The last two weekends I have fished the same river but in two different canyons. The first was Eleven Mile Canyon. I had never fished that section of the South Platte before, but wanted to give it a whirl because I had heard the fishing is usually pretty decent there. And what I had heard was correct. The flows were low and the river was crystal clear. I was able to land four nymphing with a size 20 top secret midge in the morning and one with a comparadun dry in the afternoon. The only frustration came when a nice BWO hatch went off and the damn fish were refusing my flies! I saw several fish swim up to my flies and turn away in disgust. I’m not quite sure if it was my line or my fly or what, but it sure was hard to be rejected so many times.
This last weekend we headed to Cheesman Canyon. I have fished here several times and every time I am captivated by the beauty of this fishery. Don’t get me wrong Eleven Mile is also pretty, but there is something about Cheesman. Maybe it’s because there is not a road along the river. Or maybe it’s because you have to hike in and work a little to get to fishing. In any case, it’s a great place to be. As always there were a ton fish to be caught. And as always, they were tough to catch. After hiking around and getting rigged up and fishing a bit with no action I decided to climb up on some boulders and see if I could locate some fish. I happened upon a nice pool with probably ten nicely sized trout. I was able to land one out of that pool and hooked up with four more. Two shook free and two broke off. Not a very good batting average, but it was still a fun time.
For some sweet fishing and amazing scenery I’d definitely recommend checking out one of the canyons of The South Platte. Stay Fly.
Pretty sweet spot next to a canyon wall – Eleven Mile
Esteban with a Colorado shirt and a Colorado brew – Eleven Mile
Slap me some fin – Eleven Mile
Stayin’ fly with a brown trout – Eleven Mile
Sweet view – Cheesman
A great morning in Colorado with one of my brown buddies – Cheesman
