July 29, 2021 – Deckers (Ray’s Run to the Bridge Run)
Flows: 346 cfs.
Water Temp: 46F at 7:45a.
Water clarity: ~ 4’.
Air Temp: ~54F @ 7:30a, 68 @ 4p.
Hatches: Midge: 7:30a – 12N. Trico: 7:30a - 9a. PMDs: Spotty 11:30a – 3:30p. Caddis: spotty early-afternoon.
Flies: #10 Pat’s Rubber Leg, #16 Scud, #22 Black Pheasant Tail, #18 Mercury PMD Pheasant Tail, #24 Black Bling Midge, #20 Black Sparkle Wing RS2, #20 PMD Barr Emerger, #10 Chubby Chernobyl, #16 Red San Juan Worm, # 20 Mercury Miracle Midge, # 18 Brown Stonefly, and #22 Top Secret Midge, #22 Black Rojo Midge, #10 Olive Pine Squirrel Leech.
Top producers: PMD Pheasant Tail, Pat’s Rubber Leg, Top Secret Midge, Black Pheasant Tail, Mercury Miracle Midge, Brown Stonefly.
The flows had been bumped up during the week leading to off color water.
What a crazy summer it’s been water-wize here in Colorado. The northern part of the state – i.e. the Colorado River drainage – has been hot and dry with very low flows in all the rivers. The southern part of the state – i.e. the Platte and Arkansas River drainages – has had storms filling the reservoirs with the flows fluctuating and rising in the river below them.
The Colorado River has been so low and the temperatures so high that the Colorado Wildlife and Parks Department have put in restrictions on fishing it. This goes for some of it’s tributaries too. This is because the combination of low flows and high temperatures raise the water temperature to the point that it stresses the fish and endangers them when caught.
The Arkansas River is a free stone river – meaning it doesn’t have any reservoirs along it’s journey through Colorado. So the heavy rain in the southern part of the state has blown out the river. It’s flows are high and the river is muddy on the days after the storms. Those days are not conducive to a good fishing experience and makes wading a little dangerous. The best conditions on this river are at it’s headwaters near Leadville.
My 1st fish of the day - a 10" brownie.
The storms have effectively filled all the reservoirs along the Platte River. Some of the reservoirs have water spilling over their dams and the others have had to raise the flows out of them. This has lead to inconsistent flows in the river below them. An example of this is the river below the Cheesman Reservoir. The flows have been increased by about 50 cfs for three days in a row last week.
An increase of 50 cfs is significant enough to affect the behavior of the trout – especially when happening on a daily basis. It also churns up a bunch of stuff making the water cloudy and murky rendering it very difficult to sight fish. It also dislodges a bunch of aquatic insects – which is a good thing. But the flows need to stay at a consistent level for between 24 and 48 hours before the fish acclimate to the new flow and begin to feed normally.
A nice brownie Brian caught in Ray's Run.
Brian Kenney.
It’s been all about the flows lately when deciding where to fish. Actually, it always been about the flows – but this summer especially so.
By last Thursday – when Brian and I headed to Deckers – the flows were held consistent for the past two days. Our thinking was two days of consistent flows should be long enough for the trout to acclimate and there should be lots of dislodged aquatic insects for the trout to feed on. A good combination. We were hoping that the water department wouldn't decide to raise the flows in the middle of the day.
We decided to fish between Ray’s Run and the Bridge Hole. The river is wider in this section and with the higher flows it would allow the fish to spread out and feed in the various pockets and seams. Fisherman’s Run – which is between Ray’s Run and the Bridge Hole – is where we planned to start.
An adult caddis. There was a spotty hatch of them in the early afternoon.
We found the run open – if fact the crowds where uncharacteristically sparse. Brian began on the north side and I started toward the south side. There was a nice trico and midge hatch taking place as walked to the river and I I couldn’t pass up casting into the Bridge Hole. I was thinking the fish would be suspended in the column and feeding closer to the surface of the water so I tied up a Hopper/Dropper rig.
The water was a bit off color and I couldn’t see very far into the river and I didn’t see any fish. But I wanted to give it a shot anyway. After covering the hole a couple of times – I was getting ready to head upstream and into Fisherman’s Run when I felt the familiar tug at the end of my last drift. It was a small hungry brownie about 10”. He hit the Pat’s Rubber Leg – the largest fly in my setup!
A rainbow I found feeding in Ray's Run.
After releasing the fish I headed upstream and kept an eye on the river to see if I could spot any fish along the way. There was none that I could see. This was surprising to me as I thought the fish would definitely be along this run. I had visions of brightly colored 18” rainbows aggressively feeding in the seams. But they weren’t there - at least on my side of the river.
Brian couldn’t spot any fish either on his side either – but was able to land a couple of smaller rainbows before I arrived. They hit the Top Secret Midge – always an effective fly.
One of Brian's rainbows.
Brian Kenney.
After covering the run a few times, I decided to wade up to Ray’s Run. Let me tell you, with the flows at a healthy 350 cfs or so – wading is a challenge. Especially wading upstream. It’ll wear you out. By the end of the day I was totally exhausted from the effort.
Once I made it to Ray’s I could spot some fish – finally! They were spread out in the seams and appeared to be feeding.
Last week I was reading an article written by Landon Mayer – a renown Colorado fisherman. It was in Trout Unlimited’s magazine about hunting for trout. In it he talked about the effect of a full moon on fishing. Until reading this article, I had always thought the moon had some sort of magnetic or mystical effect on the fish – causing them to be lethargic or otherwise less aggressive. Landon said with the light of the full moon the fish are able to feed on insects and small fry fish better at night than on nights without it. So the day after a full moon they are full and not feeding – throwing off the fishing.
Interesting.
A full menu of insects. Beatis, stoneflies, and midges - from one of Brian's rainbows.
Brian Kenney.
I also have a hypothesis of my own about feeding fish. I’m pretty convinced that the fish are not as selective as we may think. When feeding, they will hit just about any fly that is effectively presented. This is in within reason of course. For instance, during a midge hatch a fish will take a beatis that is dead drifted into his feeding lane. There are definitely exceptions to this – as I have experienced fish that would only hit on hatching tricos and others times where the fish do seem to be very selective. But most of the time, I stand by my hypothesis.
Well there were some fish in Ray’s Run that I thought were definitely feeding – but I couldn’t get them to hit anything. As I covered the run – I’d run into one or two that were feeding and was able to hook them up. But I spent a considerable amount of time trying to get the ones who wouldn’t hit, to hit. Reflecting back on the article by Landon and thinking about my hypothesis, I came to the conclusion that some of these fish were just full and not feeding. They must have gobbled up a bunch of the tricos and midges that were hatching earlier.
Releasing a brownie caught in Ray's Run.
When I shared this thought later with Brian, he said that the he pumped the stomach of one of the smaller fish that he caught earlier – and it was filled to the brim with various beatis and midges. Even though that one was still feeding I’m thinking the ones I was targeting were not. They were full.
To me this is what makes fishing fun. Finding fish. Watching them. Trying to figure out the code to get them to take one of your imitations.
As I was stalking a fish in the run I became careless and watched the fish instead of watching where I was walking. A cardinal sin. One that will get you every time. And it did, I stumbled on a boulder and when I tried to get my balance, I stumbled on another one – and fell face first into the river. Luckily, nothing got broken – none of my gear or any of my bones.
Even so, I was pretty ticked off that I made such a rookie mistake ---- and was now soaking wet head to toe. So I waded over to the shore, sat in the sun and ate my lunch. Lunch is always a bright spot of the day for me – and it took my mind off the spill and calmed me down.
A view into the middle of Ray's Run from my lunch spot.
As I ate I was thinking about the PMD hatch that just got started – thinking that I’m missing it. But it would last for awhile and I was sure it would still be ongoing when I got back in the river.
Meanwhile Brian was just upstream from me and I watched him release a couple of fish. He was at the top of Ray’s Run on the far side of the river and had landed four fish in about an hour. They were nice size ones too in the 16" to 18" range.
After I finished my lunch – I began to scout my side of the river and spotted a couple of nice fish. Just then, Brian called out and said he was going to break for lunch and suggested I take his spot.
An interesting shot of one of Brian's rainbows.
Brian Kenney.
That was my plan – but I was going to go after the fish I spotted first. During my spill, my line broke (I guess something did break!) and I had to tie on all new flies. I choose a Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear as my lead, followed by a PMD Mercury Pheasant Tail, and a PMD Barr Emerger. While I was doing this, another guy hit the spot where I spotted the fish. Dang it!
So I waded across the river and fished Brian’s spot while he took a break. I couldn’t see any fish along the run as I covered it and didn’t have any takers, even after covering it a few times. With that I moved back downstream to the middle of the run. This is where I fished earlier in the day and landed a few.
Interestingly, I observed the same thing. Some fish were in sight but wouldn’t hit anything – while I was able to spot others and get them to take. One was an aggressive brownie in the 15” range who put up a fight of a much larger fish. He took me downstream and I thought for sure I would lose him but I was able to get below him and bring him to net.
An 18" brownie - caught by Brian at the top of Ray's Run.
Brian Kenney.
As I scouted the area I was able to spot a few rainbows feeding in a pocket behind a boulder and got a few of them to take. They – along with the brownie – all hit the PMD Mercury Pheasant Tail. On one of them, I watched my flies drift into the pocket and saw a rainbow move toward them and instinctively set the hook. Sure enough he ate the Pheasant Tail and had it impaled in his upper lip. I was actually surprised because my indicator didn’t even twitch and when I netted him he measured 18”.
After a bit I walked down to the Bridge Hole and began to fish it. Brian was in Fisherman’s Run and began to wade downstream to join me. He had his flies drifting in the water as he waded towards me. I asked him if he had landed any fish and just as he was about to respond “no” – a fish hit! It was a rainbow – he hit a brown stonefly.
A view of the upper part of Ray's Run.
That was the last one of the day. The action was spotty – but we caught our share and the flows held steady throughout the day.
It’s always about the flows!
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