May 25, 2022
The South Platte River at Deckers – The Bridge Hole to above the Rock Garden & the Lone Rock Campground.
Flows: 184 cfs.
Water Temp: 44F.
Water clarity: Crystal clear.
Air Temp: low 37F @ 8:30a – high 62sF @ 4p.
Hatches: Very light midge 8:30a to 12N. A few caddis in the air starting around noon.
Flies: #18 Psycho Prince Nymph, #22 Chocolate Thunder, #24 Top Secret Midge, #24 Barr Emerger BWO, #18 Mercury Pheasant Tail, #18 Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear, #20 Pheasant Tail, #20 Red Dale’s Pale Midge.
Top producers: Barr Emerger, Pheasant Tail, Dale’s Pale Midge.
Looking into the Rock Garden.
They were either in the act of spawning, vying for position to be next in line to get on the redd and spawn, recovering from just getting off the redd, or thinking of spawning. They only had one thing on their mind --- spawning.
Who could blame them?
It led to a very slow day.
I was standing in Ray’s Run – one of my favorite places to stalk trout. I could see them everywhere --- in various stages of spawning. There were some brownies out there too. Those were the ones I was targeting. They weren’t spawning – no they were in the “flats” nymphing.
The flows were low and Ray’s Run is a pretty wide section of the river. When it’s like this – ankle deep in a lot of spots – I get the sense that I’m in the Florida Flats fishing for Bonefish and Tarpon. The trout move into the ankle-deep water and sip nymphs as they float by.
I picked out a brownie. My rig was setup with a Psycho Prince Nymph as my “attractor” – my lead fly. Following it was a #22 Chocolate Thunder and a #24 Top Secret Midge.
A killer set up.
My weight was light – a .12g split shot was all. But it ended up being too much. The Prince Nymph has a tungsten bead head and coupled with the bb size split shot in the slow, ankle-deep water --- it was too much. I wanted my flies on the bottom. The fish had to be there. The water was too low for them to be suspended in an upper column. There wasn’t an upper column.
Or so I thought.
After several --- no, more than several ----drifts into the flats my indicator stopped as my flies were on target to the brownie. I set the hook and was now fighting a very aggressive, pissed off, brownie. But I foul hooked him. My flies were actually underneath him when my indicator stopped.
Too much weight!
I foul-hooked this brownie in Ray's Run. (I don't normally take pictures and show fish I foul-hooked - but I didn't have many fish pictures from this day!)
There are a few schools of thought when you foul hook a fish. Fishing guides – professionals – will tell you to break them off by pointing your fly rod at them. This works --- some of the time. The fly will break loose, the fish is free, all is good.
Other times, the line breaks and the fish is free, but all is not good. He is swimming around with a fly imbedded somewhere in him and one or two more flies dangling off him. They will impair his ability to swim freely and feed. The dangling flies could get tangled in the moss, a branch, or some other debris causing undo hardship to the fish. And you lose all your flies in the process. Not a win-win. No, just the opposite.
With this in mind, I try to land the fish. It’s a painful process and it doesn’t always work out but the upside is you free the fish with no impairments and you recover all your flies. The hard part is landing him.
That’s what I did when I foul hooked this big brownie. I followed him downstream as he fought to get free and was able to get his tail out of the water. That is key. Once his tail is out of the water he can’t swim. Not easy to do – but that’s the goal. Once I got his tail out – I held my rod high as I reached for him with my net.
Then I set him free. None the worse for the wear.
It's not real clear - but that's a fox I just chased away from my lunch!
As I continued to search for another brownie – walking in the low water, peering into the river – a rather large fox approached my backpack which I left on the bank of the river. It was on the bank on the other side of the river from where I was now. My spare rod was there with it. My sandwich was in my pack. My lunch. And the fox was after it.
Mess with my lunch? You got a fight on your hands buddy.
There are river rocks all over the place and I was going to throw one at him but I was afraid that I’d him my rod instead and break it. So I yelled at him as he poked my pack with his snout. I continued to yell at him --- and he finally left. But he’d be back a short time later. This time I had to wade out of the water and scare him away. I took my pack and rod and moved on.
Don’t mess with my lunch – buddy!
Deer crossing the river at Fishermen's Run.
We actually started our day in the Bridge Hole and Fishermen’s Run. Me in the Bridge Hole, Brian in Fishermen’s. We got there about 8a and we were in the water by 8:30a. No apparent hatches were in progress. But it wasn’t very long and Brian had the first fish of the day in the net. A 17” rainbow who took his #20 Pheasant Tail.
One of Brian's rainbows. This one 18 inches.
Brian Kenney.
But that was it and after a while we moved into Ray’s Run. After retrieving my pack I crossed back to the other side of the river, climbed out, and walked up the road to see what Brian was up to. He was just walking back from the Rock Garden and spotted a few trout in the middle of Ray’s Run on the south side of the river.
I ate my lunch and watched him try for the trout. First nymphing – then after seeing a couple rise for caddis’ as they began to hatch – he switched to dries. There were a few out there rising – sporadically – but he didn’t get any takers. After a while Brian gathered up his stuff and climbed up the bank to meet me.
I had just finished eating a chicken stuffed Anaheim pepper sandwich. The one the fox was trying to steal from me. That damn fox I was thinking – he’s messing with the wrong guy!
A river scene from my lunch spot.
Well, he did provide some excitement that morning. When you’re fishing and a fox provides the excitement – it’s a slow fishing day!
We then walked back up to the Rock Garden and fished for a few trout we found in the pockets and seams. But we couldn’t entice them to hit. It’s puzzling to me. At times I’ve seen fish move a few feet to attack my flies. Then you have times like this – when they seem hunkered down and not interested. I keep thinking of all kinds of different reasons, trying to rationalize their behavior. Who knows?
This took us all the way to just below the Bend Hole. There we found more redds and more fish spawning. It was disappointing and we decided to walk back to the car. As we did we saw a couple of guys walking trough redds completely unaware of what they were doing. The guides and fly shops encourage you to call out to fishermen who do these types of things. Me – I don’t want the hassle. We continued to the car not saying anything.
A cutbow Brian landed above Lone Rock Campground.
Brian Kenney.
During our walk to the car we decided that we’d try the Lone Rock Campground – hoping it was open. By then most of the fishermen we saw earlier in the day had left. The slow fishing got the most of them. Who could blame them?
Once at the campground we spotted fish in the normal places. They were skittish and much harder to fool than what we’ve experienced in the past. After considerable effort I was able to fool a 17” cutbow with a #24 Barr Emerger.
Finally, a fish in the net – legally! That would be it for me for the day.
My one and only fish of the day. A 17" cutbow I took out of the Lone Rock Campground Run.
Brian had more success – landing a handful of rainbows and a cutbow. He got them above the Campground where there are shallow riffles and troughs. The Pheasant Tail and his Red Dale’s Pale Midge were bringing them to net. We also found what else --- more redds and more spawning rainbows.
There is a fast seam where I spotted some rainbows. As I was changing my flies getting setup to fish for them, Brian walked up and said they were spawning. My response was “no way”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen fish spawning in such fast water. But after observing them – they were indeed spawning.
Brian got this rainbow above the Lone Rock Campground.
Brian Kenney.
Not much later – and after spotting rainbows after rainbows on redds, getting in line to get on redds and so forth – I was out of gas.
It was a slow day.
A view into the Lone Rock Campground Run.
They were spawning.
Comentarios