May 21, 2020
Flows: 265 cfs.
Water Temp: 48 @ 9a.
Water clarity: Between 4’ & 6’ and a bit stained.
Air Temp: low-50s @ 9a – low-80s @ 4p.
Hatches: Decent midge in the morning, light BWO late morning and early afternoon.
Brian and I were taking advantage of a free day and nice weather to get in a 2nd outing last week. The flows on the South Platte at Deckers were in the mid-to-high 200s – which is perfect for this time of year. We planned to meet near the Bridge Hole and fish there and in Ray’s Run. Both areas are very well suited for the flow level – as the river is a bit wider there. I had visions of hooking into big trout spread out all along the run!
Between the Bridges Run. Just downstream from the Bridge Hole.
As usual Brian arrived earlier than me. When I arrived at the resort – at about 8:15a – there were fishermen in Ray’s Run and all along the run leading into the Bridge Hole, and there were a couple more on the north side of the Bridge Hole. Brian was one of the guys – and he was set up on the north side of the run just before the Bridge Hole. The only place open for me to fish was on the south side of the Bridge Hole.
That was fine with me. On the way into the river, I spotted some fish feeding at the inlet of Horse Creek and decided to start there with my nymph rig. I had a #10 Pat’s Rubber Leg leading, followed by a #20 Flashback Miracle Midge and a #20 Black Rojo Midge. After a few casts I had my 1st fish of the day in the net. It was a small brownie – about 6” long – and he hit the Pat’s Rubber Leg. It was brown and black variegated and barely fit into the small brownies mouth!!
Aggressive little brownie.
Things cooled down quite a bit after landing that small trout – as I worked the south side of the hole. I had about 75’ of shoreline to myself – which was a lot of space considering the number of fishermen in the immediate area. But I wasn’t getting any action! Jeez – I was beginning to think that the 6” brownie would be it for the whole morning. Then I hooked up a 16” sucker – ugh – he was in the deep pool just before the confluence of Horse Creek. I would later land another one – which is not very common for Deckers.
A small brownie taken on a dry in front of Horse Creek.
As things we in a lull, I noticed that some small fish were rising at the confluence of Horse Creek. So I figured why not, and set up my dry fly rig. I had a #22 Parachute BWO leading followed by a #22 Griffith’s Gnat. I landed a 8’ brownie on the gnat – and then had a bunch of false takes. So I redid my flies, replacing the Parachute BWO with another one (slightly different style) and following it with a #22 Improved Sparkle Dun BWO. There was a lot of takes on the Sparkle Dun and it brought a handful of small brownies to net.
It was time to move back into the proper Bridge Hole - and I quickly land a 15” brownie in the foam line. Prior to landing this one, I had changed my rig to a #18 Pheasant Tail followed by a #20 Disco Midge and a #20 Top Secret Midge. He hit the Pheasant Tail. While in the net – this guy caused all kinds of commotion – leading to a pretty bad tangle. When I was finally able to get the flies untangled, I noticed that the tippet (I was using 6X which is very light) between my Disco Midge and the Top Secret Midge was not in the best of shape. It wasn’t frayed – but it had some uneven spots on it and it was curly queued. I stretched it out and thought it would be OK. But it wasn’t!
This 15" brownie took the #18 Pheasant Tail.
After releasing the fish and getting my line in order – I moved up stream to a seam in front of the south side of the Bridge Hole. After a handful of casts – I felt what I thought was a snag. As I pulled up on the rod to try to free the snag, I felt a fish wiggle. Then it started to take line out – and then made a spectacular leap into the air. When I saw the fish – my only thought was HOLY SHIT! I had hooked into a 24” to 30” rainbow. It took me downstream into the Bend Hole – making a few more of the same type of leaps out of the water. It was clear to me that I needed to tighten up the drag a bit – which I did. I don’t actually think it was too tight – but on the next leap out of the water – the tippet broke. And it broke between my Disco Midge and the Top Secret. The exact spot that I was concerned about – ugh!
I was so pissed at myself for being lazy and not changing the tippet – that the only thing I could think of doing was breaking for lunch. So I stomped my way out of the river and went to the car to cool down. Later in the day I was talking to Brian over a beer and he mentioned that he was using 5X tippet all day. It immediately occurred to me that with the flows where they were and the somewhat stained water – that I should have been too. And if I was – I probably would have landed the fish of the year! Live and learn….
After spending some time in the Bridge Hole after lunch – I moved up to Ray’s Run. I was surprised that most of the fishermen had since left. There was only me and two others in the entire run. By then I had changed my nymph rig to a #16 Euro Pheasant Tail followed by a #20 JuJu Baetis and a #20 Barr Emerger BWO. After working the top end of the run, I spotted a few fish in the seams, pockets, and in front of some of the boulders and was able to hook up and land some nice brownies. They were in the 15" to 17" range. One took the Euro Pheasant Tail – which is the 1st fish that I landed on that one. Brady – one of the guys at Avid Max – recommended this fly, and it was nice to get one on it. The others either took the JuJu Baetis or my old standby, the Barr Emerger.
One of the brownie taken out of the top end of Ray's Run.
Moving further downstream into the run, I spotted a couple of nice size rainbows feeding in a seam. I had one on – but he was able to break off pretty quickly. Then I got the other one to take the Barr Emerger and landed a nicely colored 18” rainbow. This took a little of the sting out of missing that big rainbow earlier. And with that I decided to call it a day.
Brightly colored 18" male.
Brian and I never really got to fish together. I saw him on the other side of the river – when I was in the Bend Hole - and he was landing some fish. And as we had a chat over that beer – he said he was able to land quite a few rainbows and brownies in that run, but he forgot his iphone in the car. So no pictures! He also mentioned that he had a couple of really big rainbows hooked up, but was unable to land them. I could definitely commiserate with that.
Releasing the 18" rainbow.
So all-in-all, it was a great day. Together we had brought quite a few fish to net and we both got into some big ones to boot!
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