Arkansas River – 08/20/2005

Time: 11:00AM – 5:00PM

Location: Lone Pine

I decided to try different stretches that I saw from the highway that I previously bypassed. I began at the Lone Pine recreation area, as I parked along the highway to avoid the parking fee, and I hiked straight down to the river. There was a wide area in front of me with a drop off, and I waded along the edge of the drop off until I approached the far side. I tied on a yellow Letort hopper and copper john. A large boulder was situated in the water, and current curled around it and entered a nice pool, and I cast above the boulder along the bank. The hopper drifted along the current, and as it tumbled to the drop off, it disappeared. I set the hook and had the largest brown that I ever caught on the Arkansas River. It extended to around 16 inches. I did not have my camera, as Jane and Dan took it on their ascent of Mt. Elbert.

I moved upstream casting to shallow lies, and I caught browns on nearly every cast. I worked up the small channel on the north side of an island, and by the time I reached the top of the island, I landed twelve trout. I crossed back over to the parking lot and moved to the next spot. I parked just before the Loma Linda KOA campground and hiked the path and ate my lunch by the river. After lunch I walked down the highway, and then I fished back upstream. I caught a couple trout in the wide flat area, where I crossed back to my lunch spot. I caught these trout on a elk hair caddis. Next I walked the path around a place where a family was swimming in a deep hole. I worked upstream, but it transitioned into very slow water. When I reached the campground, a man was spin fishing, so I turned around and returned to the car.

Next I drove upstream to an area of pocket water just before Cotopaxi. I hiked down along the river, and then I worked my way back up from just above some rapids. I picked up a few more browns and then quit for the day at around 5PM.

Fish Landed: 17