Deckers, February 22, 2021
Flows: 56 cfs
Water Temp: 34F
Water clarity: Crystal clear – ~6’
Air Temp: 33 @ 8:30a, 41 @ 5p.
Hatches: Sparse midges – 9a to mid-afternoon
Flies: #22 Desert Storm, #24 Mercury Midge, #22 Mercury Black Beauty, #18 Mercury Pheasant Tail, #10 Pine Squirrel Leech, #22 Hare’s Ear, #24 Top Secret Midge, #24 Chocolate Thunder.
Top producers: Hare’s Ear, Leech, Chocolate Thunder, Top Secret Midge, Mercury Midge.
The Denver area was finally thawing out from a deep freeze with sub-zero temperatures last week. It kept Brian and I off the river and we were looking forward to getting back out early this week before the next storm hit. There was a quick warm up predicted for Monday and Tuesday with temps in the 50s and 60s – then cold and snow for the rest of the week.
Iced over - just upstream from Nighthawk.
We chatted on Sunday and decided to go to Pueblo on Tuesday – thinking by then the water would be warmed up and the trout would begin to spread out. I was concerned about fishing Deckers because of reports of ice and slush. Then Brian sent me a text on Sunday night asking if I wanted to give Deckers a try on Monday and still go to Pueblo on Tuesday. I thought about it for a moment and figured what the heck, I don’t have anything else planned. So I agreed to meet him in Deckers on Monday morning. At the very least it would be good to see what the conditions were like.
My expectations weren’t high though and I knew it would be challenging fishing conditions. But it would be another chance to gain more experience catching trout.
In the winter at Deckers our first priority - as far as where to fish – is finding a sunny spot. So we decided to meet at Fishermen’s Run and the Bridge Hole. When I came out of the mountain, as usual I turned onto River Road which parallels the river and leads into Deckers. The place is called Nighthawk and the river was totally iced over there. Nighthawk is about 15 miles downstream from the dam. This didn’t surprise me. With low flows and freezing temperatures, the further away from the dam you get the more likely you will encounter ice.
The Bridge Hole at 8:30a. (Notice how clear the water is).
As I made my way up the road the ice began to give way to small seams of running water. The small seams kept getting a bit bigger by the time I hit Trumbull which is about 2 miles from the Deckers Resort. At the Resort the river was open in the middle with sheets of ice along the bank. And there was only a bit of sun shining over the canyon wall.
I parked there and walked over to see how Brian was making out. With most of the Bridge Hole still in the shadow of the canyon wall, Brian had little space to fish where is was sunny. He had got there about 7:30a and at that time it was a very cold 18F, so cold that the line on one of his rods froze up. I wasn’t too excited about fishing that hole – as there wasn’t enough room for both of us to stay in the sun. I really didn’t want to fish in the shaded areas and on top of that, I didn’t see any fish from the bridge. So I suggested that we move up to the Bend Hole. It should be sunny and warmer there.
As we were chatting before heading upstream, Brian mentioned that he saw a Bald Eagle perched on one of the trees near Horse Creek. What a sight that must have been!
After that we drove up to the parking area near it and as we went by we could see the hole was in the sun - and it was open. So we decided to give it a try. And even better yet – once we got our gear together and walked over to the hole we could see fish. Now we’re talking!
1st fish of the day for me. A 14" rainbow taken out of the Bend Hole.
Even though the water was still a very cold 34F we could see that the fish were in fact feeding. Getting them out of there would be another story. Brian started out fishing the faster water at the start of the run and I fished the slower pool down below him.
The water was slow and crystal clear – same as last time we were here. I made a slight adjustment to my setup. When we fished here a couple of weeks ago the trout seemed to be spooked from my indicator. So I changed from a bubble indicator to a yarn one. The yarn indicator looks more natural - like same debris floating on the water and it's supposed to be more sensitive which is important in the winter when the trout make soft hits. It did seem to make a difference in both stealth and sensitivity.
But it was still hard to get the fish to take our flies. We went through all the various adjustments – adding then removing weight and depth, changing fly patterns - trying to figure out how deep they were in the water and what they were eating. The water was so clear I could see my flies as they drifted downstream and it helped me figure out how the currents were effecting my drift. My goal was to get the flies right in front of them. And even though my indicator would be right over them, sometimes my flies would be way off to either side. Pulled by the currents below.
A midge and another aquatic insect or crustacean taken out of the rainbows stomach.
At one point Brian asked me if I wanted to change places. But I could see fish in front of me and I wanted to crack the code and catch a few of them. So my reply was “ not really – I want to figure this puzzle out!” Finally, I was able to hook up and land a 14” rainbow. It took the Mercury Midge. I was encouraged – but as time went on the going was still slow.
Then I spotted a really nice size trout move into the area. It was suspended in the water – I was guessing about 2 feet below the surface. I’m not sure how much time I spent trying to hook that guy up – but it was quite a while. After making all kinds of adjustments – I moved about 4 steps downstream and 2 steps into the water thinking this would help get my flies into the right current path and into his feeding lane. As my flies moved toward him, I saw my indicator wiggle just a bit and I set the hook.
A 20" rainbow caught by Brian in the slack water below the Bend Hole.
Photo by Brian Kenney.
He was on! It was exciting to actually see the hook set. The fish immediately reacted to the hook set and moved out of his spot with his mouth open and began to fight. To my surprise he didn’t fight as much as I was expecting given his size. I had him tired out and in the slow water with my net in hand and I pulled back on my rod to lead him into the net. That action pulled the fly out of his mouth and he was free in the water – literally at my feet. Holy Mackerel – was I pissed! Putting all that work in – getting him hooked up then losing him at the last minute.
As time passed, the placed began to fill up with fishermen. They must have waited until it warmed up – fair weather fishermen! There were guys all along the river above and below us. Even with the limited success that we were having, we decided to stay put. As mentioned earlier – with low flows and cold weather - there are limited spots to fish and we weren’t about to go explore another area. We had feeding fish here – and it was sunny.
In one of Pat Dorsey’s books, he mentions that he likes to fish this hole from the north side in the winter. I’ve tried it once before and it’s incredibly rocky and very difficult to navigate. There are boulders strewn about the shore and in the water too. But after lunch I decided to give it another try.
I planned to cross the river on the downstream side of the hole. As I walked that way, Brian pointed out another big trout in the slow water below the hole. He’d been trying to catch him with no luck so he asked me to give it a try. I did. But after about 10 minutes with no action, I thought the fish was only resting and not actively eating. So I moved a bit further downstream and crossed over.
A 16" rainbow taken from the north side of the Bend Hole.
As I was scouting the river from that side – doing my best to not trip over one of the many boulders – I spotted a handful of fish feeding in a deep soft spot and in a seam where the river makes a turn toward the south. As I began to fish this spot – Brian called out that he hooked up the big trout! He got him a Hare’s Ear at the end of his drift – letting it rise in front of him. Brian got him in the net and he measured 20". Yes a big fish - nice work!
A bit later Brian was getting antsy and wanted to move downstream to the Bridge Hole. It should have been in the sun by now and he wanted to give it a try. I, on the other hand wanted to try to get one of these fish. After several tries I finally had on one. It was a nice 14” or so brownie. My 1st brownie of the year! I had this one just about in the net – and he jumped off! What – are you kidding me. He almost hit the net on his way down. Brian looked at me and said “It looked to me that you let him go”. I thought that was a good way to look at it.
After that, Brian headed to the Bridge Hole – and me being stubborn - decided to stay a while longer to see if I could hook up another fish. And get him in the damn net! Not long after Brian left I was able to do just that – landing a nice 16” rainbow on a BH Pheasant Tail.
Last one of the day - taken out of the Bridge Hole.
With that, I headed down to meet Brian at the Bridge Hole. He was on the north side of the river near the confluence of Horse Creek. I set up on the other side of the river. There were a couple of guys just upstream from us – so there wasn’t a lot of room for us to fish. Because of the glare on the water from Brian’s vantage point, he couldn’t see into the water. But I could.
And I spotted a few fish behind the large boulders just upstream from Horse Creek. So we alternated casts into the run. It wasn’t looking good. I could see the fish come and go for a bit and then I couldn’t see them anymore. I wasn’t sure if they were still there. Then I had one on. The way he was fighting I thought I had foul hooked him. And as I brought him in I could see one of my flies imbedded in his belly. Dang it!
But when I got him to the shore - actually on the sheet of ice along the shore – I could see that he ate the leech. As he was fighting one of my trailing flies got tangled up on him.
The river began to thaw a bit as the day went along.
With that, we decided to call it a day. It wasn’t the most productive day with only four fish in the net between us but given the conditions – not a bad day at all. Pretty much what we expected.
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