Deckers 11/28/10 - Thanksgiving Weekend Escape

I arrived at Flies N Lies around 8:30 and restocked on some 6X tippet.  Due to not fishing the South Platte much outside of the winter months I try to support the local shop when possible.  The river report from South Platte Outfitters is worth supporting the store all in itself.  It’s not your typical fishing report, but if you look closely at the amount of information over time, the value becomes obvious.

It was time to fish, so I crossed the highway traveling the dirt road upstream from shop.  There was only one other car in the entire stretch of river extending up to the Wigwam Club.  I had the upper portion to myself.  This has never happened before, so I got on the water quickly.  It took about ten minutes of casting before I started seeing fish.  Missed fish and hookups started soon afterward.

 

I fished my way downstream rarely making a cast unless I could see fish.  When fishing blind I was spooking more fish by slapping the water with a weighted fly and indicator.  When I could see the fish feeding, drifting the fly into its' feeding lane was much easier and the stealthier approach increased hookups.  On the South Platte you often need a near flawless drift to fool fish.  With all the boulders and different currents getting a drag free drift more than 4 or 5 feet is difficult, especially at the proper depth.  I always recommend fishing for one fish at a time regardless of how many trout you see lying in a slot, eddy or riffle.  Here are a couple of fish caught along the way.

After working my way down to the campground I crossed the river and fished my way back up.  By this time the sun was getting low on the horizon, the wind started to pick up and clouds dominated the sky.  No weather passed through, but it felt like it could snow at any moment.  Sight fishing was tough, but still doable as soon as the wind would stop, allowing the sun to peak from behind the clouds on occasion.  By the time I made it back to the day’s starting point it was about 4:00 pm, getting colder and once again I had the river to myself.  This time I was leaving instead of just getting started.

Sure enough on my trip back home I drove through some snow.  There was just enough to cover the roads and cold enough to create some black ice.

Flies:        Golden Stone #10, RS2 #24, Pheasant Tail #20
Flows:      168 cfs
Weather:  Partially cloudy with a cold breeze and scattered snow showers in the area.