Deckers – South Platte
14 Day Forecast: Look for sporadic hatches of midges.
Effective Patterns: #20-22 Top Secret Midge, #20-22 Manhattan Midge, #20-22 Jujubaetis, #20-22 Top Secret Baetis, #20-24 Chocolate Foam Wing Emerger, #18 Micro Egg, #20-22 Red Larva, #20 Mercurry Blood Midge, #20 Flashback Mercury Black Beauty, #20 Buckskin, #20-22 Pat's Midge, #20-24 Griffith Gnat, #22 Mole Fly, and #22-24 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:
Outflows are currently 300 cfs below Cheesman Reservoir. River levels have been up and down like a yo-yo. In the past 9 days, the outflows have beeen adjusted 6 times to meet downstream demand. Cheesman Reservoir is currently at 86% capacity as of this morning. This is a bit counter intuitive, but Denver Water expects the outflows to be in the 200-250 cfs range most of the summer. Cheesman Reservoir is currently at 86% capacity as of this morning. Considering all things, fishing is not shabby at Deckers for a mixed bag of medium sized brown and rainbow trout. Anglers should prepare themselves for hatches of midges, some sporadic mayfly activity, and caddisflies. The substrate is clogged with aquatic folliage making things challenging for the nymph fisherman. If you opt to nymph, make sure you keep your flies mid-column. A dry-and-dropper is not a bad idea right now to minimize your downtime. Revised 6/19/26