December 30, 2021 – Pueblo Tailwater (The Hatchery Hole to the Double Tree Hole)
Flows: 104 cfs.
Water Temp: 40F.
Water clarity: ~4’.
Air Temp: 32F @ 8:30a - 51 @ 3p.
Hatches: Light midge 10a to early afternoon, BWO 12N – 3p (time we left the water).
Flies: #12 Chubby Chernobyl, #16 Red Copper John, #22 Flashback Black Beauty, #20 Black WD40, #12 Pat’s Rubber Leg, #24 Chocolate Thunder, #22 Disco Midge, # 22 Red Mercury Zebra Midge.
Top producers: Disco Midge, WD 40, Flashback Black Beauty, Red Zebra Midge.
A river scene just upstream from the Bend Hole.
The Tailwater has officially turned off.
Maybe we're just spoiled. But the last two weeks on the Ark has not been what we’ve come to know. And I guess expect.
I was encouraged as we drove down I-25. The moon has been in a new moon phase – so the nights haven’t been as bright. The air pressure was in the “good” range – although it was forecasted to drop throughout the day. But still above 29”. The midge and BWO hatches have been solid. In fact the BWO’s have been heavy.
Everything was pointing toward fish in the net. Nice size ones we were hoping.
Yeah – it’s still winter, but we’ve had banner days on this stretch of water in winters past. But on this day it wasn’t meant to be.
We started at the Hatchery Hole. It was my suggestion and I was thinking that from there down to Tom’s Run has been pretty consistent producing fish. I wanted something to lift our spirits from last week’s experience. More big fish. Maybe some in the 20”+ range. That’s what I was thinking.
A 13" rainbow taken in the Hatchery Hole. (The hatchery is on the left just above the fish).
The day started out on the wrong foot for Brian. He forgot his pack at home. Man – I felt bad for him. I’ve had similar experiences – where you forget something essential. It’s disorienting for me and it’s hard to get on the right track. I tried to help as much as I could – offering flies and other supplies. But it’s just not the same. He made the best of it though – and caught a bunch of little rainbows throughout the day.
I had all my stuff and some success. It was limited though with 3 rainbows of some size – 13”, 13.5”, and a 14”. And a bunch of the little guys too.
Another view of the 13" rainbow.
Not what we were after.
We were in the Hatchery Hole for about 2 hours all told. That’s where I got my 13” and 14” rainbows. They were in the deeper pool just below the fast water. I was fishing with my nymph rig and they both hit the Disco Midge. It was set up with a Pat’s Rubber Leg leading, followed by the Disco Midge – size #22 - and a #22 Red Mercury Zebra Midge. The Pat’s Rubber Leg is tied with lead weight – so it’s heavy and is intended to help get your flies deep in the water.
A 14" rainbow taken out of the Hatchery Hole.
I started with a #0 weight. It’s .48 grams which is 1 ½, one hundreds of an ounce. That’s not a lot of weight – but it’s the heavies one that I carry and I only use it when in very fast water or in a deep pool. That’s how I was set up when I got the first fish. After a bit I added some tungsten mud so I could get a little deeper. I put a pinch on that was about the same size as the #0 split shot. That’s how I was set up when I got the second one.
As usual, Terry was fishing the hole when we arrived. He soon left and told Brian he only caught a few little fish. We both got a handful of them too.
After fishing that hole hard – we decided to head down to the Valco Ponds Run. Both still wanting when we left.
The Valco Ponds Run - looking across the river from the south side.
That has been one of our money holes – and a lot of other fishermen’s too. We fished it as we normally do – front and back, but there just wasn’t any big fish taking. Not sure if they were in there and just not feeding or not. In times like this – I wish I could go underwater and check!
As we approached the Valco Ponds Run there were no less than 4 fishermen along the entire run. One of the guys was in a chair bait fishing. The thing I don’t like about bait fishing – or spin-cast fishing for that matter – is they both cover a large area of water. They throw their line in – usually with a long cast – then let their bait or lure float downstream. Then either let it sit – or retrieve it. So they end up hogging a bunch of water.
Another view of the 14" rainbow.
Luckily for us, they were lined up along the south side of the river and we were able to fish the run from the north side. Then after only about 15 minutes – three of the guys moved on completely freeing up the upper part of the run on the south side. The guy bait fishing was just downstream of the sunken log.
Brian moved to the other side of the river and began to cover that area. I was still on the north side fishing just below the sunken log using my Hopper/Dropper. I could get about a 15’ drift without interfering with the bait fisher. After a bit I moved above the log and fished the slow water behind the boulders.
Ducks on the water enjoying the afternoon sun.
The only fish we were catching were small ones – in the 6” to 8”. I eventually moved over to the south side of the river – but the result was the same. More little guys. After eating lunch I was walking along the south bank across from the boulders looking into the water to see if I could spot any fish. I saw one flash. I think I spooked it – but it looked as though it drifted downstream instead of bolting.
Maybe it was just a minor spooking!
Thinking he was still in the area – but now out of sight – I drifted my flies along the seam between the bank and the boulders still using my Hopper/Dropper rig. On about my third cast I had a fish on. Not sure it was the same one I saw earlier – but I think it was. After a good fight for a 13.5” rainbow I had him in the net. He was a beautiful fish with a pinkish coloration. I laid my net in the water so he didn’t suffocate while I got my camera ready and my forceps out to remove the fly. As I was doing this, he wiggled free of the net. I was thinking I’d have to bring him back in – but to my surprise he spit the fly while he was in the net – and swam away!
I guess he was camera shy.
The river between the Valco Ponds Run and the Bend Hole. (We fish the small pockets of water behind the boulders seen on the right and left of the picture as we move downstream.)
We eventually started to head downstream to Tom’s Run and the Double Tree Hole and planned to hit some of the pocket water along the way. About halfway from the Valco Ponds Run and the 1st pocket water – the river is flat and not running very fast. There are a few large boulders that are just submerged in this spot and I thought I’d give it a try. Maybe the fish were laying low in the slow water.
Again, I was using my Hopper/Dropper setup with a Copper John as the Dropper. The wind was now blowing really hard. As I was covering the water a nice 17” or so rainbow came up and ate an adult fly off the surface. I didn’t see the fly but I’m pretty sure it was a BWO as I could see that they were beginning to hatch.
My Copper John was keeping my flies down in the water and if I wanted to get them up near the surface, I’d have to change it out. So I crept back to the shore trying not to spook any fish as I did so – and replaced my Copper John with a Mercury Pheasant Tail. Now my flies would be in the film near the surface.
Another view of the pretty 13" rainbow. (Making use of pictures of only 2 nice size fish!)
It was exciting to go after a fish that I just saw feeding on the surface and I began to cast to where I saw him last. The gale force winds that were now blowing caused ripples on the surface that were moving faster than the current and created an optical illusion. It made it appear that my indicator – the Hopper – was stationary in the water. I had to look at the opposite bank as a reference to see if my indicator was actually moving.
I found that it was moving – but ever so slowly. It was so slow that it was boring! I was thinking to myself how much more fun it was to fish in the riffles – or faster water. I’m not a fan of slow water. I was also thinking of the fish lying in that slow water with all the time in the world to inspect my flies. They were probably laughing as they drifted by – pointing out all the little things that made them only an imitation of the real thing!
So after several of these anguishing drifts – I decided to move on. The hell with this spot. And I moved down to meet up with Brian in Tom’s Run.
One of the rainbows with a different exposure.
My plan was to first fish the north bank where there is a seam of fast water. There are usually fish along the seam feeding on the surface or just below it. And there was now a distinct BWO hatch in progress. I replaced my last fly on my Hopper/Dropper setup with a #24 Chocolate Thunder and began to cover the seam. I could see what appeared to be small fish nibbling in the film. Must be eating emerging BWOs.
Then I saw the nose of a larger fish – guessing about 12” to 14” - rise to sip an adult. I casted to him and had on target drifts – but all I caught were a couple of little fish. Not sure what happened to the bigger fish that I saw – maybe it wasn’t a bigger fish, just my imagination, or wishful thinking. But after a bit I moved on.
It was the same story in Tom’s Run, Lower Tom’s Run, and the Double Tree Hole for both Brian and I. Little 6” to 8” rainbows. After spending a decent amount of time covering all these areas, the air was now out of Brian sails – I could tell. So we headed back towards the car with the plan to hit a few spots along the way.
I tried the Bend Hole for a bit with no success. So I pulled up stakes and started to walk back upstream. As I approached the Valco Ponds Run – I noticed that Brian had called it a day and was now at the car.
We caught enough of these to make a minor feast!
Back in the day when I was a working man and the going got rough – I would say I was “slugging it out”. It was a battle – to make incremental progress.
It has seemed that way the last two weeks. But we’re on the river fishing. It’s a great place to be – enjoying a sport. You always hope that you’ll be catching big numbers and size – but that isn’t always the case.
Better days lie ahead.
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