September 21, 2020
Flows: 595 cfs
Water Temp: 62F @ 1p.
Water clarity: ~ 4’ – slightly stained.
Air Temp: 46 @ 9a – 80 @ 4p.
Hatches: Heavy midge in the morning – and continuing into early afternoon. Light PMDs starting about 11a, fairly heavy BWOs early to mid- afternoon.
After not being able to get out the past couple of weeks – I was glad to spend the last day of summer on the South Platte! The Denver Water Board cooperated by keeping the flows steady – albeit a healthy almost 600 cfs. This is almost twice the yearly average for this time of year – but the steady flows are the key. When the water discharge fluctuates - as they have been lately – the fish take time to acclimate and it throws off the fishing.
The Bridge Hole. (The south side is to the left - below the road).
My plan was to fish Hebrew’s Best Run – which we renamed Fisherman’s Run. My thinking was that it has slack water near the bank which would offer the trout a nice feeding lane out of the faster water. And then this feeds into a deeper hole which has slow water too. After I got geared up though, I decided to give the Bridge Hole a look. If I spotted fish, I would start there then go into Fisherman’s Run. And sure enough there were a few fish in the shallow, slow water on the north side of the river.
It was about 9a when I walked into the hole and there was a very heavy midge hatch underway. It left no doubt about what flies I would use as I rigged up. I decided on a #16 Red Copper John followed by a #22 Mercury Flashback Black Beauty and a #22 Top Secret Midge.
The slower water on the north side of the Bridge Hole is very clear and I usually spot fish feeding there. They are hard to catch though. For one thing, they are easily spooked. And the other is that the water is so clear and slow – it gives them plenty of time to inspect your offering. So I managed to spook a couple of them and the others refused my offering – on several occasions!
So I moved further out into deeper water where there is a seam created where it meets the faster water. I couldn’t see into the water because of sun glare, but I know the bottom structure from experience and where the fish like to hang out. So I casted into the seam and after several tries I landed a nice 15” brownie. He hit the Mercury Flashback Black Beauty on the lift.
15" brownie - 1st one of the day.
There are usually more than one fish in that area, so I continued to fish it – hoping to get a couple more before I moved on. But I wasn’t getting any hits. So I decided to walk over to Fisherman’s Run which is on the other side of the river. The best way to get there is to cross the bridge over the South Platte, then cross the bridge over Horse Creek and climb down the rock stairs to the river bank. Then walk along the bank up to the run.
So as I walked that way, I kept looking into the water to see if I could spot some fish. Why not catch a few on the way?
And I did. There were several brownies feeding up in the column in a slow seam near the bank right where the river takes a left turn into the Bridge Hole. I’ve fished this run many times in the past and have landed a bunch of fish there. So needless to say, I stopped there to see if I could entice a few into striking.
The hot fly of the day - a #22 Mercury Flashback Black Beauty.
I kept the same rig – as the midges were still hatching. But after a few casts, I adjusted my weight. I had on a #4 split shot on which seemed too much. It looked like my flies were going underneath the fish. So replaced the #4 with a #6 split shot. This did the trick. After that slight adjustment, I was able to land a handful of nice brownies. They were from 15” to 18”. All of them hit the Black Beauty, except for the 18 incher - he went for the Red Copper John. Figures that the bigger fish would go for the bigger meal!
One of the brownies from the Bridge Hole.
In the middle of all this, I changed out my standard Top Secret for what Brian refers to as a Black Top Secret. It's basically a Black Beauty with silver ribbing and slight Antron at the thorax. It produces pretty well for Brian and since a lot of fish were hitting the Black Beauty I thought I'd give it a try. Well none of the fish hit that one - they kept hitting the Black Beauty. Go figure. But it was worth a try - and I will keep trying it as it looks like a good emerger pattern.
Here's another one taken out of the Bridge Hole.
An 18" brownie with the Copper John in his lip.
Before I new it, it was lunch time and I didn’t even make it to Fisherman’s Run. As I ate lunch I came up with my afternoon plan. Which was to first hit Fisherman’s Run. Then go up stream to the south side of Ray’s Run – unless I was catching a bunch of fish in Fisherman’s Run. Then I would stay there!
So I headed to Fisherman’s Run – and to my surprise – I saw no fish. Not in the lower part where there are usually a bunch of fish in the deeper pool and not along the shore in the slower water. Jeez – how things change on the river.
So I climbed out and walked up to Ray’s Run. I’ve seen and caught a fair amount of trout along the bank there. And with the faster water, I was thinking they would be hanging out there. But as I walked along the river I couldn’t see any fish. Even though, I picked a spot where I had hooked up a couple of lunkers before and used an upstream cast near the bank and let my flies drift back toward me. But there was no one home.
So I walked downstream along the river bank searching for fish. I was about to give up when I spotted one feeding about 3 feet from the bank. It was a nice size one too. It was hard to get my flies in front of him without getting hung up on a rock or kelp – which were in front of him. I must of spent 30 to 45 minutes trying to hook him up. I changed my weight, lowered my indicator – and finally changed my trailing fly to a #20 Pheasant Tail PMD.
I was about to give up, when I finally got the right drift and he hit. But I didn’t get a good hook set, and after one spectacular jump out of the water – he was gone. Man – talk about pissed. After I spent all that time and effort, one thing didn’t work right and it was over. And it was a beautiful brightly colored South Platte rainbow!
With that, I decided to go back down to the Bridge Hole. Maybe the fish were still there and maybe it was open. As I walked on the road toward the hole, I kept looking to see if I could spot some trout. And sure enough I spotted one eating on the surface in the slow water in Fisherman’s Run.
I normally would not climb all the way down the bank when spotting only one fish, but I though to get him on a dry would be worth it. It’s a pretty steep bank that leads directly to the run – and I slid down most of the way. I was downstream – about 20 feet from where I spotted the fish and proceeded to rig up a #22 Sparkle Dun BWO and a #22 Stalcup Biot CDC Trico Comparadun.
I just tied the Trico Compardun this week. It is slightly different that Stalcup’s recipe. I used Antron for the wings instead of CDC. And I wanted to see how it worked. But after several casts and no hits, I moved closer to where the fish was rising. Finally, I got close enough to see he left. Probably spooked by my slide down the bank.
So I grabbed my stuff and walked along the bank to the spot in the Bridge Hole. And yes – there were fish still active. Since there were BWOs now hatching. I kept the Red Copper John as the lead fly, but changed the following ones to a #20 Pheasant Tail PMD and a #20 Chocolate Thunder.
For some reason it seemed more difficult to get the right depth this time. After several adjustments and no hits, I decided to go Hopper/Copper/Dropper. This was a pretty easy change. I just inserted a Chubby Chernobyl above my Copper John and took off the weight and indicator.
Immediate success - I had a fish hit on my 2nd cast. I could tell it was a good size and most likely a brown. It was bull rushing to the other side of the river. Then my line broke. Not sure what happened. Maybe he brushed along a boulder and snapped it. That’s the only thing I could think of. So I retied the same rig.
The mantra from fly fishing guides is “Your first cast is your best cast”. It stands to reason, as your flies are brand new and in good shape. You haven’t had a chance to spook the fish. And they will be seeing your flies for the 1st time.
Related to this mantra, I have a habit of tossing my flies into the water after I tie them on. This keeps them out of the way and from getting tangled in the streamside brush or on anything near the riverbank as I get into position for my “real casts”.
So after retying on my Chubby Chernobyl, Copper John, Pheasant Tail, and Chocolate Thunder - that is what I did. Then I started to move into my position and BAM - a fish came up and aggressively hit my Chubby! This took me totally by surprise - and I wasn’t ready. So I prematurely yanked up my rod – missing the fish and getting a huge granny knot. So I had to sit back down and proceed to retie all of my flies. Yes - you have to have patience to be a fisherman!
But I was able to land another fish soon after that though - on the Chocolate Thunder. So it was a good decision to go with the Hopper/Copper/Dropper. Thank you John Barr! After that, the fish were gone. I think I caught them all :))
The last one of the day. A 16" brownie who took the Chocolate Thunder.
This is where I caught most of the fish - in the foam between the overhanging tree and the bush on the left.
It was a fine day on the river – and a great way to end the summer!
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