March 18, 2021 – The Pueblo Tailwater
Flows: 87 cfs
Water Temp: 38F @ 9a
Water clarity: Crystal clear
Air Temp: 32 @ 8:30a, 55 @ 4p.
Hatches: Midge – 10a to mid-afternoon. Flying termites (still working on definite ID) - 11a to 1:30p.
Top producers: Top Secret, Brassie, JuJubee Midge.
An interesting shot of one of Brian's 1st fish of the day. A 19" rainbow.
Photo by Brian Kenney.
Brian and I arrived to fish the Arkansas River at the Pueblo Tailwater on Thursday. It was the first day of decent weather after the late-winter storm that hit Colorado over the weekend. I-25 still had icy spots due to melting snow re-freezing overnight. But it turned into a beautiful late-winter day.
I met Brian at the Hatchery Hole. He’d been fishing for about an hour – upstream in the Cliffs Run and had just moved into the hole. There was another guy – Terry – fishing at the top of the hole and Brian was down below at the hatchery confluence. We chatted briefly and decided to move upstream towards the Cliffs Run since there wasn’t enough room for a third fisherman there.
Here's another shot of the male 19" rainbow.
Photo by Brian Kenney.
Brian had already caught two rainbows in the fast riffles of the Cliffs Run before moving down into the Hatcher Hole. One was 19 inches and the other was 16 inches. Both took a #24 Top Secret Midge.
As we walked toward the run, there where a couple of guys in the deep pool just below it. But Cliffs Run was open and Brian pointed out where he had got his fish earlier. It was in about 18” of faster, riffled water and he got them between 7:30a and 7:45a. A nice start and a sure sign that the fish are starting to come out of their winter lies and spread out into the riffles and faster water.
It was hard to see into the water from where we stood because of the reflection of the rising sun on the water. And we couldn’t see any fish. But we gave it a try anyway. Why not – there where fish in there earlier. After a bit I decided to cross the river so I could see better and to scout for fish. But I still couldn’t spot any. By then, the other guys had moved out of the pool below us, so I decided to give it a try. Thinking to myself “there has to be fish in here” – it was a perfect place for them to congregate and feed on insects flowing over the boulders that helped create the deep pool below.
Here's a 16" rainbow landed by Brian early in the day.
Photo by Brian Kenney.
After spending several minutes on the east side of the river I finally had a fish on. I fought it for a bit – but then my line went slack. He was off. I didn’t know it then, but it was to be a harbinger for the day. Most of my focus was on the beginning of the hole, the deeper part. And as I was covering that area, I noticed a few fish coming to the surface to feed in the shallower water below me.
After loosing that fish, I spent another half hour or so trying to get another. With no takers, I thought I’d move down into the shallower water to see if I could get one of those fish that I spotted rising earlier. I wanted to wade into the water well below where they were so that I didn’t spook them. My plan was to use an upstream cast to their side.
A small pocket created by large boulders. This one seems to regularly hold fish.
But as I walked further downstream, I came near a small pocket that I’d caught a few fish in before. Since I was so close, I thought I should give it a look. So I did. And sure enough there were a few rainbows feeding there. I was targeting a fish that was in the far seam created by the 1st boulder. As my indicator drifted toward him it acted kind of funny. Not necessarily a strike, but it kind of bounced unnaturally. So I set the hook.
And BAM. I had one on. Not the one I was targeting - but a nice 17” rainbow that was nearby. As I fought it, I moved it below the pocket so that we didn’t spook the other fish. Finally, I got him into the slower water and netted him. He took my Brassie.
My 1st one of the day. A 17" rainbow. Notice the Brassie in his lip.
Every week between outings – I check my fly inventory and tie flies that I may need for my next trip and also tie some that I will need in the near future. So in the spring, I’m also tying flies that I will need in the summer and so forth. For a while now as I looked into my fly box, I noticed the Brassies that I had were kind of beat up and I didn’t have confidence to fish them. Last week I finally decided to either dress them up or retie them - or just get rid of them. I decided to retie them. As I did, I used red thread and completed them with a red head with the Tailwater in mind. It paid off!
Another look at my 1st one with the pocket where he was feeding in the background.
After releasing the fish, I spent about another hour trying to get another one to take. There were about 5 or 6 fish still in the pocket feeding. But they wouldn’t take. I tried different casts – trying to get my flies in different lanes and to create the most natural drift that I could. But nothing I did worked. So I finally gave up and moved back up to meet up with Brian who was still working the Cliffs Run. He said he had a couple on but they were able to break free. I know how that goes!
A midge. They were hatching about 10a. This one landed on my hand while I was in Cliffs Run.
We decided to take a break for lunch. On the way toward the car we had to pass the pocket where I caught the rainbow earlier. As we looked into it, we could see the rainbows still there. Brian took a shot and tried to entice a hit. They ignored his flies – just as they did mine earlier. I had a streamer on my secondary rod – so I thought I try to wake them up with that. But that didn’t work either – so we continued on toward the parking lot.
Our cars were parked in the Valco Ponds parking area – and as we walked along the bank of the river towards it – we spotted several nice fish in the Valco Ponds Run. We took careful note of where they were with the intent of going after them after lunch.
When we came back they were still there – and there were also a bunch rising at the front of the run. We crossed well upstream and came back down on the other side of the river. There was plenty of room for both Brian and I to fish – as they were rising in spots from the near side of the river and all the way to the other side and about 30 yards from upstream to downstream. I was excited to get a few on dries!
Releasing a 15" rainbow taken in the Valco Ponds Run on a Purple JuJubee Midge.
Midges started hatching before lunch so I tied on a Parachute BWO followed by a Matt’s Midge. As we fished the area we noticed that the bugs on the water were not midges – but we didn’t know what they were. They had four equal length wings that were about twice as long as their bodies. Definitely not a midge – they only have two wings and they generally do not extend beyond their bodies. And they appeared to be spinners – which are dying or dead adult flies.
The fish were keyed on these flies. I did have about six “false takes”. Not sure that is true fly fishing term – but the fish kind of rolled over the fly. I guess it could have been very a late refusal – but whatever it was they did not take the fly. Expect for maybe once when I had too much line in the water – and it messed up my set. Brian had no luck either.
A flying termite?
So what was that fly? After doing some research – it looks to me to be a flying termite. No I’ve never run across them before and I’ve never heard them mentioned – and I’ve never seen them on a hatch chart. I’m still trying to get opinions from some guides who are much more knowledgeable about flies than me – but I’m pretty sure that is what they were. Interesting.
Here is another one - definitely in the spinner stage.
We stayed in that run for quite awhile and eventually switched to nymphs. My trailing nymph was now a #24 JuJubee Midge. For those of you who are not familiar with fly sizes - a #24 is a very small fly. I was able to hook up about four fish and netted only one of them. The ones who broke free did so after being on for a bit. It wasn’t like they hit and shook free right away. The only thing I could think of was that the #24 being so small – makes it hard to get a really good tie up.
Anyway it was getting late and Brian noticed that the Hatchery Hole had opened up. So we moved in and spent some time there – alternating from one of us fishing the top and the other fishing the bottom. I started out in the bottom – right in front of the where the hatchery feeds into the river. Again, I had several hook ups and again I had several fish break free! Gosh – it was really starting to get to me!!
Finally, as I was working the top end of the hole I had a fish on and was able to net him. A 14” rainbow who hit the JuJubee Midge. That was the hot fly of the day for me. This one was purple but I’m not sure the color really made a difference. They say size, shape, and color – in that order – are what the fish key on. So at the end of the day maybe it was the color – not sure – but it was working!
My last one of the day - with the Purple JuJubee Midge firmly planted in his lip.
After fishing that spot for about another hour and a half we called it a day. Since it was the day after St. Patrick’s Day – we celebrated with a Half and Half after stowing our gear.
Here's what I think is a flying termite - dead - floating on the water.
Photo by Brian Kenney.
While the mystery hatch is still officially “to be confirmed”.
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