[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”39″ gal_title=”july 25 blog”]
July 25, 2016
Top of the morning to you my friends!! Currently, it’s 54 degrees in the valley and we’re looking at mostly sunny skies with a high of 86! Checking the flows just a few moments ago, we’ve got 190 (cfs) at Cheesman dam, about 230/240 (cfs) through Decker’s, and we’re sitting at 252 (cfs) at Trumbull. The fishing has picked up since last week with Tricos big in the mornings and late in the evening, along with substantial caddis and the return of a few BWO’s. I’m also noticing the increasing amount of terrestrials, such as grasshoppers, that are really starting to come on as well. Over the weekend, I covered plenty of water and spoke to many Angler’s from all over the front range and beyond! The big consensus this past weekend was the overwhelming number of Brown Trout taken in relation to the other species we have here, cut-bow’s (stocking fish), rainbow’s, and even the occasional brookie! Particularly on Saturday evening, I spent most of my time photographing some friends fishing “hole in the wall” where every 4 out of 5 fish were brown trout. Most of the fish I saw taken this weekend were with smaller midges, such as the grey RS-2, olive hairs-ear, chocolate thunder, split-case olive midge, and a bead-head black beauty. We didn’t see or pull many large browns, but we caught several healthy fish in the 12 to 15 inch range. This is a good sig n that our fishery is healthy and improving all the time. I’m about to head out for a hike and scour the river for bugs and rising fish! I’ll be back a little later to share my observations and some photographs of today’s Trophy-trout fishing waters of the South Platte River, Colorado. Until then, have a great day and get outdoors!
Hey folks! it’s 11:08 and I’m back from a nice hike and further investigation of the activity on the South Platte, from Trumbull through Decker’s. Wow! Saw some “huge” hatches of which I’ve added to the picture gallery. This hatch was occurring just downstream from the 2nd Decker’s bridge as I was hiking back. I didn’t see much activity on the surface, but the clarity has greatly improved and the number of anglers in the back parking lot numbered about 5. I hope you enjoy today’s picture gallery and I’ll see you back here tomorrow! Please visit, and if you would, share my new Facebook page for livedeckerscolorado.com( https://www.facebook.com/livedeckerscolorado/?ref=br_rs) on your timeline and with as many friends as possible! Today is my 47 the blog and I look forward to sharing much more with you as I continue on my path to optimal health and wellness! Coming soon will be my formula for my weight loss success up to this point. I will soon be adding my daily diet and exercise regiment, along with some tips on controlling stress, managing life through good living and hopefully motivating a few of you to come along with me on my quest to loose another 50 pounds! To date, after blogging the first time on June 8, 2016, I’ve lost approximately 45 pounds and have taken roughly 5 inches off my waist. I’m sharing all of with you daily to help keep me motivated and hold me accountable for what I put into my body each and every time! Each Monday morning, I will be posting a weekly weight with some fitness numbers that I will have recorded throughout the week. I will also be sharing with you my daily meals and snacks that I eat throughout the day. My goal is to achieve optimal health by truly changing my lifestyle, so all the good choices become “who I am” not “what I do.” In order complete this lifestyle change, or in my case, serious lifestyle adjustment, I’ve changed my 30 year source of income, my place of residence, my outlook on life, and even my outlook on life! For my current income, I’m relying on everything from website management, advertising sales, E-commerce, landscaping, other odd jobs, and even some wild animal removal, which isn’t always so pleasant! With that being said, I would also like to share with you the link to my other E-Commerce business, Sedalia Designs. Please visit http://my.sedaliadesigns.com/10094/ and order your hand crafted jewelry today! Your support is what allows me to continue to share with you a little bit of my life here in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado, each and every day! By making a purchase at Sedalia Designs, you are not only contributing to my continued path of wellness, you are contributing to a wonderful company that donates a portion of the companies proceeds towards several non-profit organizations in the Front Range Colorado Communities. Once again, thank you for following along with me each day. Take care of each other and have a great day!
Chris
Wow, now that sounds like a big fish!
camping, Fishing Conditions, fishing report[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”47″ gal_title=”july 29 blog”]
July 29, 2016
Good morning everyone and welcome to your morning river report from the South Platte River Valley! With the lack of moisture we’ve been receiving lately, we’ve seen little change in the river flow and the clarity has been fantastic. Unlike the the “Wonka like” Platte we had running a week ago, due to the afternoon thunderstorms, this week we’ve got gin clear water and the fishing has most certainly picked up. As of five minutes ago, the flow out of Cheesman was 172 (cfs), Decker’s at 220 or so, and 232 (cfs) at the Trumbull measuring station. Personally, I only fished for an hour or so yesterday, but went out last evening to photograph a few of my friends that were fishing behind my house at “hole in the wall.” For those of you that do no know this spot, it’s roughly a mile downstream from Decker’s. Many of the pictures that I take daily are from this section of the South Platte River. The tricos were coming off big time last night around 7pm, with caddis and BWO’S filling in the mix. Down below, most the success I’ve seen in the last two days has been with nymphing rigs, with bugs such as the chocolate thunder, the grey rs-2, olive split case midge, black beauty, juju beatis, hare’s ear, and even a single, black zebra midge. The evening dry action has been later, but definitely worth waiting for. Last night, as I was sitting on my porch doing a little writing, I heard the bellowing voice of someone who obviously had just missed a very fish! As my camera always seems to be around my neck in anticipation of my National Geographic moment to arrive, I continued to work on some photo-editing while I waited for the dry-fly action to pick up. About two minutes later, I heard the unrecognizable voice of my buddy, Jerimiah yell, “Oh my lord, look at this beast.” About that time, I see Jerimiah’s strike indicator traveling downstream as if it’s being powered by nuclear submarine. Next, appearing from behind the willows is Jerimiah in a full on sprint downstream after his newly commissioned Warrior trout submarine! Drag screaming, fish running, and Jerimiah trailing, I managed to get into position to shoot a few shots of the battle. The fish went airborne several times and made three significant runs, both up and back downstream, before laying over in exhaustion and surrendering to the net. I’ve posted a few pictures of the fish in today’s gallery. After purchasing my first DSLR camera and taking over 10,000 photographs, I must say that I have gotten as much joy shooting pictures of anglers battling trout as I do fishing! Well, that’s it for now my friends. Have a fantastic day and I hope to see you up here on the South Platte River soon!
Take care,
Chris
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The morning facts!
camping, Fishing ConditionsJuly 28, 2016
Howdy Folks!! Not a cloud in the sky this early Thursday Morning! Up early and just got back from checking out the conditions on the South Platte. If you fish the Decker’s area, you most likely know the spot on the river in Trumbull, known as “hole in the wall.” Living just feet from this section of the river, I begin each morning with a look at the river clarity, flow, moss content, temperature and bug activity, as I make my morning walk the three miles or so up to the “wire.” Other days, after checking out Trumbull and Decker’s, I make trips to different sections of the 15 miles of Trophy Trout waters and check out what the bugs and fish are up to any particular section of river. So, here’s how we’re starting off this Thursday. At Cheesman this morning, we’ve got a flow of 178 (cfs), with 238 (cfs) in Trumbull, and after taking a gander at Decker’s this morning, it’s running about 220 (cfs) through the bridge area and “Ray’s Run.” The river temperature this morning is a “fish friendly” 47.8 degrees! On a side note, I’ve always wondered if fish ever get Thirsty? Let me know if you have any thoughts! Alrighty then! Last night was quite fun on the river here at “hole in the wall.” I got a late start, but got out there in plenty of time to spend an hour nymphing, with only one fish gullible enough to take the garbage rig I was throwing early in my quest! Early on, I just wasn’t feeling it. My rig, made up of a Rubber-legs, hare’s ear, and chocolate thunder, seemed to be as attractive as the, “All you can eat” meat buffet for Vegetarians! As the sun set and twilight fell upon me on the river, the evening celebration began!! Realizing I had about ten minutes to get my 6x tippet through the eye in my size 22 Extended body BWO, before the rising trout frenzy would be over, I quickly put on one single olive and began throwing to an area just upstream of where I saw several rising trout. Within two casts, I had a nice brown hooked up and the battle was on. He ran right at me, took a deep dive and took about ten to fifteen feet of line. Heading back downstream now, I knew it was now or never if I was to regain control of the fish and not have him snap me off. With one quick flip to the side and slight twist of the trout’s head, he quickly rolled over and allowed me to net him from just upstream of me! After that, three more browns took the single Olive, although the third fish broke me off as soon as it took the bug. Lesson learned here, when you’ve caught several fish on the same bug, CHECK YOUR KNOTS! After the loss of the last BWO, I switched over to a two-fly rig, with an Amy’s Ant, trailing a female Trico and picked up another three or four aggressive browns. All of those fish were taken on the indicator bug, just on the riffle, as the swirly-eddy I was fishing, met with the mainstream flow. I’m going out this evening and planning on fishing near Lone Rock Campground.http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/lone-rock-campground-co/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=70054. That’s all for now my friends! Have a great day and get out there and fish!
Chris
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Dog days of Summer!
Fishing Conditions, fishing report[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”40″ gal_title=”july 27 blog”]
July 27, 2016
Happy Wednesday everyone! Summer is definitely winding down and it looks like we’re going to have another big, busy weekend in the Decker’s/Cheesman Canyon area. Currently, we’ve already almost hit 60 degrees and it’s going to be a warm day in the valley with temperatures reaching into the low 90’s. Talking about the river flow this morning, at 5:45 this morning we measured 181 (cfs) at Cheesman, 241 (cfs) at Trumbull, and a nice 215/220 through Decker’s. In addition to the flow rate and daily clarity, I will now also be offering you the daily temperature of the river. Currently, from the Canyon down river through the confluence, we’re looking at a river temperature of 47 degrees. Last night my neighbors and I fished “hole in wall” but didn’t see much action. The hatches seemed to be non-existent and didn’t see much action on the surface at all. We did manage to pull a few fish for a few minute stretch using a dry-dropper rig consisting of an Amy’s Ant with a juju-baetis and another few fish using the ant trailing a black beauty. If you’ve been following along with my reports each morning, I hope you’ve picked up on the fact that I don’t claim to be the “guru” of Fly-fishing! I’m just a guy who has a passion for the sport and a desire to share the information about the river and what’s happening with the bugs and fish. I’ll let you take what information I offer and let you, “the Angler” decided if you want to use it or not. I also hope that if you plan a fishing trip to Decker’s, be sure to check out Flies and Lies http://www.flies-n-lies.com. They are located just a hundred yards from our Trophy Trout fishing waters of the South Platte River. They have great deals on rental equipment and know the river and area better than anyone in the valley. Stop in and tell them Chris sent you! Please feel free to message me about an area of the river that you would like me to report on, as I continue to update you daily on the river conditions here and around the Decker’s/Trumbull area. Have a great one folks and do your best to go fishing today!! OH! Here’s the picture gallery from yesterday’s hike. Check this link out for more information on this plant http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MOFI SORRY, no bear this time, but we found his food!
Chris
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Berries, Bears, and Bergamot!
Fishing Conditions, fishing report, hikingJuly 26, 2016
Hello and welcome back to my daily, South Platte River conditions and bug report! Here’s your numbers on the South Platte for the day. We’ve got 181 (cfs) at Cheesman, 215ish!(cfs) in Decker’s, and 241 (cfs) in Trumbull. Things have been pretty much the same the last couple of day. I’m seeing a pretty consistent early rise on the Tricos and hooked a few yesterday afternoon with a two-fly rig consisting of an Amy’s Ant, trailing a yellow caddis stimulator. The crowds have been smaller as we come out of July, but from the bridge in Decker’s, upstream to the Wigwam Club, I tend to see the river the most crowded. The evening fishing has been pretty good too lately, using that same rig. I have also hooked up on a few larger fish on my favorite, “Olive Wooley Bugger”, which you can pick up at Flies and Lies http://www.flies-n-lies.com. They also carry a great line of rental gear that you can rent for a day on the river at a very affordable cost. In my opinion, $30 is a pretty good deal, considering you typically couldn’t go skiing for less than $80 or $90 bucks a day. Realizing my blog title today reads about berries, bears, and bergamont, I’ll save that for later with a nice picture gallery from our hike in the Pike National Forest that took place at 5:30 this morning! I’ll be posting again a second time this evening with an update on my fitness mission, daily picture gallery, current healthy dietary choices, and a recap of the physical activity that is leading to all of my weight loss. For now, have a great afternoon and I’ll see you a bit later!
Chris
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Dry fly Monday Morning!
Fishing Conditions, fishing report, hiking[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”39″ gal_title=”july 25 blog”]
July 25, 2016
Top of the morning to you my friends!! Currently, it’s 54 degrees in the valley and we’re looking at mostly sunny skies with a high of 86! Checking the flows just a few moments ago, we’ve got 190 (cfs) at Cheesman dam, about 230/240 (cfs) through Decker’s, and we’re sitting at 252 (cfs) at Trumbull. The fishing has picked up since last week with Tricos big in the mornings and late in the evening, along with substantial caddis and the return of a few BWO’s. I’m also noticing the increasing amount of terrestrials, such as grasshoppers, that are really starting to come on as well. Over the weekend, I covered plenty of water and spoke to many Angler’s from all over the front range and beyond! The big consensus this past weekend was the overwhelming number of Brown Trout taken in relation to the other species we have here, cut-bow’s (stocking fish), rainbow’s, and even the occasional brookie! Particularly on Saturday evening, I spent most of my time photographing some friends fishing “hole in the wall” where every 4 out of 5 fish were brown trout. Most of the fish I saw taken this weekend were with smaller midges, such as the grey RS-2, olive hairs-ear, chocolate thunder, split-case olive midge, and a bead-head black beauty. We didn’t see or pull many large browns, but we caught several healthy fish in the 12 to 15 inch range. This is a good sig n that our fishery is healthy and improving all the time. I’m about to head out for a hike and scour the river for bugs and rising fish! I’ll be back a little later to share my observations and some photographs of today’s Trophy-trout fishing waters of the South Platte River, Colorado. Until then, have a great day and get outdoors!
Hey folks! it’s 11:08 and I’m back from a nice hike and further investigation of the activity on the South Platte, from Trumbull through Decker’s. Wow! Saw some “huge” hatches of which I’ve added to the picture gallery. This hatch was occurring just downstream from the 2nd Decker’s bridge as I was hiking back. I didn’t see much activity on the surface, but the clarity has greatly improved and the number of anglers in the back parking lot numbered about 5. I hope you enjoy today’s picture gallery and I’ll see you back here tomorrow! Please visit, and if you would, share my new Facebook page for livedeckerscolorado.com( https://www.facebook.com/livedeckerscolorado/?ref=br_rs) on your timeline and with as many friends as possible! Today is my 47 the blog and I look forward to sharing much more with you as I continue on my path to optimal health and wellness! Coming soon will be my formula for my weight loss success up to this point. I will soon be adding my daily diet and exercise regiment, along with some tips on controlling stress, managing life through good living and hopefully motivating a few of you to come along with me on my quest to loose another 50 pounds! To date, after blogging the first time on June 8, 2016, I’ve lost approximately 45 pounds and have taken roughly 5 inches off my waist. I’m sharing all of with you daily to help keep me motivated and hold me accountable for what I put into my body each and every time! Each Monday morning, I will be posting a weekly weight with some fitness numbers that I will have recorded throughout the week. I will also be sharing with you my daily meals and snacks that I eat throughout the day. My goal is to achieve optimal health by truly changing my lifestyle, so all the good choices become “who I am” not “what I do.” In order complete this lifestyle change, or in my case, serious lifestyle adjustment, I’ve changed my 30 year source of income, my place of residence, my outlook on life, and even my outlook on life! For my current income, I’m relying on everything from website management, advertising sales, E-commerce, landscaping, other odd jobs, and even some wild animal removal, which isn’t always so pleasant! With that being said, I would also like to share with you the link to my other E-Commerce business, Sedalia Designs. Please visit http://my.sedaliadesigns.com/10094/ and order your hand crafted jewelry today! Your support is what allows me to continue to share with you a little bit of my life here in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado, each and every day! By making a purchase at Sedalia Designs, you are not only contributing to my continued path of wellness, you are contributing to a wonderful company that donates a portion of the companies proceeds towards several non-profit organizations in the Front Range Colorado Communities. Once again, thank you for following along with me each day. Take care of each other and have a great day!
Chris
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