Heavy Rainbows Dominate Upper Eleven Mile Canyon

Cheesman Canyon: One is Enough

I remember the days when to catch one fish was enough and I was enthralled by its beauty. Some times when fishing in Cheesman Canyon I can "return" to those former days and appreciate the beauty of just one fish that I can gently grasp in my hands and release. If I am not content with one, I doubt I will be content with 20 or 40 fish. One is enough.

How to Catch Fewer Fish and Find Contentment: Go to Cheesman Canyon

As I age, finding contentment in fly-fishing can be an issue. After 45 years of fly fishing and being a guide for almost 30 years, it seems a bit silly, simply trying to catch more and more fish. The obvious question arises; How many fish do I or my clients have to catch to feel content?

I hear that many folks who enter fly fishing do not remain in the sport. For many,  fly-fishing does not become a recreational way of life. Some people no longer find contentment in the sport after they have reached certain goals in a few years. They fish to check it off as on a bucket list and when there are enough checks, they bail.

Trying to find contentment by being more and more successful (catching more and more and bigger fish), seems to me to be elusive and self defeating. For me, I have to seek something else.

I used to think that watching a young kid catch a big fish on their first outing (with the help of a guide like myself) would "hook" that kid for life. Not anymore. I wonder if any of those kids are still fishing now as young adults. Too much success early on does not result in the kind of contentment I am trying to describe. Perhaps we need to stretch out the process over 20, 30, 40, 50 years. If a child catches a trophy fish on his or her first outing, where does that child go from there?

Contentment develops from the process; the "journey" as we like to say. Many fly fishers my age remember the days when as children, we fished for hours, days, weeks, and years trying to learn to entice a fish. We learned to problem solve. We learned to wait and to wait and to wait and when we finally caught a fish, even a single fish, we felt a special contentment of having figured it out.

So what do I do now as a 56 year old fly fisher? One way I can find a different type of contentment is to go to Cheesman Canyon, catch fewer fish, yet, experience  a unique type of satisfaction. Many fly fishers would probably agree with me that one fish landed in Cheesman Canyon is equal to ten fish landed in 11 Mile Canyon. Cheesman fish are just tougher to entice. The fish lay deeper and tight to the seam lines. They are wild fish.  The fish I do hook know how to dive down deep into the boulders and get free. Trying to catch fish in Cheesman is not like "shooting fish in a barrel."

So for me, if I want to find a special contentment that sustains me over the next 50 years,  I go to Cheesman Canyon.  I will probably catch fewer fish but that is fine because I am after "some-thing" else.  With each fish I might manage to hold briefly in my hands, I remember what fly fishing meant to me from the beginning and what it will be in the end.

I can now be content. 

The BIG Canyon: Cheesman Canyon Rainbows

Sometimes it feels kind of crowded, "small" and "stuffy" in 11 mile canyon.  Cars are parked all over the road right on the river.  When that happens, I venture into Cheesman Canyon. It feels bigger and I feel somewhat more secluded with only a hiking trail. Cheesman canyon also stretches my fly fishing skills.

The fish of Cheesman Canyon are far more challenging to entice. Often anglers who can catch ten fish in 11 mile, struggle to catch a single fish in Cheesman Canyon. And it holds some monsters that have learned to avoid our best attempts.

Cheesman Canyon is the true "Canyon Challenge." The fish seem to prefer the most natural looking fly patterns that do not have much in the way of flash. Natural RS2's, Pheasant Tail nymphs and thread midges seem to work best especially if you can present them well. Long drag free drifts that run deep along the seam lines are the key.

Those 10 casts you make that often produce a hook up in 11 mile might not produce a singe fish in Cheesman Canyon. Try another 100 or 1,000 casts with many readjustments. Maybe then a fish might take the fly; but probably not.

And then you still have  the challenge of  hiking out. You just experienced the canyon challenge.

Cheesman Canyon: South Platte River During A Spring Storm

Snow flakes fall as fish rise to BWO's on the South Platte River in Cheesman Canyon. These wary, wild fish prefer to feed under the cover of overcast skies. The biggest fish live under the giant boulders and rarely show themselves, how ever will venture out with cloud cover, a heavy hatch, increased flows, and in holes that receive less pressure (Good luck finding those hole anymore!). But, if you are willing to hike through the snow into the heart of the canyon; over and around boulders, and make some daring casts, you might be rewarded.