Trout Haven at Eleven Mile

Check out that view 😍

📸: Ranger Dale

How to Tie Hopper Legs Using Pheasant Without Any Special Tools! #flytying #hopper #pheasant Here is a quick and easy way to tie hopper legs out of pheasant without having to make or purchase any extra tools! Seems like everywhere we fish there is an...

Sunrise near Gothic, Colorado

Monday, July 22ND, 2024.​

MY SHOP IS FOR SALE BECAUSE I WOULD LIKE TO RETIRE NEXT YEAR. TUMBLING TROUT HOLDS MORE PERMIT COVERAGE OF THE WATERS IN SOUTH PARK THAN ANY OTHER OUTFITTER IN THE WORLD. THAT IN ITSELF IS A SIGNIFICANT REASON TO BUY MY CUTE LIL SHOP.

Regional water are perfect - both tailwaters and freestone.​

WEATHER: Back to hot days. Don't see the afternoon thunderstorms until the weekend.​

FLOWS: Deluge kind of rain storms have brought the flow back up to above normal for the S Platte, though Tarryall below the reservoir is starting to drop. Tomahawk is perfect.​

RIVER FLIES SURFACE: I don't know why you would use a streamer or nymph when there are so many choices for surface dry fly fishing. Now is a good time to try your terrestrials, stimulators. attractors or caddis, Trico or other mayflies. Droppers should include emergers, like RS2, Mole Fly,

RIVER FLIES SUB-SURFACE: Rainbow warriors, Two-bit hookers, Good Ol' fashion BHPT, worms, mini leeches.​

RESERVOIRS: Callibaetis better than chironomids, damsel flies and crawdads and leeches. Chubbies, too.​

KITE LAKE AND OLIVER TWIST THE CUTTYS ARE STILL SPAWNING. (Leave them alone)

https://parkcofair.com/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1tU6WiYZwm-fWcnFFcGBYo3nMXcXSGoIvz1gftE_NjK4CNyatWPx02OdE_aem_7fPymZxD-1T59Pfm0e8sLw

Park County Fair - Fairplay, CO Join is for a carnival, concerts, rodeos, fun for the kids and more!

Thursday, July 11th, 2024.

WEATHER... WAY TOO HOT and no rain until late Sunday. Next week a lil better temperature-wise with late afternoon thunderstorms.

FLOWS: Flows are dropping, water is clearing up everywhere. I need some temperature data!!!​

RIVER FLIES SURFACE: TERRESTRAILS AND CADDIS! Or, a stimulator. Droppers should include emergers, like RS2, Mole Fly.

RIVER FLIES SUB-SURFACE: Rainbow warriors, Two-bit hookers, Good Ol' fashion BHPT, worms, mini leeches.​

RESERVOIRS: Callibaetis better than chironomids, damsel flies and crawdads and leeches.​​

KITE LAKE CUTTYS ARE SPAWNING. (Leave them alone)

Check out the vibrant colors on this beautiful Rainbow caught by !

Send us all your fishing pictures — we love to see your successes! 🎣



Did you get out to fish this holiday weekend??

Monday, July 8th, 2024.

WEATHER... A very hot and windy week. Thunderstorms Wednesday and Sunday but otherwise very little cloud cover.

FLOWS: Flows are starting to become reasonable, though still a lil high and murky.​

RIVER FLIES SURFACE: Trico and caddis mornings, Royal Wulff, beetle, hopper, stimulaters. Try skating across the surface when your fly goes downstream of you. Mice get in the water on really hot days.​

RIVER FLIES SUB-SURFACE: RS2, mole fly, caddis pupa, callibaetis nymphs; wet flies, cranefly larva; tiny dark midge nymph; Mayer's mini-leech.

RESERVOIRS: Chironomids, leeches, Callibaetis, damsel flies and crawdads....yes. We have crawdad patterns.

Mid-summer essentials…

.co.uk

Eleven Mile Reservoir North Shore Boat Ramp will open this Monday, May 6th for the season. ANS and boating hours are 1/2 before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset.

Over the winter, we did have an issue with our new breakwater system. While it is currently still operational, we are working with our manufacturer on a repair plan. This will require us to shut down the boat ramp for a few days when this repair occurs to allow the crews to get work done. We will announce those repair/closure dates when we have a more concrete plan.

Witchers Boat Ramp will open Saturday, May 25th. Ramp days of operation and hours will be announced soon.

11 Mile Marina

The South Platte is fishing great right now! Fish are feeding heavily on beatis and midges, both nymph rigs and dry flies are catching fish.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Get one of our guides to take you out for a fun and successful day on the water! Call us for more info or to book.

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The sight fishing with Baetis nymphs has been spectacular as of late! When you see the fish “chasing their food”, that’s a sure sign they are keying on swimming Baetis nymphs (emergers). They start to key on Baetis nymphs mid morning then switch to keying on the duns early afternoon!

Friday, March 22nd, 2024.​

WEATHER... SUPER LOVELY WEEKEND (but windy)! Then....late Sunday into Tuesday a snow storm and cold. Next weekend looks to be stupendous again.​

FLOWS
Tailwaters - Dream Stream has been up down up down and is flowing big today (Friday). That makes the water a lil off and a lil weedy. Not fishing so great. Eleven Mile Canyon, Abell, Happy Meadows are up and flowing clear until late afternoon when the heavy snow melt drains into the river.

The Tarryall River is ice free in many public access areas but still ice bound where the shade is more constant.​

BADGER BASIN FROM ANTERO - The South Fork of the South Platte River from Antero to Hwy 9 (turn off to Fairplay) is open, ice-free and fishable.​

BADGER BASIN BY HARTSEL - South Fork from Hwy 9 to Hartsel is still ice bound but the center is thawing...​

TOMAHAWK - frozen.​

PATTERNS - REGIONAL OBSERVATIONS: Our daily midge hatch are black with white wings, large now, so size #18 or #20 will do. BWO are in the air. Trout are not feeing on the top, rather feeding in the top 3' of the water column and in slow shallow shelves on the margins.​

OUR BIG RAINBOWS ARE ALL COLORED UP BUT THEY ARE MATING!!!!!!!!! DUDE! Watch out for the REDDS (the nests). They make redds in shallow cobbly sandy places - exactly where you want to cross the river or stand. What do you do then? YOU BASICALLY DON'T CROSS THE RIVER OR STAND IN THE SHALLOW PLACES! Seriously....It's a temporary situation and that is the ethical and supportive means of fly fishing during spawn. Don't target those big red rainbows - hold off for now. Target the big browns as they feed on the eggs and leeches downstream of the redds.... (sheesh).​

If you observe someone catching big rainbows, or crushing redds, or holding big rainbows up for photos, then take a breath and share with them the situation. Remember - everyone has to learn somewhere. Direct them to me: MICHELE AT TUMBLING TROUT FLY SHOP. I'll have a chat with them.

Monday, March 18th, 2024.​

WEATHER... Look at this sweet week coming up! Then, next week another ardtic blast. Let me tell you this: the roads up here are ALWAYS plowed. That includes Eleven Mile Canyon. Always. HOWEVER - if there is significant accumulation, then #1 - neither me nor my staff can get our of our houses and get to the shop. #2 - you can get into the Canyon but access on foot to the bank (and back) may be thigh deep snow. OK?​

FLOWS
Tailwaters - Dream Stream is starting to drop. Eleven Mile Canyon, Abell, Happy Meadows are still up! I notice that the Tarryall is staring to open in the center with ice shelves n the margins (I'd fish that.)​

PATTERNS
Canyon every winter day means tiny winter midge hatch, about 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Use #22 emergers. Dark. I recommend Phil Iwane's "No Mercy Midge" and Tumbling Trout guide-tied suite of emergers and midge pupa available here at the shop.​

Dream Stream - mini leeches and EGGS!​

OUR BIG RAINBOWS ARE ALL COLORED UP BUT THEY ARE MATING!!!!!!!!! DUDE! Watch out for the REDDS (the nests). They make redds in shallow cobbly sandy places - exactly where you want to cross the river or stand. What do you do then? YOU BASICALLY DON'T CROSS THE RIVER OR STAND IN THE SHALLOW PLACES! Seriously....It's a temporary situation and that is the ethical and supportive means of fly fishing during spawn. Don't target those big red rainbows - hold off for now. Target the big browns as they feed on the eggs and leeches downstream of the redds.... (sheesh).​

If you observe someone catching big rainbows, or crushing redds, or holding big rainbows up for photos, then take a breath and share with them the situation. Remember - everyone has to learn somewhere. Direct them to me: MICHELE AT TUMBLING TROUT FLY SHOP. I'll have a chat with them.

Hello CCTU friends!

Orvis Park Meadows has started their FREE Fly Fishing 101 classes!

There are 4 dates available in March: 9, 16, 17, 23.

These classes usually fill up quickly! Register on-line for a spot: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/calendar/001bd47tN0QU8YC9CG5bhTVYA==

We LOVE that Orvis does this each year. It's a great opportunity to introduce your family and friends to fly fishing!

Orvis Park Meadows Orvis Fly Fishing

Flies & lies weekly report 3-7-24​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​CFS : at Cheesman canyon dam - 140
CFS : at Trumbull below brush creek - 160

The river has fished great recently! Most days we're seeing decent midge hatches starting mid morning. We've also seen some of the big spring midges and even a few blue winged olives here and there!

Nymphs, dry flies and streamers can all catch fish right now. 2-3 fly nymph rigs fished near the bottom with 5x or 6x tippet has been the go-to. Throwing a small streamer for a couple casts after you're done nymphing is a good way to "clean up" a spot and pick up a few more fish. Keep your eyes peeled throughout the day for rising fish!

Nymphs -
•Sanjuan worm brown - size 10-16
•Hare's ear nymph - size 16-18
•Grey RS2 - size 22
•Juju baetis - size 20-22
•Top secret midge - size 22-24
•Mercury midge - size 20-22
•Flashy money midge red - size 20-22

Dry flies -
•Parachute adams - size 18-24
•Matt's midge - size 22

Streamers -
•Krystal bu**er black or olive - size 10-12

If you need any flies or could use advice on rigging. Swing by the fly shop!

flies-n-lies.com

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Check out this week's fishing report....ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT if you are in thr March Madness fishing tournament... there are CHANGES POSTED....
Also come find out the latest ice conditions and what to use!
Saturday is supposed to be a beautiful day!
Check out the weather station on the bottom of the report for the latest!!!

https://www.11milesports.com/fishing-report

PIC OF THE WEEK: Send us you ice catching pics. If we use them in the fishing report you can have three Krystal Lazers or Tiny Tots for FREE on you next visit.

PIC # 1: This 24” Cuttbow reported caught at North Shore on a pink tube tipped with worm. Pic courtesy D.Cowan

The rainbows are all colored up and doing their thing! What a special time of year!

*twell

Flies & lies weekly report 2-22-24

CFS : at Cheesman canyon dam - 160
CFS : at Trumbull below brush creek - 175

Water clarity is great in Cheesman and around the fly shop, as you go farther down river it gets slightly off color but still plenty fishable. The entire Deckers and Cheesman section is ice free.

There has been a good midge hatch coming off most days, if the wind stays down you can find some risers in the right spots. Nymphing has been good, warmer weather has made the fish spread out some meaning you can find them in the riffles and slower pocket water!

We recommend nymphing with a 2 or 3 fly rig with a bigger lead fly, trailed by 1 or 2 small midge patterns. Take advantage of the nice weather while it lasts!

Lead flies -
•San juan worm brown - size 10
•Blowtorch - size 16
•Pink bead hare's ear nymph - size 16-18

Dropper flies -
•Flashback pheasant tail - size 20-22
•Bling midge tan - size 22-24
•Mercury midge - size 20-22
•Demon midge - size 20-22
•Jujubee midge blue - size 22

Dry flies -
•Parachute adams - size 22-26
•Griffith's gnat - size 22-24

If you need any flies or could use advice on rigging. Swing by the fly shop!

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The brown trout are starting to get happy again! The midge-bite has been pretty good the past two days! The top producers today were a size 22 Purple Manhattan Midge and a size 22 Mercury Midge.

*twell

https://krdo.com/news/2024/02/19/cpw-hosting-ice-fishing-clinic-this-weekend-at-eleven-mile-state-park/

CPW hosting ice fishing clinic this weekend at Eleven Mile State Park | KRDO PARK COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - Have you ever wanted to give ice fishing a try but didn't know where to start? Well, if you're around the Pikes Peak Region this weekend, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is hosting the perfect event for you. On Sunday, Feb. 25 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., CPW is

Flies & lies weekly report 2-15-24

CFS : at Cheesman canyon dam - 175
CFS : at Trumbull below brush creek - 175
Water condition : Clear, daytime temps in the 40s

We've seen good midges hatches both in the canyon and around the fly shop recently! During the afternoon expect to see fish move into the riffles to feed, these are good fish to target as they haven't been very picky. Keep your eyes peeled for risers as the day goes on!

Midges are still the name of the game, red, tan and black have done best. Leeches, worms and caddis patterns are good lead flys.

Fly recommendations -
•Floss worm brown - size 10
•Mini leech brown - size 16
•Hare's ear nymph - size 18
•Zebra midge - size 20-22
•Demon midge - size 20-22
•top secret midge - size 22-24

Drys -
•Parachute adams - size 22-26
•Matt's midge - size 22-24

If you need any flies or could use advice on rigging. Swing by the fly shop!

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