Underrated

January 28, 2021

Flows: 77 cfs

Water Temp: 34 @ 8:40a.

Water clarity: ~4’

Air Temp: 18 @ 8:30a, 48 @ 4p.

Hatches: Midges – 11a to mid-afternoon

Moon Phase: Full

Flies: #18 Chartreuse Copper John, #20 Red Rainbow Warrior, #22 Mercury Flashback Black Beauty, #22 Chocolate Thunder, #24 Black Zebra Emerger, #20 Red Zebra Midge.

Top producers: Copper John, Chocolate Thunder, Black Beauty, Black Zebra Emerger, Red Zebra Midge.

Cold start to the day - downstream from the Hatchery Hole.

Brian and I sync up a day or so before our (usually) weekly fishing trips. Water flows, fishing reports, weather forecasts, and other factors go into our decision on where to go – and what water to fish at the destination. We did the same this week and picked the Tailwater again.

The Tailwater – the Arkansas River downstream of the Pueblo Dam – is hard to beat in the winter. The temperatures are usually bearable – for winter – and the flows are conducive to healthy fish activity, and bugs hatch pretty regularly. It all adds up to pretty good fishing. And it’s a place where you can catch 19” to 20” trout pretty regularly!

I was thinking about that as I began my drive down I25 on Thursday and I came to the conclusion that the Tailwater is definitely underrated. It just so happened that as I was thinking this, I was passing the exit that I take to go to Deckers. So here I am passing what is generally considered a world-class trout fishery – to go to another place to fish. This is the luxury the fly fisherman in Colorado enjoys.

1st one of the day. A 20" bull rainbow - taken out of the Valco Ponds Run on a Flashback Black Beauty. Felt like a 4 to 5 pounder.

The weather forecast is heavily weighted in our final decision. To be fair, Deckers and other mountain destinations are down right cold in the winter. But there are breaks in the weather here and there that may entice us to give one of them a try, especially for a change of pace. This week was one of them. The weather forecast was similar for both Deckers and Pueblo. But after we threw around a few ideas – we decided that even though both places were forecasted for a high of 50F – The Tailwater would probably be closer to it’s forecast. And the flows are so low at Deckers that there is ice on a lot of the water and sludge in it too.

We planned to meet at the Hatchery Hole. It seems that we can’t get enough of this one! The plan was to give it a try first thing, then move downstream. So I met Brian there about 8:30a – and it was cold. 18F. So cold in fact that I just watched Brian and another guy fish for a while. The other guy was positioned downstream from Brian in the deep hole at the confluence of the hatchery.

I kept myself occupied taking the water temp – which was a very cold 34F – taking some pictures, nosing around looking at different fishing spots, checking for bug activity (there was none), and so forth. I was also watching the fishing technique used by the guy near the hatchery inlet. He was nymph fishing but without an indicator, something I’ve never tried. It’s hard enough to detect a hit with an indicator and I’m pretty sure he would have a more difficult time detecting a hit without one.

There were high clouds that hid the sun so even though it was getting higher in the sky – it didn’t seem to warm up that much. Then about 10a it did finally get warm enough for me to rig up. My plan was to fish between Brian, who was at the head of the run, and the guy adjacent to the hatchery. There wasn’t a whole lot of room though and after a few casts and losing my entire rig on a snag, I decided to head downstream.

A 16" lightly colored female taken out of the Valco Ponds Run on a Flashback Black Beauty.

I gave Brian a heads-up as I left and headed to the Parking Lot Run. After getting my rig reset using the same flies, I promptly got snagged on the rocky substructure on my first two drifts. I was able to get them out wading in and wiggling the line a bit, but they were pretty good snags and I had enough of that, and quickly left. My next spot was the Valco Ponds Run and I was hoping it was open when I got there.

As I approached the run, there was an angler just downstream in the slow water where Brian had hooked up a couple of nice fish last week. But the run itself was open. After I set my backpack and spare rod/reel down, I scanned the run to see if I could spot any fish. Sure enough, I spotted what looked like a dark shadow in the seam about 6’ off the bank. It was hard to tell if it was a fish or not – sometime as the water moves by the waves create dark spots. But then I was sure the dark shadow moved. Had to be a fish.

A 17" male taken out of the Valco Ponds Run on a Chocolate Thunder.

I approached the water careful not to spook him. After a few drifts down the seam the fish was on. It was a big fish too. After fighting it for a bit, my line went slack. Gosh dang it – he got off. When I got my flies in for inspection I noticed that my tippet had broke off before my last fly. It must have gotten frayed when I got shagged on the rocks in the Parking Lot Run. Grrr.....

The only good that came out of that hook-up was the fish hit a fly I had been trying out but have not had success with. Brian calls it a Black Top Secret. It’s tied like a Black Zebra with a bit of crystal flash for legs. It was encouraging to get a fish on it. After that I couldn’t spot any other fish and decided to give the run a rest and began moving down into the slower water that the other angler had just vacated.

As I walked along the river I could spot a few fish feeding in the shallow water near the bank. The water was about 18” to 24” deep in that spot and was crystal clear. The fish I spotted where pretty good size and after a few drifts I had one on. It quickly took out a bunch of line and took me across the river to the other side. I walked downstream with him and felt pretty good about landing him. Then just as quickly the line gave out and my flies came flying back straight at me. Not sure what happened, but the fish was able to spit the fly – damn it!

A 14" rainbow with my Chocolate Thunder in her lip.

With that, I moved upstream a bit to fish the hole right behind the partially submerged log that sits at the end of the Valco Ponds Run. I had to give the previous spot a rest. After covering this hole – I moved back downstream to see if any fish had returned. And they did. And I got another nice one on! And after fighting this one for a good while – he got off. Urgh!

By now it was getting towards time for a late lunch. I was hungry, I didn't have any fish in the net yet, and there was a midge hatch in full swing. So I moved back upstream to give the Valco Ponds Run another look before I ate. And sure enough I spotted a nice rainbow at the head of the run – almost the same spot as the one I hooked up earlier. After a few casts, he hit. Once I had him on I could tell he was good size. He went right into the boulders and after getting him out of there he took me all the way down toward the partially submerged tree. I did all I could to keep him away from it, but he made a run under it. Jeez – I was pretty sure I wouldn’t get him back out and I actually grabbed my line with my left hand and pulled it upstream – and got him out! Wow – what a surprise. I was relieved, but he was still fighting hard and it wasn’t over yet. When I finally got him in the net he measured 20” and weighted in the 4 to 5 pound range. Nice fish!

A 19" - 3 to 4 pound - bull rainbow.

With that, I decided to eat my lunch stream-side and let the run set a while. As I was eating, I was wondering what was up with Brian. Since he didn’t show up, I was thinking he must be getting into some fish. I was also thinking about the rest of the day and thought the fishing was going to start to pick up. I just had that feeling. And it did.

A sample of the hatch - an adult Black Fly - which is a type of midge. There were tons of them in and on the water.

After lunch, I continued to alternate between fishing the Valco Ponds Run and the slow water downstream from it. This area covers approximately 60 yards. In the morning there were three other fishermen fishing in the same area. But after lunch there was only me and one other guy. He was fishing from the other side of the river and we took turns alternating between the Valco Ponds Run and the slow water downstream.

That was until about 2p. At that time the midge hatch was still in progress and it was a very healthy hatch at that. I could see them on the water – a ton of them. But strangely they weren’t as heavy in the air. The trout - sensing the midges in the water - began to move to the head of the run. I could see them. At first I saw dark shadows in the 2’ of water on my side of the river. Now I was seeing large trout fighting for territory mid-stream in front of the first boulder in the run.

Another view of an adult Black Fly. This one just broke out of his shuck and was floating on the water.

This is when it got exciting and fun! I was able to pick which trout to fish for. My plan was to cast to the fish closest to me first. This way I wouldn’t spook them by casting over them to get to the ones farther out. Or spooking them when fighting a fish to the net. At one point, I had a fish on and it took me right through most of the run. After netting and releasing him, I thought to myself – “after that, I’m going to have to give this a rest. There is no way I didn’t spook the fish, tromping through the water as I did fighting that fish”. Just then one came up and took a bug off the water!

Looking downstream from the Valco Ponds Run. Had the place to myself after 2:30p.

With that, I was immediately back at it. Now I was targeting the large rainbows I could see mid-stream. It was a good 30 feet out with a faster seam flowing between me and them. This required some serious upstream mends in order to get my flies on a dead drift. After a few casts I noticed that by the time my flies were near the zone, I’d have to mend for the second time. The second mend seemed to spook the fish. On my ensuing drifts, I let the line sit till my flies got right in front of the zone then I gave one big mend. This put the flies on a dead drift right in front of the fish. And it worked wonderfully!

From 2p till 4:30p I had landed a 19” rainbow that weight between 3 and 4 pounds and a few more in the 14” to 16’ range. I also had on – and lost - several others, four of which were in the 20” range. All in the Valco Ponds Run. It was something to see these rainbows coming to the head of the run and staking out their territory. And it was a bunch of fun picking them off. They weren’t easily fooled and I had to be very careful not to spook them. So “picking them off” was actually very challenging – and it felt very rewarding when I did hook them up. Even more so when I got them in the net.

One of Brian's rainbows. A 14" female - taken out of the Hatchery Hole on a Red Zebra Midge.

Photo by Brian Kenney.

The last time I saw Brian was when I left him at the Hatchery Hole. I had parked next to him when arriving – but when I went to my car to leave, he was already gone. I caught up with him the next morning and he said he had landed a few rainbows in the 14” range – and had lost several others in the 18” to 20” range. Must have been that type of day for both of us. He pumped the stomach of one of the ones he caught and it had eaten a bunch of midges. No surprise there.

A good comparison of Brian's flies and a live midge. The flies are size 24 and 26.

Photo by Brian Kenney.

Brian had worked the Hatchery Hole all day, moving from the top of the run to the deeper water below. In order to work the deeper water, you have to wade out to the middle of the river where the water is about upper thigh deep. He said after standing in the 34F water all day – he could barely walk out – and was freezing cold. I could relate to that!

As I was gearing down in the parking lot I thought back to all those big fish I had on – and the ones I netted. It was my kind of day, sight fishing, spotting and casting to big rainbows - and fooling a good bit of them. I was also thinking there is not a lot of places where you can regularly land rainbows in the 18” to 20” range.

Another look at the 19" rainbow.

This place is definitely underrated.