Aug 18, 2020
Flows: 541 cfs.
Water Temp: 56F @ 9.
Water clarity: ~ 4’
Air Temp: 63 @ 9a – 83 @ 3:30p.
Hatches: Midges 9a- 11a, Tricos late morning, PMDs 1p-3:30p, and spotty caddis late morning on.
A 18" female rainbow. This one was taken out of Hebrew's Best Run on a #20 Pheasant Tail PMD.
The Denver Water Board has been steadily increasing the flows out of Cheeseman Reservoir for the past couple of weeks. That means higher flows in the Cheeseman Canyon and Deckers. Even with the dry summer and drought conditions Cheeseman and the reservoirs above it are now full – so it looks like they are trying to fill up the reservoirs below it.
It was a throw of the dice – as far as picking the fishing location for this week. I took the easiest one – Deckers. It turned out to be a good choice, even with the increased flows. Given the high flows, my plan was to use 5x tippet and go after the two big fish that got away last week. That was to be the first place I hit – which is on the south side of Ray’s Run.
But as I walked across the bridge that spans Horse Creek I saw a nice trout feeding on the surface where Horse Creek meets the South Platte. It was swimming in a circle feeding on adult midges that were caught up in the eddie that was created at the confluence. At first I wasn’t sure if it was two fish or one – as the fish would disappear for a spell, then suddenly reappear somewhere in the circle.
I couldn’t pass up the chance to catch one on a dry first thing. So I walked down the bank and tied on a #22 Parachute BWO followed by a #22 Matt’s Midge. After several casts I was beginning to think that this fish was selectively feeding on something other than what I had tied on. I kept casting the flies in front of where I thought he would be in his circular motion. Then he finally hit the Matt’s Midge and I had my first trout of the day. It was a 16” male brownie – nice start!
Here's the 1st of the day. A 16" brownie with the #22 Matt's Midge in his lip.
As it was, he was the only one in there – which I found odd. You usually find more than one – and most of the time several fish - feeding on the surface at a time. But that wasn’t the case here. So with that, I decided to move up to Hebrew’s Best and fish the Bridge Pool along the way. Then I would hit Ray’s Run before lunch. It was easier that way. Maybe I’m getting lazy!
Looking downstream from Hebrew's Best Run into the Bridge Hole - with the Deckers Resort in the background.
There were fish visible at the tail end of Hebrew’s Best run and there were some tricos hatching. So I tied on a #16 Red Copper John followed by a #20 Black Sparkle Wing RS2 and a #20 Disco Midge. In keeping with my plan, I tied them on with 5x tippet. It took awhile but I finally was able to land one brownie – a 17’ male. It seemed to me that the 5x tippet might have been spooking the fish – as I was getting good, on target drifts with no hits.
A 17" brownie taken out of Hebrew's Best Run on a #20 Black Sparkle Wing RS2.
So instead of changing the tippet at that time – I moved up to where I had hooked up the two large trout last week. I wanted to keep the 5x tippet on incase I hooked one of them up – in which case, I would have more backing and I could horse them a bit. But there were no takers in that hole. It might have been that my tippet was still too thick – but I’ll never know for sure.
Looking upstream from Hebrew's Best Run onto the bottom of Ray's Run.
By that time I was getting hungry so I headed to the car for lunch. As I walked past the Bridge Hole I noticed that it was empty on both sides, so I took a look to see if I could spot any fish in the shallows on the north side. And yes indeed – there were several fish holding in the shallows and in the deeper water where it bends toward the bridge.
I couldn’t pass up a chance to fish to visible, feeding fish. The only change to my rig was replacing my Disco Midge with a Top Secret Midge. I took about a half hour – but I was able to land a couple of smaller trout. One rainbow and one brownie – both 13”s. They both took the Black Sparkle Wing RS2. So much for the tippet being too heavy. This water was slower and clearer than both Hebrew’s Best and Ray’s Run. In retrospect, I think adjustments to depth and weight were in order.
A 13" female rainbow taken from the Bridge Hole on a #20 Black Sparkle Wing RS2.
Shouting Man Hill. (This is from my lunch spot - the back parking lot of the Deckers Resort. If you look at it a certain way - it looks like a man shouting....)
After lunch the Pale Morning Duns were hatching as I walked to fish the south side of Hebrew’s Best Run. So I replaced my nymphs with a #16 Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear leading, followed by a #20 Pheasant Tail PMD, and I kept the #20 Black Sparkle Dun on as a hedge – thinking the fish may still be keying on it.
An 18" brownie taken from Hebrew's Best Run on a #20 Pheasant Tail PMD. (Look closely and you can see the fly in the back of his jaw).
But that wasn’t the case. The fish were hitting the Pheasant Tail – so much so, that I changed out the Sparkle Dun with a #20 Barr Emerger PMD. Even with that, they were still hitting the Pheasant Tail. All the fish I caught were on it except for one brownie, who hit the Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear. I stayed in Hebrew’s Best for the rest of the afternoon – changing my weight and depth periodically depending on where in the run I was casting. It was a fun afternoon with a bunch of brownies, few rainbows from 15”s to 18”s, and one 19” cutbow. The 19" cutbow was the last one - and with that I called it an early day – leaving at 3:30p.
Here's a 16" rainbow. It looks like a stocker - as it's not brightly colored like most native rainbows in the Deckers area. She took the Pheasant Tail.
A 15" rainbow taken from Hebrew's Best Run on the Pheasant Tail.
The last one of the day. A 19" male cutbow taken out of Hebrew's Best Run on the Pheasant Tail.
Yes it was another fine Colorado day - on a quiet river with limited crowds, and most importantly – with eager trout!
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