The South Platte River provides some of the most accessible,
and beautiful trout habitat in all of Colorado.
This river excites, and frustrates beginners and pros
alike.
I have found that this
treasure does give up big fish in the winter months.
Your effectiveness is going to be based on the details of
tail water fishing.
These
reminders will help you get started, or challenge you to tighten up your game.
Remember fish don’t want to be caught.
First, pick a stretch of water that you can fish for 4 hours.
This does not require a mile of
stream.
Fifty, to sixty yards of
water should suffice.
The purpose
of this is to locate fish in this section, and work the water thoroughly.
Too many fishers rush from run to run
and then wonder why the results are mixed.
Slow and steady is the key to the Platte.
Fish are going to hold in water
that is deeper than the normal bottom.
The old freestone runs still exist and fish prefer to use them where
available.
You can get away with
bigger flies in these sections.
Rubber legged hare’s ears and small stone nymphs in fourteens are great
lead flies. Dropping flies like RS-2’s and Ju Ju midges or baetis are also
great.
Many flies will do.
If you have fish in your run and they
are not taking your flies, change them!
Variety is the spice of fishing.
The real key is to achieve a dead drift scenario to help these flies
work. Practice your drifting
techniques by mending your line behind a strike indicator to match the speed of
the water. I have seen countless
fisher man standing in prime water wasting that spot by poor drifting. If you need help contact any fly shop,
they are here to help. Working a
good stretch of water should take you hours. Fish can be anywhere.
Take the time to fish the water that isn’t your favorite. Even, if you get out of your comfort
zone. Learn by doing.
Watch for fish visually.
Take a slow walk along the waters edge and observe trout. I catch a lot of fish that I have
scared first. When you spook a
fish from its feeding spot remember where it was. Better yet, just stand still and wait patiently. It will surprise you how fast they come
back to where they just were! Fish
have favorite spots. When they
feel it is safe, they will come right back to that spot. You can scare all the fish in the run,
if you want. Just remember where
they were!
Finally just get out there and try. The Platte is not magical and it doesn’t hate you. It has been expertly fished by the
whole world. A few shaky outings
is just the learning curve on a tough stream. The rewards can be awesome. This stream does hold big fish. I recently went to fish the Platte a few weeks ago on a
whim. I caught five fish in about
five hours. Doesn’t seem great,
until I tell you four of them were over twenty inches. The best a twenty two inch rainbow,
calmly took a size twenty RS-2 drifted perfectly by his nose. Oh, and by the way, it was drift thirty
three I think it was. Good things
come to those who put the work in.
Trial and error is a fine way to learn.
Tight Lines,
Zac
If weather permits, you can experience some great dry fly
fishing, which would include midges, blue wing olives, and small baetis dry
flies ranging from size 22-28. You should focus your subsurface flies on small
midges (size 22-26), and attractive flies like egg patterns, san juan worms,
and occasional streamers.
