Deckers South Platte River Emerging Into Spring

Nymph fishing is good at Deckers with the usual assortment of tiny midges. Try zebra midges, black beauties, RS2's,  behind a San Juan worm or an orange egg pattern. Some BWO is taking place with some fish rising to the surface. Nice to dry fly fish in March. Spring is trying to emerge.

Dream Stream: A Place of Vast Beauty, Yet Harsh

How can a place like South Park and it meandering Dream Stream be so beautiful, rewarding and yet at times so harsh? Today we fished but we were in "survival" mode, trying to keep our hands warm, our rods free of ice and our casts from being driven by the cold relentless wind. While we are in survival mode it is common to make mistakes and it is easier for the big fish to elude us. As the wind cuts through our layers entangling our leaders we often want to just "give up lay down, and die."

Yet, now that we are home and warm, I realize there is also something about surviving that place and managing to catch some fish, that makes the Dream Stream and all of South Park so mesmerizing. It is a "God-forsaken" place and yet at the same time, a glorious aspect of God's creation, not caring about our little pains and discomforts. And, ironically, there is something comforting about that fact.

Here is a place that I cannot control. There was the bald eagle that so gracefully, and freely soared twenty feet above our heads.  It knew how to fly in the harsh wind without complaint. The pronghorn ran freely over the frozen meadow. The fish easily moved in the cold.currents. These are creatures at home in their world. Only we, stood out, exposed to the harsh conditions.

We stood out clumsily trying to entice the elusive fish that were hiding in the undercuts as we stumbled along the banks trying to peer into their world.

Eleven Mile Canyon: Coming Alive with BWO's and Midges