Bucket List Achievement: Fly Fishing the South Platte River

Colorado’s South Platte River is a legendary gold medal river for trout enthusiasts and I was finally able to cross this picturesque river off my bucket list. You should too, because, the “Tug is the Drug.”

I am new to the sport of fly fishing. Although a long-time fisherman with an affinity for trout, I’ve only recently picked up fly fishing, and it’s been both fun and frustrating. For someone like me who works in a corporate setting, replete with office drama, bosses, zoom calls, and lots of sitting (both on planes and at my home office), the mountains and rivers are spiritual for me. It’s where I go to get away from it all. No cell coverage. Just me, running water, and the tug.

As my dad says (and he’s quoting someone, I’m sure), the “tug is the drug” and the feeling of having a fish on your line, that initial tug, is exhilarating. Having long fished for trout in streams and rivers with worms and salmon eggs (and experienced tremendous success), I decided to take a run at fly fishing a year or so ago.

In my family, we are blue-collar fishermen, and fly fishing was (and is) seen as a bit more of a snooty activity. We want to catch fish and fly fishing is hard. Much harder. And more expensive.

However, I also enjoy a challenge, and the simple fact is that many of the best (and most beautiful) rivers in the world are “lures only” – meaning I’d need to tackle (pun intended) fly fishing if I wanted to experience them.

After buying a starter kit on Amazon, a few books, and consuming far too many YouTube videos, I’ve been out a handful of times over the last year or so. It’s been intoxicating and frustrating. And although I really ought to have sought out a guide, I am the kind of person who likes to “figure it out” on my own and so I have. I’ve cursed the river more than once and contemplated snapping my pole in half at least twice (seeing fish everywhere, but unable to land one…and knowing that a worm would haul it one in effortlessly has been a strain on my patience).

But, I’ve kept going. Kept researching. Learning. Experimenting.

This summer, in particular, I’ve gone at the sport pretty hard, fishing the Yampa River in Steamboat Springs (no success…maddening), the Owens River (again, no fish…although I caught several on worms and eggs on the nearby Bishop Creek), and on this trip, the South Platte River in Colorado, a bucket list river for many, including me.

After sneaking into Denver Airport on Sunday morning, I made my trek up to the South Platte River, which is about an hour to an hour and half outside of Denver. The picturesque river gurgled as I tied my fly rig up at my first stop. It was a dry dropper setup that features a caddis dry fly (doubling as my indicator) with a Pheasant Hare nymph as the dropper.

5 casts later I landed a wild brown trout (see pic below) and I was in love.

The South Platte River is one of the premier fly fishing streams in the country. The best fishing stretch is located southwest of Denver near Deckers and runs along Highway 67 for several miles. The South Platte is one of the two tributaries that eventually join to form the Platte River and the stretch I fished is stunning. Canyons, pools, meadows, and mountains in the background, and easy to access means a decent amount of fishing pressure, but there’s enough room.

After fishing for several more hours (in the rain) with no further luck, I headed down to my hotel, feeling on top of the world. I could never catch another fish again and I’d have been happy with my life! But, obviously, I wanted to catch more fish and so the next morning, early, I went at it again, and although I found a lovely pool teeming with fish, they didn’t what I had to offer (despite putting 10 different flys in front of them).

That’s fishing. And while I also enjoy catching, I love being in the mountains. Being in the water. It’s a spiritual thing for me and anyone who loves the sport of fishing (fly or otherwise) knows what I am talking about.

I can’t wait to go back again and probably will later this summer…with my dad.

I’ve also booked my next fly fishing bucket list trip: the Soca River in Slovenia. Indeed, the turquoise waters with the lure of the elusive Marble Trout, are calling my name. But, I booked a guide for this one. It’s high time I get a pro to help me, because I intend to master this sport.

And I can’t wait for the tug.