Not having fished it very much the 'Ford has been a pleasant "escape" this winter while awaiting the March 1st opener. There are many different ways to catch fish at Rocky Ford, but my preferred methods are sight fishing (NZ style) and shallow water indicator fishing , both of which have been productive when the conditions were right. Water levels seem low (have caught numerous fish in ~1ft of water) but the fishing has ranged from slow and steady to spectacular throughout the winter. The activity level of the fish on the Ford has varied widely from trip to trip and has for me has been difficult to predict.... I know it when I see it, but in the absence of a visible surface bite, its been hard to pinpoint "why and when" the fish have have been active vs. periods when picking up a bite required a lot of work.
The obvious and most consistent bite (confirmed by numerous throat samples) has been on olive scuds (light to dark) in varying sizes (14-22) with a smattering of other food sources showing up from time to time. Curious has been the absence of any midge pupae in the throat samples, especially given some of the riseforms which indicate pupae were being taken within 12" of the surface.. I am not that familiar with the 'Ford's hatches, but other than midges or possibly beatis I am not sure what else would trigger feeding at/just below the surface. On days where the light conditions were conducive to sighting fish those holding near the banks could be seen "looking down" for scuds in the substrate. Those fish, with a few exceptions, would resist a dead drifted presentation. As such, the infamous 'scudding' technique worked really well on those fish, but its not a presentation method I particularly enjoy so I did not target those fish very often.. that being said, someone proficient at this technique could literally "clean up".
When the fish activity remained high throughout the day it typically coincided with a strong surface bite, but not always. I have not spent any time targeting rising fish with dries, emergers, etc., but often a fish feeding at the surface would be receptive to a subsurface presentation if your timing was right and in the "zone" of where the fish was tracking in search of food as they have typically on the move a lot. The exception to this were the "non-visible" bank feeders, which were the easiest fish to catch and they seemed to move around less... holding in a smaller area to feed and thus offered a more definite window to present your fly into.. Blind fishing in the wide section between the first and 2nd bridges close to the banks along the bulrushes with a NZ indicator system consistently took fish, especially those that would often "show" by feeding at/just below the surface. or just from the surface wakes that would happen when they were moving about in such shallow water, From time to time a fish would move in and could be sighted allowing for the the subsurface "eat" to be seen, but given the light conditions sight fishing opportunities with the exception of a few areas on the creek were somewhat limited.
As for patterns, I have used the 'Ford this winter as a place to experiment - testing new patterns I hope will be productive for the upcoming stillwater season. For what its worth I have hooked and landed multiple fish on more than a dozen patterns ranging from worms, eggs, micro-balance leeches, scuds, and small (18-20) nymphs... most suspended under a NZ strike indicator but some fished "naked". Being aware of the depths and making simple indicator adjustments to fish the fly in the proper zone was the only "technical" aspect to the fishing which was pretty straightforward... observation was more critical as active fish would give themselves away through a variety of behaviors..so it was just a matter of knowing what to look for.. or not as the case may be.
The cool thing was seeing how fish could be caught on 'outside of the box' patterns that really look nothing like any of the natural food sources available in the creek. While there were times when a more imitative pattern was more effective, quite often fishing the "attractor" patterns subsurface produced a bite that could not be picked up by "matching the hatch" if you will. Just food for thought as you can catch fish at the 'Ford in so many different ways.. and given that I tend to fish how I enjoy to fish more than fishing the most productive method or presentation the 'Ford has been a lot of fun because it allows for that... without having to sacrifice catching fish.
In that regard, I have never really been a numbers guy, yet the "numbers" if you will this winter at the 'Ford have been there.. some insane days where getting "eats" was easy to other days when the eats were there, but had to work harder to find them. Nonetheless, they have been there. Its a place I have fished off and on in the past, but not with any consistency or regularity. I have come to appreciate it as a fishery a lot more now after finally spending some time on it..
Looking forward to the spring, but the 'Ford has made a brutal winter a bit more bearable this year..
Tight lines to all..
The obvious and most consistent bite (confirmed by numerous throat samples) has been on olive scuds (light to dark) in varying sizes (14-22) with a smattering of other food sources showing up from time to time. Curious has been the absence of any midge pupae in the throat samples, especially given some of the riseforms which indicate pupae were being taken within 12" of the surface.. I am not that familiar with the 'Ford's hatches, but other than midges or possibly beatis I am not sure what else would trigger feeding at/just below the surface. On days where the light conditions were conducive to sighting fish those holding near the banks could be seen "looking down" for scuds in the substrate. Those fish, with a few exceptions, would resist a dead drifted presentation. As such, the infamous 'scudding' technique worked really well on those fish, but its not a presentation method I particularly enjoy so I did not target those fish very often.. that being said, someone proficient at this technique could literally "clean up".
When the fish activity remained high throughout the day it typically coincided with a strong surface bite, but not always. I have not spent any time targeting rising fish with dries, emergers, etc., but often a fish feeding at the surface would be receptive to a subsurface presentation if your timing was right and in the "zone" of where the fish was tracking in search of food as they have typically on the move a lot. The exception to this were the "non-visible" bank feeders, which were the easiest fish to catch and they seemed to move around less... holding in a smaller area to feed and thus offered a more definite window to present your fly into.. Blind fishing in the wide section between the first and 2nd bridges close to the banks along the bulrushes with a NZ indicator system consistently took fish, especially those that would often "show" by feeding at/just below the surface. or just from the surface wakes that would happen when they were moving about in such shallow water, From time to time a fish would move in and could be sighted allowing for the the subsurface "eat" to be seen, but given the light conditions sight fishing opportunities with the exception of a few areas on the creek were somewhat limited.
As for patterns, I have used the 'Ford this winter as a place to experiment - testing new patterns I hope will be productive for the upcoming stillwater season. For what its worth I have hooked and landed multiple fish on more than a dozen patterns ranging from worms, eggs, micro-balance leeches, scuds, and small (18-20) nymphs... most suspended under a NZ strike indicator but some fished "naked". Being aware of the depths and making simple indicator adjustments to fish the fly in the proper zone was the only "technical" aspect to the fishing which was pretty straightforward... observation was more critical as active fish would give themselves away through a variety of behaviors..so it was just a matter of knowing what to look for.. or not as the case may be.
The cool thing was seeing how fish could be caught on 'outside of the box' patterns that really look nothing like any of the natural food sources available in the creek. While there were times when a more imitative pattern was more effective, quite often fishing the "attractor" patterns subsurface produced a bite that could not be picked up by "matching the hatch" if you will. Just food for thought as you can catch fish at the 'Ford in so many different ways.. and given that I tend to fish how I enjoy to fish more than fishing the most productive method or presentation the 'Ford has been a lot of fun because it allows for that... without having to sacrifice catching fish.
In that regard, I have never really been a numbers guy, yet the "numbers" if you will this winter at the 'Ford have been there.. some insane days where getting "eats" was easy to other days when the eats were there, but had to work harder to find them. Nonetheless, they have been there. Its a place I have fished off and on in the past, but not with any consistency or regularity. I have come to appreciate it as a fishery a lot more now after finally spending some time on it..
Looking forward to the spring, but the 'Ford has made a brutal winter a bit more bearable this year..
Tight lines to all..
