January 28, 2020
Flows: 103 cfs
Water Temp: 36 @ 9a
Water clarity: ~6’ (clarity is improving – even though there is still a lot of moss)
Air Temp: 25 @ 9a – mid-50s @ 4:30.
Hatches: Crane Flies and BWO – 11:30a to 3:30p.
Every once in awhile you run across a run or hole lined up with feeding trout - eager to take your fly!
That was the case yesterday when Brian and I hit the Pueblo Tailwater. We started the day above the 2 Plunge Holes just east of the Nature Center Parking lot – seining to see what type of nymphs were resident. There were no surprises as the usual midge, caddis, and baetis were found. It’s always good to take a look though – as it really helps to dial in your fly selection and to get a good, real world example to reference when tying your flies.
A beautiful 15" Rainbow - taken on a #24 Top Secret Midge
Once completed, Brian went into the top plunge hole, the #1 Plunge Hole. I began by scouting the #2 Plunge Hole and the tail out below it. I didn’t see any fish – but it always looks so fishy that I have to give it a try – which I did. Starting off with a #20 Red Midge Larva, followed by a #24 Miracle Midge Larva and a #24 Top Secret Midge. As I worked the hole and the tail out, I still didn’t see any fish – didn’t spook any either – and had no hits. So I worked my way down to the head of the Diver Hole. All the while, there were no other fishermen in sight – which is always welcome! It felt like we had the whole river to ourselves.
Nymphs seined above the Plunge Holes. Notice the small red and whitish, to tan midges.
In the run leading into the Diver Hole I spotted a considerable amount of trout – all in feeding lanes – YES!
Within 15 minutes I landed a nice 18” Rainbow on the Red Midge Larva from the seam created by 3 huge boulders that are submerged in front of the hole. The midge larva was damaged as I removed it from the fish’s mouth with my hemostats – the tubing tore. This midge is tied with clear or colored tubing over the tying thread – and I’m wondering if it is susceptible to tearing and therefore less durable. I’ll soon find out – since I’ve tied quite a few. This pattern is from John Barr’s book – Barr Flies and is referred to as Pure Midge Larva. They’re tied in Red, White, Blue, Orange, Black, Olive and Green.
After a couple of hours in the hole and the runs above and below it – I was able to land 4 more nice Rainbows – one 13", 2 15" and one 16". Not a bad morning!! The nymphs that they hit were a #24 Top Secret Midge and a #24 Mercury Black Beauty with full flash (this fly always seems to land fish – and is one of my favorites!!). In addition to landing the 5 trout – I had that many hooked up – but they were able to get off! That’s very disappointing when it happens – but it still was a very good start to the day. And it gives me something else to work on – which means more fishing!!
A 15" female Rainbow - took a #24 Top Secret Midge
This 16" male Rainbow took a #24 Mercury Black Beauty
At about 11:30a – I noticed a few fish starting to rise. It looked like BWOs were starting to come off. I was considering rigging up my dry fly rig – but decided to stay with the nymphs for a while longer. But I made a mental note to come back after lunch to see if I could get a few on dries – and to switch my nymph rig to baetis.
There were 3 cars in the parking area – in addition to mine – when I came back for lunch. It didn’t surprise me that more fishermen were showing up since it was such a nice day out. When I finished, I headed back to the “Glory Hole” – which was still open. This stretch runs about 1/8 of a mile to a ¼ mile from the #2 Plunge Hole to the tail out of the Diver Hole. Your really not supposed to stay in a hole and hog it – as it’s not good fishing etiquette – but since there were still no fishermen in sight, I decided that it would be alright to do so. (You can really rationalize about anything - if you think about it long enough - right!).
There were still a few rising fish at the tail out of the Diver Hole, so I rigged my dry flies – a #22 Parachute BWO followed by a #22 Sparkle Dun BWO. After about 4 casts I landed a nice #13” Rainbow. I then moved to the front of the hole where there was one rising - it looked like a nice size fish to boot. I was able to entice a strike and he hit it sudden and hard – which I responded to with a quick set. Way to quick!! And that was that - for this one anyway.
This 13" female Rainbow took a #24 Sparkle Dun
It was now about 2p – and I noticed that there were several nice size fish in feeding lanes in the run leading into the Diver Hole. So I switched to my nymph rig – tied up with a #22 Stalcup Baetis, followed by a #22 Black Sparkle Wing RS-2, and a #22 Barr Emerger. I was able to land a couple more Rainbows – another 18” and a 19” – both hitting the black RS-2.
An 18" male - who took the #22 Black Sparkle Wing RS-2
I also lost 3 really nice fish. One was hooked up on a difficult cast and felt like it was in the 20” range. I was really excited to hook this one up – as the cast, drift, hook set – all worked to perfection. I don’t know what happened – but he was able to spit the hook – shooting the line directly back at me. I then had 2 hooks firmly planted in my jacket – which I couldn’t take off – requiring assistance from Brian. Fish can't plan things like this - can they? Well anyway - score one for the fish!!
It’s worth mentioning in John Barr’s book - Barr Flies – he refers to a technique called the Leisenring Lift - developed by Jim Leisenring. To accomplish this technique – it's preferable to have an emerger fly tied on as the last fly on your rig. At the end of the drift - you let the flies set and then lift the rod slowly, before retrieval. (This is my technique anyway – which varies somewhat from the one John describes). It effectively makes your emerger appear to go through emergence. I hooked up at least 3 fish using this technique today. I've also used this in the past - and mentioned it in a few prior articles on this blog - and believe me, it works! Until just recently - I didn't know there was a name for this technique or written descriptions on how to do it. It's exciting when the fish hit using the Leisenrign Lift, as they hit it really hard. And you have to be ready to strip out line so you can get your rod tip up – being careful not to strip out so much line that it creates too much slack.
I took this 19" Rainbow using the Leisenring Lift!
The fish were very spooky the rest of the afternoon – and for good reason – as Brian and I collectively worked the area pretty hard throughout the afternoon. I did see some very nice fish in the run below the #2 Plunge Hole – but they were leader shy and spooked very easy. It seemed that when I had a good drift – the line would get snagged right in front of them, or the wind would get my cast and cause the flies to land right on top of them. Both cases would spook even less wary fish. OK - some more stuff to work on....
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