There is always a way to get in some fly fishing before you have to fly back home, back to work, back from vacation, or out of the country. The more of us that do it, the more eyes we have watching the quality of our precious streams. Catching and releasing is important but getting in some fishing is the goal.
eBooks to help: http://www.amazon.com/author/john-h-davenport
John Davenport - Denver - Let's fish Colorado
1.Young guys think the guy in the fly shop their age will give them the best advice. The old guys know the owner who has caught the most fish. 2.Young guys think you must use a specific fly in a specific place like their buddies. Old guys know the drift is more important. 3.Young guys think the published primetime tables will tell you when you must throw the first fly. Old guys know that the published primetimes are based on astrology not chronobiology and don't mean a thing. 4.Young guys think using a fast rod and casting quicker will get them more fish. Old guys know that stealth and finesse are more important. 5.Young guys think old guys will not walk pass the first spot. Old guys know that habitat rather than walking distance determines whether there will be fish holding in a spot. 6.Young guys think that getting skunked ruins the whole day. Old guys believe that being out on the stream is reward enough. 7.Young guys think they'll never be that old. Old guys know they will be and will still be fishing. 8.Young guys think the catch and photo are most important. Old guys know the release is the most fun. 9.Young guys think that size matters. Old guys think that fly selection, stalking and size matter. 10.Young guys believe that it only happened if there's a photo. Old guys even count an in-stream release.
In a place like Cheesman Canyon catching and releasing a nice trout almost seems an afterthought. The boulder filled, pine lined canyon is a photographers, hikers and fly anglers dream. I've fished this canyon in every season and have always been astounded by it's awesome beauty.
Brad on the other had fished it once. He laid down the criteria for a good day as "not being skunked","hooking big fish", and "no crowds." He only fishes on weekends so the "no crowds but less than 2 hours away" rule limits us to difficult places to reach.
In Cheesman Canyon and along the Deckers stretch downstream, a fly angler has to make the choice of risking a skunk in solitude by trekking far from the parking lot or fishing in close proximity to others and catching and releasing smaller more plentiful fish with a short trek.
I know there are nice sized fish in Cheesman Canyon and if you're willing to hike an hour, the solitude should be good, even on a Sunday.
Guide Pat Dorsey's Blue Quill Angler's stream report gave us fair warning;
"Currently, fishing is fair in Cheesman Canyon. Low flows are producing tough, yet rewarding fishing, for those anglers who like to work hard for a few fish."
I'd fished with Pat and Fred Miller this summer so I was sure I could show Brad the same places, using the same flies, and certainly catch some of same nice fish (larger now of course). WRONG. If I'd asked Pat what I did wrong I know he'd say; "You fished the same flies and places." Actually, I couldn't even find the same places the flow was so low. Nothing looked the same.
We did however spot some nice fish. But getting a fly to them without spooking them in this shallow water was nearly impossible. We were of course careful to stay out of redds and not interfere with the brown trout spawn.
See if you can spot the brown in this video. Can't spot it? Maybe that'w why you don't catch many fish in Cheesman Canyon. Keep looking. It is clearly there.
Pat Dorsey reported that, "Anglers can expect to see a good a.m. midge hatch, followed by a sporadic blue-winged olive hatch mid day (1-3 pm.)." We did indeed see a good midge hatch and a very steady bwo hatch from 11:30 to 12:30. Brad switched to dry fly bwo imitations and hooked two nice fish briefly (under the 8 second requirement to count as a Trout Unlimited in-stream release.) I stuck with a pegged egg and foam backed size 20 emerger and hooked one for even a shorter period deep in a cut below a boulder.
As we trudged back along the Gill Trail, (thank you very much Cutthroat Chapter of TU) we soon encountered an increasing density of anglers. Observing them from high above on the canyon trail out, some obviously knew what they were doing but did not seem to be hooking up, and some obviously did not but weren't hooking up either.
"Well Brad," I said, "You can't argue with the great solitude we enjoyed. I didn't see another angler all day."
"True," he said. "But I hate getting skunked."
Detailed instruction on how to get here, fish this water, and get back to the airport or a Bronco's game can be found in my eBook guide:
Thirty fish in 4 hours on a single fly in a National Park along a busy hiking trail.
An Elk hair egg-laying green caddis. Looks a little beat-up, doesn't it.
John and Fred w/buffs to make us disappear in the forest. I always take a before picture to show the investigators that he wasn't coerced into this trip.
Within two hours of Denver, there is a National Park with many small streams loaded with hungry trout. The reason they are hungry is that at the elevations in the park, insect life is difficult and the trout as a result do not grow large but are always looking for food of any kind.
The parking lot fills up with hikers, mostly families on Rocky Mountain motor vacations. The few fly fishers spread out along the trails which follow the streams or take a feeder branch. I have very seldom run into another fly fisher on these marvelous mountain streams.
The wading, casting, and drifts are not easy. Roll cast and bow and arrow casts are all you'll be able to use unless you are casting parallel to the stream. Even then a set will often put you in the branches. And there will be lots of sets.
An Easter Brook trout descendent. Stocking of these easterners probably can be blamed on the Railroads. The higher you go and the further you hike the more likely you are to encounter cutthroats.
The trail follows one side of the stream but the other side of the stream, with the fast rushing waters will give you complete silence and solitude.
The brookies do have beautiful colors though.
Fred does a flash back to fishing from the pier and demonstrates the cast called dappling that's been around since 1653.
Fred does a perfect release.
It's not just about the fish.
Don't forget to take a break once in awhile at this altitude. I used a 6 1/2ft 4 weight rod and 5x tippet. Fred even devolved to streamers at one point but I wanted to see if I could do it with one fly. Somehow it lasted all day, through 30 fish brought to the net and another 15 that were hits, runs, but none left on. ( We call that a Trout Unlimited in-stream release.)
Clint Packo, Freestone Outfitters, gave a presentation at Denver Trout Unlimited on Tuesday night about cold weather tactics fly fishing for trout in Colorado. I took careful notes.
I'm going to try this out at Stone Bridge on the Arkansas just upstream of Salida.
Ok. Stream temperature 42F. Check.
Pheasant tail - size 18 just above my egg pattern with dangling size 20 black hook. Check.
White yarn indicator 5 feet above my bb shot. Check.
Fishy looking water with a depression, that is holding big fish I just know it, just below the middle arch support of this 1908 bridge over the Arkansas. Check.
Getting the drifts the way Clint had shown in the diagrams of his slide show, uhhh, not as easy as it looks. I adjust my weights, walk upstream a ways, spook a nice fish in shallow water. Clint said there'd be fish like this. I fish some more, walk some more. The wind is blowing up stream making casting quite easy but it is blowing at about 30 mph. I change the top fly to a prince nymph and after losing the egg rig some how change to an RS2 on the bottom, about a size 18. Clint said he NEVER uses an RS2. Oh well. I've been fishing about an hour and a half now and have covered a lot of water without a strike of any kind, without any indication of a hatch and it's just past noon, and without seeing any more fish. So much for sight fishing. I get to this place above the stream and move out from the shore through some quick-sandy looking mud that actually acts like quick sand. I've now invested 2 hours in Clint's can't fail techniques on a river that's know to have 3,000 fish per mile with the sunny conditions and water temperature just as Clint said was perfect for winter fishing.
Nothing is working so I change the bottom fly to a size 20 black beauty that I just picked up at the fly shop in Pine Junction. I seem to remember something about going small as well as going slow and going deep from Clint.
I put it over the rock and let it drift toward the back of the rock that seems to be washed out into a deep cut although I can't see it.
WHAM, the white yard indicator is sucked under. Oh no, not another snag. But no, it actually is a fish and nice fat 18 inch brown at that. On the very first drift of the correct fly, at the correct depth, with correct drift, in the correct place, at the correct water temperature. And NOT over a redd.
Thanks Clint. I'll try to not ignore the go small advice next time.
