April 14, 2021 – Pueblo Tailwater
Flows: 110 cfs.
Water Temp: estimated at +40F.
Water clarity: Crystal clear
Air Temp: 34 @ 8:30a, 63 @ 4p.
Hatches: Midge – Sparse hatch starting at ~9a. Healthy BWO – 11a to 3:30p.
A 20" rainbow caught in the riffles along the north shore of Tom's Run.
Flies: #18 Red Midge Larva, #22 Flashback Black Beauty, #24 Top Secret Midge, #18 Beadhead Pheasant Tail, #22 Stalcup Beatis, #24 Black Flashback RS2, #18 Hare’s Ear, #24 Mercury Beatis, #22 Parachute Adams, #24 & #20 Sparkle Dun, #22 Black BH Zebra Midge, #22 Red BH Zebra Midge.
It was Wednesday, April 14th. Brian and I were supposed to be fishing at the Grey Reef on the North Platte River in Wyoming. An early spring cold front caused us to hit the pause button – and reschedule. We didn’t like the thoughts of fishing in snow and wind with highs forecasted to be in the low 30s for the duration of our trip.
The middle Valco Pond - as we walked along it on our way to the Double Tree Hole.
So we rescheduled it for May 3rd and instead, headed south – to Pueblo, Colorado. The storm and cold front was impacting Colorado too. Comparatively - it was balmy in Pueblo with cloud cover. Perfect fishing weather.
At the Grey Reef they say they measure the day in pounds of fish caught – not numbers. It is said they do so because the fish are so big there. Well I’m here to tell you that you could do the same on the Tailwater in Pueblo.
I do realize the fish are not as big on the Tailwater as they are advertised to be on the Grey Reef – but they are bigger than average. On a good day we catch a several in the 17” to 18” range and a few in the 19” to 20” range – and every now and then we’ll get one over 20”. This Wednesday was one of those days!
Releasing a fat 19" rainbow caught in the Midway Run.
Our day started slowly at the Double Tree Hole. This hole usually produces and has big fish in the swirly, deep pool that is fed by fast riffles. Fast water flows on the left side of the pool, then bends to the right at the end of it and forms a nice channel that feeds into slower water. Big fish hang out there. Oh I already said that…
Anyway – we had nothing. Not the slightest indication that there were any fish hanging out there. Hmm – we were wondering where they were. Brian was first in – fishing the main pool. Meanwhile I was redoing my flies. Finally done - I headed into the main pool while Brian fished the tailout. After a bit, Brian headed upstream to Tom’s Run. (So named after a guy I met awhile back named Tom). I was basically retracing Brian’ steps. After covering the entire pool several times and making weight and depth adjustments as I went along – I gave it up and moved upstream to join Brian.
One of Brian's rainbows - he took this one out of Tom's Run.
Photo by Brian Kenney.
He was in Tom’s Run fishing the deep pool behind the large boulders and had already landed two nice rainbows. One on a Red BH Zebra Midge and the other on a Black BH Zebra Midge. I began to work the more shallow, faster water that feeds into the pool. Brain called me over – he had to retie his flies and he pointed out a few big rainbows that were sitting behind the boulders. Brian said he tried everything and they wouldn’t take. So as he retied his flies I tried – and had the same result. Very strange. At the time I was pretty sure they were in there feeding – but later in the day – I may have changed my mind.
With no takers and Brian finished with his retie – I moved downstream to a run I named Midway. It sits below Tom’s Run and upstream from the Double Tree Hole – about midway. There is a weir – made out of a line of big boulders. When looking across the river from the south – the line goes from about 5 o’clock on the right to about 10 o’clock on the left. It bends back downstream a bit at mid-river where it forms a pool of slower water. As the water flows over the weir beyond the pool – it bleeds toward the north side of the river and flows into another deep pool with slower water bending around it.
A beatis found by using our sein the riffles above the Double Tree Hole. (There was also a bunch of caddis larva).
When I first started to move upstream to meet Brian at Tom’s Run earlier – I spotted a couple of big rainbows in the pool at the top of the weir in the Midway Run and stopped to try to get one of them. I had one briefly on – after which they disappeared. That's when I moved up to meet Brian and made a mental note to come back.
When I did come back I spotted a few fish in the pool. As I maneuvered to get into position to make a cast – I spotted a whole school of fish lined up along the weir. They were sipping flies that flowed over it. Wow! So I concentrated on the line of fish rather than the ones in the pool.
The slow water just below the Double Tree Hole.
A little earlier beatis began to hatch and I tied on a Pheasant Tail leading followed by a Stalcup Beatis and a Flashback Black RS2. After making several casts to the fish along the weir I finally had a fish on. But it broke loose and after inspecting my flies I noticed that it looked like my knot broke free below my Pheasant Tail. Not good!
I retied my flies – but this time I used a Hare’s Ear as my lead and followed it with a Mercury Beatis and another Black Flashback RS2.
A hefty rainbow taken out of the Midway Run.
As I watched the fish I noticed that they were sipping the flies in the film just below the surface of the water. After observing this, I removed my weight thinking that the Hare’s Ear would be enough weight and it would let my beatis and RS2 float near the surface. After that adjustment – I quickly had two fish in the net. One 18” and the other 17”.
After releasing the second fish – I called Brian over and pointed out where the fish were and suggested that we take turns fishing to them. As I was cleaning my flies Brian hooked up a nice rainbow. It looked to be in the 19” to 20” range and he put up quite a fight. Brain had him on for a good bit and the fish finally took him into the deep pool below. I was positioned below the pool – net in hand. Then somehow the fish was able to spit the fly. Oh Boy!
Another rainbow taken out of the Midway Run - Black RS2 firmly planted on his lip.
We continued to fish along the weir and below it and I was able to catch a few more. One was 20” and the rest were 19”. It turned out to be quite a good morning – fish by the pounds. After a bit, we decided to break for lunch. As we ate streamside – Brian noticed some fish rising in the slower water below the Double Tree Hole. Beatis were still hatching and in good numbers.
Our plan was to go back the Midway Run and see if it was still producing – then head upstream to the Valco Ponds Run. As we started to fish Midway – Brian noticed that the fish were now feeding toward the bottom – so I added a bebe split shot. That worked as I landed another 18” rainbow.
Here's me with a beautiful rainbow taken out of the Midway Run.
Photo by Brian Kenney.
The run started to slow down and we moved into Tom’s Run. The big rainbows were still in the pool and there were others in the shallow water on the north side of it. But we couldn’t get any of them to hit. This was really weird and I wanted to figure it out.
After trying everything, Brian said he was going to start up toward the Valco Ponds Run. I said I’d follow him in a bit. I was bound and determined to find out what was going on with these fish. So Brian moved on and I continued to concentrate on the pool with the big rainbows in it.
As I was working the run – I thought back to how I had fished it in the past and what worked. So I repositioned myself and tried that. Still nothing. Then I spotted one of the fish as he moved to the head of the run and into the riffles that feed into the pool. This water is about mid-calf in depth with a few spots knee deep. It’s like this from mid-river to the north bank where there is a seam of faster water near the bank.
A 20" rainbow taken in the riffles along the north side of Tom's Run.
As I moved into the riffles after the rainbow – I noticed two more. They were moving back and forth in the riffles and into the seam along the north bank. I removed all weight and casted above them trying to get my flies into their feeding lane. With them continuously moving back and forth – that was no easy task.
My plan was to try to get the one closest to me first – then go after the next one. And it worked! I was able to get the first one to take and he gave me a great fight taking me downstream, then back upstream. I was finally able to net him – a beautiful 20” rainbow.
Releasing a 19" rainbow taken out of the riffles on the north side of Tom's Run.
After releasing him I was happy to see that the other two were still out there feeding in the shallow water. So my target was now the next one that was closest to me. He was brightly colored and looked like a nice size fish. I got him too.
He hit my Black RS2 near the surface and when I set the hook his mouth came out of the water fully opened. And he was certainly a big fish – bigger than I had originally thought. He too took me downstream, then upstream, then back downstream and into the deep pool. He seemed pretty tired by then and I had him within an inch of my net –but he made another run. This time he took me into the Midway Run. I had him just above the deep pool and I tried to pull him to my net.
My indicator was at the top of my rod – and I couldn’t bring in any more line. And the fish was heavy – very heavy. So as I tried to pull him to me – the fly came loose and he was gone. Oh man! I wanted this one badly. He was huge and brightly colored. Looked more like a salmon than a trout and my guess was he was about 24” and 6 to 7 pounds.
Oh man indeed!
Looking upstream from Tom's Run. (The fish were near the tree line towards the north shore - the bottom right of the picture).
Well there was one more out there and I went after him. After several tries I got him. Another fight downstream and upstream. I was able to net this one just above Midway and he was another 19” rainbow. My plan had worked – almost to perfection. Fish by the pounds.
After that – I collected my stuff and began to walk up to meet Brian. As I walked along, I was thinking about those big rainbows in the slow water behind the boulders in Tom’s Run. Were they feeding – or resting? I’m still not sure. It seemed like they were resting – then every now and then – moving into the faster water to feed. Why else would they not hit our flies when in the deep pool – and then hit them when they moved out into the shallow, faster water?
This 18" rainbow was taken out of the Midway Run.
As I walked along the river toward the Valco Ponds Run I could see a ton of fish along the way. For some reason – there was hardly any other fishermen out. I counted only three others the whole day. Without the pressure the fish were out and moving about. And a lot of them were feeding on the surface. I was tempted to stop and throw some dries to them – but wanted to catch up with Brian as planned.
Earlier Brian was asking if I thought the rainbows were still spawning. He was in Deckers at the end of last week and didn’t see any doing so. As I continued my walk along the river I did spot a couple of fish on a redd in the act. So yes – that was confirmed – they are still spawning. Interesting what you see when things are calm and the pressure is off.
As I walked up to the Valco Ponds Run I was happy to see Brian fishing with dries. He was below the sunken tree and said they were rising all along the run. He had already landed one on his Sparkle Dun. That is my favorite dry fly when beatis are hatching and I quickly tied one on. It was following a Parachute Adams.
My smallest one of the day. A 14" rainbow who took the Sparkle Dun.
Both Brian and I missed more fish than we took. I was able to get one on my Sparkle Dun – a 14” rainbow. I had another one briefly on and he jumped clear out of the water as he spit the fly. And there were many other hits I just missed. On one occasion - I spotted a fish rising about ¾ of the way across the river. I was able to put a good cast to him – but my flies sank. Then I noticed a big swirl in the water near where my flies should have been and instinctively set the hook. He had taken my sunken flies. I had him momentarily on – he felt like a nice size one too – but he too was able to spit the fly.
We ended the day switched between fishing dries and nymphs and it began to get windy. That didn’t help with casting dries. We could see fish feeding below the surface in the shallow water at the head of the run and sporadically taking adults on the surface along the entire run but couldn’t get anymore on.
Not happy with the finish but all-in-all it was a good day. We had quite a few in the net – the majority of them 18” to 20”.
Releasing a big rainbow - caught in the morning at the Midway Run.
Fish by the pounds.
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