Fishing Report 4-27-2013

Photo of yesterday's clients, brothers Don and Richard.

Just got done with back to back to back guide trips, and had a great time! As many of you probably know the flows this spring have been low and fluctuating. For the last couple of weeks it seems like 11 Mile Canyon has been the most consistent in terms of fishing and flows so that is where we spent the last 3 days. In a combined 16 hours spread out across 3 days of fishing between 5 clients we landed roughly 42-45 trout with flows sitting somewhere around 100 cubic feet per second.

Most of our fish came in the morning during good midge hatches. In fact, the bite dies off so drastically at noon that I never had to look at my watch to know when it was mid-day. 6x tippet and small split shot are still important because the water is so clear, and it is equally as important as it gets later in the day that you set on everything. If your indicator hesitates or turns set. There weren't a whole lot of fish rising mostly because there hasn't been much of a hatch the last three days with the exception of morning midges. A few Baetis were hatching in the early afternoon but not enough to get fish up and keep them there.

The spots we fished that were the most productive were the Two Tunnels, the Road Hole, and below the dam. Flies that produced were JuJu Bee Midges size 22, Olive and Brown Mojo midges size 22, and Barr's Emergers BWO size 22. My advice for anyone fishing solo is to start with these flies as part of a tandem nymph rig in the morning, and then eat a good lunch around noon, and spend the rest of the day throwing small Elk Hair Caddis and BWO Vis-a-duns trying to pull a few fish up to the surface, and cover a lot of water. Don't get stuck fishing in one spot.

Don with his first Snake River Cutty.

Richard Casting.

Antero Reservoir Will Stay Open!

Good news for stillwater anglers looking forward to wetting a line at Antero. "A snowy April" has helped the South Platte snow pack reach a level that will allow it to remain open. For more info follow the link!

Free Photography Seminar at Anglers Covey This Upcoming Saturday April 20th!

Anyone interested in improving their photography skills should stop by Anglers Covey fly shop on the corner of highway 24 and 21st street. I will be teaching a free seminar starting at 1:30 which will be loaded with advice on how to take fishy photos. Photography is such a huge part of what we do as anglers for so many reasons. During this seminar we will talk about why the best camera is the one you have with you, but which camera options are best if you want professional looking results. We will go over framing your shot, and how to safely handle the fish so that you can get your fish porn and still quickly release your catch. We will also discuss what camera options, and post processing options, are available and how they can be used to make your landscape, fly porn, and fish porn images more interesting, and more! For questions email me at jonkleisflyfishing@yahoo.com  

Great Video About the Colorado River!

Elevenmile Canyon Report 4-11-13

Over the last couple of days I have been both guiding and fishing the canyon, so I figured I'd give you guys a quick report. Saturday was a great day at the two tunnels. 15 fish came to the net with at least that many "long distance releases". 2/3's of those fish were landed on a size 22 Brown Mojo Midge, and the rest were fooled by a size 22 Flashback Barr's Emerger BWO. The following day was a tough one, but my clients were great sports. It was extremely windy near the dam which made it difficult for my peeps to get a decent dead drift. We netted 4-5 fish in 4 hours on a mix of flies. Barr's Emerger, Brown Mojo, Gray RS-2, and a Biot Nymph all worked. The flow both days was sitting somewhere between 70-80 cubic feet per second.

All of the photos are from todays fishing trip. We landed 10 fish in 3 1/2 hours. It was a 50/50 split between fish swimming away with a bruised lip from either a Brown Mojo or a size 18 Biot Nymph. The flow was 100 c.f.s. but fish were still pretty spooky because of crystal clear water. Our fishing spot of choice was again near the dam across from the campground. 6x leaders and tippet and small split shot are a must! Baetis and midges started coming off heavy around the same time each day (12:30) Hope you enjoy the photos and tight lines! 

Photos From Recent Trip To The Dream Stream

We didn't catch any monsters by Dream Stream standards during our recent trip, but we still had a ton of fun. Even taking the time to stop and take a picture of a snow covered trees along Wilkerson pass. After posting a picture of Kristen's lit up cutthroat on Facebook, a friend of ours (Jim Browning) borrowed the photo and used this app he has been playing with on his iPad to put an artistic spin on it, and it turned out great. Here are the few photos we got from the trip and Jim's take on the fish.

 

Tree

Cow...

I still catch fish once in a while.

Kristen's fish.

Jim's rendering. Pretty sweet if you ask me!