"This Fish IS Going to Get Away"!! 'Letting Go' and Chilling on the South Platte River

Some times the old reverse psychology works while fly fishing. After my fly fishing client lost his first 4 or 5 fish we decided that our strategy upon hooking up would be to just keep saying to ourselves, “I hope this fish gets off ”. And of course, the fish stayed on. And Connor started netting fish after fish.

It could have just been coincidence. But, maybe there is something to be said for just “not caring” so much about losing the fish.  “Teach us to care and not to care” said T.S. Eliot. Perhaps, consequently the fly fisher relaxes and just does not try so hard. We “go with the flow”. We stay connected.  As some of us still say, sometimes we just need to “chill out”.

This seems to be true of many things in life. We can fret and try too hard whether it be running a race or skiing down a mountain or taking a test, or, trying too hard in a relationship or overworking at the job. I know some times I can still try too hard as a guide.

Regardless, once again the fishing was great in Eleven Mile Canyon. Most importantly, lets try to remember that fish netted are released anyway. So why fret? 

  

The One That Got Away: Large Fish Lurking In the High Flows of Eleven Mile Canyon, South Platte River Fly Fishing Report

There always seems to be one great fish that gets away. Whether this is more in our imagination or reality it does not matter. A great fish seems to lurk deep in our souls moving now and then to the edge of our senses. And the high flows of Eleven Mile Canyon are bringing those big fish out of their deep hiding places to the edges where we just might get a glance.  Perhaps even a hook up.

Rarely does a big fish show it self entirely. Browns seem to be the best at remaining hidden. We only get glimpses of their greatness, beauty and size. Some times, so large, we second guess ourselves; “Did I just see what I thought I saw”? I have seen glimpses of such great fish. The pond I fished as a kid. The Platte. The Taylor, Frying Pan. The Blue. The Green. The San Juan. The Arkansas. And somehow these great fish most often elude us. Some have been so big, I wish I had never seen them.

Such was the case when I was guiding a gentleman in Eleven Mile Canyon. Tom just recently had a knee replacement. A shoulder surgery for his casting arm was scheduled in the near future. But Tom was a warrior. At 70 years old he was a wounded hero of sorts stalking the Platte’s large fish.   He was here with me hobbling the banks stalking big fish.

He had caught a dozen or so nice fish, when late in the morning, out of no where the great brown struck. We watched the initial power surge of the fish heading down and across river as most big fish will do. The fish moved deeply. I did not see its true size until after several minutes Tom slowly worked the fish back toward us. And there the great fish lay regaining its strength as many big Browns will do. Then while the fisherman is sort of lulled to sleep a big brown will explode catching the hunter off guard.  

That is what this big Brown did. We tried to chase it. But there was Tom’s bad knee and the heavy water. We had almost taken a few tumbles crossing the river in some spots. So, the risks seemed too high. The fish bolted and the 6x tippit tied to a size 26 gray sparkle wing RS2 broke. And that was that. The fish that got away.

May there always be a big fish that lurks in the waters we fish and under the surface of our souls that stirs us to return again and again.

Eleven Mile Canyon Fly Fishing Report 6/21/2014

Nice fish in 11 mile Canyon this morning. Still taking brown San Juan worms and small midges. At times  a tiny (size 26) sparkle wing RS2 was the ticket on the picky trout up high in the canyon close to the dam. Some PMD's and caddis fluttering about but mainly still a nymphing game for now.

Deckers Fly Fishing Report 6/18/2014: High Waters and High Leaping Trout

Flows were heavy this morning on the South Platte River at Deckers. But the fish were actively feeding taking San Juan worms and Pat's "rubber legs". It seems the fish are thriving in the higher flows and are incredibly strong leaping high when hooked.. Even on 4x  it is a battle to move these fish to the net.

6/15/2014 Eleven Mile Canyon Fly Fishing Report: Higher Flows, Deep Water Nymphing, Deep Conversation

 Flows are up in 11 mile canyon so we went down deep to catch Rainbows, Cutt-bows and Browns on Brown San Juan worms and various midges. Breaking below the surface of things. Conversation also went below the surface and was deep and meaningful. My kind of fishing. My kind of a day. 

Dealing With Fly Fishing Expectations: Sometimes the Treasure Is Not Where You Think

On  the way back from the Grand Canyon we made a southerly loop back home passing through Farmington New Mexico to the San Juan River below Navajo. This trip, and this stop on the Juan in particular was a gracious retirement gift from my wife. My wife was kind enough to stay at Abe's Motel in this semi arid land and not complain. She did her art work while I searched for treasure in the San Juan Navajo Dam tail-water. I fished an evening and a morning and actually caught a fair number of fish.

But it did not live up to my expectations. It had been almost 20 years since I fished the San Juan. I had great memories of this place. Perhaps that was the problem.  Maybe past memories of wonderful trout streams will always be distorted and let us down as we try to relive them.

But even allowing for this unfair distortion there were a few glaring problems. Crowds.  The crowds spread out quickly and cover these waters like an army invasion. I could not get in the type of water I wanted to fish and then when I wanted to move I couldn’t because there was no where to go that was not already occupied. I could not move about and stalk fish. I had to stay in one place and keep casting over the same fish. Not fun for me. Not my style.

And the fish seemed tame. The fish seemed tired.  It was not that the fish were so ultra selective and ‘smart’  from being "educated"(as fly fishermen are fond of bragging about and how smart their fish are)  as much as they just seemed harassed and stressed from being hooked time and time again.

The treasure I was hoping to find on the Juan eluded me. I left feeling kind of flat about the whole experience.

So, we left the San Juan and headed to Pagosa Springs to soak in the springs. We had done a quite a bit of running in the Grand Canyon so our aching legs would find the hot mineral waters to be comforting.

In the back of my mind I was vaguely aware of a lake just outside of Pagosa called Hatcher. But fishing Hatcher was mainly an after thought. A long shot.  To fish the lake I had to buy a day permit. There was some confusion (and in my frustration I almost gave up), on where to get this permit but after some running around town, a few wild goose chases, I finally obtained the permit. Repairs to the main road to the lake resulted in a detour and more driving around. There was that feeling of being lost and of just wanting to give up and that nagging sense of, “Why bother”?   But we finally found the lake.

It was a beautiful lake. No one was fishing it which was nice but it made me suspicious. Maybe there had been a bad winter kill.  I walked up to the edge not knowing what to expect and immediately sighted a 22 inch rainbow cruising along a weed bed.  Wow!  I quickly and clumsily tried to rig my rod to make a cast but of course I could not get ready in time. It didn’t matter. Hopefully, there would be others.

And there were. Big fat rainbows. I casted an Amy’s Ant to sighted fish as I walked the shore line. I was doing what I loved best. Stalking fish. Peering into clear water. Moving along the edge of the shore line. I was 

all alone.  A solitary hunter. I climbed a small ridge to get a better view of feeding fish that might be in my casting range.

I had to make long casts to reach the fish (none of that catching fish "off the tip of your rod" stuff). And when I put the fly in front of them they took the fly and leaped wildly pealing off line as they headed across the lake. Anything, but tame.Anything but tired.

I had found the treasure I was looking for and it was not where I had expected it to be.

Eleven Mile Canyon Fly Fishing Report 6/5/2014

I took several gentlemen to Eleven Mile Canyon and had a wonderful day in the upper canyon. The usual flies worked such as San Juan worms and a variety of midges. The sparkle wing RS2 produced along with zebra midges and black beauties. The surprise fly however was an orange "Desert Storm" size 22-24.

6/2/2014 South Platte River Fly Fishing Report

Eleven Mile Canyon: Lots of fish and lots of people.. Mainly feeding sub surface on annelids and midges which means the usual flies; San Juan worms and tiny midge larvae and pupa. As is often the case sight fishing makes all the difference. Best is yet to come with caddis and tricos just around the corner creating some of the best dry fly fishing anywhere. Stable flows.

Deckers: Fewer fish but bigger. But even more crowded. Not sure how Deckers will hold up to this kind of pressure. Hard to find good water on weekends.  Best flies are San Juan worms and gray sparkle wing RS2;s . My friend Steve has been taking some nice fish on a size 4 Crane Fly larvae. Kind of fun to use a big fly.  Some surface feeding on BWO’s. Flows have been somewhat erratic.

Dream Stream: A scattering of respectable fish.  I caught threw nice Browns in 30 minutes and a nice rainbow on a San Juan worm and a RS2.  I would love to see a massive effort in the  restocking of this section. Why not dump several thousand fish in this section during the summer months? The fish do not seem to be reproducing on their own. Populations have been low for at least a decade now. Time to try something.  We have some beautiful habitat improvement done on this section. Beautiful water.But it just needs more fish.