Finally Spring/Summer On The South Platte River

It has finally warmed up on the South Platte. Often it feels like we jump from winter to summer and with that warming the flows are up on the South Platte. People will often ask me if the river is at a "normal flow." I don't really know how to answer that question as it involves a complex array of economic/political/legal,  variables involving water storage behind a series of dams and water needed down stream (even in other states). In some sense, there is no longer a "natural" flow to the South Platte. I think my best answer in regard to the water flows of the South Platte is to simply say, "This water is like liquid gold and everyone is fighting over it." I might also add, "As fast, strong, and as wild as the river is racing, don't be fooled. Every gallon is accounted for. Someone owns every gallon."

Regardless, higher flows mean that that bottom of the river is being scoured by the strong currents. All kinds of food; annelid worms, midge larvae, mayfly/stonefly nymphs, scuds, large crane fly larvae, are all being washed down river.  It is a time not to concern one self with the question of "What is hatching?" In some sense, everything is "hatching," and almost any fly could work! 

Therefore the best strategy seems to be to try a variety of fly selections. Mix it up. Move around. Try multiple fly rigs in order to offer different food choices. Use plenty of lead. "Get the lead out," as we used to say in the 70's.

When my friends ask me what I or my clients caught their fish on I most often answer, "San Juan Worm and a RS2." This has become somewhat comical.  So, it seems to be a game of  "Worm-in" on the South Platte. And certainly you need to

get the lead out.

Spirituality Fly Fishing Retreats: Eleven Mile Canyon

From the beginning, we have all known, there is "some-thing" about being in nature, being and  participating with the creation, that seems to give us pause, to consider God. Few activities bring us so intimately engaged with nature, as fly-fishing.  I don't know exactly what it is or how to put words to it; yet, when I stand in a river under the immense sky,  there is a sense that the divine is being revealed.  It may be "some-thing" we see or perceive in the trees, the sky, the river or the fish we manage to sometimes catch and hold in our hands. Maybe it is the excitement and the smiles we see in others as they momentarily "connect" to a fish by hooking it, even if only to release it. I don't know what it is but it is "some-thing,"and it is wonderful.

The fishing remains good in Eleven Mile Canyon with the usual assortment of flies working such as Brown San Juan Worms, small Pheasant tail nymphs, brassies, zebra midges, and RS2's. If you have not tried going smaller with an RS2, give it a shot. A size 26 gray sparkle wing RS2 remains my best "go to" fly.

Eleven Mile Canyon: Overcast Conditions; Trout Rise to B.W.O's

BWO's love overcast days. The bugs seems to hatch in greater numbers. More fish seem to rise on overcast days. I am not sure if that is truly the case or if  the cooler moist air delays the duns drying of its wings. If the drying takes more time then the bugs are on the water longer and draw more attention/feeding from the fish below. More fish rise. Maybe it is both, more bugs hatching and bugs on the water longer. Now lets throw in a 3rd variable. Trout do not like bright light so perhaps on overcast days more fish are likely to rise.

BWO's are hatching right now on the South Platte in Eleven Mile Canyon. Dry fly fishing is great in the upper two and half miles. A size 24 parachute adams or a BWO parachute, usually does the trick. But you have to love these dreary overcast days and learn to look carefully. BWO's are not easy to see on the water and especially in overcast conditions.

Years ago at Deckers there was a spring snow storm that dropped snowflakes the size of half dollar coins. The BWO's started coming off like crazy and the fish rose all over the river. This went on for an hour or so and then the clouds parted and the sun came out. I could not find a single BWO or a single fish rising. 

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.