Aug 31, 2020
Flows: 417 cfs – rising to 477 cfs.
Water Temp: 60F @ 10a.
Water clarity: ~ 4’ – varying depending on location.
Air Temp: 53 @ 9a – 65 @ 4p.
Hatches: Light midges in the morning – light PMDs in mid-morning into the afternoon.
Looking down onto the Between the Islands Run. You can see the upper island to the left.
August 31st – the last day of August – a crisp, clear Colorado morning welcomed me to Deckers. Lately, it’s been hard to predict what the Denver Water Department will do with flows in the entire South Platte River drainage. I picked Deckers as my destination as it seemed to be the most fish friendly, flow wise – even though they have been bringing them down in steps during the past week.
My plan was to hit the Between the Islands Run first thing. I was thinking the fish would be feeding in the rocks close to the shore. The water there is slower and relatively shallow and the plan was to start with a Dry/Dropper rig. There are usually a lot of fish in this area and in the seam where the fast water gives way to slower water. You can spot some of them in the pockets that are created by many boulders in the shallows.
Luckily this spot was open when I arrived. I first scouted the area to see if I could spot any fish in the pockets. I didn’t see any, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t any in there. So I rigged up with an Amy’s Aunt as my “Dry” followed by a #16 Hare’s Ear as my “Dropper”. I then tied on a #20 Mercury Black Beauty and followed it with a #20 Pheasant Tail PMD. This gave me about 6’ of “drop”. I also used 5x tippet. I wanted to give this a try with the higher flows.
Looking downstream from the middle of the Between the Islands Run. The lower island is middle-right.
There were some midges hatching – but it was sparse. A little later in the morning, I saw a few PMD’s – but they were sparse too.
I started out on the large rock that forms part of the bank just before the water drains to the right of the bottom island. There is a nice pocket there with a seam where fish usually hang out. After a couple of casts I saw a fish rise up and follow my flies. But he broke off and didn’t hit. So I kept casting into this area to see if I could entice him. And it worked! It was a 14” female brownie – and she took the Black Beauty.
1st fish of the day.
After releasing her, I worked the rest of the pocket water. To my surprise I had no activity. There’s usually a lot of nice fish feeding here – as it provides great cover for them. But not today.
So I moved down stream. There is slower water on the south side of the river just below the island and I wanted to check it out. At the end of this run is a deeper pool and I usually spot a couple of fish feeding in the run along the bank. And I’ve caught fish in the run of fish in the pool too.
I didn’t spot any fish in the run near the bank, so I decided to rig up some nymphs and try the pool. I had a #10 Pat’s Rubber Leg leading, followed by a #20 Black Two Bit Hooker and a #20 Mercury Pheasant Tail PMD. I used 6x tippet on this rig thinking that the slower water is very clear – and I wanted to see if it made a difference. After working this area for some time without any action, I decided to move on. My plan was to try the upper part of the Between the Islands Run.
On my way I made a spot decision to stop at the lower part of the run. The same place I started with my Dry/Dropper rig. My thought was “why not give the nymph rig a shot”? So I did. When fishing this area with a nymph rig, it’s better to cast further out into the faster water. It didn’t take too long to hook up a 19” rainbow. I’ve lost quite a few nice fish here. After hooking them up, they run toward the fast water that leads to a drop off. Once they get in there – it’s almost impossible to bring them in.
I was very concerned that I had tied my flies with 6x tippet – which is lighter than the 5x tippet I had on my Dry/Dropper rig. But I left the drag where it was – which was pretty tight – and I was able to guide her into the slower water and net her. She was a beautiful fish with a wide girth. Probably pushing 3 to 4 pounds. (I need to get a streamside scale!). As I was holding her to take a picture – she jumped out of my hands and was gone.
In my experience there are usually more than one fish feeding in this spot. So I was optimistic that there were a few more nice fish to be caught. But it didn’t turn out that way – dang it! After working the whole area for a bit, I decided to break for lunch.
I wanted to try Mark’s Run after lunch. But while I was sitting there eating – I could see 4 fishermen working that run. So I adjusted my plan. I’d try the same spot I stared out in this morning. If that didn’t produce, I would ride up to the Cable Hole. If it was open, I’d try that. If not, I’d ride down to the bridge and find a spot down there.
The Cable Hole. You can see the cable that marks the line between private and public water. The private water is upstream (to the left of the cable).
To my surprise the Cable Hole and the run below it was entirely open. I had about 150 yards of open water to fish. There’s a hole on the south side of the river where a pool is formed behind a huge boulder -then there is slower water downstream from it. Fish like to feed in this area and you can easily spot them – and just as easily spook them!
So I took a look at this spot – called the Road Hole – first. And sure enough, there were a couple of nice rainbows there in the pool. After a few casts I had one of them on. It ran directly across river into the fast water and pretty quickly broke off. When I brought my line in, I saw that the tippet had broken between my Two Bit Hooker and the Pheasant Tail. So he took the Pheasant Tail and my tippet must have been stressed from bringing in the rainbow I caught earlier.
So I tied on another Pheasant Tail and continue to fish the pool. I was after the other large rainbow I could see which looked to be in the 20” range. While trying to catch this on, I hooked up a hungry 8” brownie. She took the Pheasant Tail.
A beautiful little brownie.
After that, I walked downstream – just below the pool. I spotted another brownie feeding there. It was a nice one in the 17” range. There was a rock just in front of where he was feeding. On one of my casts, I got caught on the rock. At first I thought I had the fish. Surprisingly, I was able to get my fly free from the rock without spooking the fish. On my very next cast, I thought I got caught on the rock again. So I lifted my line, pulling it upstream to free it. But it wasn’t the rock – it was the fish! With the poor hook set he was able to break off pretty quickly.
Ugh! In one of Pat Dorsey’s books, he says to image there is nothing in the water to snag your flies on. If anything disturbs you indicator, set the hook! I’ve found this is easier said than done. For me anyway. It seems that I get conditioned when getting hung up on rocks frequently – I treat them as a snag first. Hopefully I’ll break this conditioning soon….
I spotted more fish feeding near the shore. I tried to cast to them from on the road behind the willows. As I did to hook up the fish earlier. But the best way was to wade into the water and cast back to shore. Of course the water is much faster as you wade out – making very difficult to get into position. But this is what I did. With all the difficulty wading in the fast water and among all the rocks – I ended up spooking the fish before I was able to get a cast to them.
A view of the Road Hole looking upstream into the Cable Hole.
After a couple of hours spent in this area, I finally moved into the Cable Hole. I didn’t want to wade across the river to the north side where I usually fish it. But it’s not the easiest spot to cross the river, and with the higher flows I wasn’t going to try. So I fished it from the south side. I’ve done this before and was able to catch fish – so why not.
I did see one fish behind the large submerged boulders near the bank, but he got spooked and swam off. I noticed that there was a lot of algae growing in the hole. I was pretty sure this changed the typical holding areas for the fish. So I decided to move down and see Mark’s Run was open.
These two downed trees used to mark a hole I like to fish in Mark's Run. They may have been downed by erosion caused by the recent higher flows?
I was glad it was open and thought it would be a good place to end the day. I scouted the slower, shallow water near the south side of the river first. Surprisingly I didn’t spot any fish, so I began to work the seam where it met the faster water. Moving farther into the river in steps. There was nothing happening there – which is not typical. The increased flows throughout the day was most likely was the reason. When the flows are increased the fish seem to disappear. I don't know where they go, but it takes some time for them to acclimate to the higher flows.
Looking downstream from Mark's Run toward the Between the Islands Run. The upper island is in the middle of the picture.
The river changes – sometimes on a daily basis – but more so on a seasonal one. It makes it more interesting and fun. You’ve got to understand the changes and make adjustments to be successful.
Nice pictures!