Every year, when Spring hits Colorado, we begin to see a lot of BIG lake run Rainbows and Cutthroats enter the Dream Stream section of the South Platte River. The fish are coming into the river to spawn, and before they get on the Redds, it is a great time to catch one of the biggest fish of your life. I headed up this Saturday at 4:00 in the morning after a long night of sipping 12 year with some old College friends (My friend had to drag me out of bed and throw me into the car). We arrived at around 7:00 and the river resembled the Denver Zoo; anglers were already sitting at every bend and there was an angler about every 50 feet. After trying to find a good hole to fish, and finding nothing open, we began to get scared we would not get a chance at a big fish. Eventually, we walked a shallow riffle and found what looked like a small Rainbow feeding actively. After a while, he finally took a size 8 Golden Stonefly and when I saw him crash on the water I realized I had a “monster” on the line. After about fifteen minutes of tailwalks, jumps, and long runs, we finally netted the fish. It turned out to be a giant 24″ buck and the fish of a lifetime.

After we landed our “trophy fish” for the day, things just seemed to get better and better. We finally got a hole to call our own and landed quite a few Snake River Cutthroat that seem to litter the river this time of year.

We called it a day around 4:00 and headed to a friend’s cabin to cook some chicken and prepare for the next day. The next day we did it right and were the first people on the river; just in time to watch the sunrise.

I believe my friends and I only saw the beginning of the lake run fish and more should be in the river with each jump in flows. Just remember, do not cast to fish on the Redds; let them get their groove on.

The early afternoon was suprisingly slow. The river became crowded and the fish knew the fisherman had shown up. Around 2:30 was when the magic started to happen; midges started hatching and the water looked like it was boiling with rises. Along with another random fisherman, we threw size 22 Griffith’s Gnats and caught fish just about every cast. The fish rose to the hatch for about a half an hour and then turned off. About an hour later, the same midge hatch happened, only this time the midges were a little bigger. My new friend and I simply sized up to a size 20 Griffith’s Gnat and “killed” it once again. All in all, the South Platte is at the perfect flow right now. So, GET OUT AND FISH!