Nov 10th and 12th, 2020
A 21" rainbow pulled out of Tom's Run in the Pueblo Tailwater.
Back home in Pittsburgh, when someone mentioned pulling a double – that meant they were working 2 consecutive shifts. Usually in the steel mill or some other type of factory. Not here in Colorado when you’re retired. Here and now - for Brian and me - it means that you’re lucky enough to get 2 fishing trips in during the same week!
And that’s what we did.
Our first trip was to Pueblo. We choose it to escape from the cold in the Denver area and mountain region. It’s a 1 ½ drive down I25. And in the morning it is really scenic with views of the foothills and the snow covered Rockies to the west all the way to Colorado Springs, where Pike’s Peak dominates the western mountain scape. South of Colorado Springs gives way to flat high plains desert until you get to Pueblo, where the Rockies reappear far to the west. During the fall and winter mornings the sage brush and trees in the high desert are usually covered with frost or ice. And sometimes there is a mist or fog covering the ground. It’s quite a scene in it’s own right.
Brian working the Double Tree Hole at the Pueblo Tailwater.
We choose Deckers as our next destination. The weather was warming up later in the week, but not enough yet to brave the high country. We are trying to squeeze one more trip to the Dream Stream this year – but this week wasn’t in the cards for that. And with the world-class trout fishing in Deckers – it’s never a bad choice. With winter coming - it gets very cold in the shadows of the canyons in and around Deckers though and we typically opt for Pueblo. So getting another day in Deckers now is a bonus.
Releasing a 21" rainbow caught in Tom's Run at the Pueblo Tailwater.
Nov 10, 2020 - Pueblo Tailwater
Flows: 240 cfs – rising to 296 cfs midday
Water Temp: 46F @ 10a.
Water clarity: 3’
Air Temp: 41 @ 8:45a – 50 @ 4p.
Hatches: Midge - not apparent, BWOs from 11a to 3:30p, suspected female Trico (could not confirm) 11a to 3:30p.
Flies: #18 Desert Storm, #22 & #24 Mercury Red Zebra Midge, #24 Mercury Beatis, Midge, #24 Chocolate Thunder, #22 Black Top Secret, #22 Purple Emerger.
Top producers: Desert Storm, Mercury Red Zebra Midge, Mercury Beatis, Purple Emerger.
It was our first trip of the fall season to the Pueblo Tailwater. This is an indication of cold weather in the high country. We only fish Pueblo in the fall, winter, and early spring because it’s warmer in southern Colorado. And as you can imagine, the high country gets very cold! On queue we had a storm on Monday that brought cold temperatures to the Denver area and even colder temperatures to Deckers, 11 Mile, and the Dream Stream. So we opted for Pueblo. Not a bad place to spend a day fly fishing!
Looking downstream from the Double Tree Hole.
Brian and I were looking forward to getting reacquainted with the Arkansas below the Pueblo Dam. It’s a great fishery with lots of rainbows and brownies – and nice size ones to boot. The warmer temperatures there contribute to healthy insect hatches throughout the year and it’s not uncommon to see BWOs hatching even in the middle of winter. That means rising fish and the chance to catch a few on dries, which is always alluring. Then there is the streamer fishing in the fall. So the angler has a chance to catch fish nymphing, on dries, and streamers. The trifecta!
And it didn’t disappoint! We fished from the Bend Hole down to the Double Tree Hole the whole day and had lots of action. The only detractor was that most of them were of the smaller variety – in the 3” to 8” range. They’re a little annoying because they wiggle all over the place once you bring them out of the water and frequently get your flies tangled up! But at least we got some action and could see what flies were working. So aside from a couple of suckers and a 15” rainbow – we were busy catching a bunch of small fish in the morning.
Releasing the 15" rainbow.
The flows were increased during the day- approximately 60 cfs - and I’m wondering if that may have had an effect on the larger fish. You’d think that it would affect all the fish the same no matter the size – but it’s something to think about. Maybe the larger fish are more wary or are more susceptible to changes. Don’t know, and I'm not sure if I’ll ever figure this out.
We had some visitors on the river.
As we were eating our lunch, Brian asked me where I thought the big fish were. I wasn’t sure, but my first thought was as the day warmed up they would start to spread out a bit. Meaning moving into the riffles and runs. The other thought was - looking back we’ve had a lot of success getting nice fish in the deeper pools. So not being sure of what to expect - we decided to go back to the same area where there is an assortment of riffles, runs, and deep pools.
A beautifully colored 20" rainbow. (Notice the Double Tree Hole in the background).
We found out that the fish did start to spread out a bit as the water warmed up. And to liven things up, the BWOs started to hatch! Actually, they started just before we broke for lunch and lucky for us – they were still hatching when we got back on the water. Sight fishing was out of the question though – due to the water clarity – or lack thereof. We could only see a few feet into it. So we had to rely on picking spots that would typically hold trout and covering each area before moving on.
Another brightly colored rainbow. This one a 19" female.
With the thought that the fish would start to spread out in the afternoon – I fished the runs and tailouts to start. First the Bend Hole – then I moved into Tom’s Run where I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon. This is where I landed a 15’ rainbow earlier – and had one about 17’ break off. So I wanted to give it another shot.
And it paid off in spades! I was able to hook up several nice fish and had three in the net. They were 19”, 20” and 21 inches and each put up a fight to remember. They were all very healthy and my guess is they weighed in the 3 to 5 pound range. Each was exciting to catch and a struggle to land. After getting them in the net, my arms were worn out. Honestly!
This is the 21" rainbow shown at the top of the post. Notice how small the fly is that he took. It's a #24 Mercury Baetis.
Between three o’clock and four – I was getting nice fish on about every 5th cast – the ones mentioned above included. On one of the hook ups, the fish swam directly at me making it challenging to keep the line taunt. I lost the 17" one earlier the same way – so I was better prepared this time and stripped the line in as came toward me. But he wasn’t fighting that much and I thought it was another one of the little ones. As I took a look I let the line go a bit slack and he was gone! Jeez – it was a nice rainbow, another one in the 17’ range – dang it!
Both Brian and I had to put a lot of work in to locate and catch fish and it was definitely tiring - but it was a fun day.
Walking along the river heading back to the car at the end of the day.
Glad to have the Pueblo Tailwater back on the list.
Nov 12, 2020 - Deckers
Flows: 75 cfs
Water Temp: 40F @ 9a.
Water clarity: 6’
Air Temp: 19 @ 8:30a – 36 @ 4p.
Hatches: Midge 2:30p to 3:45p, BWOs from 12N to 2:30p.
Flies: #24 Flashback Black Beauty, #24 Mercury Midge, #24 Juju Midge, #24 Chocolate Thunder, #18 Euro Pheasant Tail, #22 Mercury Beatis, #22 Black Sparkle Wing RS2, #22 Gray Sparkle Wing RS2, #24 Parachute Adams, #24 Matt’s Midge, #18 BH Pheasant Tail, #20 Olive Foam Wing Emerger, #20 Black Beauty, and #22 Top Secret Midge.
Top producers: Mercury Midge, Sparkle Wing RS2, Flashback Black Beauty, Black Beauty, Parachute Adams, Matt’s Midge.
The weather forecast was wrong! Deckers was supposed to be in the low 30s mid-morning to high 40s in the afternoon. But it was a frosty 10F when Brian arrived at 7:30a and not much warmer - only 19F - when I arrived at 8:30a. And it only hit 36F by 4p. It definitely felt like winter.
Looking toward the Horseshoe Bend. Burrrrr....
We picked had picked the Horseshoe bend as the starting point and a place to meet – as I had thought that the sun would be hitting that area as soon as it rose. But it didn’t. The canyon wall was blocking the sun as it is a lot lower in the sky during the fall. But that didn’t stop Brian from fishing it.
When I met him he mentioned that his reel froze up earlier. That is cold! I spent the first 30 minutes or so scouting the area. Aside from trying to figure out what was going on in the water and I was trying to bide my time until it got warmer. Then a handful of anglers showed up and were looking at the area that I was planning to fish. So I decided to rig up. My fingers tips were so cold I really couldn’t feel them! But I got everything in order and began to fish. With the canyon wall casting it’s wide shadow – the water was an inky black and I couldn’t see into it. So without being able to sight fish – I covered the entire run without any success. And it was still cold!
I finally told Brian that I was moving downstream to see if I could find a sunny spot with fish. The sun was shining not too far downstream – and I started at the Lone Rock and worked downstream from there. I spotted a few fish feeding in very slow water and tried to catch them. I’m not a fan of slow water – especially when it’s gin clear. The fish sit there and have a chance to totally inspect your offering – before the typically refuse it. And it was no different this time. I couldn’t get them to take.
Brian met up with me in Crappers Run. (It got it’s name because there used to be a port-o-potty located there!) But I didn't spot any see any fish there – so we decided to move further downstream. The plan was to start at the Bend Hole and move down to Ray’s Run. But we never left the Bend Hole.
This is a great hole to fish and there’s enough room for two fishermen. Add to that – I spotted a few feeding in the pool below the run. It wasn’t long before I had 15” brownie in the net. A bit later, Brian hooked up a lunker rainbow in the fast water. It quickly leapt out of the water – and broke off. I only caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye and heard the loud splash. And then saw Brian’s reaction. He was not happy!
A 15" female brownie taken out of the Bend Hole.
We could spot brownies in the deeper pool at the end of the hole and rainbows in the shallow riffles at the head of the run - requiring different techniques to fish for them. To me – this is fun. Seeing fish feeding in different types of water and using different techniques to catch them. We fished it the rest of the morning and had a handful of brownies for our efforts.
We decided to go back to the same hole after lunch – if it was still open. Lucky for us it was. At one point I was downstream in the pool and Brian was in the fast water upstream and we decided to switch positions. I could see one of the rainbows in the shallow water and after making some adjustments to my rig – casted my flies to him. On about the 3rd drift I had the bad boy hooked up. As I was about to net him, I noticed Brian had one on too. Appropriately, we had a double!
Doubling up! A brownie and a rainbow.
We were having success with midge nymphs earlier – but it was getting slow. Then we noticed that BWOs were hatching. That’s always a good time to change your flies to baetis imitations. And that’s what I did. As happens sometimes – I was having a bunch of issues tying on my flies. Dropping my flies, knots giving out, etc. It’s was frustrating. But I finally was able to get my flies tied on. The two trailing flies were black and gray sparkle wing RS2s respectfully.
Then the action picked up. I had 3 nice rainbows on in short order. But lost all of them! The last one was a very nice fish. I hooked him up close to the shore line on the south side of the hole. He mad a nice jump out of the water and I could see him in the deep pool as he fought and I tried to keep him upstream. There is a short waterfall at the end of the run and I didn’t want to lose him over that. Then he broke for the north side of the river and got my line tangled up on a boulder. I attempted to wade through the pool to go free it – but it was too deep. I really couldn’t do to much more and then my line broke. Man – I wanted that one!
He took my whole rig. So I had to tie on all new flies. After my last episode I was not looking forward to doing that. Since I was having success with the previous flies – I tied on the same. Then on my first cast, I got tangled up and lost the entire rig again! I was a little more than frustrated and just set my rod down.
I decided to get a drink of water and chill - then began to scout the area. After a bit, I noticed some fish rising in the slack water on the north side of the hole. There was a hatch taking place and we weren’t sure what they were. So I put my bug net to work and found out they were the evening midges.
Since I didn’t have any flies tied on my rig – I decided to tie on some dries and go for the risers on the north side of the hole. Brian did the same. The cast and drift were difficult. The wind was blowing in a downstream direction and there was fast water between us and the other side. This made a reach cast – which we would typically do to compensate for the fast water – very difficult and in most cases impossible. So I wasn’t very optimistic.
But to my surprise we had success. Both Brian and I were able to get some pretty good drag free drifts in. He hooked up a couple and I was able to get four fish to take – getting three of them in the net. One rainbow and two brownies. They weren’t big – 8” to 12” – but it’s always a kick to catch fish on dries. This is especially true in Deckers – because you don’t get a lot of chances there.
That’s how we ended our double. This double was definitely more enjoyable from the ones I pulled back home in PA.
For a fisherman – it doesn’t get much better!
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