Favorite Family Pastime, South Platte River, 11 Mile Canyon, Colorado

Date: Monday March 12, 2012

Weather: Partly cloudy, warm, Breezy

Insect/Activity: Not much

Patterns Used: Blacktail Baetis, AB Tungsten Hare's Ear, Grey Midge Pupa
Flows: 92

I spent some quality time with the family today doing our favorite activity! Yes, I am a blessed man to have a wife that loves to go fly fishing with me, and I love doing it with her. However, for the last 8 months I've been trying my hardest to see how early you can take an infant with you. Turns out 4 months was a little too early, and crazy as I am, I just couldn't subject a 6 month to the bitterest winter fishing. However, when the forecast for Monday was a balmy 55 degrees and the sun was shining, I played hooky from work and we set out to 11 Mile to test the infant fishing age.

Do these sunglasses make my face look small?

It was really a great day all in all. The fishing was not epic, there was a fair amount of winter lethargy hanging about the fish, but we found them and they would take a well presented drift of baetis or midge. Really, the hardest part is that a boy of Winston's age only has short windows of time between naps, so we did a lot of driving for a little fishing but it was worth it. Especially, to get Michelle hooked up with a few fish because it had been a long time since she was last out on the river.

Michelle wasn't happy about her hair in this photo, but she was quite happy about the fish!

Winston was a champ, even helping me strip in some line when I need it. His first fish (while he was awake anyway) was a pretty exciting moment. He had no clue what it was, but definitely wanted to grab it, and most likely would have tried to put it in his mouth if that were possible.

Winston, working on his line stripping technique.

First fish!

I'm looking forward to many more days like this :-)

Tight lines out there!

-Jeff Allen

South Platte, Cheeseman Canyon, Co

Here's another blast from the past!


Date: Saturday April 2, 2011

Weather: Sunny in the mid 50's

Insect/Activity: Very little

Patterns Used: Blacktail Baetis, AB Tungsten Hare's Ear, Grey Midge Pupa

Flows: 75

Michelle strikes again! Really, a flawless brown ... amazing.

I've got a pretty good stock of these back-logged posts I need to catch up on, so you'll definitely see these popping into my blog from time to time :-) To make it easy on the reader, and my memory, they'll probably be photo heavy. Enjoy!

After the learning from my "upstream" mistakes of the past on the Cheeseman Canyon, Michelle and I were faced with the prospect of another late winter/early spring day with great weather. We took it. This time we stayed in the lower water of the Canyon and it paid off.

We had one of those glorious days where somehow the wind wasn't howling in April, and the temps allowed us to strip down to a light long sleeve shirt. The bug activity was lacking, but in Cheeseman Canyon there are always fish feeding on baetis and midge that are idling down the river. So, we fished one of my favorite low water rigs: 7x, micro indicator, micro splitshot and a #24 grey midge or #20 blacktail baetis.

-Tight Lines!

This rainbow also happened to be one of the most pristine, beautifully colored fish I've ever caught. Then again, I think I've said that about a lot of trout!

Another great photo of the same rainbow!

South Platte, 11 Mile Canyon, Colorado

Date: Sunday October 30, 2011

Weather: Mostly Sunny

Insect/Activity: None in the morning. Baetis hatch started around noon and became moderately heavy by 1:30 PM

Patterns Used: Blacktail Baetis, AB Tungsten Hare's Ear, Midge Pupa, Poly-Wing Baetis, Adams

Flows: 63

Fantastic day on the river! My buddy Chris and I rolled up at about 8:30 AM, a little too early. There was not much happening in the morning, the air was still about 28 degrees and the light was low.

Chris with a great looking rainbow.

We spent the first hour or so fishing a standard riffle/run that normally produces very well, but there didn't seem to be too much activity. Later on, when the light was higher, along with visibility into the gin-clear water was better, I would discover that there really weren't that many fish in that spot. 

That discovery is one good reason why I like to fish with my eyes as much as with my rod! No doubt, you can become overly dependent on needing to see fish, but I see a lot of fishermen out there hunkered down in one spot because it fished well for them in the past. Fish move bases on so many different factors. It's good to be aware of that and move with them.

I love the fall, late fall and winter fishing so much because trout push up into the shallows for a number of reasons. Once Chris and I got some sun on the water and had a bit better visibility we were seeing fish moving in VERY skinny water! This hefty rainbow came out of a 6" deep wide gravel riffle. He was holding tight to a seam of faster, deeper water and I wouldn't have known he was there but for a keen eye! It's fish like this that instill a deep sense of love for this sport!

A larger rainbow for the 11 Mile Canyon. More importantly, she took a #20 Blacktail Baetis out of 6" of water!

As the day progressed we moved into another riffle/run, this time the fish had moved back in - in force. The baetis hatch was on and there were 6 steady risers within casting distance. Fighting back the jitters from giddiness, Chris and I spent the next two hours casting dry flies at steadily rising trout. It was one of the best hatches I have hit in a while! Most of the fish were slightly smaller, but we picked up the occasional 14" brown or rainbow. I did great with the Poly-wing Baetis and Chris did equally well with an Adams pattern.

We had to leave early, around 2 PM, and that was the only sad moment of the day. Chris and Ben got out the next weekend and had the same experience - needless to say, I'm hoping to make the journey to 11 Mile again soon!

The sun and the clear water made for some cool underwater shots!

One note: the brown trout have moved up into the shallows. It looked to me like they were in pre-spawn mode, fanning out there redds. But keep in mind that if the gravel looks really clean that is there redd (aka - nest/bed). At all costs avoid wading through them! Walking through one trout redds can kill hundreds of eggs - not a good scenario. We want to keep those guys coming back year after year!

Have fun out there ... if you're willing to brave the cold!

-Jeff Allen

South Platte, Cheeseman Canyon, Colorado

Catch Up: This event occurred in the not to distant past ...

Date: Monday February 21, 2011

Weather: Sunny, High's in the 40's

Insect/Activity: Few midge in the air

Patterns Used: Blacktail Baetis, AB Tungsten Hare's Ear, Grey Midge Pupa

Flows: Low, can't remember, but probably well below 100 CFS


Michelle and I were chomping at the bit to get a break from the Arkansas River in Pueblo. So, the first day we had off that the temps were looking nice we headed to Cheeseman.

I actually made a mistake that I won't be duplicating anytime soon ... we went pretty far upstream and got bamboozled! Don't get me wrong, Cheeseman has fish all up that canyon, but the further you go the tighter the canyon gets. The tighter the canyon gets the more you are faces with deep holes and weird currents. That makes nymphing particularly tough since you can't get your flies down to where the fish are (sometimes 8 feet deep, sitting backward, facing a rock, because that's where the current is bringing them food), and even if you do the amount of weight used tends to make your drift pretty heinous.

All that to say, we had a FUN day, but it wasn't too productive. I did some seining for fun because I had just made a new seine net (I'll post the instructions soon!) and picked up a few fish on midge patterns. Had a couple of good hookups too!

On the River: Dream Stream, South Platte, Hartsel, CO

August 7 and 8, 2010

High water can be epic ... I have mentioned it a few times in my past blogs. It is not a guarantee that you will figure out where the fish are, what they are feeding on or that the flows will work in your favor. But, the times that it works out can be fantastic!

Such was two days of fishing with friends of the family. My Dad's good friends, the Askins, were on their way out to Colorado for a long weekend and wanted to hit the river up for a few days. I don't think they'll mind me saying that they are not the most experienced anglers, but we always have a great time on the river.

I thought it would be fun to take them to 11 Mile Canyon to start things off. The beauty alone of that area is wonderful, and the experience of seeing the fish in such clear water is always enjoyable. It didn't take long on the water for me to realize that the flows were high and the fishing a little too difficult to consistently hook up, not to mention those fish fight hard and have a knack for spitting the hook.

So, on Saturday around 1 PM I took them to the Dream Stream for the afternoon. Our first impression of the river was "milk chocolate". I had checked the flows and they had peaked earlier, so I knew the water was coming down slowly and should get slightly more clear as the day went on. I decided we should give it a go, and we went straight to some deeper "holes" that I knew would provide fish with a chance to get out of the blazing current.

We rigged up with a large indicator set at the depth I knew (one thing about fishing off color water is it really helps to know the river you're fishing, otherwise you have to guess at depth) and tied on a #10 Tungsten Prince Nymph followed with a Blacktail Baetis. It wasn't long before the indicator dropped and much to my surprise it was a healthy, 14" rainbow. Our day ended with a lot of hook-ups and a few landed fish in the type of water that sends most fisherman home.

Then Sunday came ... the flows were down about 50 CFS, which made for about 18" of visibility and a lovely greenish-brown color. We started fishing the same rig, but it was clear after 30 minutes that there was no need for the trailing baetis. Fish were crushing the Prince Nymph! You couldn't ask for better conditions for intermediate fisherman. The drifts were pretty easy, and the fish took the fly like it was their last meal. Hook sets were not a problem since the fish wasn't letting go of the fly.

We had a fantastic time, and in the afternoon, as the water clarity improved, I even got to put them on a 24" Cutt that took the fly on the first drift! It was insane!!!! Though, that monster fish proved to have too much power and left us thinking of the "one that got away".

-Jeff

On the River: Cheeseman Canyon, South Platte, Deckers, CO

July 25, 2010

Some good friends of ours started a church in Denver (www.denverunited.com) and for a brief period in the summer we had the bright idea to drive 1 hour and 20 minutes to church every Sunday ... that didn't last too long, as we decided being part of a church in a community far away from our own wasn't really the point. I digress ...

It so happens that one week, after church, we decided to hit up Cheeseman Canyon for a little afternoon fishing. We travelled the dirt back-roads to come out in Decker, CO and head to the river. It was fun to see some different scenery, but I was pretty amazed at the "grid-lock" like traffic that a dirt road could see. Seems that particular stretch is a popular destination for the Denver crowds. Probably a drive I won't be duplicating anytime soon.

Our adventure was pretty short lived. We were only on the water for a few hours, but it was enough to to tighten-up some tippet with our underwater friends. There were a fair share of PMD's hatching, but not too many takers on the surface. Jay and I had tied up some soft hackle PMD's with no weight a few months back, for fishing in the film, so I decided to tie one on and fish it quite shallow. I had seen a few fish swing up high in the water column.

Side Note: Michelle got me a new Evolution (Ross) reel for my birthday. This was the first fish to go head-to-head with it. It's a FREAKIN' sweet reel!

My bet had paid off and we took a few fish this way. Michelle never landed one, but I had the fortune of brining a few to the net. The cool thing about fishing a "film" rig is that when fish take it, it's pretty obvious. Most of the time you see the fish move to the upper water column, and if you don't, your indicator is so short that anything taking your fly is registered very quickly. You also don't have to worry about the classic excuse of "maybe it was the bottom".

Good times!

-Jeff

On the River: 11 Mile Canyon, South Platte, Lake George, CO

July 31, 2010

August 7 and 14, 2010

It had been years since I fished 11 Mile Canyon (aka 11MC). Really, I had only fished it once, when I first moved to Colorado for college at Western State in Gunnison. It was more of a stop in really, and my memory of it was not that impressive. We caught fish, but I don't remember anything too massive. I certainly don't remember anything about a catch-and-release stretch. So, when I blogged about moving to Colorado Springs and one of my blog readers, Jim, mentioned he fished it all the time and would show me what he know, I was excited to say the least.

And so it was, on July 31st that Jim, his son Kevin and I hit the water and they introduced me to a river that I was amazed me. First off, we met at the river at about 6:30 AM to catch the tricos. While we didn't hit an "epic" day, we certainly weren't short of rising fish taking the falling spinners. When the spinner fall ended, most of the fish just kept rising to midges. We spent the morning making delicate cast after delicate cast, and enough rejections to make you crazy, but in the end a rods were bent and smiles were not lacking.

In fact, one of my favorite things about the day was the realization that there were a lot of fish in that river, and they were educated. They act as proper trout should - snubbing a fly if the drift was off, but greedily taking it if the presentation and imitation were accurate. I feel like most Colorado rivers have the X-factor of fish that will take anything that resembles a nymph, or slurp down your indicator leaving one baffled as to "why that happened". Not so with 11MC.

After the hatch was well over, I moved to midge pupa and baetis patterns. One of the first sights I was greeted with was 14" fish sitting in shin-deep gravel just waiting to be stalked, and then picked off by my favorite style of fishing - micro-nymphing.

I spent a large chunk of time walking the river, getting a feel for it and spotting fish. Probably even spent less time actually fishing then I usually would. By the end of the day I had caught my fill of fish and was convinced that this was my new home.

On the 7th, I returned with my wife and some friends of the family. The trico spinner fall was present, but not as strong and the fishing was a little tougher (mostly, I spent the morning trying to help our friends put one on the line).

On the 14th, Ben Robb (his good buddies Matt and Chris) and I headed up to give it a go. The tricos were still a force to be reckoned with and Ben landed this spectacular Brown that had decided to gorge on tricos just 25 feet upstream of him. I spent a lot of the day getting acquainted with some deeper nymphs and did very well in the seems and pocket water using a tungsten hare's ear trailed by a grey midge pupa.

I also discovered that there were Snake River Cutt's in the river and as is my habit to prove that there is something mentally wrong with them, I tied on a large Power Ant and had a nice 15" fish take it on the first cast. (Side note: Jay lived in Jackson for a number of years and we learned if a Chernobyl Ant won't get a SRC to rise, then just tie on a Power Ant. None of those food source made much sense so I concluded that these fish had brain issues. In my years since then I've never cast to a SRC, in any river system, that wouldn't rise to one of those two patterns! It works without fail from about May until Sept. I guess they are just opportunistic fish at heart.)

In the end, my Shan-gri-la view of 11MC was jaded a bit by realizing that the river is a zoo of fishermen, tubers and campers. Though that won't stop me from going back!

Thanks to Jim and Kevin for showing me the ropes. Now I've got to just get back out there with them in the winter!

Tight Lines,

-Jeff

On the River: Cheeseman Canyon, South Platte River, Decker, CO

May 9, 2010

Well sir, I'm back in the saddle again ... After a ton of packing, uprooting our lives, and then replanting in Colorado Springs (not to mention squeezing in a fair amount of fishing in the mix), Michelle and I (and Allen Brothers) are officially residing in Colorado Springs, CO.

Oddly, this post is from when we were still living in Gunnison, and made a trip out to Cheeseman Canyon in the spring to escape the "frequent snow storms" in Gunnison (yeah ... we had weekly snow storms until the end of May, it pretty much stunk!).

It was a beautiful day on the river. The wind was pretty brutal, but what else can you expect in the spring? Really, it was the only draw-back to the day, because it forced us to fish a heavier weighted system than I wanted to (yeah ... it was windy enough that you couldn't mend without sending your whole rig flying into the air!)

Fishing was the usual Cheeseman Canyon fare of Blacktail Baetis, Gammarus Scud, and Grey midges. Nothing really happening on the surface of the water. The flows were about the lowest I've ever seen them on that river, so it was quite fun from the perspective of sighting fish (when the water wasn't broken from the wind). I hooked into a few nice fish early on that weaved me through a few boulders, and one fish even took the "bat cave" and left me snagged deep in the bowels of the earth DIRECTLY UNDER a bus sized boulder!

The first "traditional run" we started fishing had a few tanks lined up and it wasn't too long before the right drift turned them. In all fairness (and I'm sure Colorado Angler can confirm), I think they were fish that had been recently stocked in the Wigwam section and had migrated up. They looked like a special strain of rainbow that only rich people normally get to fish to (plus, the silver coloration indicates they hadn't been eating the nutrient rich food source from Cheeseman Canyon for very long).

Regardless, Michelle and I were both happy to land one of them. In fact, as you can see in the picture below, Michelle was quite ecstatic! They had some serious power, and it's probably the biggest fish she's ever landed on that light of tippet (7x). Never underestimate the power of a 2 weight! (yes, for all you naysayers, she landed it in under 4 minutes)

A few other nice fish were hooked, some other large "tanks" were turned, but all in all we didn't land too many fish that day.

I'm really looking forward to making Cheeseman some of my home waters ... once we get all unpacked and I hit the river some more, that is.

Tight Lines,

-Jeff