The Secret Hole

Aug 17, 2023

South Platte River – Eleven Mile Canyon (The #2 Bend Hole to the Beaver Run).

Flows: 140 cfs.

Moon Phase: Waning Crescent (1% illumination).

Water Temp: 56F @ 12N..

Water clarity: Clear to about 4’..

Air Temp: 51F @ 8:30a – 83F @ 4p.

Hatches: Tricos: 9a – 11:30a. Midge: 8:30a – 10a. Caddis: Sporadic all day. PMD: 12N – 3:30p. Drakes: 1p – 3:30p.

Flies: #10 Chubby Chernobyl, #16 Tungstone, #18 PMD Pheasant Tail, #22 Purple Jujubee Midge, #22 PMD Barr Emerger, #20 Black Two Bit Hooker, #22 Black Flashback RS2, #22 Black Sparkle Wing RS2, #20 Parachute Adams, #22 Parachute Trico, #22 Sparkle Dun, #18 Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear, #18 Mercury PMD Pheasant Tail, #20 Pheasant Tail.

Top producers: Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear, Mercury Pheasant Tail, Pheasant Tail, PMD Pheasant Tail, Black Sparkle Wing RS2, Parachute Adams, Parachute Trico, Sparkle Dun.

This is what we came for. Beautiful trout - and for me - getting them on dries.

There’s a spot – a secret spot – somewhere between the Road Hole and the Log Run on the South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon that I’d like to think is my secret spot.

I was standing in it mid-afternoon the other day. Alone. None one else in sight upstream or downstream and I was thinking “I’ve never named this hole. It’s so much fun to fish – I need to name it.”

I decided to name it The Secret Hole.

It’s not really a secret. I’ve seen some other guys fishing it – kinda peripherally. Around the edges – not really working it all over. But I will tell you – it’s often overlooked. It will be empty when there are fishermen all over the place upstream and downstream of it.

The Road Hole - where there were swarms of Tricos hatching in the morning.

Deservingly so. There are usually a bunch of fish in clear sight in the Log Run downstream and you can find a lot of fish in the pockets and runs in the Road Hole upstream of it. The Secret Hole is kinda deceiving. It doesn’t look like much and you have to approach it from the south side of the river -river right.

When fishing 11 Mile Canyon, we usually start at the Road Hole and work our way downstream hitting the various pools, pockets, and riffles as we go. Then it’s into the Secret Hole. For me that is. I walk downstream of it on the north side of the river and cross over in the Log Run. Sometimes I’ll fish the Log Run as I wade across and upstream – other times I’ll walk right past fish – ignoring them as I head to my secret spot on the river.

That’s how it went last week. Except I walked/waded directly to the Secret Hole once I was finished fishing the Road Hole.

A close up on the "cut" on a Snake River Cutthroat trout.

A huge thunderstorm rolled through the Deckers area a few weeks ago causing a flash flood and erosion. Lots of erosion. I haven’t been there since, but there have been reports that tons of granite sediment had been washed into the river really messing up the South Platte in Cheesman Canyon and Deckers. Predictions are that the damage to the fishery will take years to recover.

That’s sad news for us fishermen. And one reason why I picked Eleven Mile Canyon as our destination this week. My hope was that there wouldn’t be a ton of fishermen heading there because of all the fishing reports saying to avoid Cheesman and Deckers.

Another reason was that the fishing at Eleven Mile Canyon was reported to be excellent. Trico hatches in the morning along with midges. Then PMDs in the afternoon. And there are stoneflies and terrestrials too. I had visions of catching big rainbows and browns on dries!

Here's the Snake River Cut being released.

One hatch that we noticed that wasn’t advertised. It was a large mayfly, and neither Brian nor I could catch one to make a positive ID. I think they were Drakes but I haven’t found any hatch charts showing them as being present along any stretch of the South Platte River. The only thing close in size on the charts are Yellow Sallies which are a species of a stonefly – and these weren’t stoneflies. They were too big for PMDs – so I’m sticking with some species of a Drake.

I guess I’ll have to go back and catch one to be sure!

The trico hatch was supposed to go off at 8:30. We pulled into the parking lot at 8:20 – perfect timing, but we only saw a few of them in the air. Once geared up we headed to the Road Hole. The willows and other bushes were so thick we actually had a hard time finding what little of a path that was left. It was basically a bull rush through the thicket until you found the river!

Once riverside we found a guy and his son fishing the middle of it. Brian took up a position just upstream of them and I headed farther upstream into the #2 Bend Hole. We still didn’t see a distinct trico hatch and at the time there were only a few midges in the air.

Brian landed this rainbow later in the day at the Bridge Hole.

Brian Kenney.

I decided to rig up my nymph rod and anticipating a trico hatch I tied on a #20 Black Two Bit Hooker as my lead fly. It’s tied with two tungsten beads – so it’s kind of heavy and would help to get my flies down. I followed it with a #22 Black Flashback RS2 and a #22 Purple Jujubee Midge. I had a .2g split shot on for weight. It was a little heavier that what I normally use – but it was on from last week and I decided to give it a try.

There were a few fish in sight but they weren’t interested in my offering. I took off the split shot to see if maybe my flies were too low in the column – but that didn’t help. After a bit I lost interest and moved downstream to meet Brian at the top of the Road Hole. He could see fish there too – but they wouldn’t hit for him either.

I was on the north side of the river – Brian was on the south and we were getting ready to give up on the hole and head downriver when I saw a fish come to the surface. Then I saw another sipper and decided to get my dry fly rig to see if that would work. As I was tying on my flies – Brian said he was heading downstream. I told him I’d be right behind him – I just wanted to try some dries first.

The Road Hole turned on when the Tricos came out.

It took a while before I headed that way to meet up with him.

Reason being – once I got set up with my dries the tricos came out. I could see clouds of them along the riverbank. And the fish started rising right in front of me. I had a #22 Parachute Adams as my lead fly and followed it with a #22 Parachute Trico.

It took several drifts into the seam until I finally had a taker. It was a 14” Snake River Cutthroat who came up and wacked my Parachute Trico. You’ll find the Snake River Cuts on this part of the river and they are a treat to catch – a really beautiful fish.

I’d catch a handful of rainbows following that. All on my Parachute Trico – except for one, who hit my Parachute Adams. I had a few misses too. But it was a fun couple of hours or so.

I got a handful of rainbows like this one in the Road Hole.

At one point there was a big rainbow gobbling up adult flies on the surface. I can’t remember seeing one eating so many flies. There wasn’t pattern or a rhythm to his rises – he just came up sporadically, sometimes one right after another.

I wanted that fish.

After several tries I saw him come up right in front of my flies to eat a natural. He had to swim under my flies to get it. At that point I stopped to think. I’ve had this happen before – when there are so many naturals on the water it’s hard to fool a trout with an imitation.

I decided that I’d tie on a dropper to see if that woud fool him. Picking out a #24 Black Sparkle Wing RS2 – I tied it about 6” behind my Parachute Trico. On my second drift through he took it – the dropper. At first I didn’t realize he did. He looked like he was spooked. As my flies drifted toward him and were right in front of him – he swam away sideways. Then I realized I couldn’t locate my dries.

That’s when I set the hook - and he was on. Oh yeah baby!

You can see the teeth on this bad boy. I guess I can understand how my Parachute Tricos kept getting chewed up!

I didn’t have a lot of room to fight him and could only go downstream about fifteen feet – at most. And he wanted to go downstream – of course he did. I was able to coax him back upstream and into the softer water of the pool in front of me – then he’d take a run for the middle of the river. This happened a couple of time and I thought he was about to give it up – then he saw me and took another run into the middle of the river and the fast water. All I could do was hold on and hope I’d get him back.

But I didn’t – he broke off.

I was disappointed - but it was a lot of fun just getting that bad boy hooked up.

After that it stopped. There were a few sporadic risers here and there that I went after. I gave it a few tries then gather up my stuff and headed downstream.

I waded to just above the Secret Hole. The streamside vegetation was too thick to navigate until I reached that spot. There was a lot of kelp in the river and surprisingly I didn’t see any fish so I didn’t stop along the way. I got out of the river on the north side of it and it’s hard to see into the Secret Hole from that side. It didn’t matter though – I was headed there anyway. Come to think of it – I’ve never approached the hole from the other side of the river.

Another one of Brian's rainbows. He got all his fish on nymphs.

Brian Kenney.

I set my backpack and dry fly rod along the river on the north side of the Log Run and waded back across the river and cautiously approached the secret hole. I’ve found fish in the shallow water before you get to the hole and I didn’t want to spook any of them if they were there.

As I stepped into the river I saw Brian downstream of me with a fish on. He was fishing near the boulders at the bend that leads to the Bridge Hole. Then it appeared that the fish broke off. And it did. He would later tell me it was a nice rainbow who hit in the upper column.

Earlier I changed up my nymphing setup to a Hopper/Dropper using my #10 Chubby Chernobyl as my Hopper and leaving my Two Bit Hooker as my Dropper and still had my Black Flashback RS2 and Purple Jujubee midge as my target flies.

I found more rainbows in the Secret Hole.

I found one brown in the shallow water and casted to him a couple of times. My arm motion must have set him off and he slowly swam into the deep pool. I then focused on the fast water just above the pool where I’ve found nice rainbows and browns before.

As my Chubby floated over the boulders in the current a nice rainbow came up to hit it – but I missed the set. I spotted a nice brownie taking a look at it too. On my next drift another rainbow came up and hit it. BANG – BANG. Soon I had a nice rainbow in the net.

Then I noticed really nice browns and rainbows were coming to the surface where the fast water is channeled between some huge boulders. The flies were caught in the current and the fish were smacking them as they went by. After seeing that I went back to get my dry fly setup.

When I got back to where my backpack was I decided to eat lunch. As I sat streamside eating my lunch I watched a young couple and another guy fish the Log Run. Brian had moved on – and I was guessing he moved down to the Beaver Run. The lone fisherman had left too leaving only the couple and me on that stretch of the river.

Done eating I waded back across the river this time taking both my dry fly and hopper/dropper setups with me. I still had my Parachute Adams and Parachute Trico on for dries. The fish were killing the Parachute Trico earlier and it was a little afternoon and I didn’t see them in the air, but left it on just to see.

I was happy to see all the fish where very healthy.

And low and behold I had a fish take it. I had him across from me and was working to get him upstream of me. Which I did and I reached for my net. It wasn't there. What the heck? I left it on the shore with my backpack! I had to land this guy with my hands. Wow - I haven't done that in I don't know how long.

My Parachute Trico flies were lights out but I had some problems with them coming apart after catching a couple of fish. Some of them after catching only one. I’ve got to tie down the hackle better.

Anyway after a few drifts I noticed that my Parachute Trico had come apart yet again. It was now a good time to change flies anyway. PMDs where starting to hatch. I tied on a #22 Sparkle Dun to replace the Parachute Trico. I have some tied in an olive-colored dubbing that imitates a BWO and some tied with an olive/brown dubbing. I use both when BWOs are out – and interestingly – they both work. I picked one that was tied in the olive/brown dubbing because it more closely resembles a PMD.

It was a good choice.

Back at the fast water coming over the boulders and it was bang, bang, bang. They attacked the Sparkle Dun. I got some takers above the mini spillway too. In the slow water next to the tree that’s lying in the river. There was one brownie in particular that I noticed.

I picked the Log Run as a place to eat lunch. The partially submerged log giving this run its name.

A big one. Beautifully spotted.

I wanted to catch him.

He was aggressively eating the naturals as they floated by and he came up and just as aggressively smacked my Sparkle Dun. I set the hook just as aggressively and was now fighting that beauty. I had a lot of room to fight this guy – at least in the downstream direction. And that’s where he wanted to go. I followed him and coaxed him toward the shore and was able to get below him. Perfect position.

At times – when he’d make a run – he would be right across from me as I brought him back up and he was a real beauty. I had him in front of me a few times and he was a game brownie – big and strong. Brownies like to bull rush you. Head down – fighting like hell. After they tire – which always seems to take a while – you can get their head up and that’s when you can net them.

I had him about three feet in front of me – but his head was still down. I thought I could still get him and as he floated with the current toward me I pulled up on the rod in an attempt to get his head out of the water.

BAD MOVE!

He broke off right in front of the net. Now that pissed me off.

I don’t remember – I may have got a couple more after that guy broke off but the action slowed considerably and I decided to head downstream. Figuring Brian was either in the Bridge Hole or the Beaver Run, I headed that way. I caught up with him on the downstream side of the bridge.

Instead of going to the river right where Brian was, I headed down to the Beaver Run to take a look. There were a couple of guys in it so I waded up to where Brian was. I didn’t see any fish along the way but gave it a few drifts just because.

Then Brian mentioned that he was going to break for lunch. He said there were a couple of nice rainbows that were coming up near the shore by him. I came over to take a look. I didn't see the ones come up by the shore but I saw one come up out in the middle of the river. So I figured what the heck – I’ll give it a try.

As I drifted my flies through the run, I didn’t see any more risers. I was trying to pick a spot where my flies would drift into the soft water near the shore where Brian said he saw the fish coming up. At one point I lost track of them and lifted my rod to see where they were. It ended up they had sunk and as I lifted them to the surface a big rainbow came up – then broke off just before taking one of them.

Brian's getting ready to release beaut back into the river.

Brian Kenney.

He was in there – even though I couldn’t see him. I dried my flies and applied more floatant. I had the target on where to cast now dialed in and casted to that spot. On my second drift through he came up and banged my Sparkle Dun. It was exciting. He came out of nowhere and zoomed in to eat my fly, smacking it on the surface. My hook set was on point and I was now fighting a nice rainbow.

There wasn’t any room for me to maneuver – even less that when I was in the Road Hole. That concerned me. I didn’t want to lose yet another nice fish. The water was not as fast in this spot and I was able to keep that bad boy from taking me downstream where I would have surely lost him.

Once he was tired out, I brought him up and into the net. Another exciting catch.

That’s what I had come here for. To catch trout on dries!

Releasing this female back into the Secret Hole.

After Brian was finished with lunch he headed to the upstream side of the Bridge Hole and I was downstream of him in the Beaver Run. After a bit I decided to go see what he was up to. I figured he would be in the Upper Bridge Hole because he had asked me about it before he broke for lunch. And sure enough that’s where I found him. He said he had just released a nice rainbow. Got him in the pool below the boulders that from a mini spillway.

After a bit I decided to head back up to the Secret Hole. There were fishermen upstream and downstream of us and I wanted some seclusion. And maybe the fish would be rising again.

I found seclusion and one rainbow. I was now fishing my Hopper/Dropper and decided to change it up a bit. I wanted a more standard Dropper. One with some weight to it – more than the Two Bit Hooker provided. And I wanted to change out my target flies. Get some mayflies tied on – like PMDs.

This rainbow couldn't resist the Parachute Trico in the morning.

I selected a Tungstone for my Dropper. It’s a John Barr designed fly that is heavy and imitates a stonefly. I followed that with a #18 PMD Pheasant Tail and a #20 PMD Barr Emerger. After giving this setup several tries the rainbow got tired of me and left.

With no more fish in sight – and the entire place to myself – I began to walk/wade downstream. As I did, I casted my flies into the middle of the river. My pace was about the same as the current of the river. I like to do this. My flies are out ahead of me as I walk - and with that pace - they are on a dead drift. I’ve caught a lot of fish this way.

As I walked downstream I saw a nice rainbow in the upper column just on the other side of the log that forms the Log Run. As my flies floated toward him he began to swim downstream – like he was spooked. He wasn’t though. In fact he had eaten one of my of my flies - the PMD Pheasant Tail. I instinctively set the hook.

Yep rainbow on. Check that - BIG rainbow on.

He took me downstream – what a surprise – and I had to climb over the log. Not the easiest thing to do when you have a pissed off 18” rainbow fighting like hell to get free! But I managed to get over it without falling in the water and now had him in the slow pool that forms below the log. I was happy to get this guy in the net.

It provided more excitement.

Releasing the last one of the day back into the Log Run.

Things happen so fast when you’re fly fishing and a lot of times for me it’s in slow motion. Very slow motion. Like when this big guy started swimming downstream with one of my flies in his mouth and me not realizing it at first. The whole sequence of events happened very fast – but it was in super slow motion for me.

It was now time to head to the car.

As we broke down our gear at the car Brian said he had a couple more rainbows in the net. All around 17”. He got them all on nymphs. I had a bunch in that size too, also a few in the 14” to 16” range, and the big 18 incher to end the day. Conversely, I got all of mine – except the last one – on dries.

And what a day it was.

Casting dry flies to hungry, aggressive fish. The morning trico hatch. The afternoon PMD hatch. And fishing in the seclusion of the Secret Hole.

The South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon at its best!