Farewell Colorado, Frying Pan River, Basalt, Colorado

Date: July 13 - 15, 2012

Weather: Sunny with a few storms that moved in and out

Insect/Activity: Midges, small baetis hatch - very sporadic

Patterns Used: Blacktail Baetis, AB Tungsten Hare's Ear, Grey Midge, **Top Secret Pattern**

Flows: 170's

A Magnificently colored and spotted rainbow!

Farewell Colorado - we had a good 16 years! You will be greatly missed. On July 25th Michelle, Winston and I packed up the cars and began our journey across the country to make the Grand Rapids, MI are our new home. Having started a family, moving back closer to family has always been on our minds and we decided that this was the time to do it. 

Probably some of the best news is that I am now living 45 minutes away from Jay so you'll get to see a lot more posts with both the Allen Brothers in the photos, and we hope to start producing a lot more quality content in video format! Plus, we should be launching a new Allen Brothers website with our blog content rolled into the new site, so navigation, ordering flies and content should all get a lot more user friendly - but ... you didn't click on this blog to hear about website changes - so back to the Pan.

Ben Robb and I headed there for a combination birthday celebration and as a last hoorah! We had two full days on the river, with no thought of nap schedules, feedings or changing diapers! 

Ben with a great looking brown.

The fishing was superb! We were surprised to find not many folks on the river and we essentially fished the upper stretch just below the dam for both days. The flows were low, the water was clear and the fish were feeding. What more can you ask for? Midge was the most predominant insect, and we did a few seines throughout the weekend and never came up with any Mysis so I'm guessing it had been a while since they pumped any major water through the dam. Surprisingly, though, we caught almost all our fish on the Blacktail Baetis. I gave the size #24 grey midge with 7x tippet a try on a few finicky fish, but always returned to the Baetis for our success.

A few smaller fish came on the Hare's Ear, which was used as a point-fly (weight) occassionally, but most fish came on 7x with a micro-nymphing rig for maximium "stealth". 

NOTE: I have made NO modifications to the image color!!! Crazy!

Probably the fish of the trip was this rainbow. Arguably, the most beautiful rainbow I've ever caught, but it is hard to say when each fish has it's own beauty, merit and story behind the catching. This one was taken on a Blacktail Baetis, while sight-nymphing and fishing 7x. So, it's pretty hard to beat that story for pure joy, and a grin that splits across my face every time I think about it.

And then, there was the "flume" hole ... I'm not one for fishing deep water with tons of weight, but we showed up on Sunday morning at 7 AM with not a soul around  and we decided to fish right below the dam for an hour or so. I had a hunch on a pattern I wanted to try. I'm not one to keep secrets, but this is one I'm not willing to share - in the wrong hands, it could be used for ill and not good ;-) I tied on said secret pattern and spent the next 30 minutes watching my indicator shoot underwater with the ferocity of a midget out of a cannon at the circus. I have never hooked more 18" fish in my life with such ease and speed!

Flume hole cast #2 of the day.

Flume hole cast #6 of the day.

Flume hole, somewhere around cast #20 of the day! That is some crazy pigment on this fish!

The rest of the day was good fishing. Ben and I both had our best luck in the flats, sight-nymphing until about noon, then the high sun shut down most of the fish and we usually retreated to water a little further down the canyon for the afternoon. We even sucumbed to the "flume" hole once more on Sunday, mid-day, and didn't do as well, but were surprised to find most of our fish, again, taking the Blacktail Baetis over midge or mysis.

Throw in a breakfast at Cafe Bernard and some burgers and beers at night and you have yourself one fine weekend to remember Colorado by.

They call is a "morning bun". All I know is it's got a ridiculous amount of sugar and butter. You can get a "morning bun" at Starbucks, but it's not even in the same universe as this one. CRAZY GOOD!

No doubt, I'll be back for vacations, and to see friends, but for now I am turning my attention to consistent eastern hatches and looking forward to my first season of Steelhead and some Salmon fishing in Michigan.

Tight lines, see you out on the water :-)

-Jeff Allen

The food journey: Lunch in Buena Vista at K's Dairy Delite

The food journey: Breakfast at Cafe Bernard

The food journey: Breakfast Sunday morning ... in my car :-( It was stark juxtaposition to the rest of the fare we had that week.

Ben with another healthy rainbow.

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

Arkansas, Pueblo, CO

Date: Sunday February 19, 2012

Weather: Partly cloudy, warm, NO WIND :-)

Insect/Activity: Midges emerging from 11 AM until about 3 PM

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

Flows: 64

My parents were in town for a wedding on the weekend of February 18th. One of the great things when they come to town is there is no question that we will be going to the river. Dad says he prayed when we were growing up, "Lord, let my boys love fishing." He also says that his prayers were answered better than he could have imagined!

33 years later and it's not Dad baiting my hook anymore, or telling me where to cast, how to set the hook, or motoring the boat close to shore so we could retrieve a Mepps #2 that flew well beyond the borders of the lake and into the forrest beyond. Now, we fly-fish, as much as we can, and most of the time Dad is asking Jay and I what flies to tie on, where to cast and when to mend. Life is pretty awesome to be able to share all the great moments we've had!

Dad, with the first fish of the day

Another view of the same fish. With the glare not washing-out the photo it was  a spectacularly colored fish!

We made it to the river by 9:30 AM and headed straight for a spot I hadn't fished but had heard good things about. After hooking a solid, and gorgeous, rainbow in the first 15 minutes we figured it was going to be a good time. Then ... nothing for the next 3 hours. I didn't hook a fish, I didn't spook a fish, I didn't spot a fish. The worst part was I had a few outings to the Arkansas recently that were similar - great fish when you find them, but they seemed to be few and far between, which was a huge contrast to my winter experience on the Arkansas last year. Add in the crowds on the Arkansas this winter and I was just about to give up hope.

Then, the madness began, and hope was renewed. I approached a spot that I knew to hold fish in the late fall, but had not been seeing fish in the winter (usually winter fish get a little sluggish and move to deeper, slow runs). I was surprised to see a good sized trout holding in a thigh-deep riffle (a pretty typical summer riffle). It wasn't long before I had spotted a few of his cohorts, and within 15 minutes I was giddy as a school girl, and frustrated that I hadn't hooked one of these fine specimens. It was time to put on the thinking cap ...

Midge were in the air, so naturally I was trailing a midge behind a tungsten hare's ear and I still had on a large, fluorescent indicator from "deep nymphing" earlier. First thought, "ditch the mondo-indicator". After not much better response from the fish I decided it was time to get serious. I ditched the hare's ear and was now down to a micro indicator, 6x tippet, a micro-splitshot and a #24 grey midge (a classic micro nymphing technique).

My first cast had a fish turn and suck down my midge like it was candy! After landing him, I was feeling more confident, but 10 - 15 more drifts with only a few strikes from smaller fish made me think I was off the mark somewhere. Sadly, to my discredit, I had gone the route of laziness and not actually caught a midge yet. So, I decided to grab one out of the air and sure enough it was a deep olive color. I quickly switched out my fly and began hooking fish after fish for the next 2 hours (Dad and I trading off after each landed fish)!


It was a wonderful thing, only lessened by the fact that I lost all of the largest fish (I hooked 4 fish that were over 16", one of which was pushing the 19" mark) due to the strong current and the fish just running like crazy. All in all, though, we landed some really great fish, including a smaller guy that I have NO QUESTION was not a stocked fish, but born and raised in the Arkansas tailwater!

A smaller guy with some AWESOME color. I know the Ark is heavily stocked, but it's always good to see the stockers are making progress in the "bedroom" department :-)

We finished up the day by heading upstream to a spot Dad fell in love with last year, and I decided to stick with my micro-nymphing rig, even though the slow run we were in was deep. I set my depth to about 3' (the run was probably 5' deep) assuming that as midge were still emerging there was a good chance fish would be hanging up a bit in the water column to feed on the emergers. Right again! I lifted up on one very nice fish, a redemption of sorts from all the lost fish earlier. Then, 5 minutes later I lifted up on a very hefty rainbow. It turned out to be the largest fish I've landed on this stretch of the Arkansas and put a very large smile on my face!

A great fish, with a really thick girth! My best to date on the Arkansas below Pueblo Reservoir.

Needless to say, Dad and I left the river pretty happy campers! 


Tight Lines,


-Jeff

South Platte, 11 Mile Canyon, Colorado

Catch-up: This event occurred in the Spring of 2011

Date: Friday April 22 and  Saturday May 7, 2011

Weather: Sunny, beautiful

Insect/Activity: Small amount of midge and baetis activity

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

Flows: 52

Fortune smiled upon Ben and I as we took to the river a couple of times in a two week period! I can't remember what stopped Michelle from coming, but I think it had to do with bridal showers, or baby showers!@?! Needless to say, upon hearing my tales after fishing, Michelle rued the day she was born a woman and "showers" became a required event for her gender.

That's a really long way of saying: Ben and I had two amazing days. The weather was amazing—sunny, calm winds, low flows, clear water and cool enough to wear a hooded sweatshirt—and the icing on the cake was the ridiculous amounts of fish we caught!

One of the beauties of late winter/early spring is the low flows and lack of fishermen on the water. It's a great time to get out there and catch fish that, in my opinion, are feeding recklessly because they are hungry from low metabolism in the winter and haven't been pressured for a few months.

With really low flows, it's easy to see fish too, and you can get away with fishing nymphs that aren't too weighted. It's one of the best times that nymph fishing feels like dry-fly fishing.

Here are some great photos that Ben and I got of the course of two days. Make sure to check out the rainbow with the spots on his eyes! I had never seen it before (in person). Really cool looking (though it's possible he took my fly because his eyesight isn't so good :)

Enjoy!

-Jeff Allen

Beautiful, dark colored rainbow. Notice the how his spots are covering his eyes! Amazing!

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!

Secret Creeks, CO

Date: Various dates throughout the Fall, Winter and Spring

Weather: Mostly Colorado blue skies

Insect activity: Varied

Patterns used: Classics (Hare's Ear, Cut-wing Caddis, Adams)

I'm not much for secrets. In Gunnison, there just wasn't the need. Why keep a secret when there's hundreds of miles of rivers. Some of my best kept secrets in the area were high mountain lakes that held 3 lb cutthroat, but I was always free-flowing with the information since they required a long enough hike into the mountains to weed out the casual fisherman.

Flash-forward to front range life and it's a little different. So many anglers competing for so little water, I have found the need to keep a few secrets now. However, I couldn't help but share a couple of images from these undisclosed locations. The fish aren't big, but their beauty is unsurpassed!

Sometimes secrets are still worth keeping ;)

This fish was so golden, I actually looked up golden trout when I got home just to be sure someone hadn't slipped one into the ecosystem years ago. Turns out it's just a really gorgeous rainbow. But ... you never know, the old settlers used to pack in goldens all over the western states back in the day. Maybe sometime I'll run across a secret stash.

Holy darkness batman! Same creek as the "golden" colored rainbow. What a cool difference in nature.

It doesn't get much better than a well colored brookie!

A fantastic brown with some great color!

On the River: Arkansas, Pueblo, CO

SUPERPOST

November 27 and 28

January 8 and 29

February 19

(and some other random dates)

Prior to June 14th 2010 I didn't even know this stretch of river existed. Living in Gunnison, CO one doesn't exactly seek out what trout fishing there is east of Pike's Peak. Pueblo ?!@!? I assumed the Ark came out of Bighorn Sheep Canyon and turned into a sandy mud-hole and that may have been the case before the reservoir went in.

However, since the advent of mankind building huge dams and releasing cold, clean water from the bottom of said dams trout fishing has no doubt changed in the U.S. (along with the negative impact on Salmon fishing, but I've never lived near the coasts enough to know what I'm missing). And so, I find myself living on the Front Range of Colorado and very excited about the prospect of Pueblo, CO having a tailwater fishery that averages air temps in the 50's all winter long. Throw in the fact that it's a pretty good fishery and you've got yourself a winning combination!

The Negatives:

1. Put and take fishery - They stock it heavily with 4" fish, but there is no shortage of worm-dunkers salivating as the hatchery truck pulls out of the parking lot.
2. Low flows - By this stage of the river the Ark should be pushing at a solid 500 CFS in low winter flows, but since the front range folks need water, they pull a substantial amount out of the river, leaving winter flows at 60 CFS. Combine that with not much gradient and you get a river that has 1 fishable riffle every 100 yards, and some pretty stagnant water in sections.
3. Shoulder to shoulder - See point #2. With a riffle every 100 yards you get a lot of crowding.
4. New Regulations - Yeah, it's kind of a negative in my mind. They designated a stretch that all fish over 16" must be returned immediately. In a put in take fishery, it means people are still doing a lot of "taking" after the hatchery truck rolls away. In the end, you get an apocalyptic battle (similar to Mad Max, Beyond Thunderdome) for fish to make it to the 16" mark. Once they've made it they are then unchallenged to grow to any size possible! So, you have very FEW - HUGE - fish, and nothing in between. Time will tell, but my hunch is this is a bad management tactic.

The Positives:

1. Warmth - Pueblo is pretty awesome weather all winter long. Michelle and I have skipped a few "cold" days, but all-in-all, compared to Gunnison winter fishing you could literally fish EVERY DAY of the winter here.
2. Insects galore - From visiting this fishery over the span of four months it is clear that the insect population is alive and well. Hatches come on very strong! After a few seines it would appear that the population of midges, baetis and caddis are very healthy.
3. Fish with an eye on the surface - While they are mostly stocked fish, I noticed an affinity for rising, and surprisingly, it only took them a few weeks in the river before they would actually reject your fly! That's pretty good for stockers.
4. Large - Naturally, if you have a good bug population you get some pretty substantial growth. On one of my visits with low flows and good visibility I spotted a solid 10 fish in a deep pool that were all over 18". I'm pretty confident that one or two I saw was in the 26"+ range!
5. Special Regs - Yeah, it's a pro too. I mean, for all my complaints above, at least there is a section of protected water with BIG fish.

Thanksgiving was the first time I hit this stretch and Dad and I must have only been a couple of days behind the stocking truck. There was a large quantity of 3" to 7" fish. It made for a great day since we were able to fish every possible pocket and pick up a few fish. The first day we fished there the baetis were in full force, and fish were taking naturals quite greedily, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that it took a good imitation and a delicate drift to fool them.

Later in the day, Dad and I moved upstream to just below the dam. Dad got locked into a spot that he stayed put in the rest of the day, picking up fish that even pushed the 12" mark. I moved my way upstream testing new water and techniques, trying to find out what "quirks" the river had. All in all it was pretty standard fishing. It reminded my a lot of fishing the White and Norfork rivers in Arkansas - wide, shallow in most spots, not too fast of water. It was nymphing one of the deeper runs that I picked up a hefty rainbow, and a decent brown too.

Over the course of my next couple of trips I discovered a few things. It fished much like the first time. I slowly figured out that you can consistently take smaller fish in fun spots like a shallow gravel riffle. Even if you don't think they're in there, they are and it's a pretty sweet way to fish. The big dogs (so far) have lived exclusively in the deep slow holes leaving you with the options of swinging streamers, or SLOW-nymphing (which I find pretty boring). The best I've found so far is every 1/2 mile or so there will be a riffle that is just perfect - marble sized gravel that shelfs off from 12" to about 6' deep over the course of 30' or so. These locations give you a great drift and some big fish!

Currently, my theory is that hitting the hatches right could produce some awesome fishing for the 20"+ fish in shallower water. I had one afternoon where the baetis were starting to come on strong, but not on the surface yet and the lighting was getting low so visibility was poor. I ended up fishing some riffles that I didn't even realize were shallow until I had fished through them. EPIC, would be an understatement. I went from picking up a fish in a riffle every 20 minutes or so, to picking up a fish every cast or so. I also went from an average of 6" fish to an average of 12" fish. My hunch is that baetis started releasing from the streambed to get to the surface and the better fish responded in kind by moving into the shallower riffles where they could gorge on them. There was one 14" fish that was so shallow my fly hit the water in a 4" deep riffle and in two seconds my indicator was stopped and I lifted up on this fish!

Each time I went, I grew a little more fond of the river, and our last outing was our best time (in terms of size). Michelle and I spent 2 hours in one riffle and picked up 4 fish over the 16" mark (sadly, Michelle lost both of hers before they got to the net, but one of them was about 19"), along with some smaller fish.

I would definitely rate the Arkansas at Pueblo as a great fishery. What it lacks in authenticity, and water quality, it makes up for with a good stocking program. If you're looking for a pristine mountain river without a soul around while you fish to native trout ... probably not your spot. If you're looking for a good time, with a lot of fish, warm winter temps, a chance at some 20"+ trout and don't mind crowds it's a sweet option.

I'm pretty excited to even get out there this Spring, Summer and Fall, but I have a hunch that the allure of the South Platte and other streams in the area will pull me away. We shall see.

Tight lines,

-Jeff