July 14, 2021 – 11 Mile Canyon (The Upper Road Hole to the Lower Road Hole)
Flows: 163 cfs at 8a, dropping to 151 cfs at 11:30a.
Water Temp: 60F at 11:30a.
Water clarity: Clear to about 6’.
Air Temp: ~50F @ 8a, 55 @ 4p.
Hatches: Midge: 8a – 10a, and 3p till 3:45p (when we left), PMD and Green Drakes: 1:00p – 3:45p, Spotty caddis throughout the day.
Flies: #12 Tungstone, #20 Mercury PMD Pheasant Tail, #24 Top Secret Midge, #22 PMD Barr Emerger, #18 Sawyer Pheasant Tail, #10 Chubby Chernobyl, #22 PMD Sparkle Dun, #20 Parachute PMD, #24 Black Midge, #20 Flashback Pheasant Tail.
Top producers: PMD Pheasant Tail, Chubby Chernobyl, Top Secret Midge, Black Midge, Flashback Pheasant Tail.
A brightly colored Cutbow. Caught in the Upper Road Hole on a PMD Pheasant Tail.
11 Mile Canyon is known to hold Snake River Cutthroat trout. It’s also known for it’s rugged beauty and for being a great trout fishery. Along with the Snake River Cutthroat – it holds rainbows, cutbows, and brownies. It also has an abundant sucker population.
Oh – I have to mention the wind. It's know for that too - and it is usually windy in the Canyon – especially near the dam. Above the dam is 11 Mile Reservoir and an expansive open plain. There’s nothing to stop the wind that blows into the canyon from the west. You need to be prepared for it and make necessary adjustments when casting, and tying on and cleaning your flies. At times it causes ripples on the water that hinder your ability to sight fish too. It could be nasty, but most of the time – it’s just annoying.
Releasing another Cutbow. They're plentiful in 11 Mile Canyon.
The fishing makes it all worthwhile. There are deep pools, lots of pocket water, runs, riffles and seams – and there are lots of trout. It’s said that the two miles below the dam hold over 2,100 fish per mile (Per Jeff Spohn - Fly Fishing Guide to the South Platte River, Pat Dorsey). There is also an abundance of aquatic insects for them to feed on. Midges, beatis, Tricos, Green Drakes, caddis, stoneflies – along with leeches, and terrestrial insects - provide a smorgasbord for them to choose from. It’s not unusual to find fish rising to the various hatches that are occurring – affording excellent dry fly fishing.
Sound like a fly fishing paradise? Pretty close in my book.
When the water is running clear you can sight fish and it’s very easy to spot a Snake River Cut. They’re brilliant red cheeks and oranges fins give them away. The rainbows – with their bright red stripes - are also easy to spot. The browns are a little harder to see. They generally look like dark spots in the water – their moving about and feeding is what gives them away. The suckers – they look like dark spots too but don’t move about as much – and in clear water you can see white spots on their fins.
Kiss me! This beauty was my 1st catch of the day.
We started out at the Upper Road Hole. Brian had one on within 5 minutes – but the fish was able to break free before he could net him. That is not an unusual occurrence in this particular spot. The fish here are very strong swimmers and as soon as you hook up – they dart toward the fast water and before you know it, you’re fighting a strong swimming fish in downstream water. Never a good position to be in.
When the fish are downstream of you – the tension on the line causes them to rise toward the surface. So now you’re fighting the fish and the current. The line will get very taunt and the fish have a greater chance to spit the fly. Happens frequently.
Yet another Cutbow - caught in the Upper Road Hole.
As I surveyed the area, I saw some dark spots in the water close to shore. After several casts I had one on and it felt like a pretty big fish too. After getting him close it was apparent that he was big ---- a sucker - about 20”. Ugh! The damn thing hit my Top Secret Midge.
That was my first fish of the day – and the only sucker. But later in the day I spotted a whole school of them in a pool just below the Log Run. They usually spawn in from mid-April to mid-June in Colorado so I’m not sure why there were so many of them grouped together. I’ve seen this before on the South Platte in Deckers. Maybe this particular year nature has adjusted the spawning time in this part of the river. Not sure – but it safe to say they were plentiful on this day. I was glad that I only caught one!
These beatis where pumped out of the 1st cutbow I caught.
After releasing the sucker, I spotted a few rainbows - evidenced by their bright red stripes. (Some ended up being Cutbows. Hard to tell the difference when in the water). They were also close to shore and were at the head of the pool where the suckers were hanging out. I hooked up two – and just as Brian had experienced earlier – they ran into the fast water and broke off.
But I kept at it and was a able to land a few nice trout. The first one was an 18” cutbow. He gave me quite a fight and as the other ones – he too ran into the fast water. But Brian was standing downstream of me and was able to net him for me. He took the PMD Pheasant Tail. I was a bit surprised by that because the PMDs weren’t coming off yet.
The other trout I hooked up all ran downstream, but I was able to move with them and coax them into the slower water where I was able to net them. I had a couple more hit on the PMD Pheasant Tail and one hit the Top Secret Midge.
Brian and I continued to fish the area, alternating between spots. One of us upstream, the other downstream – then changing places. At one point Brian was fishing the tailout of a pocket at the upper part of the hole and hooked up a nice 17” cutbow. Once he got his fly – a Flashback Pheasant Tail – removed, I moved in to get a picture of him releasing it. As he lowered the fish towards the water – the fish jumped free before I could get it. Luckily Brian had already got a picture of him.
There's the cutbow in the water - after he muscled his way out of Brian's hands.
After a bit we started to move downstream. As we did, I spotted several fish feeding along the bank. I moved into the middle of the river and casted back near the shore line – but I wasn’t able to entice a hit from any of them. The water is much slower along the bank and I’m thinking my lead fly – a Tungstone – was too heavy, keeping my flies below the fish.
After trying a couple of spots – I waded out of the river and walked down to the Log Run. This run usually holds pods of fish. They seem more skittish in this run than other parts of the river – and they’re hard to catch. A lot of them are nice size fish and put up quite a fight.
As I walked up, I spotted several large rainbows at the head of the run. They were spread out across the width of the river – with one close to the shore where I was standing. I moved downstream of them and carefully waded back upstream along the bank – hoping not to spook any of them.
Releasing a 17" brownie caught at the bend in the river below the Log Run.
Once I got into position, I decided to try to get the one closest to me. Being so close to me, it was an awkward cast and drift – but I was able to get and upstream cast landing my flies above the fish. He hit my Top Secret as it drifted into his zone and the fight was on. He took me across the river and eventually headed downstream. I followed, determined not to lose this one. He was one of those nice sized ones – thinking about 20”.
I finally tired him out and had him ready to net. As I put my net down the fish frantically thrashed about – and proceeded to get my second fly stuck on my magnet strap. So now I had a 20” fish hooked up – but I was constrained by my second fly. I could only move the net so much as I tried to get it downstream of the fish. After a few attempts – the fish broke my tippet and swam away.
They say that you are most likely to lose a fish either upon hook-up – or when netting him. I can attest to the second part for sure. Netting. I’ve had so many things go wrong when netting a fish – it’s almost comical. This was the first time I had a fly get stuck on my net - hamstringing me - and inhibiting my ability to net the damn thing. I’m hoping it was the last time something goes wrong at the net --- but it’s probably not.
Brian got this 17" Cutbow in the Log Run on a Flashback Pheasant Tail.
Brian Kenney.
Brian soon joined me and we fished the entire run. He and I both hooked up a few and lost them within 10 seconds. Once we set the hook, the fish jetted – literally jetted – across the river. On one, I set the hook and before I could release my finger from the line – he was on the other side of the river and broke off. It had to be an interval of no more than 3 seconds. Impressive how fast they were.
Brian finally hooke one up and netted him. A nice 17" rainbow who took the Flashback Pheasant Tail. He was about midway in the Log Run in shallow water close to the north shore.
Brian caught this midge along the side of the river in the Log Run.
Brian Kenney.
While Brian was fishing that spot, I had moved down to the bend of the river. This is where I spotted that school of succers. They were in slower water and just beyond them there was a seam of faster water. I couldn't see into the seam but it looked like it would hold some fish. And sure enough, after a few drifts into it I had a 17" brownie take my Sawyer's Pheasant Tail.
It was about 11:30a or so when I released that brownie and time for lunch. As we ate streamside, we noticed the PMDs were coming off. There was also a bigger fly coming off. I wasn’t able to catch one to verify their identity, but I think they were Green Drakes. And there were still some midges hatching.
A view from our streamside lunch.
Brian was first to leave – headed to the run above the bridge. The Upper Bridge Run. We’ve had a lot of fun fishing there before and we were thinking we may get into some rising fish. As I approached, Brian was in the lower part of the run just upstream from the bridge.
Upstream from him, there is a line of boulders (I’m sure they were placed as part of a river improvement effort) with water flowing over them and a river-wide pocket of water behind them. I was looking into the wide pocket of water to see if I could spot a fish. There was one near me and I thought I had spooked it. But I set my stuff down and grabbed my Hopper/Dropper rig anyway.
As I went back to the side of the river – there was the fish. Now close to the boulders feeding on insects as they were washed over it. I made a short cast above the boulders and my flies floated toward the fish. I’ve never seen what happened next.
As my Hopper – the trusty Chubby Chernobyl – floated over the boulders the fish came up, mouth open – the fly was just about in his mouth. Then he backed off! I was amazed, but kept the drift going. The fish moved downstream and came up to take a closer look. This time it almost appeared as if he was sniffing it. Again, he backed off. I continued to let the drift go and the fish again moved downstream with it. He came up a third time and this time he slowly sipped my fly.
Looking into the upper section of the Log Run.
I’m sure he was totally surprised when I set the hook. As the other fish we hooked up that day – he took off like a bat out of hell – headed to the opposite shore. I had my 6-weight rod/reel in hand and this fish was streaming line out of it. Jeez. I was not expecting that. I slowly increased my drag trying to get a handle on this bad boy. And finally did. But not after he took me all over the river.
Finally netting him – a 19” rainbow. This fish was built. He had a wide girth and was as strong as an ox. My guess is he weighed close to three pounds.
This rainbow took my Cubby Chernobyl - after giving it a thorough inspection.
Soon after releasing that fish it began to rain. It was a light, steady rain. Not the pelting thunderstorm that we normally get – and a few fish were rising. It was sporadic, here and there but I tried some dries, targeting the area where I’d see a fish rise. My lead fly was a Parachute PMD followed by a PMD Sparkle Dun.
I got no interest and after a bit we moved further downstream to the Beaver Run. I was on the upstream side of the run just below the Lower Bridge Hole. Brian was in the middle of the run. I could spot a couple of fish mid-river and in the shallows. I was nymphing and wasn’t getting any interest from the ones I could spot. The PMDs were still coming off and one of the fish in the middle of the river was rising to them.
Fooled this brownie with a PMD Sparkle Dun.
After watching him come up with a regular rhythm – I decided to switch up and fish my dries. On my second drift, the fish came up and hit – but I missed him. I was thinking he would now ignore my flies. But I kept at it and on about my third drift after I missed him – he came up again and hit my PMD Sparkle Dun.
I didn’t miss him this time.
It was a brownie. Not all that big – about 15”. But he too gave a gallant fight taking me downstream about 100 yards or so. I followed him to avoid the pitfalls – described above - of fighting a fish downstream and finally netted him. Another healthy, strong fish.
It was surprising to me, but that brownie was the only fish I could spot that was rising. Most of the time, I see groups of fish rising – not just one. So I went back to my nymphing rig and continued to fish the area. Brian could see a few fish and had a couple hits on his dry flies – but neither of us hooked up. So after a bit, I suggested that we head to the Lower Road Hole – thinking it could salvage the afternoon for us.
Releasing a rainbow in the Upper Road Hole.
It was still raining when we got to the hole. It’s across the road from the Idlewild picnic area. I really like this spot. There are usually fish in the shallow riffles that feed into a deep pool – and there are fish in the deep pool too. I scouted the various pockets and runs above the hole – up to just below the island – and I didn’t spot any fish. Brian walked up just I was finishing my recon. Since I didn’t spot any fish upstream, we decided to stay in the Lower Road Hole and fish it.
Brian was at the top end – and I waded across the river to fish the tail out of it. It didn’t take Brian long before he hooked up and landed a nice 15” rainbow on a small - #24 – Black Midge. It was about 3p and the midges were beginning there afternoon hatch – a bit early as it was. I was encouraged.
I got this 17" brownie just below the Lower Road Hole on a PMD Pheasant Tail.
I had now moved a bit further downstream and was fishing my Hopper/Dropper in a shallow run close to shore. I didn’t see any fish – but it looked like a fishy spot – so I gave it a try. I have a bad habit of looking around as my flies drift down the river – especially if I don’t see any fish in my drift zone. And that’s what I was doing when I noticed my Hopper was nowhere in sight.
Just as I was about to set the hook, I felt a fish struggling to get free. I had a hit – but wasn’t watching and I missed the set. But the fish was on – he hooked himself. But not firmly – and after a brief struggle, he was free. During the brief battle, I had it to the surface and could see he was a nice size brownie. I was pretty disgusted with myself.
After that one got off, I moved downstream about 50 yards and proceeded to fish up and down that span of river. With the steady rain it was hard to spot fish, but I did see some along the run. As I worked my way back to where I had that fish on earlier, I got into another one. I wasn’t daydreaming or distracted this time!
Got this 15" rainbow in the morning at the Upper Road Hole on a Top Secret Midge.
I had one pissed off brownie taking me all over the place – finally downriver about 50 yards. Again I had my 6-weight in hand and was using 5x tippet. So after fighting this fish for quite awhile I decided to use some brute force and pulled him to net. A nice 17” brownie - he took the PMD Pheasant Tail.
It was still raining at 4p when we decided to call it a day. It was another interesting and fun day at 11 Mile. Brian had a bunch hooked up and netted a couple of rainbows and a cutbow.
I got this one on a PMD Pheasant Tail. It was a hot fly for me.
I also lost my share of fish, but had the trifecta – in this case a rainbow, cutbow, and brownie – more than one each at that. And that one sucker.
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