Eleven Mile Canyon: South Platte River Fly Fishing

Good fishing in Eleven Mile Canyon today with predominately Rainbows hitting RS2's, PT's, and black zebra midges. Midges and BWO's are hatching. Over cast days seem to be the best for dry fly activity. Low flows still persist.

To Fish Or Not to Fish In The Storm

Last night I looked out of my "worried windowpanes" searching the skies and feeling the wind.  I smelled the air and I could feel "something" coming.  Nevertheless, I was going to head to Deckers in the morning. That was the plan.  Then the snow started. By the end of my early morning run there was already 3 inches on my deck. I decided not to fish.

 I did not want to fight the storm. I decided to let the storm have its way and as the poem below suggests, allow the storm to "drive on, across the woods and across time."  I will allow it to dominate as I, "decisively defeated" can watch, ponder and perhaps learn. 

The Man Watching by Rilke.

I can tell by the way the trees beat, after
so many dull days, on my worried windowpanes
that a storm is coming,
and I hear the far-off fields say things
I can't bear without a friend,
I can't love without a sister.
The storm, the shifter of shapes, drives on 
across the woods and across time,
and the world looks as if it had no age:
the landscape, like a line in the psalm book, 
is seriousness and weight and eternity.
What we choose to fight is so tiny! 
What fights with us is so great. 
If only we would let ourselves be dominated
as things do by some immense storm, 
we would become strong too, and not need names.
When we win it's with small things, 
and the triumph itself makes us small. 
What is extraordinary and eternal
does not want to be bent by us. 
I mean the Angel who appeared
to the wrestlers of the Old Testament:
when the wrestlers' sinews 
grew long like metal strings, 
he felt them under his fingers 
like chords of deep music.

Whoever was beaten by this Angel 
(who often simply declined the fight) 
went away proud and strengthened
and great from that harsh hand, 
that kneaded him as if to change his shape. 
Winning does not tempt that man. 
This is how he grows: by being defeated, decisively, 
by constantly greater beings.

                --Translated by Robert Bly

Rainbow Falls: Fishing Private Water

Fly-fishers from Colorado Springs have options right now. Our trophy trout reservoirs in South Park are free of ice along with the section of the South Platte above Spinney. Deckers, Cheesman Canyon, Eleven Mile Canyon, are all fishing well. BWO's and midges are the main food items for the South Platte.

In addition there is the private fly-fishing club of Rainbow Falls just outside of Woodland Park. Private water certainly has its place and merits for the fly fisher. Crowds at Rainbow falls are usually not an issue. Private water offers a good chance for young people and beginners to catch a large trout and practice at catching fish that are not so picky.

Over the years, I have taken some folks to Rainbow Falls. Some of these clients were families with young ones and the kids enjoyed catching some big fish. Or, sometimes a beginner wanted a quiet place to fish and focus on his skills without being watched by the crowds.

Above is a picture of a big rainbow I caught in one of the lakes. My friend Jim and I caught dozens and dozens of big fish like this last month.

Begging and Egging For Big Trout on The Dream Stream

The big fish are still there trying to climb up the thin water above Eleven Mile Reservoir. Fly fishers are still there chasing  the large dark forms they spot below the surface. The fly fishers are begging and sometimes "egging" for a trophy to take the fly (even if it's an egg fly). It is difficult to not use an orange egg when the fish are large. I did both today, begging and egging and did quite well.

For the more pure at heart, :) Red midges, red annelids and the RS2, are also taking large fish. So, not everyone has to go "egging" but some "begging" still  might help. These fish have been fished over and are wary.

Good news: I also caught a bunch (literally 30) of small fish in the 6-12 inch range while I was chasing a big fish in a run. Good to see those smaller fish are holding in the river. Now, we just need to add water and we might have a dream stream again.