Deckers – South Platte
14 Day Forecast: Look for sporadic hatches of midges
Effective Patterns: #22-24 Chocolate Foam Wing Emerger, #18 Hot Tail Flash Egg, #20 Mercury Blood Midge, #20 Red Larva, #20 Pale Olive Larva, #20-22 Black Beauty, #20-22 Mercury Flashback Black Beauty, #20 JujuBaetis, #22 Stalcup's Baetis, #18-20 Mercury Flashback Pheasant Tail, #20-22 Sparkle Wing RS 2, #20-22 Mercury Midge, #20-24 Top Secret Midge, #20-22 Manhattan Midge, #20 Mathew's Sparkle Dun, #20 Stalcup's CDC Biot Comparadun, #22-24 Matt's Midge, #22-24 Griffith Gnat, and #20-26 Parachute Adams.
Measurements
Colorado Fly Fishing Report for Deckers on the South Platte by Pat Dorsey
The mileage below Cheesman Canyon is the renowned Deckers area, a world-class fishery with easy access and lots of opportunity. The best fishing is from Bridge Crossing to the lower boundary of the Tee Pee Club. Like Cheesman Canyon, the fish are challenging to catch, and there is no substitution for a good dead drift. Deckers can offer good dry fly fishing at times but like upstream in the “The Canyon” a good nympher will catch the majority of fish. Anglers can expect to catch assortment of browns and rainbows with some exceeding 20 inches. The river is made up of riffles, runs, shelves and gravel bars, and nice pocket water. The ideal flow for Deckers is between 150 and 400 cfs. The regulations are two trout over 16 inches in length and flies and lures only. Please consider catch and release on all fish caught in the area.
Deckers is a world-renowned stretch of the South Platte River. There are miles of public water to fish in and around the hamlet of Deckers.
Tips & Other Information:
Cheesman Reservoir is currently 63 percent full, so Denver Water is keeping the outflows low until the lake fills. Currently the snow pack is about normal in the South Platte corridor but the problem is that the lake is so low. I’m told by Denver Water the outflows will be 40 cfs until further notice. The good news is that the feeder creeks are adding an additional 20 cfs of water to the Deckers area. Anglers should prepare themselves for a.m. and p.m. midge hatches (both the big spring midge and the small midge) as well as mid-day blue-winged olive hatches. The water temps have finally reached 4o degrees so the trout are moving back into the riffles. Look for challenging fishing in the weeks to come until the flows improve.