June 21, 2023
South Platte River, the Dream Stream (The Wind Chimes upstream to the Spinney Mountain Park parking lot).
Flows: From 140 cfs dropping to 93 cfs at 9a.
Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent (14%).
Water Temp: 54F.
Water clarity: Very clear.
Air Temp: 49F @ 8:30a – 70F @ 4p.
Hatches: Midge: In the AM. BWO: A few here and there in the early PM. Caddis: From 10a till end of day – heaviest from about noon to 2p.
Flies: #16 Red San Juan Worm, #16 Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear, #20 Stalcup Baetis, #20 Buckskin Caddis, #20 Pheasant Tail,#18 Caddis Emerger, #16 Red Pig Sticker.
Top producers: Buckskin Caddis, Pheasant Tail, Caddis Emerger, Pig Sticker.
The end of the island at the top of the Willow Run.
Wow – I didn’t realize I’ve been off the river for three weeks.
During that time we’ve had some really hot days and a lot of rain - bringing run-off into full swing. The reservoirs along the South Platte River are full – some overflowing down the spillways – with the exception of Spinney Mountain Reservoir. It’s only 83% of capacity.
Spinney dumps into the Dream Stream and the flows out of it have held steady over the past several days – staying right at 146 cfs. That’s why I suggested that we go there. Then on Wednesday – the day Brian and I decided to give it try – they dropped the flows to 93 cfs. We arrived at parking lot 8:30a and were streamside just about right at 9a when they started to drop them.
It's been a very busy summer for me. Lots of different things hitting all at once and I haven't had the time to do the research that I normally do before a trip. That includes looking back in my blogs to review our last few trips to a certain place and read up on various fly fishing books about our destination.
There were quite a few flocks of geese on the river with new goslings.
You're supposed to have time for stuff like this when you're retired!
Anyway, the point is that I wasn't sure if 146 cfs was considered an optimal flow for the Dream Stream or not. Once on the river I didn’t notice the water level dropping. The only thought I had was there wasn’t enough water in the river. We couldn’t locate any fish. The places where we usually find them were too shallow providing no cover. I made a mental note that 150 cfs wasn't enough water for this part of the river. I now have to wipe that out of my mind and recalibrate.
Spinney Mountain Access Road parallels the river as it flows from the output of Spinney Mountain Reservoir Dam to the Eleven Mile Reservoir. There’s three parking lots along this stretch – the lower, which is closest to where it dumps into Eleven Mile Reservoir, the middle, and the upper. All were pretty packed - lot’s of fishermen out.
We chose the upper lot with the plan to fish the Willow Run. Our favorite spot on the upper part of the river.
As we hiked toward it we could see a couple of fishermen in it. They were in the lower part of the run and unless things changed by the time we got there – there would be room for us at the top of the run. I was encouraged.
The 1st fish of the day. No trophy - but a relief to net after losing several prior.
As I walked past the guys I asked if they minded us fishing the upper part of the run and they obliged. Brian struck up a conversation with them and found out that one of the guys was a fly fishing guide and he said they were catching some on a San Juan Worms and a Stalcup Baetis.
As far as flies go, the only thing I was set on was to lead with a Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear. After hearing the success the two guys were having I quickly decided to tie on a red San Juan Worm following it and a Stalcup Baetis after that.
I've found that it's always good to copy success!!
After tying up I headed into the river and began to cover the spots where I have had success in the past – casting into them before getting too close. Then I’d move in closer as I continue to cover the water. With the low water I didn’t want to spook any fish by walking up on them. I was surprised to find out that there were no fish to be found. The water level was too low.
Brian fishing the bottom of the Willow Run.
After trying these spots I moved upstream where there is lots of nice pocket water. I can’t remember the last time that I didn’t find fish in at least one of the pockets. And normally I find them in several. But not today. No fish.
I then came back down to see how Brian was making out. He was covering the middle to upper part of the run while I scouted upstream. No hits, no runs -- no fish.
Meanwhile the guys that were in the lower part of the run where landing a few. I was thinking that the fish must be congregated into that small part of the run – and nowhere else along it. Seems unlikely – but we would find out later that that was the case.
A 17" rainbow in the net. He took the Buckskin Caddis.
After coming back down and chatting with Brian – we decided to move downstream of them into a deep pool. It looked promising. Brian was fishing the top of the pool and I was in the middle of it. It was about 10a at the time and we had noticed Caddis flies in the air and on the water. The ones on this river are tan in color and not really big – about a size 18 to 20.
With the Caddis hatching I decided to change up my flies. I kept the Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear as my lead fly and replaced the San Juan Worm with a #20 Buckskin Caddis and followed that with a #20 Pheasant Tail. When the Caddis are out on this river the Buckskin has been a top producer for me in the past – and it would eventually end up being the top producer for me today.
On about my third drift through the pool – fish on! He immediately ran downstream of me and before I could even begin to walk down toward him – he bolted upstream and swam right past me. His upstream run must have created some slack in my line and he broke off. Dang it.
Releasing a 14" rainbow.
After giving the pool a bit more time we decided to head upstream. We haven’t explored this part of the river before and I thought we might find some new spots. It’s always nice to find another honey hole. The river bends snake like as it flows through the meadow between the two reservoirs. At each bend I was hoping to find a spot that resembled the part of the Willow Run where those guys were catching fish. But every fishy spot we found had no fish.
Eventually we ended up at the parking lot in Spinney Mountain State Park. After trying a few spots there – some of which I would have bet a lot of money on that they would be holding fish – but not finding any – we ate lunch.
We covered a lot of ground – or I should say river – to get there. And every fishermen we encountered along the way had the same response when we asked how they were doing. Slow – very slow. No fish. I mentioned to one of the guys that there was enough water in the river – it was too low. And he wholeheartedly agreed.
A fat, 18" rainbow. We found fish concentrated in a small part of the Willow Run.
As we ate we discussed our plan for the afternoon. We would head back downstream. Maybe the Willow Run would now be open and we could fish the lower part of the run. Where those guys were catching fish. If not, we would head further downstream to the Jugular Vein Hole - a spot that we got few out of in the past.
We took separate routes. Brian would make a beeline to the run – walking through the grassy meadow and crossing the river in a few spots as it snaked its way downstream. I would walk along a path that didn’t follow the along the river’s edge – but lead to the run. I was pretty sure that my way would be a less strenuous walk but wasn’t so sure it was the fasted way. So we decided to see.
Brian got there first. He was just ahead of me and I could see the two guys coming out of the river. They had vacated the run – and Brian quickly claimed it. He took up a spot on the east side of the run and I took the west side of it. We had it completely covered!
There was a bunch of wildflowers growing throughout the meadow.
The guide told Brian that there were still fish in there – but it had slowed and they didn’t seem to be feeding. With the sun now at my back casting a reflection on the water – I couldn’t see into it. Brian could though and he said he could see some fish in the run.
Then a fish came to the surface making a splashy hit on an insect. I mentioned to Brian that with that kind of hit – the fish must have taken a Caddis. Adult Caddis look like moths and they flit around near and on the surface of the water -so the fish have to hit them quickly and hard.
Then a few minutes later, BANG! Fish on. Brian had a nice rainbow who made a splashy hit on his nymph. He wasn’t sure which one though as the big rainbow broke free. Ugh!
Then I had a hit. And it was a BANG. I’m here to tell you – that fish hit really hard and immediately ran. There was no pause of the indicator – it just started flying across the river. Then he broke off.
I got this shot before the 18" rainbow bolted back into the deep part of the river.
This would be repeated several more times – way too many times! Brian would have one on – then it would break off. Then I would have one on and it would break off too. Jeez – just what the hell was going on? I could tell as I fought these bad boys - that most of them ate the Buckskin.
I mentioned that this experience reminded me of one time we were fishing the Road Hole in Eleven Mile Canyon. The river bends just like the spot where we were now standing and we lost a bunch of fish. But on that occasion the water was running pretty high and they would run into the fast water and downstream where they would break off. The water wasn’t running fast now and they seemed to be breaking off across from us, upstream from us, and some downstream of us. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. It got to the point that I brought my line in and checked every fly to make sure the hooks weren’t bent or otherwise fouled.
After one of the fish broke off I decided to loosen up my drag. He was swimming directly across from me, the line was very taunt, but he couldn’t take any line out. I felt that it was too taunt – something had to give. Preferably it would be the drag on my reel. If it wasn’t that – then the line could break or the fish could pull the fly out of his mouth. The looser drag would allow me to play the fish.
Releasing the 17" rainbow.
Eventually I was able to break the streak by landing a 14” rainbow. You would have thought I had a 17 incher on the way he fought. It wasn’t easy getting him to the net but I was really happy when I did.
FINALLY!
He had eaten what else -- the Buckskin.
I would net another 14” rainbow, a 17” and an 18” one too. All of them fought like Olympic athletes! Once I got the 17” and 18” rainbows in the net I noticed that they were very wide. In fact it took two hands to handle the 18” rainbow and that would explain why they put up the fight that they did.
Brian also broke the streak and landed four 14” rainbows. All of them darting all over the place and fighting frantically to get loose. They were hitting his Pig Sticker and the Caddis Emerger.
The view from the middle of the Willow Run.
We noticed that the fish were cruising about. One would come in then leave. Then a bit later we’d see another one. Some went further upstream into the riffles that fed into the deep trough where we were hooking up most of the fish. The riffles were about mid-calf in depth and that’s where I hooked up the 18” rainbow. I didn’t see him – but was covering the water because I had seen a few other fish move that way earlier.
When he hit all I could do was hang on. He just gulped my fly – the Pheasant Tail – and flew straight across the river. Then he swam back toward me as I reeled in the line as fast as I could in an attempt to keep the line taunt. But he was too fast for me and I grabbed the line and started stripping it back. I thought I had lost him – but when I finally had the line taunt again, I could feed him fighting. It would take a good 10 minutes until I netted him.
Releasing the 18" rainbow.
It was about 3p and we noticed that the Caddis activity was starting to die down. And then the fish turned off – like someone had thrown a light switch. That was a clue that the day was about over.
We gathered our stuff and headed downriver toward the car. We hit the Wind Chimes Hole along the way just to see – but there were no takers.
We had covered a lot of water - the fish were elusive – but we found them. Amazingly in a very small section of one run.
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