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.