface. It was a beautiful rainbow and a big one. Once I got his head out of the water – I led him into my net. Once I had him in the net, I took a step back to retreat out of the pool. As I did, I stepped on one of those branches with my left foot. It was covered with moss and other slimy, slippery stuff – and my foot went out from under me and I fell backwards into the water.
Lucky for me the water was only about 2’ deep where I went in. Deep enough for the water to seep into my chest high waders as I fell into a sitting position. I had to let go of my net so that I could use my left arm and hand to brace myself to get up.
I took this picture as I was releasing the fish with my camera underwater. It looks like a painting.
I was really happy to see that the fish was still in my net once I got up. I proceeded to grab my net with the fish in it and waded to the shore to release him. After I measured him and got his picture! As I reached into the net I found that he had spit which ever fly he had taken. It was one of my trailing flies – I was sure of it. Either the #24 Mercury Flashback Black Beauty or the #24 Chocolate Thunder.
As I released the fish and stood up – water was seeping down both legs. My left arm was soaked – jacket, sweater, and base layer – and it was COLD. Even though, I felt exhilarated. I had a fish in the net – and a nice size one at that. An 18” rainbow.
After waded out of the pool and back to other side of river I continued to fish. Nothing I could do – save for walking back to the car and changing. But into what? I didn’t have a change of clothes and everything was soaked anyway. So why not fish?
And that’s what I did.
As I was releasing the fish – Brian was moving upstream. So I now had the entire run to myself and I covered it.
Another view of the 18" rainbow.
I was now back down at the small pool with the seam where I landed the 18” rainbow. And I again waded across the river to fish it from the other side. This time I landed an 8” rainbow. He hit the Chocolate Thunder.
Having enough of that – I gathered my stuff and headed upstream. I was pretty sure Brian was now in the Tree Hole. As a walked that way I hit a couple of the pools and runs along the way. At the 1st weir above the Tire Hole I had on what felt like a 12” fish – but he quickly broke off. The BWO hatch was going strong and I could see fish feeding just below the surface. Most of them were the little guys though and I decided to move on.
Above this weir there is a run that flows along the north bank. There are trees along the bank and some have fallen into the water – both providing cover for fish. There are also some boulders about 15’ off the shore that form seams and I’ve caught rising fish along this part in the past.
As I walked up to this spot I could see BWOs floating down the river. A lot of them. And fish were coming up to eat them. A lot of the fish were small fries – but I did see a couple that were decent size. I even watched as one of them came up and ate a BWO that was floating by.
This 14" rainbow took the Parachute BWO.
With that I tied on some dries – as I stood midstream. Once I had them tied on, I began to drift them over the submerged boulders and into he pocket behind them. That’s where I saw the fish rise to a natural. I had a couple of hits on my first 2 or 3 drifts – but missed them. Then I had no takers.
Brian was now coming back downstream and he joined me. We fished the area behind the boulders and farther upstream where the river flows near the trees on the north bank. We both had some small fries hit our flies but they are so quick that we missed most of them. I missed all of mine, but Brian was able to land one of his on a Sparkle Dun.
I was now back at the boulders and on my 1st drift into the pocket – a nice size fish rose to take one of my flies. The larger fish hit different that the little ones. The rise is slower – seems maybe more deliberate – and they’re easier to hook up. And its more fun because you can see their nose rise out of the water and watch them take your fly.
As this one did – I set the hook. It was a 14” rainbow. Believe me, when I say the bigger ones are easier to catch on a dry – that isn’t to say its easy. Your flies have to be on point and your drift has to be “right”. And you have to time your set. I’ve missed my share of bigger fish too.
Got this 10" rainbow in a trough just above the Tire Hole on the Frenchy.
After that Brian was planned to head back downstream and hit some spots as he did. He suggested meeting at the car around 3p. But the sun was shining, the BWOs were hatching, and my wet clothes were now almost dry. So I suggested we meet at 4p. I wanted to fish a bit more.
As Brian headed downstream, I walked upstream. There is another weir before you get to the Tree Hole that I wanted to try. Its one of those spots that I just can’t seem to pass up – even though I haven’t had a lot of success fishing it. There were some fish rising at the tail out and I had a few hits. I missed them all – they were the little guys.
So I moved farther upstream to the top of the run. There is fast water that moves from the south side of the weir and wraps around it flowing back to the north side. I like to fish the soft water at the top. As I waded into position I started to lose my footing in the fast water. Instead of stopping to get my bearings – I pushed ahead.
Not a good idea. I slipped on a rock and lost my footing – the fast water taking my feet right out from under me. Back in the water!
The water was only about a foot deep – but since it was flowing so fast it sprayed water in my face and all over my body. Soaking wet and cold again!
Even though - I continued to fish. I fished that weir and then moved on upstream to the Tree Hole. I checked my watch before walking up to make sure I had enough time to get there and fish it and get back to the car at 4p as planned. And I did.
Another view of the 10" rainbow.
The Tree Hole didn’t produce and after covering it a few times I had just enough time to hit the shallow, fast water above it. You can sight fish there and I sometime catch nice brownies in the riffles. I also catch some small fries there too. I started at the top of the run and began to work my way down.
There are deeper troughs that form along the north side of the river and that is where I sometimes see fish feeding. As I walked down and fished the troughs I thought I saw a couple of fish. They were in the last trough before the water heads over the boulders and into the Tree Hole.
Still not sure they were fish, I drifted my flies into the area where I thought I saw them. Sure enough there was at least one fish there and he hit my Frenchy. The first fish I caught on that fly. It wasn’t a big one – about 10” – but what fun it is to sight fish.
After releasing the fish – it was time to leave. There I was slogging my way down the river. Soaked and cold – but still upbeat.
Not the greatest day number wise. It started out very, very slow. I fell in twice – which may be a fist for me. I became one with the river - literally. Sniffed out a nice rainbow, got one on the rise, and stalked one in the shallows.
Might be my favorite picture - so I'm showing it again!
It was exhilarating.
The river can do that to you.
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