HARTSEL — On a rainy afternoon by the river, with discretion seeming the better part of being hit by lightning, a good puzzle can help to pass the time.
Certainly questions outweighed the answers along the South Platte River below Spinney Mountain Dam. Maybe the clouds would move out . . . or maybe not. The area had been receiving regular rains the past few days, and the clouds all around promised more was on the way. Lightning cracked, thunder rumbled and the dark cloud banks over Elevenmile Reservoir, a little downstream, appeared to be headed this way.
They might still pass over, however. Some fishing might yet be possible. Maybe an evening hatch would come off and the fish would rise. Better to wait it out — just in case — and to ponder what’s been going on with the fishery in what for the past 20-odd years has been among the state’s most popular waters.
Though much of its reputation has been built on seasonal spawning runs of trophy-sized trout from Elevenmile, the “Dream Stream” segment of river connecting the reservoirs has been productive at other times of the year. It also has been known for summertime hatches and rising trout, most notably to the Trico mayflies that come off almost daily through much of the summer.
By most reports, things have been changing. Many veteran fishermen, guides and others have been fairly consistent in their observations during the past couple of years that the fishing simply has not been as good as in the river’s storied past. Reports of fewer visible fish — of needing to walk considerable distances along the bank to find them — have been commonplace. Most puzzling, perhaps, has been the lack of surface activity by the trout, despite reasonably good hatches of Tricos and other insects.
One indication that the fishing has not been living up to expectations has been the relative lack of crowding, in itself a possible indication that a number of anglers simply have written it off in favor of other, more promising waters.
Such had been the case the previous morning. With the river flow high and still rising, reflecting the recent pattern of rainy weather, the upper parking area by the standards of the Dream Stream at Trico time was all but deserted. The morning hatch of the little black-and-white mayflies came off around 7:30, followed by a brief, light spinner fall. The trout were unimpressed; few were feeding on the surface.
A little later, a handful of blue-wing olive mayflies and what appeared to be unusually small pale-morning duns were evident, along with some straggler Tricos. Two of the three rising trout spotted during an hour or two of fishing came up for an Adams dry fly. One was a chunky, exceptionally colorful brown, the other a bit smaller. The third, rising a single time against the far bank, was inaccessible because of the high water.
A lunchtime comparison of notes with other anglers offered little new insight. Guides Jack Duerson and Mark Puterbaugh, on busmen’s holidays to the river, each had taken a decent-sized fish on a two-fly combo consisting of a buckskin nymph trailing a San Juan worm. Two other fishermen had drawn a blank.
“You’d have to say it’s been spotty, on the slow side,” Duerson noted. “That’s been the trend for the past couple of years.”
Maybe so. But why?
Theories abound.
In the short term, the rising water might be a benefit. Longtime guide and author Pat Dorsey of the Blue Quill Angler shop in Evergreen reports fishing had been slow but has improved during the past few days with the higher flows. Possibly more fish have moved into the river. Even so, fishing remains unpredictable, and he has not seen much surface activity.
Possibly the fish have changed their habits. Unquestionably, they appear to be well fed and in good condition. The river itself appears to still be productive. Maybe the Trico hatch, though still viable, has diminished. The trout might be feeding primarily at night, feeding mostly under the surface, or they may simply have changed their preferences.
One clue might be lurking in the riverside grass, where two or three types of caddis burst into the air with each step an angler takes. Might caddis now be the preferred forage?
Conventional Dream Stream wisdom calls for fishing early in the morning, when the primary Trico hatch comes off. Caddis and a lesser wave of Tricos often hatch in late afternoon into the evening, when significantly fewer fishermen tend to be on the river.
Has that become a better time for fishing the Spinney stretch of the South Platte? Maybe. Maybe not. Lightning lit up the darkening sky. Rain began to come down in sheets.
Answers to this puzzle, if they are to be found, would have to wait for another day.
