July 2, 2016[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”19″ gal_title=”foggy 4th weekend”]

Good morning and welcome from the very wet and rainy South Platte River Valley!! Chef Chris here with your live morning report from Decker’s/Trumbull, Colorado. Waking up this morning to continued rain showers and fog throughout the valley. Current temperature is 57 degrees with forecasted high of only 68 degrees.  The flow coming out of Cheseman dam this morning was 294 (cfs)  and 432 (cfs) at the Trumbull station. With the feeder creeks, it seems to be right around 350 (cfs) around the Decker’s bridge.  The clarity is a little off this morning with last nights rain showers, but I did see fish this morning rising along the banks at various points from “Hole in the Wall” up to Decker’s. I’m guessing a San Juan Worm would do well this morning!   The caddis hatches have been strong and I’ve also been taking fish on caddis pupa and larva as well. Mid-morning seems to be the most productive for me, then later in the evening I’ve been working on a few dry fly presentations in hopes of raising the behemoth brown I know is lurking behind my house!!

As we get into the full swing of summer and the busiest time of year here in the South Platte valley, we see a number of visitors and tourist to our valley for the first time.  Keeping in mind that the campground space is limited and private cabins are even more scarce, it pays to plan ahead for your visit to the Decker’s/Cheesman Canyon area. If it’s a cabin your desire, a reserved campsite, or even a full day on the South Platte fishing, let livedeckerscolorado.com make all of your planning simple. Just click on our “Things to do” page to start making your exciting outdoor adventure plans for you and your family today!  If you have already spent some time in our beautiful valley, you probably know that cell phone service is not available, nor is their gasoline in Decker’s or Trumbull.  Please  print off any directions you may need  and be sure to fuel up  prior to entering the Decker’s area.  Our campgrounds are full and their are many people out enjoying the river, be it fishing, tubing, rafting, kayaking or just taking a walk along the river road. Please be careful and watch your speed as many people are distracted and it only takes a split second to change lives forever!!  Be safe out there this weekend folks and have a great day!!

Chris

 

July 1, 2016[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”18″ gal_title=”friday 4th of july weekend”]

Happy 4th of July weekend my friends!! Chef Chris here with your morning conditions report.  Woke up this morning with a little fog in the valley with 50% humidity. Temperatures are in the low 70’s already and it’s looking like we’re going to have spotty showers throughout the day. The Trumbull station recorded a flow of 335 (cfs) this morning, and 238 (cfs) at the Cheesman dam. The clarity is a little off this morning below some of the feeder creeks, but clears up nicely as you go a little further downstream.  I walked this morning from Trumbull to Decker’s and along the Y-camp road. I saw several fish rising at the Decker’s bridge area and also by the Lone Rock Campground.  Be sure to make your reservations early for Lone Rock Campground by connecting to the reservations link located on the “things to do page” I fished yesterday between “Hole in the Wall” and the second Decker’s bridge. I was fishing with a friend who pulled a nice 16″ brown on a bead-headed pheasant tail.  As we worked our way from Trumbull to Decker’s we started to see more rising fish and switched over to a dry-dropper pattern using an Amy’s Aunt, trailing a grey/tan stone fly and following up with a Split-case olive midge.  Because I have had so much success with the streamer, I will always toss a Wooley-bugger if all else seems to fail!!

While my internet was being switched over to my new residence yesterday, I took the opportunity to hike in the National Forest on the other side of the river from my house.  As we hiked the ridge about 600 feet or so above the South Platte, we came accross many different plants and wildflowers that seem to have been perfectly landscaped by “Mother Nature” herself.  As we continued on our path towards Decker’s, we came accross a wash-out area, that after further inspection revealed several nice pieces of smoky quartz and a few other gemstones.  The South Platte river valley is a popular area for gemstone hunting along with several areas where gold panning is still a popular activity. I hope you enjoy some of the pictures I took yesterday while hiking and I look forward to sharing more of my adventures with you daily.. Have a great day and remember!! Take a kid fishing.

 

Chef Chris

 

June 30, 2016

Good evening my friends!!! Chef Chris here with your river conditions report for the day.  Sorry I didn’t report earlier, even the National Forest has problems with it’s internet connection from time to time!! I’ll be picking back up tomorrow with the early morning river conditions and weather reports!! In the meantime, I’ll tell you that the dry-fly action has really picked up and I’ve had success with the BWO-green, and a parachute Adams.  I’m still picking up fish by  nymphing in the early morning, mixed in with the occasional streamer toss!  Come back tomorrow for some exciting pictures from this morning’s hike above the communites of Trumbull and Deckers.  Have a great evening

Chef Chris

 

June 29, 2016
Good morning! Chef Chris here with your daily morning river conditions report from the South Platte River Valley! Woke up this morning to a nice cool mountain breeze and some chilly morning temperatures. We saw a few overnight showers, but we didn’t see anything  like they did in Denver overnight. Forecasted high today is a comfortable 87 degrees. This will be a nice change after the 90’s that we’ve been seeing.  This morning the Trumbull Station recorded a flow rate of 414 (cfs) with some early morning cloudiness from last nights rain showers. I like these flow rates, but be careful of some of the deeper holes, you will go for a ride down river if you’re not paying attention! Yes, learned this one the hard way!  I fished last night from the second bridge in Decker’s, to “hole in the wall” in Trumbull. I did well with a couple of stone-fly/midge combinations. I also had good success with the “Olive Wooley-Bugger” and an Olive-pheasant tail. Starting to see much more top water activity in the evening as the caddis, tricos, and duns are coming off strong along the river road. Going to fish this evening around “Bridge Crossing” Stop in to Flies and Lies and be sure to look at the river map located outside of the store! You can also book a great half-day or full day guided fishing trip while visiting the store! Check out their full website at http://www.flies-n-lies.com.  Remember!! Kelsey and Lone Rock campgrounds are the only two in our immediate area that take reservations. You can make them right here at livedeckerscolorado.com!  Have a great day and remember, take someone out lunch!!

Chris

June 28, 2016

Good morning to all my friends and followers of my daily conditions report from Decker’s.  What another beautiful morning we are having today up here on the South Platte River…  It’s going to be a scorcher today folks! Right now it’s a pleasant 61 degrees, but it’s going to get into the mid 90’s by about 2pm.The river at the Trumbull station measured 412 at 5:45 this morning with excellent clarity and bugs galore!! Last night I walked the river from Trumbull to Decker’s and saw hatch upon hatch the entire way. I also saw several Anglers taking fish on dry flies last night  as late as 9pm. I took a walk this morning from the Decker’s bridge up to the wire where I only saw two or three anglers on the water.  The crowds haven’t arrived yet for the holiday weekend, so be sure to book you’re cabin or campground through our “Things to Do” page. You can also make your cabin reservation direct by going to South Platte Cabins at http://www.southplatterivercabins.com It’s also a great time to book a guided fly-fishing trip with the friendly guys at Flies-n-lies. Book your trip today at http://www.flies-n-lies.com Going out on another adventure!! Check back later for additional blogs for the day, to include wildlife and other photos of life as I see it daily in the majestic South Platte River Valley, Colorado.  Have a great day. Remember, do something kind for a stranger today.

Chef Chris