May 18,2021 - Deckers (Mark’s Run to Lone Rock Campground)
Flows: 106 cfs- increasing to 123 cfs.
Water Temp: 36F
Water clarity: Murky - ~2'
Air Temp: 41 @ 8a, 65 @ 4p.
Hatches: Midge – 9a to 11a. BWO – 12N - 4p.
Flies: #18 Rubber Leg Copper John, #10 Amy's Ant, #22 Mercury Flashback Black Beauty, #22 Stalcup Beatis, #22 Olive JuJu Beatis, #20 Chocolate Thunder, #22 Black Flashback RS2, #24 Top Secret Midge, #20 Pheasant Tail, # 22 Red Beadhead Black Beauty, #20 White Grub, #24 Black Midge, Parachute Adams.
Top producers: Stalcup Beatis, Mercury Flashback Black Beauty, Top Secret Midge, Pheasant Tail, Red Beadhead Black Beauty, White Grub, Black Midge, Parachute Adams.
There is was a light, steady mist falling as we parked at the top of the hill overlooking the last leg of public water on the South Platte in the Deckers area. We couldn’t see the mountain tops as the mist formed what looked like a dense fog that covered them. This was our chance to give our raingear a good workout.
A soggy day on the river.
We were also breaking in Brian’s brand new 2021 Land Cruiser. A good portion of the road taking us to Deckers - and the YMCA road in Deckers - are dirt. They were now a sandy, gritty mud. Well I guess he would have to get his car dirty at some point.
As usual, Brian was geared up and ready to go before me. In fact he had his first fish in the net before I even left the car! That was an encouraging sign. The place was deserted too – the bad weather kept the fair-weather fishermen home. So we had a lot of room to work.
Brian fishing the Between the Islands Run.
Rain and clouds provide cover for the fish and the insects that emerge stay on the water longer to dry their wings. So the fish are less wary and move into the shallower, faster water to eat the insects that are trapped on the surface – or who are emerging just below it. In other words – this kind of weather is almost always good fishing!
Brian's 1st fish of the day.
The negative is that water gets murky making sight fishing very difficult – if not impossible. Wading becomes more of a challenge too – as you can’t see the rocks and boulders in the river. But I found that going slower helped with both the wading and spotting the occasional fish.
I walked down to the river just after Brian released his fish. A nice brownie he caught in the fast water in the Between the Islands Run. He got it on a Black Beauty with a red, glass bead. I began to fish above him in the shallow riffles below the Upper Island. The midges were hatching and a few fish were rising in the riffles. My rig was setup in a Hopper/Copper/Dropper configuration with midges as my target flies.
I got this one in the Lower Island Run. That's a Mercury Flashback Black Beauty in his lip.
After several cast into the riffles – I had what I thought was a snag. I wasn’t totally sure though and as I began to investigate I soon found out it was a fish. A nice size on too. But only after a brief struggle he was able to free himself. Not sure what went wrong on that one. There were a couple of fish rising in the riffles. I couldn't see them though and continued to work that area. After a bit I looked downstream Brian was now gone.
Although I couldn’t see him I was pretty sure he went into the Mini-Canyon. He likes that place. So I began to work downstream and eventually made my way to the Lower Island Run. I would fish this spot – then move down to the riffles that flow into the Mini-Canyon. As I was covering the Lower Island Run I was able to just barely make out a fish feeding midway down the run. I began to cast to him, trying to get my flies to drift into his feeding lane. After a few drifts, I got it right and he hit my Mercury Flashback Black Beauty. He gave me a good fight and after a bit I had my 1st fish of the day. A 14” brownie.
A nice Kamloops Rainbow. (We caught a couple more with this coloration - but not as big).
When I finally reached Brian in the Mini-Canyon told me he had landed a silver colored, 20” rainbow. He got it in the fast current at the top of the run. He was a hefty rainbow – about 20” - and gave Brian quite a fight.
The Wigwam Club which is a private club on a section of the South Platte between Deckers and the Cheesman Canyon stock Kamloops Rainbows. Kamloops are native to British Columbia, Canada and are silver in color, and grow quite large. The area we were fishing was about ¼ mile downstream from the Wigwam’s private water boundary. I’m pretty sure Brian hooked up one.
Hiking up over the granite walls that form the along the river's edge.
As Brian continued to fish the Mini-Canyon, I moved downstream into the Eddie Pool. After I covered it without any action I was ready to move downstream. Brian was too and we hiked over the granite walls that form along a portion of the river. Fishing this part of the river requires hiking – there’s no way around it. But it wasn’t to strenuous and the fishing is well worth it.
My plan was to cover the stretch of river between the Eddie Pool and the beginning of the Lone Rock Campground. But low and behold, we ran into four other anglers who had the upstream leg of the river covered. So we continued downstream. There’s a run that is just upstream from where the campground begins and I setup there. Brian moved farther downstream to the spot that I fished last week.
Releasing a 19" rainbow.
The rain had picked up and it was no longer misting. I was now a downpour - further testing our gear. We didn’t mind it and the fish didn’t either. I quickly hooked up a nice 19” rainbow. He gave me all I could handle but I finally got him in the net. As I was walking toward the shore to find a place to release him - fish in net in one hand and my rod in my other hand – I stepped into a hole. With the murky water I couldn’t see it. Preparing to break my fall – I let go of my rod and net. Luckily, I was able to steady myself on my knees and retrieve my rod/reel and net – with the fish still in it! Some unwanted excitement!
The run produced as I was able to get a handful of fish out of it. All rainbows – an 18”, another 19”, and a few in the 10” to 15” range. They were hitting the Top Secret Midge – size #24. Meanwhile Brian was landing fish in the hole downriver from me.
One of Brian's rainbows. This one hit a Pheasant Tail.
I decided to give the run a rest and crossed the river to scout a run upstream from me that looked very fishy. At first I couldn’t spot any fish but decided to cover it anyway. The murky water was providing great cover for the fish – then one came to the surface to feed on an adult insect. So I casted to him. After a few tries he either left or I wasn’t hitting the mark.
As I was walking a bit upstream, I spotted a fish just below a huge granite boulder in the middle of the river. He was feeding just below it. The cast to get my flies to him was difficult. I had to land them just where the boulder began to submerge into the water and let my flies float to him. After a few tries I had him. He gave me a hell of a fight and I was surprised that he was only 16” when I netted him. I noticed throughout the day that the fish seemed to be out of there winter lethargy and there was much more fight in them.
A 16" bull rainbow - caught on the south side of the river just below the deep pool.
It was now lunchtime and it was still pouring rain which noticeably increased the water lever. I picked out a bench at the campground for a place to eat and watched Brian fish as I ate. It was a challenge to keep my sandwich from getting soggy – but I managed. Sitting and eating provided a nice break and my rain gear was holding up.
After lunch, I switched my flies from midges to beatis. Still using the HCD setup, I had a Stalcup Beatis followed by a JuJu Beatis as my Droppers – my target flies.
Caught this one in the deep pool just upstream from the campground.
Earlier, there was a guy in a deep hole above me that landed a nice rainbow. The fish came full out of the water and I got a good look at him. Nice coloration and large. He was now gone so I thought I’d give it a try. At the tail end of the run there were a couple of huge boulders – a good place for trout to hold and feed. So I let my flies drift toward it and I stopped my drift and lifted my rod a bit just before the boulders. I was trying to get my flies right in front of them and up toward the surface. It worked. A 17” rainbow hit my Stalcup.
After releasing him I began to cover the middle and upper part of the run. I was on a huge granite boulder that formed the bank of the river and went along the entire run. At one point, I was standing on the boulder looking into the fast water flowing into the pool and a huge rainbow jumped clear out of the water just at the edge of the bank – twice! The first time he startled me.
Another one of Brian's rainbows. This one hit the Pheasant Tail too.
That enticed me to continue to fish the pool. Without getting any action on my HCD, I rigged up a nymph rig and tried that. It wasn’t to be though. I had spent a lot of time going up and down the pool with no more hits, then decided to move back downstream.
There was now a young lady fishing the run that I fished in the morning. So I worked downstream from her and noticed a couple of brownies in a trough. I’d seen a few fish in the same spot last week. As my flies drifted into the trough one of the brownies – a big one – hammered my Stalcup. He just hit it and ran in a flash right toward me. I didn’t even get a chance to set the hook. After a brief, loud struggle in the shallow water – he broke free. Wow – that was some excitement!
A brownie caught in the upper Lone Rock Campground Run.
After that, I couldn’t spot the other brownie but drifted my flies into the trough anyway. After a few drifts – BAM – the other brownie hit. I was able to get a good hook set on this one and netted a nice 17” brownie. He hit the Stalcup Beatis.
It was still raining – and at a pretty good clip when Brian and I decided to head back upstream toward where we began the day. This meant yet another hike over a different mountainside. Luckily, Brian had found a less intensive path on one of his earlier trips and we took that. It was still a good workout and kept us warm.
Brian got this brownie in the middle section of the Lone Rock Campground Run.
As we approached the car, I mentioned that I wanted to give Mark’s Run a shot. It was about 3p and it was still raining. Brian said he was thinking of leaving his dry fly setup in the car – and I responded that I thought that was a good idea. As we approached the run, there was a guy at the top of it and he was just looking into the water. Not actively fishing it. Even though we asked if he minded us fishing below him.
After getting his OK – we waded into the water to about mid-river. In the short walk from the car to the run, the rain had began to let up and sure enough there were fish rising. Some were coming to the surface to eat adult BWOs and other were creating swells in the surface indicating that they were eating emergers just below it.
This rainbow hit the Stalcup in the film just below the surface.
I was below Brian and still had my HCD rigged up with beatis and casted to the swells and risers. After a bit I had a couple of fish in the net. They were hitting the Stalcup just below the surface. Brian wasn’t having any success with his nymph rig and decided to walk back to the car to get his dry fly rig.
Not long after he came back he hooked up a nice brownie on a Parachute Adams. Meanwhile, my setup began to cool off and I decided to tie on a Parachute BWO. Replacing my Copper - a Rubber Leg Copper John - with it. This would keep my lies up in the water column and I would have one on the surface too. This worked as I had another rainbow in the net. He hit what else – the Stalcup.
Brian got this one one a Parachute Adams in Mark's Run.
The rising starting to let up and Brian decided to move downstream to the Between the Islands Run. Fish usually rise in the slow water at the end of the run among the rocks and boulders. I decided to stay a bit longer and try for a couple of fish that were rising on the far bank. It was a difficult cast with a seam of fast water in between that would put drag on my my line if I wasn't careful messing up my drift. But I was able to get it right a couple of times enticing hits. I was able to land one of them.
The rain had stopped and the sun was actually beginning to shine ---- and it was time to go! We had had enough. It was quite a day on the river with a good number of fish in the net between us.
It felt to me like we were kids - playing in the rain.
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