July 27, 2020
Flows: 228 cfs
Water Temp: 62F @ 10a.
Water clarity: Clear with moss starting to grow.
Air Temp: 53 @ 9a – 67 @ 4p.
Hatches: Pretty heavy PMD 8:15a to 3p and spotty Caddis late morning to mid-afternoon, Tricos 9a to 11a, Stoneflies early afternoon, and Crane Flies.
Well – they all didn’t get away, but a lot did!
A view of some remaining buildings from the old Spinney Mountain Ranch.
Brian and I met at the Charlie Myers State Wild Life Area - affectionately referred to as The Dream Stream - on Monday. We were greeted to a beautiful, misty morning and almost empty parking lots. Wow – there’s 5 1/2 miles of fishable river between Spinney Mountain Reservoir and 11 Mile Reservoir – so we had a lot of space between fishermen. And to add to that, there were multiple hatches taking place – providing a varied menu for the fish - and they were pretty active.
Tricos.
Pat Dorsey – in his book Fly Fishing the South Platte River says “these are the strongest fish for their size I have ever hooked on a fly rod”. He will not get an argument from me. Between Brian and I, we had about 12 fish legitimately hooked and fighting – and we only brought 3 to net. One was a fingerling – so it doesn’t really count. But all the others were between 17” and 20”+ range – with one 15 incher. And they were well fed - it was hard for me to get my hands around the 19” brownie I landed and the 15” brownie had a wide girth too.
We parked in the upper parking lot and walked beside the fence to the river – then walked upstream about 1/8 of a mile – to where the river bends to the right. There are two islands – one at the top of the run and one in the middle of it with willows along the bank - it’s appropriately referred to as the Upper Willows. There are large boulders and downed trees to give structure that form deep pools, pockets, and seams along the entire run.
Looking downstream from the Upper Willows.
As we geared up riverside at about 8:30a – there was a significant Pale Morning Dun hatch taking place. So I didn’t hesitate to rig up a #16 Caddis Larva, followed by my favorite PMD flies – a #20 Pheasant Tail PMD and a #20 Barr Emerger PMD. Brian was fishing a Top Secret Midge and a Green Zebra Midge. He was in the middle of the run, so I began at the end of it – just above where it bends (from where I was to the left).
A Yellow Sally Stonefly. These were hatching in the early afternoon.
The fish in the Dream Stream get a lot of fishing pressure and are spooked very easily. So I took a more cautious approach than normal. Which is instead of walking close to typical holding areas (to see if I can see fish) – I casted into them from a distance 1st, to see if any trout were holding. And I would stay behind large boulders that were sticking out of the water and cast beyond them into typical holding spots. You can’t really sight fish this way – but this approach paid off for me on many instances on this day.
Such as the 1st fish that I caught mid-stream in about 3 feet of water. The take was a no doubter – and I had a healthy 19” athlete on the end of my line. A brownie. I had decided a few weeks ago to leave my drag set pretty loose so that the bigger fish could run instead of break off. Then I can gradually adjust my drag a little tighter as required. My thought is to let the fish run, followed him as much a possible, avoid letting the fish get downstream of me, and tire him out – then net him. I think it’s a sound strategy – but there is a lot that can - and will go wrong - with a big fish having too much reign.
So I followed this one downstream – then upstream and back downstream - to the bend. I had him on for what seemed like 10 minutes – and then he went deep into the kelp – and got tied up in it. By this time Brian came down to lend a hand. I really didn’t know what to do to get him out of the kelp. He was a strong swimmer and was in the current, and now tied up in the kelp. But I was able to work him loose by going upstream and walking further into the river. Then I was able to bring him the slower water near the riverbank where Brian was waiting with his net.
Jeez – that was some effort and I was glad Brian gave me a hand. My arms were actually tired and bit sore. But what a beautiful brownie – 19” and solid as a rock! My guess is he easily weighed 5 pounds – maybe more. He took the Barr Emerger.
Here's me releasing a 19" brownie.
Then about 10 minutes later I hooked up a nice rainbow in the same area. This one did the same thing – as far as taking me all over the place, and he ended up in the same place as the brownie. But he wasn’t tangled in the kelp. So this was a little easier and I brought him to the same spot near the bank where Brian was again waiting with his net. I actually had this one almost in my net before he took another run – and I finally got him back to where Brian was. Which was a cramped space with a bunch of boulders boxing him in. He took a stab at the fish and then the fish broke free! The line broke – either from the net or by rubbing on one of those big boulders. Are you kidding me!! This one looked a bit bigger than the brownie that I had just landed. Oh well – I was mostly pissed because he took my Barr Emerger with him!
Then we spotted some trout feeding on spent Tricos in the calm water near the opposite bank in the tail end of the run. I tried my nymph rig with several cast to see if maybe they would take a PMD too. No luck. So I tied a #18 Sparkle Dun PMD followed by a #24 Trico Spinner on my dry fly rig. After several casts from different approaches – I gave up. It was very difficult to get a good presentation because you had to cast over fast water into the slower pocket. So my flies were only momentarily on a dead drift before the fast water created drag. I used a reach cast to get the longest dead drift that I could – but it was windy too – which didn’t make things any easier. I have caught fish in this situation before – that is, with a momentary dead drift - but not this time.
So I went back to my nymph rig – a low and behold I hooked up three fish in quick succession. They were anywhere from 17” to 20” - but they all broke free! I mentioned to Brian – "I hope it isn’t going to be one of those days"!!
The larger one of the three – he looked to be in the 20” range, gave me another fight to remember. At the end – he ran upstream and near the bank. Just then, it felt like I had a snag and not a fish. And that is exactly what happened. My Pheasant Tail got snagged on some sort of fabric that was tied onto something and the fish broke free. The only thing I could do was shake my head.
I then moved upstream and began working just below the upper island, which has large boulders on it’s downstream side. They create some nice pockets, and seams with slower water near the bend of the river. I set up behind one of the large boulders and casted into the seam on the edge of the slow water. After just a few casts I had on another large trout. The fight was on! This one wanted to work upstream – which is fine by me. This way he is fighting the current and my drag. But he bolted to the near side bank – which had some undercuts. I was thinking that if he got into one of them – he would likely get tangled and break free. So I horsed him a bit to try and stop him. Bad idea. He broke off!
Then Brian took a lunch break – and we decided to try another spot when he was done. So I got in a few more casts while he ate and hooked up a nice 15” brownie. He took the Pheasant Tail and was a hard fighter but nothing like bigger ones I got into earlier – and I was able to net him. Hallelujah!
A 15" male brownie.
After Brian finished with his lunch, we moved further upstream where there was another island. I decided to work that spot and Brian moved further up from me. At the top of the island there was a rock weir that created a fast seam with a slow pocket tucked in near the bank. I took the cautious approach and stayed back behind the seam. My only cast was an upstream one as I tried to get my flies just on the outside of the fast seam. After three or so casts – I got it just right – and I had another 19” or so brownie hooked up. After fighting him for a while, he ran upstream and took me over some boulders. That was that – line snapped! Ugh!
The island created a shallow riffle on the near side and I decided to give that a try. As it turned out – it was very shallow – but I decided to try it anyway thinking maybe a smaller fish would be there. And I found one. This one was about 4”!! Smallest fish of the day – he took the Barr Emerger, which fully filled his mouth!!
A fingling brownie. One day he will be 20" and will give you all that you can handle!!
I found the last fish of the day just below the top island back at the Upper Willows. I spotted him feeding just below the surface in almost the exact sport that I hooked up the one earlier. After trying several casts from different positions – I got a perfect drift. This one didn’t hit as usual. There was no pause on my indicator – or flash that I saw. It was more like the movie Jaws. Where the shark takes the buoy ripping through the ocean. It looked just like that - he took my indicator ripping through the river. And he eventually took me all the way to the lower part of the run and below the bend in the river – and broke free.
Another view of the old Spinney Mountain Ranch - after it cleared up.
Yes – it was one of those days.
You talken to me!
But the Dream Stream lived up to it's billing! We had a lot of chances with some very nice fish and it was an exciting experience.
Comments