Deckers- 1/10/15

Ahhh....that's better!  Finally found a free day from work to hit up the local ditch with my Pops, making our way up to see how the South Platte was running on an absolutely perfect Colorado winter day.  Spent the morning shaking off the rust while searching for fish in the holes around Bridge Crossing, and looking through my deplenished pack for the perfect midge.  Felt great to get back into the waders, and feel that tug at the end of the line.  With my life about to change in a big way here in about 7 weeks, not sure how much time I'm going to have a fly rod in my hand this year, so I need to enjoy every minute that I am able to sneak away.

The river looked great as usual, with many nice, healthy fish spotted.  Even with the Fly Fishing Show going strong down in Denver, the river was packed full of anglers, looking to get out and enjoy a perfect January day.  Although the fishing wasn't on fire, we managed to bring some fish to the net and enjoy the area around Deckers for the morning before heading back to Denver.

South Platte- 4/11/14

Every once in a while, the day is just perfect.  The fish are right where they should be, feeding exactly the way you think they should.  It doesn't happen nearly as much as you want it to, but when it does, you have one of those special days that happens only a few times a year.

After working all night Thursday, I went home and got a few hours of sleep before making the drive up to Deckers.  I didn't get to the river until 11, and was greeted with anglers everywhere taking advantage of the perfect spring weather.  Pulled into the Bridge Crossing parking lot and and starting watching the beautiful sight of of bugs flying over the water while I rigged up.  There were fishermen in my favorite run above the Bridge Crossing bridge, so I decided to fish my way around the parking area, which was free of any anglers.  You just know the day is going to be awesome when you are mid drift on your first cast, and a nice South Platte trout just whacks your PT nymph!  Kept heading around the bend, hooking fish in every spot that they should be.

A little farther downstream, I came to a perfect shelf where the water spilled over into a nice deep pool.  Looking into the pool, I could see suspended trout just waiting for bugs to come over the shelf into their waiting mouths.  The exact sight you want to see what you're on the river.  I moved my indicator up to keep my nymphs at the depth of the suspended fish, and proceeded to have some of the best fishing I ever have at Deckers.  At first, the trout were feeding with abandon on midge emergers and then they switched over to baetis nymphs as the afternoon rolled on.  The three fly rig of a Hare's Ear, Mercury Black Beauty, and Mercury PT was all that was needed to keep hooked up all day.  The pool kept loading itself the whole day, even after I hooked lots of the fish.  The fish would move up to the shelf from the long pool below.  Fish of the day was a very healthy South Platte brownie that I watched eat my olive RS2, and proceed to give me the best fight of the day.

It's days like this that fly fishermen hope for, it's what we think about on every drive up the river, and it's exactly what I needed.

Deckers- 3/29/14

Spring is coming and the fisherman hatch is on in full force!  I've been fishing the Deckers stretch of the South Platte for a few years now, and I've never seen the amount of cars fill up every parking area and pull off through Deckers.  We fished Bridge Crossing in the morning, which only yielded a few fish.   Bridge Crossing is an absolutely amazing stretch of water that looks similar to the water up above in Cheesman Canyon. Moved up above the Deckers bridge around noon, and somehow found Midge Pool free from any anglers.  Large fish were everywhere from the riffles up above into the run below, which allowed us to sight fish to these tough trout.  Fooled 4 over the next 45 minutes before we had to head back to Denver.  The fish were feeding with abandon on both midges and baetis, which is such a great sight to see after the long winter.  The fishing is only going to get better until run off hits.  After missing out on this early spring season/pre-run off time last year, I am looking forward to fishing baetis nymphs until the rivers swell with snow melt, and we switch to fishing junk until the waters clear.  Great time to get out and do some fly fishing!

South Platte- 2/22/14

It had been a depressing start to the 2014 fishing season, with only one fruitless day spent on the Pueblo Tailwater before heading up to fish the Deckers area yesterday.  I have fished the Pueblo section of the Arkansas a few times this winter, but have only managed to fool a few fish, despite trying everything in my boxes.  It's extremely humbling to fish a water for multiple days with nothing to show for it.  The 2nd day in Pueblo was the one of the first skunkings I've taken since I first picked up a fly rod nearly 4 years ago.  I appreciate that catching fish is only part of the awesome adventure of fly fishing, but bringing fish to the net help to validate that we actually have it somewhat figured out on the water.

Headed up to Deckers with a new fishing buddy yesterday, with the hopes of getting the first fish of 2014 under our belt, and the South Platte did not disappoint.  We started fishing above the Deckers bridge, and the first couple holes gave us what we were looking for, giving us both fish in both Midge Hole and Bend Hole. It seems like the fish are finally starting to appear from their winter holes, with active fish in every hole we fished.  We headed down to fish some our favorite holes below Trumbull, where more fish were caught.  Ended up in Duck Run, where some nice Browns were fooled.  Flies of the day were eggs and the normal assortment of South Platte midge patterns, with the Top Secret Midge taking the most fish. We eventually surrendered to the blistering wind, calling it a day, and deciding to drive the back way to 285 following the South Fork down to its confluence with the North Fork.  The ice is starting to recede on the North Fork, meaning spring is just around the corner and the fishing will really heat up.

A day to forget in Pueblo

Radar fishing Turn Hole

Duck Run

Deckers- 12/26/13

With a few days off of work due to the holidays, I am trying to take advantage of every single day that I am able to get on the water.  I have fished the Arkansas tailwater and DSP in the last week, and kept it rolling today by heading up to Deckers to fish the South Platte.  It's fun to see this river change throughout the seasons, but the one constant is educated, tough to catch fish, and today was no different.  Mostly fished around Midge Pool all morning, with the fish really starting to get active around 11 or so.  It's crazy when you literally feel the river go from off, to on, and off again in such a short amount of time.  While it was on, we hooked up with 8 trout, and brought 4 to the net.  Besides the crazy amount of river grass, the Deckers area is looking perfect right now, and seems to fishing really good.

My parents gave me an awesome Christmas gift; a fly fishing journal.  I've been talking about wanting one for a while not, and was super excited to use it for the first time today.  It literally has a lifetimes worth of pages, and I look forward to another way to document our adventures.

Flies and Lies

Fav Christmas gift!

Deckers- 7/5/13

Bend Hole at Sunrise

I guess we should consider ourselves lucky.  Our "home" river is the South Platte below Cheesman Canyon through Deckers.  No matter the new rivers I fish, I will always be drawn back to these Gold Medal waters.  There's just something about the drive down into Deckers that feels special.  Maybe it's because of the rich history of these fabled water that make you feel closer to this sport.  You know a river is special if it helped to create flies like the RS-2 and Brassie.  Whatever it is, I'm glad this river is coming back strong after the Heyman Fire.

Explored a few more areas on the South Platte today.  Early morning yielded the best results, but the fish seemed healthy and active all day.  The river looks absolutely amazing, with cold, clear water and green plants everywhere.  There were a lot of other outdoor entusiastists out today, making sharing the river a little more challenging, but it was a great day on the Platte.  No specific flies were the key, the fish seemed willing to move for any well presented nymph.

The "Rock Garden" above Deckers 

Nice Rainbow from Midge Pool

Brown in the "Rock Garden"

Beautiful South Platte River

Snapped a few pictures today, just wandering around the South Platte near Deckers.  Was an absolutely perfect winter day.  Even though the fishing was slow, I don' think you can complain about 50 degree temps in January.