July 15, 2016
Happy Friday Everyone! Just returned from a nice walk along the river from the Trumbull fire house, up to the wire in Decker’s. It was a much warmer early morning today with temps already in the 50’s when I left at 5:30. It’s going to be another hot weekend here in the valley, but more on the impact of the heat a little later. The current flow out of Cheesman is 169 (cfs) and 229 (cfs) in Trumbull, putting Decker’s, from what I saw this morning, at about 180 or 190 (cfs). The big difference I noticed this morning from yesterday, was the return of the BWO’S. I saw a few sporadically along the walk to Decker’s, but upon my return home,at about 9:30, I saw a large hatches about six feet above the water, along the banks of the second bridge and downriver through Trumbull. On my walk this morning I also saw several fish rising on the early morning dries that haven’t been so present the last two mornings . I spoke with two Anglers this morning that were both having similar success with a Black Beauty trailing a grey RS-2. Last night I had good success throwing a two-bug rig with a size #20 Hares-ear and trailing a size #18 brown RS-2. I took both the fish I caught in faster water on the smaller of the two bugs. Looking into the weekend, I think the heat is going to bring on the hatch, however, we are now only getting the cooler water off the bottom of the reservoir instead of the spill-over water, which carries a higher temperature. Aquatic insect that haven’t reached the adult stage require a specific cumulative thermal regimen to attain maturity. This is customarily measured in degree-days. Without getting too crazy technical, each day the water temperature averages above the minimum threshold for growth, an aquatic insect living in it is considered to accumulate the number of degree-days by which the average temperature exceeds that threshold. For example, if the threshold were 34 degrees, and the average water temperature for the day were 39 degrees, any immature insect in that water would have accumulated 5 degree-days. So, if a particular species were to require 500 degree-days of cumulative thermal regimen in order to attain maturity, it would require 100 days at that average temperature to do so. Of course it would be nice if there were a cumulative degree-days requirement published for every insect, but most of the data provided pertains to the life-cycle of terrestrial insects. If you would like to read more about the temperature effects on trout, please check out this link http://www.troutnut.com/topic/1297/Water-temperature-effect. It’s going to be another busy weekend on the South Platte River, so make sure to stop in the Decker’s Country Store and South Platte River Cabins to pick up all the necessities for your weekend with us!! Visit http://www.southplatterivercabins.com to reserve your cabin today! Well, that’s it for now folks! Heading out to fish a little later this evening and will be reporting again soon! Have a great day and be safe out there!!
Chris
Down to the “wire”
fishing report[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”34″ gal_title=”july 18″]
July 18, 2016
Good morning everyone! Here we go with today’s report!! At 10:45, the flow at Cheesman was 172 (cfs) and 226 (cfs) at Trumbull. I took some pictures this morning near the “wire” to give you an idea what the levels look like at these current flow rates. Once again, I didn’t see much in the way of early dry flies on the river this morning, but it’s a little cloudier than it’s been in the mornings, perhaps we’ll see a few more hatches today. Today’s walk covers the river from Trumbull to the “wire” on the YMCA road. Things were pretty quiet as a sighted most fish near the bottom and not being to aggressive. As it was almost dark last night, I walked off the porch and over to the river as a few big splashes caught my attention! Walking over to the rivers edge, I saw several fish go air-born after the tricos and bwo’s that were both coming off. This only lasted for about ten minutes and went silent as quickly as it began. Resisting the temptation to grab the fly-rod and take my chances, I held tight to try to get a few shots of some flying fish!! No luck with that, but I did get at pretty good shot of the “almost” full moon! We’ve had some cloud cover pretty much all morning and I’m seeing a few more dry flies out there right now, mostly above the willows, guessing a hopper-dropper rig would work best right about now. That’s all for now my friends! Tomorrow, I’m having a young gentleman and his mom come fish with me here at “hole in the wall.” Looking forward to a great day and will be sharing all the photos right here! I hope you enjoy today’s picture gallery. I’m particularly fond of the wild Violet Poppy! Take care of each other and have a great day!
Chris
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SUNDAY REVIEW
fishing report[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”33″ gal_title=”july 17 sunday review”]
July 17, 2016
Greetings everyone! 6:25 on this Sunday morning and it’s already 58 degrees in Trumbull. It’s certainly going to be another warm one in the valley today my friends. Highs today are going to be in the low 90’s with increased drying conditions. Currently, both Jefferson and Douglas Counties are in Stage one of the fire ban. The following links will give you more information on the current fire restrictions. Please visit these links for more information. http://jeffco.us/sheriff/wildfire/fire-restrictions-and-bans/ and http://www.dcsheriff.net/sheriffs-office/divisions/emergency-management/fire-restrictions/. You can also find my story on the Spring Gulch firefighting team at http://yourtake.9news.com/media/21311717. Flows are down even a little bit more today with 172(cfs) at Cheeseman and 223 (cfs) at Trumbull. It’s tubing time on the South Platte folks, so be prepared to dodge the occasional drifter as you try your luck on our trophy trout fishing waters. Fishing last night was pretty flat for me, didn’t see much in the way of a rise down here at “hole in the wall” , but I’m now getting ready to go out in a few minutes to see if I can catch some of the morning Trico hatch! Going to spend today putting together a picture gallery for the week and will be posting that a little later this afternoon! The upcoming week looks full of adventure, with planned trips to the Lost Valley Wilderness area and a return trip to the Colorado Trail!! Be safe out there and have a wonderful day folks!!
Chris
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Fun with Tricos!
fishing reportJuly 16, 20
Good morning folks!! Up and out early this morning to check out what’s happening on the South Platte River! Much warmer this morning, with a current temperature of 59 degrees at 6:20. It’s going to be a nice, warm weekend up here in the valley, but please keep in mind that both Jefferson and Douglas Counties have fire bans in effect. Please visit the following links for more information. http://jeffco.us/sheriff/wildfire/fire-restrictions-and-bans/ and http://www.dcsheriff.net/sheriffs-office/divisions/emergency-management/fire-restrictions/. Getting back to the river report, the flow out of Cheesman this morning is 169(cfs) and 229 (cfs) at Trumbull. Clarity is excellent!! Tricos are hatching and mornings are great for some good old dry-fly action!! I spoke with John at Flies and Lies http://www.flies-n-lies.com and he was great with explaining how the male tricos are coming off in the morning and the females later in the evening. Nymphing after 11 seems to be the trick most days, but don’t be surprised when the big one comes up and takes that grasshopper! Going out now for a hike, but I’ll be back again to report later on what the bugs are doing today!! Have a great day!
Chris
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Weekend Warriors
Fishing ConditionsJuly 15, 2016
Happy Friday Everyone! Just returned from a nice walk along the river from the Trumbull fire house, up to the wire in Decker’s. It was a much warmer early morning today with temps already in the 50’s when I left at 5:30. It’s going to be another hot weekend here in the valley, but more on the impact of the heat a little later. The current flow out of Cheesman is 169 (cfs) and 229 (cfs) in Trumbull, putting Decker’s, from what I saw this morning, at about 180 or 190 (cfs). The big difference I noticed this morning from yesterday, was the return of the BWO’S. I saw a few sporadically along the walk to Decker’s, but upon my return home,at about 9:30, I saw a large hatches about six feet above the water, along the banks of the second bridge and downriver through Trumbull. On my walk this morning I also saw several fish rising on the early morning dries that haven’t been so present the last two mornings . I spoke with two Anglers this morning that were both having similar success with a Black Beauty trailing a grey RS-2. Last night I had good success throwing a two-bug rig with a size #20 Hares-ear and trailing a size #18 brown RS-2. I took both the fish I caught in faster water on the smaller of the two bugs. Looking into the weekend, I think the heat is going to bring on the hatch, however, we are now only getting the cooler water off the bottom of the reservoir instead of the spill-over water, which carries a higher temperature. Aquatic insect that haven’t reached the adult stage require a specific cumulative thermal regimen to attain maturity. This is customarily measured in degree-days. Without getting too crazy technical, each day the water temperature averages above the minimum threshold for growth, an aquatic insect living in it is considered to accumulate the number of degree-days by which the average temperature exceeds that threshold. For example, if the threshold were 34 degrees, and the average water temperature for the day were 39 degrees, any immature insect in that water would have accumulated 5 degree-days. So, if a particular species were to require 500 degree-days of cumulative thermal regimen in order to attain maturity, it would require 100 days at that average temperature to do so. Of course it would be nice if there were a cumulative degree-days requirement published for every insect, but most of the data provided pertains to the life-cycle of terrestrial insects. If you would like to read more about the temperature effects on trout, please check out this link http://www.troutnut.com/topic/1297/Water-temperature-effect. It’s going to be another busy weekend on the South Platte River, so make sure to stop in the Decker’s Country Store and South Platte River Cabins to pick up all the necessities for your weekend with us!! Visit http://www.southplatterivercabins.com to reserve your cabin today! Well, that’s it for now folks! Heading out to fish a little later this evening and will be reporting again soon! Have a great day and be safe out there!!
Chris
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Spring Gulch Firefighters
wildfire[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”32″ gal_title=”july 14 firefighters”]
June 14, 2016
As I made my way to Decker’s this morning, I noticed about 20 or so people that seemed to be resting around the Decker’s Resort businesses, so I approached a few of the friendly folks and found out that they were a group of 20 firefighters that had just come off the Spring Gulch fire. The Spring Gulch Fire burned 11.9 acres in the Pike National Forest about three miles south of Decker’s on Monday. It was fully contained just a few hours later. The fire was on federal land in Douglas County. Wild-land firefighting crews and helicopter support battled the fire along with the Douglas County Wildfire Mitigation Crew and Douglas County Sheriff Wild land Fire Hand-crew. The crew I met and spoke with this morning was made up of 4 inter-agency groups consisting of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), National Forest Service, and the National Park Service (NPS). I spoke with their Team Leader, Mark Finnegan, Crew Boss Trainer. Mark is a full-time firefighter working out of the Green River Emergency Crew, Wyoming High Desert Emergency Crew. He and his crew also cover emergency situations that occur in other western National Parks such as Dinosour Ridge in Vernal, Utah. This inter-agency group is made up of firefighters from Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Utah and Kansas. They are always on stand-by and typically out for 14 day deployments. He told me that he has been leading this courageous group of men and women for the last four days, while working in extreme temperatures and tough terrain, to contain the fire that was mostly timber, grass, and slash. Slash is a term used to describe logs that are remaining on the ground from previous fires or other natural occurrences. Speaking on behalf of the residents and visitors to the South Platte Valley, I would like to personally thank Mark and his crew for quickly coming to the aid of our community. I’ve been fortunate to have been living in this valley for the last couple of years when the fire danger has been relatively low, but as the summer progresses, it appears that we are getting drier and drier as the summer days go by. With the high winds and dry conditions, wildfires can ignite with the smallest of sparks, so please keep campfires in designated fire rings, extinguish all fires by pouring water on the fire until the coals or wood is cool to the touch and do not throw cigarette butts out of your automobile window. I hope you enjoy the update on the Spring Gulch fire and here’s a picture of the wonderful group of firefighters from this morning. Have a great day!
Chris
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