April 15, 2020
Flows: 140 cfs
Water Temp: 34 @ 8:30a
Water clarity: Crystal clear.
Air Temp: mid-30s @ 8:30a – high-40s @ 4p.
Hatches: Midge – 9a to 11a, BWO 11a to 3p.
The Denver area had a cold front move in on Sunday bringing with it cold (temperatures in the teens to low 30s) and snow - and it stayed for a few days. Springtime in the Rockies. The first break in the weather was Wednesday – and Brian and I took advantage.
A ranch at the bottom of the pass that leads to Deckers.
We met in Deckers at the Mini-canyon and were intending to explore the Horseshoe Bend. The Horseshoe Bend lies just downstream of the Mini-canyon which is carved out by the Diver Pool. Brian was already fishing for about an hour at the head of the Diver Pool when I arrived at 8:30a. By the time I climbed down into the canyon he had already netted 3 fish! I was thinking this would be a great day. And it was. By the end of the day we both had a dozen fish in the net!
Since Brian was catching fish where he was – it didn’t make any sense to move downstream into the Horseshoe Bend. We could hit that later. So I setup at the tail-end of the Diver Pool while Brian continued to work the head-end.
We were both nymphing. My initial setup was a #18 Red Midge Larva leading – followed by a #24 Mercury Flashback Black Beauty and a #24 Top Secret Midge. Brian was rigged up with a #20 Chocolate Thunder and #18 Top Secret Midge.
I could see the fish feeding in the seam mid-river, but it was hard to tell the depth. I began with a #4 split shot and about 8’ of leader. Not getting any hits – I alternately added weight and reduced my depth. Then I added more weight and increased my depth to 8’ again. Then I landed my 1st fish – a beautiful 19”, plump female rainbow. I saw her flash near where my flies were and I set the hook. It was a great fight from there with line stripping out and a few jumps out of the water - revealing the nice sized, slabby rainbow that she was.
This female took the #18 Red Midge Larva. She was hefty - between 3 and 4 lbs.
That's me - holding the brute!
Picture courtesy of Brian Kenney.
Throughout the morning I was able to land another 19” rainbow and a couple of brownies – one 13” and the other 15”.
A 15" brownie. Taken in the tailend of the Diver Pool on a #18 Desert Storm.
Brian continued to land both rainbows and brownies – with most in the 13” to 15” range – and few larger ones. When we started the day, there was only one other fisherman in the Mini-canyon – but as the morning progressed, it started to get packed. Brian had 2 guys upstream from him and for a short while we had 3 young fishermen stacked between us – I guess they really just don’t understand fishing distance etiquette. Anyway, with the crowd – we stayed where we were until lunch.
A couple of the fish that Brain landed at the headend of the Diver Pool.
Photo courtesy of Brian Kenney.
Photo courtesy of Brian Kenney.
After lunch we headed toward the Horseshoe Bend. In order to get there you could walk along the canyon wall – if no one is fishing there, or you could hike up over the wall. Since there were a couple of fishermen in the way, we had to hike up. I didn’t mention earlier that Brian was thigh deep in the water the entire morning – and water temp was 34 degrees! I can remember looking over at Brian and thinking “I can’t believe he isn’t freezing, standing in the water”. I was pretty cold and even had to take a break to warm up – and I wasn’t even in the water.
So the hike up over the canyon wall was more difficult for Brian that it would have normally been because his legs and hips were stiff. He thought it might have been due to hypothermia – and I’m sure it was. This has happened to me before and it’s something that fishermen, especially our age (over 60) need to be cognizant of. I know this from experience. Once I needed to act quickly when I unknowingly (or was it unwittingly) stepped into a steep drop off – and my legs didn’t respond the way I expected. I was lucky to get out - albeit wet and exhausted – and more than a little pissed!
The Diver Hole feeds into a nice hole that marks the beginning of the Horseshoe Bend. This hole has a large eddy on the northwest side where fish congregate, feeding on the bugs that drift into it. In the past I’ve caught fish in the eddy and in the seam where the fast water meets it. Below this hole the water is fast, with a rocky patch that has some nice pocket water, but it’s been my experience that it doesn’t seem to hold many fish.
I started out fishing nymphs in the Eddy Hole and Brian went downstream to the rocky area. My nymph rig was now setup with baetis. I had a #16 Hare’s Ear leading, followed by a #20 Flashback Barr Emerger and a #20 Chocolate Thunder. When I waded into the water – I spotted fish along the eddy’s shallow side and into the deeper part. So I set up at the tailend of the eddy and let my line drift back toward me and into the deeper part – and quickly landed a 13” brownie on the Chocolate Thunder.
At that point, the fish started to rise with a regular pattern - so I rigged up my other rod with dries. I tied on a #22 Parachute BWO followed by a #22 Sparkle Dun BWO. The next hour or so provided some nice dry fly action and I was able to land 5 fish. They were a combination of 13” to 15” rainbows and browns. As the rising action started to die down, I could still see fish feeding, but they were just below the surface. So I tied a #20 Flashback Barr Emerger off the Sparkle Dun – hoping to get some action as the Barr Emerger would sink into the film. This didn’t work – and in retrospect, I should have tied on a spinner – as I’ve read that the fish feed on the spinners that fall at the end of a hatch. And this is often overlooked by fishermen – me included!
While this was happening, Brian had no luck in the rocky area and had moved into the Diver Hole. There were fish rising – you could see them working – and they were nice size. So with my action dying off – I moved up to join him and was able to land a couple of 17” rainbows. They hit a #20 Cripple and the #22 Sparkle Dun. Brian also having some success - landed a couple more rainbows on a #18 Purple Haze. I’ve never fished the Purple Haze and for anyone who is not familiar with it, it is a Parachute Adams tied in purple.
So with the last 2 fish each – we had our Two Dozen!
Brian's last one - a 17" rainbow taken on the Purple Haze.
Photo courtesy of Brian Kenney.
My last one - also a 17" rainbow who took the Cripple.
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