Familiarity

January 23, 2024

The Arkansas River – The Tailwater (The Bridge Hole to the Tire Hole & the Valco Ponds Run.)

Flows:  106 cfs.

Moon Phase:  Waxing Gibbous (95% illumination).

Water Temp: 38F @ 9a. 40F @ 1p.

Water clarity: Clear to about 5’.   

Air Temp: 31F @ 8:30a – 52F @ 4p.

Hatches: Midge: 11:30a – 3:30p (Sparse hatch - ~size 22).

Spawning: No redds seen and no spawning activity observed.

Flies: #16 Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear, #18 Pheasant Tail, #22 Black Manhattan Midge, #22 Black Rojo Midge, #16 Psycho Prince Nymph, #16 Red Midge Larva, #22 Flashback Black Beauty, #16 Sawyer’s Style Pheasant Tail, #24 Black Bling Midge, #12 Olive Cone Head Wooly Bugger, #24 Mercury Top Secret.

Top producers: Sawyer’s Style Pheasant Tail, Manhattan Midge, Rojo Midge, Mercury Top Secret.

Scene from middle section of the Tailwater - in the troughs below the bridge.

We as humans have a tendency to go with what we’re familiar with. Some of us like to explore and try new things more than others – but when it gets to a certain point where you want or need to be successful, more often than not we go with what is familiar.  It’s common sense.

Now fly fishing is not high stakes. There’s no money to be won – at least not in our weekly outings.

But still.

Yeah – we want our outings to be successful.  And being successful in a fly fishing outing means catching fish. There is a lot to be said for just being outdoors in nature, fresh air, enjoying the river and all that goes with it.

But still.

There’s a lot that goes into catching fish. Preparation, planning, experience, technique, knowledge, etc – and it’s satisfying when you’re successful.  Besides it’s fun.  Let’s face it – if you very seldom caught fish you probably would find some other hobby.

Maybe this is high stakes!

Brain while making an adjustment in the Tire Hole.

Having said all that, as we were driving down 25 we were trying to decide where on the river to start. The river has been fishing a bit tough. The weather has been a factor – as it always is.   Should we try in-town where we had success a couple of weeks ago? Or maybe try a new spot in town? How about the middle section of the Tailwater?

We wanted to go somewhere where we’d catch fish. Be successful. There was a lot riding on our decision.

We went with a place that was familiar.  The middle section of the Tailwater.  This is even after Don had reported having a tough day on the same section of the river just the day before. Not to discount Don’s experience – or his abilities – but the river does fish different day-to-day. Maybe it would fish better today.  That was our thought.

The midge hatch started about 11a.

It was about 8:30a when we parked in the middle lot - and once we geared up, we headed to the bridge and the Bridge Hole.  That would be our starting point and we’d fish downstream to the Tire Hole – a familiar section of the river and one that has produced some great fishing in the past. At midday we’d make a call. If things were going OK we’d stay – if not, we’d head somewhere else.

When we got to the bridge we spotted a group of fish in the slow pool below it on the downstream side and a couple of guys were preparing to fish it with spin casting rods.  We didn’t see any fish on the upstream side of the bridge, but it was open and that’s where we usually fish it. We were happy to find it open.

There was no bug activity. That’s not uncommon for 9a on a winter morning. My rig was setup as I had left it last week.  A #16 Psycho Prince Nymph leading followed by a #22 Flashback Black Beauty and a #22 Black Manhattan Midge. Not a bad setup for the morning. The only thing I felt was missing was a red midge, but I left the rig alone and fished it. I could always change it – but I wanted to see how it worked first.

Brain releasing a rainbow back into the Tire Hole.

 After covering it every which way with no action we moved on.  Next stop would be the Tree Hole, but I wanted to hit a few of the troughs and seams along the way.  Brian headed directly to the hole, I’d meet up with him in a bit.

Even though I didn’t see any fish - I hit all the spots on the way. Fished it hard all the way to the Tree Hole.  When I got there I found that there was another guy fishing it with Brian, so I fished the weir above it. I’ve found a few fish in this spot in the past but it was empty on this day.

As I fished the top part of the run, the guy who was fishing the hole with Brian moved into the bottom of it. When I finished I moved into the hole with Brian – both of us covering it frontwards and back.  When the guy was finished fishing the weir above I chatted with him a bit – then told him that if he wanted to fish the hole some more, I’d move on. He was here first.  He said he was going to move on – and Brian and I continued to cover it.

Got this 18" beauty in the Valco Ponds Run.

Brian Kenney.

With no action I decided to try a different tactic and changed my dry fly setup to a streamer. There were fish in this hole.  I just knew it and if they weren’t interested in our flies maybe a streamer would entice one of them. You don’t know unless you try – right?  Well, it didn’t work either.

We were a little disheartened - at least I was. No bug activity. No hits.  No runs. Nada.

It was on to the Tire Hole hoping it was open and that it would save the day. We hit a couple of the weirs along the way. I stayed a bit longer than Brian but soon followed him toward the hole. He met up with another fisherman and was walking with him toward the hole.  They chatted as they walked and he told Brian that he lived a few miles away and that he’d counted no less than 50 cars parked at the dam, the upper and middle parking lots on Sunday.

Yes – the Tailwater has been “discovered”. It’s been reported as an underrated destination – especially in the winter – in just about every fishing article, blog, or fishing post in the Front Range. The fishermen have responded and there has definitely been a lot of fishing pressure. Was it throwing the fishing off?  I was thinking “Deckers still gets more fishermen and it still produces. So maybe not”.

It has been tough fishing though – no doubt.

Brian working to release his fish from the net.

We arrived at the Tire Hole about 11a just as the midges started to come off. Not in great numbers – but any bug activity was welcome. By this time I had changed up my rig.  I had a #16 Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear in the lead and followed it with a #18 Pheasant Tail and a #22 Black Rojo Midge.

Earlier on our drive down, we were discussing the hatches and noted that neither of us have seen any BWOs lately. We have seen them hatch throughout the winter on this river in years past – but not recently.  We were wondering if maybe we were miss identifying a BWO hatch for midges. A few weeks ago I did the opposite and miss ID’d a midge hatch – I thought they were BWOs until I caught one and it was one of the fuzzy midges. We agreed that we’d try to catch a couple to verify.

We covered the hole from the very top to the very bottom for about an hour with no hits. Not even a sniff.  I did spot two fish coming to the surface on separate occasions and I did see a nice rainbow in the slower water near the end of the run. I went after that one and couldn’t get him to hit.  As I was casting to him, I moved slightly downstream to get a different angle on my drift and as I did I stepped into a stream of light and he saw me – and bolted.

I continued to move farther downstream – for what seemed to be the hundredth time! – and was now near the submerged boulders that make up the slow pool at the end of the run. My flies were drifting into the seam of water that flows around them – river left.  Just as they did my indicator paused and I set the hook.

This fish was difficult to handle - but Brain finally got his hands on this bad boy - losing his hat in the process!

BAM – fish on!  F I N AL L Y.

As I was fighting the fish I happened to look upstream and saw Brian fighting one too.  Wow – after all this time we doubled up. Maybe the fish were about to turn on.

I netted a nice 17” rainbow just before Brian netted a 16” one.  Mine hit the Black Rojo and his hit a #24 Mercury Top Secret.

It was lunch time and I was hungry but the midges were hatching and we both just caught a fish – now was not the time to take a break. We continued to cover the run anticipating more action.  But neither of had any and I finally decided to break for lunch.

As I was walking to find a place to sit and eat, Brian caught one of the midges. It was about a size 22 – a darkly segmented olive midge.  Kinda the standard midge.  

Brian with his 16", frisky rainbow.

While eating I was looking into the run watching Brian cover it, and as I did the pool at the top of the run caught my eye. We always fish this section from river left into the slower water behind the weir and the tailout below, or in the faster water that flows around the weir river left. River right of the pool there is an eddy that flows back upstream and into another pool of water that is almost still. I’ve seen fish in there before – but the cast from river left into it doesn’t work.

When I was done eating I’d wade across the river and try that small eddie and the pool it flows into from the other side of the river. That was my plan.

It was time to make the call though.  Do we stay – or do we go? We decided to go. Get in the car and drive up to the Valco Ponds Run. Another place we’re familiar with.  If we left now, we’d be there about 1:30p and with any luck it would be open, the afternoon midge hatch would be in full bloom and the fish would be at the top of the run sipping the emergers.

But I had to try that eddie first.

As I waded across the river, Brian headed upstream toward the car saying he wanted to hit a few of the fishy places as he went. The eddie proved fruitless and I waded back across the river, gathered my stuff and headed upstream.  By now Brian was quite aways upstream of me and as I went I stopped at a couple of seams that looked enticing. Ones that I caught fish in before – but there was nothing this time.

Releasing one of my rainbows in the Valco Ponds Run.

Brian Kenney.

As I peered into them – looking for any signs of a fish – I thought I maybe saw one. “Maybe saw one” I was thinking to myself – “what are you talking about”? Was my mind playing tricks?  Did I see a fish or not?  Sometimes I think we see what we want to see.  Finally coming to my senses, I moved on.

By now Brian was way ahead of me.  I had been anticipating going to the Valco Ponds Run all day and now I was the one holding up the process. It was getting late and if it kept up we were going to miss the opportunity. In order to make up some time, I climbed out of the river and up the bank to the path that parallels the river. I could walk faster along the path – but I couldn’t see back into the river where Brian was.

I headed straight to the bridge thinking Brian would be headed there too.  I actually got there first and as I waited, I again looked into the water on both sides of the bridge. I could see fish on the downstream side and there were two guys fishing the upstream side. River left, on the downstream side was open and there was a small opening on the upstream side of the bridge close to shore where I could see a few fish eating in an eddie.

I would get a similar, pinkish colored rainbow - like this one Brian caught - later in the day.

Once Brian got there we chatted and decided to give this spot a try.  Brian took the downstream side of the bridge, river left and I attempted to go on the downstream side river right.  As I was climbing down the bank I found one of the guys sitting under the bridge re-rigging.  He was intent on fishing the hole on that side so I climbed back out and watched Brian from the bridge as he tried for the fish below.

Were we going to the Valco Ponds Run or not?  It now looked doubtful. I decided to climb down to the pool on the upstream side of the bridge to see if I could get into the spot near shore. When I got down to the river bank the guy fishing the top of the pool said I could have the whole pool if I wanted it.  He had had enough.

I told him I would just fish near the bridge – and he stayed fishing the top of the hole. After a few casts I was going to change out my Rojo Midge for a Manhattan Midge when Brian walked up.  He had given up on his spot.  Instead of changing my flies I gathered my stuff.

It was time to go.

The slow pool at the bottom of the Tire Hole.

As we walked to the car I was wondering if we missed our opportunity.  We wouldn’t get to the Valco Ponds Run now until about 2:30p.  Was it going to be too late?

Once we parked at the Valco Ponds lots, we quickly gathered our stuff and walked at a faster pace than usual to the river. What would we find?  I wasn’t sure.  As we walked up to the river we found the run open.  Completely open. The midge hatch was not in full bloom though – it was just a steady, sparse hatch.

Were the fish there? That was now the big question – and yes they were!  I could see three of them – dark shadows with a glint of their red stripes along their bodies. Big rainbows. Wolves in the troughs at the top of the run.

We finally got into the fish later in the day at a familiar spot - the Valco Ponds Run.

Before I went after them I changed up my flies.  I tied on a #16 Sawyers Style Pheasant Tail as my lead. It’s an imitation of Frank Sawyer's original pheasant tail. He tied his with pheasant tail feathers making up the tail, body, and wing case, with copper ribbing for segmentation. He also balled up the copper wire under the pheasant tail fibers in the thorax – giving the fly some weight. There were no legs on his fly. He said he’s observed baetis swimming – and when they do, they keep their legs in.

With my variation I use the pheasant tail feathers for the tail, body, and wing case, and either red or copper wire for segmentation.  But I use a black tungsten bead to form the thorax which is covered with rust colored beaver dubbing. I finish the fly with a red head made with red thread coated with UV glue. I also coat the wing case with UV glue. No legs on mine either.  I can’t remember how I came up with this – but I really like it.  And most of all – I like the way the fish like it!

I followed that with a #22 Flashback Black Beauty and a #22 Black Manhattan Midge.  Now I was ready. I have found that it is best to stay out of the water when fishing this spot. The fish hold in relatively shallow troughs, some close to shore and are easily spooked.

My Sawyer's Style Pheasant Tail variation.

I’m reminded of one time I was fishing with a guide. He advised to only go into the water if you have to, and then only after you’ve covered the water you are about to wade into. He said you’d be surprised how kicking a rock or even causing ripples will spook a fish more than several feet away. His advice was to make longer casts to get to them – as long as I could still get a drag free drift.

I targeted the fish nearest me that I could see. I wanted to pick them off one-by-one, closest to me, then the next one out and so forth.  I had big plans!! 

Second cast – BANG BANG!  18” rainbow. What did he hit?  The Sawyer’s Style Pheasant Tail.  Man-oh-man – that’s what I’m talking about – especially after the day that we’d had. I was able to get this guy out from the troughs and fight him to the net in the middle of the run. I didn’t want him to spook off the other fish.

After releasing him I went back. There were more fish to catch.

My 1st fish of the day - caught just above the slow pool at the bottom of the Tire Hole.

Fist cast – BANG BANG – fish on. It was another nice size fish and he was taking me all over. I was now near the end of the run – just above the Dam Log, doing all that I could to keep him away from it. Then one last pull and he took more line out and my line got tangle on the *** Log.  You have got to be kidding me – the damn fish broke free. That pissed me off – but I was getting action.  Big time action.

After getting my line freed up and collecting myself, I went back to the top of the run.

On about my third cast – BANG BANG – fish on. THIS IS WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT! It was a big, bad boy – jumping clear out of the water showing his size. This one took me immediately into the huge, submerged boulders – wrapping my line around the top one. I ran into the river with abandon – desperate to free my line.  

A – I didn’t want to lose this guy too. B – I didn’t want my fly line damaged.  C – I didn’t want my leader or tippet to break off.

I was able to free it up, tightening my drag as I fought this bad boy. He too was headed to the Dam Log and there was no way I was going to lose another one on it.  After finally tiring him out, I netted him in the middle of the run. An 18” beauty – he took the Manhattan Midge.

Getting ready to release a 20" rainbow.

After all the commotion, I was pretty sure I had spooked any remaining fish from the top of the run. But I wanted to give Brian a shot at it and was hoping that there was at least one left. And there was. I spotted him out in front of the top boulder – a place I frequently find them in.

As Brian went after him, I moved downstream below the Dam Log. It wasn’t long and I saw Brian, his line tight with a fish on. He got the big boy in front of the boulder – nice work!  But after a brief fight - the fish broke free.  Ugh.

As I continued to cover the area below the Dam Log I spotted a few more fish. Same as I saw upstream.  Dark shadows – with a hint of a red stripe down their sides.  They were in the shallow water close to shore. As I did at the top of the run, I stayed on the bank and casted to them.

A 20" bull rainbow.

On one of my drifts I noticed my indicator bob once. Why didn’t I set the hook? I don’t know.  Then it bobbed again and I set.  BANG – BANG – fish on. A big one. But the fight was brief. Late set – you know the story. Boy was I pissed at myself.

Not too long after that I had a nice 16” rainbow take the Manhattan Midge.  It was a beautiful rainbow, light pink in color rather than the dark red and orange we typically see on them. I had him in the net and removed the fly from his lip, and the rest of the flies from my net. As I was getting ready to snap a picture of the beauty, he wiggled out of my net and was gone. Well, no picture of that one.

I was still standing on the bank and fishing close to shore drifting my flies into a trough where I could see some rainbows feeding and my indicator paused ever so slightly. With no hesitation I set the hook.  BANG – BANG – fish on, and this was a really big fish.  Either that or I foul hooked him.

This fish just took line out like it was nothing. Even after I had tightened it earlier. It was a struggle, but I kept after him – following him downstream.  I got him into a pool of slow water where I could fight just him – not him and the current - and finally netted him. He was big – as in 20” big. A big bull rainbow who took my Manhattan Midge.  Wow – that was fun!

Me proudly displaying an 18" rainbow.

Brian Kenney.

After I releasing him clouds rolled in and blocked the sun. It was like someone had switched off the light.  The water was now an inky black and I couldn’t see into it.  Where the fish still there? I had no way of knowing, but I made several attempts – drifting my flies into the seams where I saw them earlier. 

After a bit I realized it was over.

What a finish - - - WHAT A FINISH!

We went with what was familiar – and in the end it paid off.