Three Miles of Private Water on the South Platte with Three Experts
As an ALTAR Fly Fishing supporter and a retreat participant, I was extended a special invitation to fish the sought after Abell River Ranch private waters in Colorado with Eric Camfield, the President and Founder of Altar Fly Fishing. I jumped at the opportunity because I have great respect for Eric and I enjoy spending time on and off the river with him.
Some of you met Eric either at one of the past Altar Driftless Retreats near Viroqua, WI —Wisconsin’s Driftless Region. Others may have met him if you helped out at the November 2021 Pastor’s Retreat at Montauk which was sponsored by ALTAR and FATC. You can find more about Altar and Eric at altarflyfishing.org
In addition, I knew I would have the opportunity to learn from one of the best fly-fishing teachers in the industry, with stream-side instruction from expert angler and former Altar board member, Jason Randall.
I can’t say enough good things about the trip to truly do it justice, but I’ll try to hit a few of the high points:
Fellow FATC member and good friend, Tony Kalinowski joined me on the trip. Tony and I have known each other for several years and we are both active in another fellowship called Legacy Builders (formally known as CBMC-St Louis). You might want to visit their website sometime at legacybuilders.faith
For three days we fished private waters on the South Platte about a 60-75 minutes from Colorado Springs. Our flight to Colorado was delayed and when we finally touched down we had to then drive through the tail end of a thunderstorm in the dark in the mountains.
It was well worth the journey. We stayed in a rustic cabin at about 8,000 feet elevation with a fabulous view from the front porch in the gated-mountain-community of Sportsmen’s Paradise which is adjacent to the Abell River Ranch. By the way, Abell is the name of the family that owned the ranch for several generations.
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Abell River Ranch is a 3 mile stretch of the South Platte River near the town of Lake George Colorado. Unopened to commercial guiding until 2019, this stretch of river will make you feel like you are going back in time and fishing an untouched piece of water. Abell is just downstream of the famous 11 Mile Canyon and upstream of Cheesman Reservoir. Being a “tailwater” below 11 Mile Reservoir keeps this stretch of river open to fishing almost any day of the year while also giving it the added bonus of getting migratory fish moving out of Cheesman Reservoir downstream.
During our stay in early August the flow was low—well below 90cfs and the water temperatures were high 59-70+ degrees. Both of which made the fishing more challenging. In fact, on two of the days we stopped fishing in the afternoon when the water temperature reached 70 degrees. Not only does this have a negative impact on the fishing as the trout seek cooler, more highly oxygenated areas in the stream, but more importantly, the mortality rate increases greatly when releasing trout after a hard fight.
As is often the case, your fishing companion is a major contributor to the memorability of a day on the stream. During this 3-day adventure I was blessed with three very notable fishing companions—a different one each day.
On day one, I fished all day with and was mentored by Ed Engle. Ed is a legendary fly fisherman, tyer, guide and outdoor journalist and author of six books. As a fly fisherman, Ed is especially interested in small fly tactics and techniques. He developed his skill for fishing small flies on the South Platte River more than 40 years ago and has lectured on fishing and tying small flies at fishing trade shows for almost as long.
Ed is an expert on fishing the Trico hatch and we had some wild hatches that morning. Large clouds of mating Tricos hovered above the stream. The Trico Mayfly only lives one day out of the water. During that time it mates, lays eggs, that when dropped basically tear out much of the Tricos insides to be used for the eggs nutrition. The Trico then drops to the stream as a spinner —a snack for a hungry trout.
We fished a size 22 sunken (aka: drowned) Trico spinner about 10 inches behind a size 20 tail-up Trico as a sighter. We brushed white powdered floatant on the tail-up Trico in order to be able to see it. Unfortunately, that day we didn’t have many rising fish (major feeding flurries)—and it’s not the kind of thing you just can make happen without several cooperative trout. Whether the trout are taking emergers, duns, or spinners, the fish seem to get hyper-selective when it comes to Tricos.
Ed is a super guy and a real character I really enjoyed my time with him on the stream as well as at mealtimes and drinks in the evening.
On day two, I fished all day (or until the water temp reached 70 degrees) with Jason Randall, which gave me a chance to work on my Euro nymphing technique. Jason literally wrote the book on nymphing—his most recent book, Nymph Masters. That book was the fourth book on fly fishing that Jason has published. I learned a lot and caught several fish while we fished our mile-long “beat” on the Abell Ranch South Platte.
Jason talked about being part of a heritage and passing along what he learned from his mentors who include fly fishing legends Lefty Kreh and Ed Jaworowski. Jason spent a lot of time on and off the water with these guys. I felt honored that now, in a small way, I may be part of that heritage —that LEGACY. And I’m proud to say that I think that’s a big part of the FATC ethos.
On day three, I had the pleasure to fish all day with Nick Conklin, Fly Fishing Product Category Manager for TFO (Temple Fork Outfitters.) Nick has tough job, but I guess somebody has to do it. Nick is an expert fly fisherman and fly caster who has fished around the world. If Nick isn’t on the water, he’s probably representing TFO at a fly-fishing trade show or event.
Nick is also an outdoor journalist and author. Presently, he is also writing a book on techniques for fishing high-pressure, public-access, western streams.
BTW, Nick took several photos of me landing trout. It would be the coup de grace if my photo eventually ended up in his book. While I was with Nick, we euro nymphed, as well as fished hopper-dropper set ups. It was the icing on the cake for me to catch several fish on both methods.
I also wanted to mention the largest fish caught during our stay was a Rainbow approximately 24-inch long that Eric Camfield caught on a size 12 purple Amy’s Ant that he was using on a hopper-dropper setup. Tony and Eric were fishing together at the time and both caught several other trout. Eric is an accomplished fly fisherman and Tony said he learned a lot fishing with Eric and other guides during his three days on the stream.
I also really have to rave about the hospitality and fabulous meals provided by our hosts, Jim and Janine Young. Jim is on the board of Altar Fly Fishing. After a career in wildlife conservation with Duck’s Unlimited, Jim continues to live out his love of the outdoors through fly fishing. One of Jim’s favorite experiences is fishing, guiding, or teaching with his wife, Janine, who along with Jim is also a guide and instructor for Angler’s Covey Outfitters.
In closing, I just want to give thanks and say how blessed I have been by getting involved with FATC. This trip was just one more great example. You never know where your involvement will lead.
If you would like to get more involved consider a Team Up trip, A FATC Ronald McDonald House Dinner Night, the FATC Children’s Hospital Fly Tying Event, a fly fishing or fly-tying class, the Altar Fly Fishing Retreat in May of 2024, the FATC sponsored Altar retreat for pastors this November (2023), and the upcoming 6-week FATC Resilient book study starting September 14, 2023.
Respectfully,
John Muckerman
