Grandparent’s Day

July 7, 2022

The South Platte River – Deckers – Mark’s Run to the Mini-Canyon & Fishermen’s Run

Flows: 135 cfs – increasing to 170 cfs at 1p.

Water Temp: 45F @ 9a.

Water clarity: Crystal clear till ~1p, then off color with floating debris.

Air Temp: low 50sF @ 8a – high mid-80sF @ 4p.

Hatches: Midge 8a to 10a. Stray Caddis throughout the day. Sparse BWOs after 12N.

Flies: #18 Elk Hair Caddis, #24 Grey Sparkle Wing RS2, #20 Mercury Pheasant Tail, #22 Parachute BWO, #22 Stalcup’s Baetis, #24 Chocolate Thunder, #10 Chubby Chernobyl, #22 Flashback Black Beauty, #20 Brassy, #20 Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear.

Top producers: Stalcup’s Baetis, Flashback Black Beauty, Parachute BWO, Elk Hair Caddis, Brassy, Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear.

Mist in the the forest and mountains on our drive home.

In my book - any day on the river is a good day.

Granted, some are better than others – but yes, it always seems to be a good day when you’re able to be out on the river fly fishing and enjoying nature.

When you have the good fortune to share it with one of your grandchildren --- well that’s a special day.

Brian and I had the opportunity to enjoy one of those days last week. Brian, with his eleven-year-old granddaughter Aislynn and me with my nine-year-old grandson Roman.

Here's Roman all geared up and ready to go.

Roman and I arrived at the river first. We parked at Mark’s Run in Deckers and had the entire place to ourselves. Brian and Aislynn arrived soon after. The sun hadn’t yet peeked over the canyon wall and the morning air was cool as we geared up providing a nice break from the heat of summer.

I suggested Mark’s Run as a place to start. This was Roman’s first time wearing waders and there is plenty of shallow water along the run – and we frequently find fish there feeding in it. So we wouldn’t have to worry too much about the grandkids wading into the water. And if they happened to trip over the many small boulders submerged beneath the surface they wouldn’t be in imminent danger. And if the fish were there – we could float dries to them.

A lot of plusses.

Aislynn fishing Mark's Run.

Also, Between the Islands Run is close by and we could head there if the fishing was off in Mark’s – or go there later in the day. I’ve found and caught fish rising there in the afternoon on many occasions.

Not long after we began to fish, we were greeted by an unexpected guest. Evidently a deer had a similar idea and was walking in the river close by Brian and Aislynn. It looked like he was oblivious to his surroundings, then finally realized that there were people right in front of him and he stopped and looked at them. Then he bolted and ran across the river and up the hill on the other side and was soon gone. Roman tried to get a picture – or a video - of him, but he wasn’t familiar with my camera and it didn’t work out. Still – it was quite an exciting site.

Roman and I didn’t find the fish in the shallow water and moved out farther into the pocket water at the end of the run as Brian and Aislynn fished the top of the run. As we did, Brian noticed some fish rising about midriver in about two feet of water. Not passing up the opportunity, he tied on an Elk Hair Caddis and soon netted a 12” rainbow.

Brian and Aislynn's 1st fish hit the Elk Hair Caddis.

Brian Kenney.

Roman and I continued to fish the pocket water and moved a bit upstream into the deeper troughs that make up the meat of the run. We did spot a fish here and there but they were not interested. It seemed that they weren't feeding - just sitting there. After giving the run about two hours I decided that we should head down to Between the Islands Run hoping that we would find some fish feeding there.

Between the Islands Run is much different in its structure. There are spots near the shore where you can wade unobstructed, but it quickly becomes dicey as you wade further in. The large and smaller boulders that are strewn about that make this run the pocket water that the trout love - also make it extremely difficult to wade in. The good news is you don’t have to wade very far into the water to find fish in the various the pockets. Sometimes you don’t even have to get into the water.

Roman releasing one of our rainbows in Between the Islands Run.

It’s interesting to me that you’ll find fish in some of the pockets on one day and in other pockets in other days. The insects must float into one of them more than others depending on the flow rate and what is hatching or being dislodged. That’s what makes it fun to fish. And when you find one – you’ll typically find several more in the same place.

Once we got there we began to look into the pockets to see if we could spot any fish. Brian and Aislynn headed farther downstream and into the Mini-Canyon.

There is one pocket in particular where I usually find fish. It’s near the end of the run and usually holds a handful of trout. But on this day – it was empty. No fish. So I began to wade into the river and look into the pockets as I moved upstream. As I did, I saw a flash of what looked like a tail of a fish in my peripheral vision. I stopped and peered into the pocket for several minutes and sure enough I saw it was a fish. As I continued to look into the pocket, I noticed there was more than one fish. He had company and they were sipping emerging nymphs just beneath the surface of the water. In the film – as they say.

Aislynn with a rainbow caught in Fishermen's Run.

Brian Kenney.

In this spot it’s dry fly fishing. You can nymph it – but you’ll find that you get snagged on the many boulders before your flies get into the target zone. The farther you go out into the faster water the easier – or better – the nymph fishing gets. But I was in closer to shore in the pockets with a Dry/Dropper setup.

It was still morning – about 10a – and I had a Parachute BWO tied on as my “Dry” followed by a Stalcup’s Baetis and a Flashback Black Beauty as my “Droppers”. Even though the fish were eating emerging nymphs, there wasn’t a pronounced hatch in progress, so I decided to use both baetis and midge nymphs to cover my bases.

Roman was alternating between fishing off the shore at the end of the run or wading into the water beside me to help with the net and spot fish. On my first drift into the pocket where I spotted that fish – it hit. Earlier I had a small split shot on for weight and I had just taken it off because I was getting hung up. I casted my flies into the water and was putting my glasses into place when the fish hit. I wasn’t ready and didn’t get a good hook set. Needless to say, after a brief fight – the fish was free.

Roman manning the net in Between the Islands Run.

We would end up getting four nice rainbows out of that small pocket in the next hour or so. Or four-and-a-half, as Roman would said. One of the fish was halfway in the net before he was able to free himself and swim away. So we counted him as a half! We also had a couple of others hooked up – but they broke free.

The first one we landed was 17 inches and the other were between 14” and 16 inches. All rainbows. Two of them hit my Stalcup Baetis “Dropper”, one hit the Flashback Black Beauty – my other dropper, and one hit my BWO Parachute dry fly. We could see the fish come up and hit the flies. It was exciting while it lasted. Some of the fish came up and casually sipped one of the flies. Other times we’d see a flash and a then a quick BANG.

After we released our last fish Brian and Aislynn came up and were thinking of heading up to the car for lunch. They just left the Mini-Canyon where fish were visible but not taking any flies. Roman and I were cleaning up and adjusting our flies and I suggested that they give our spot a try.

A nice rainbow Brian and Aislynn caught in Between the Islands Run.

Brian Kenney.

Brian had his nymph rig and casted into the faster water about midstream. It didn’t take long and he fooled a 14” rainbow to take a Brassie. Aislynn did the honors of reeling him in while Brian netted him.

It was then time for lunch.

After lunch we decided to drive down to Fishermen’s Run. It’s another place that is easier to wade into and it usually holds some really nice trout in the shallows near shore and the troughs about 10’ in. There were no fish in the shallows, but Roman and I spotted one in the near side trough. Meanwhile, Brian and Aislynn were on the opposite side of the river fishing into the riffles and troughs midriver.

This part of the river is more suited to nymphing – unless the fish are rising, which they weren’t. We all were nymphing but weren’t getting any hits. Just upstream from Fishermen’s Run is a bunch of pocket water. I’ve caught many rainbows and brownies in it before. Roman and I headed that way to see if any fish were hanging out there. Above the pocket water is Ray’s Run - another place that usually produces. We covered the entire area and surprisingly, we didn’t spot a single fish.

Roman releasing another rainbow in Between the Islands Run.

After coming back down to Fishermen’s Run we decided to go to the car and drive back up to the Between the Islands Run hoping that we’d find fish still active in the pocket water. Brian and Aislynn stayed and continued to fish in Fishermen’s. We’d find out later they landed a rainbow and brownie in the run.

At about 1p Denver Water increased the flows by about 35 cfs. That was a substantial increase considering the low flows and we began to see moss and other debris floating in the water. And it was getting off color. Dang it! Not the best conditions to catch fish in.

Arriving back at the Between the Islands Run we began to scout the area. Roman spotted a fish in the same pocket where we caught the rainbows earlier. I still had my Dry/Dropper setup and casted my flies to him. It took a couple of tries before the fish hit my Stalcup Baetis. It was a 14” rainbow.

Aislynn with a nice brownie caught in Fishermen's Run.

Brian Kenney.

After releasing him the conditions were deteriorating and a storm was approaching. It seemed like a good time to call it a day.

As we geared down the first rain drops started to fall. As we began to drive toward home there was thunder and lightning, and then a torrential downpour. The forest was misty from all the rain giving it an eerie feel and at the same time making it very scenic.

It was a great day. One that I enjoyed, and I know Brian did too.

Another look at the misty mountains.

Grandparents on the river creating memories with their grandchildren. My hope is that the memories will last for quite some time and will lead Aislynn and Roman to a lifetime of being out in nature and the enjoyment of fishing.