South Platte (Wildcat Canyon)

Got to some new water this weekend. It wasn't always pretty but fish were caught, only minor flesh wounds / deep muscle trauma were suffered, and every bit of it was a blast.

A good friend of mine, David Fitch, had taken his fly tying sweat shop and guides (Sons Stephen, and Michael) there earlier this summer and I've been wanting to hit it ever since he told me about their trip. One of those things that sticks in your mind. In a moment of clarity it became un-stuck and I thought, hiking to go fishing on a holiday weekend would make some sense (impressive I know). Get to a thin section of the crowd, get some exercise, get Marty (on the mend from a shoulder injury (trust me - how that happened is crazier than anything you are thinking about right now)) out for some fresh air, and catch river fish!

My Old Man and I used to hike into Cheesman Canyon a bunch in the 90s and I had learned the comfort of packing in your gear so I put together a day pack with just the essentials. I remember hiking out of Cheesman in July at 4PM in waders. WTF were we thinking? Cold Coke never tasted so good.

I hardly ever (unless I'm fishing with my Dad or have a guide) plan a trip more than a few days out. It can make things a pain in the ass for my friends I'm sure but it also makes it a bit more fun I think. I figured I better figure out where to point the truck so I shot David an email. David provided turn by turn with pictures within a day! Good Dude!

No cars at the trail head. It was a perfect morning. The hike in seemed to go by in a flash except for

discarding the morning's coffee. The one downer was (spoiler alert) hiking for 25 minutes only to pretty much walk through someones backyard. It was a minor distraction and we would wind up getting to some spots that felt like BFE.

We hiked past a half mile of good looking water and I dropped my pack. We rigged up and continued to hike downstream past a long stretch of very rocky terrain. The trail makes its way down to the river, then up over boulders, then down to the river again. I was happy I had dropped my pack when I did. The hike was good exercise and the plunge holes were unreal. We hiked past a section where the canyon opens up a bit and decided to start fishing our way back out. Time for the real fun to begin!

It took half a dozen casts to hook up with a pretty brown. There are a couple of flies that work everywhere. Poopah Brown Velvet Micro Chenille San Juan Worm catches fish anywhere I throw it. Wildcat canyon is no
exception. Some guys don't like fishing with SJWs but I love them. They catch fish. Lots of them. The best three characteristics of a fly in my book are, how easily it is to tie, durability, and most importantly what the fish think of it. SJW is easily in the top 5 in two of those categories. If it isn't working, cut the Chenille off above the hook eye. Sometimes fish don't like the way the Chenille looks when it bends back on the fly in the water.

Another go-to fly is a simple thread body with a CDC feather tied in to look like an RSII only have the CDC feather extend to just before the bend of the hook. Can imitate anything depending on size and color of CDC and thread. No tail, no bead, no ribbing, no thread change. It works! Trim the CDC on stream and add some weight between hatches and it'll represent the nymph. You can tie a dozen of these in 20 minutes. Plan C, small Mercury Black Beauty with flash run along the back of the entire fly under the ribbing.

I absolutely love this type of water. Every 20 - 50 yards you get an entirely new river to figure out. Spend a minute to change your indicator and weight (mold soft tungsten like Mojo Mud) over a very small split shot and use Thingamabobbers for quick indicator adjustments. When you dial in to the run your fishing, fly selection becomes less important. Just get down to the trout with a good drift and if you are close with your fly selection you will hook up.

We hooked up pretty regularly throughout the rest of the day. I landed at least a dozen and missed half dozen more. I think the biggest was 15" but I know this water is holding some larger trout (see stoneflies below). 

We had perfect weather for fishing. We got back to my pack just in time for the thunder. We changed into our dry shoes and started the hike out. After a day of crawling over boulders a hike like this really stretches the legs. We must be living right because we were treated to a light drizzle the entire hike out. Getting the heart rate up in the rain in this scenery really recharges the batteries. The fishing was icing on the cake.

Very cool place and will be back for sure. We saw two other people the whole day on a holiday weekend. I imagine you would have the place to yourself on most week days. Very clean trail. It's a scramble in some places but nothing hard and most of the trail is very well maintained. I can see where the canyon gets its name. Look up every now and then when you are on the trail. Looks like perfect land for big cats. I expected to see something looking down at me a few times. Probably a good idea to fish with someone on a trip like this. You don't have to be as fast as a big cat. You just have to be faster than your buddy. Sorry Marty! :-)

Think there are big fish in Wildcat Canyon?