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There are two hatcheries. The first is when you first come in and the second is below the last parking area. As for catching fish near shore, in the narrows, in the pools, in the fast water, with dries, with small stuff, with size 2 woolly buggers...I've been successful or skunked on all methods in all places. The biggest factor for my success is not having the fish associate me or the cast with the fly. That can mean casting out beyond their vision of you into the middle of the pool but it can also mean casting a fly well in front of a cruising fish and then twitching it when it gets close or it can mean letting a heavily weighted fly sink to the bottom close to a fish near the bank and then waiting as long as 10 minutes for the spooked fish to return and then twitching the fly ONCE. Or it can mean only waiting a couple of minutes or less and twitching the fly ONCE to a fish that didn't swim away. The good thing about the twitch on the bottom method is that you can use heavy tippet material (read 0X 8lb Maxima) and can quickly bring the fish in without worrying about them breaking off. This method can be improved if you tie your pattern so that it it rides upside down so you don't hang up in the weeds as often. One other factor is that these fish are caught and released several times a day sometimes so being at Rocky Ford at first light can be much more productive than late morning or early afternoon. Things pick up again during the low light in the evening after most of the commuters have left. Seriously, I have watched quasi experts arrive early and C&R nearly every visible fish and then move on, quickly landing fish after fish. Others come by a few minutes later and have no idea the fish they are targeting have just been caught and waste far too much time trying to catch a fish that is now very aware of the perils of eating aggressively.
Randy
There are two hatcheries. The first is when you first come in and the second is below the last parking area. As for catching fish near shore, in the narrows, in the pools, in the fast water, with dries, with small stuff, with size 2 woolly buggers...I've been successful or skunked on all methods in all places. The biggest factor for my success is not having the fish associate me or the cast with the fly. That can mean casting out beyond their vision of you into the middle of the pool but it can also mean casting a fly well in front of a cruising fish and then twitching it when it gets close or it can mean letting a heavily weighted fly sink to the bottom close to a fish near the bank and then waiting as long as 10 minutes for the spooked fish to return and then twitching the fly ONCE. Or it can mean only waiting a couple of minutes or less and twitching the fly ONCE to a fish that didn't swim away. The good thing about the twitch on the bottom method is that you can use heavy tippet material (read 0X 8lb Maxima) and can quickly bring the fish in without worrying about them breaking off. This method can be improved if you tie your pattern so that it it rides upside down so you don't hang up in the weeds as often. One other factor is that these fish are caught and released several times a day sometimes so being at Rocky Ford at first light can be much more productive than late morning or early afternoon. Things pick up again during the low light in the evening after most of the commuters have left. Seriously, I have watched quasi experts arrive early and C&R nearly every visible fish and then move on, quickly landing fish after fish. Others come by a few minutes later and have no idea the fish they are targeting have just been caught and waste far too much time trying to catch a fish that is now very aware of the perils of eating aggressively.
Randy
