Time: 11:00AM – 2:30PM

Location: Big Horn Sheep Canyon

Arkansas River 11/04/2026 Photo Album

As I scanned the weather map for Wednesday, November 4, 2026, I noticed that the high temperature projected for Canon City, CO was 61 degrees. This was quite favorable compared to Denver, where the high was expected to only reach the mid fifties. Before committing to the trip to the Arkansas River; however, I checked the stream flows, and I was amazed to discover that the flows in Canon City were in the 700 CFS range. Could this be right? The meter at Parkdale, CO was not generating readings, so I was unable to double check flows in lower Bighorn Sheep Canyon. The flows at Wellsville, CO were in the upper 300’s, and Salida registered 250 CFS. I decided to take the safe bet and made the drive to the Arkansas River between Salida and Wellsville.

Best of the Day

When I arrived, I checked the river, and it was a bit elevated with a murky tinge, but the edges were clear, and I deemed the visibility acceptable for fly fishing. The air temperature was 46 degrees, so I wore my Columbia long sleeve undershirt, a fishing shirt, my fleece hoodie and my rain shell. I was comfortable during my entire day of fishing. The air temperature peaked at around 55 degrees, so it was definitely a chilly day. I set up my Sage One five weight rod and hiked on a worn path to the edge of the river and then worked my way along the south bank a ways.

In Front of the Rocks

To begin my day of fly fishing I decided to experiment with streamers. I tied a sculpzilla to my line and then added a trailing black ghost on a twelve inch dropper. I worked the tandem from 11:00AM, until I paused for lunch, and I tallied for bumps and connections, but no landed fish. I was pleased with the action, but I was frustrated over my inability to close the deal. After the second momentary hook up, I made a long cast, and I heard a plunk near the far bank. I stripped in my line and discovered that the plunk was the sound of my beadhead sculpzilla landing in the river, after it somehow separated from my line. I rigged anew with another sculpzilla and black ghost.

Wet Streamer

After lunch I continued with the streamer tandem, and I finally managed to land a thirteen inch brown trout. I also felt a solid take, as I stripped, and the opposing forces caused two more streamer flies to be donated to the river gods. I persisted with the streamer for a bit longer, but my mind began to wander with thoughts of a dry/dropper nymph arrangement. After six hits and one landed fish, I made the switch and converted to an amber ice dub chubby Chernobyl, an iron sally, and an olive perdigon. On one of the fly shop fishing reports I read that golden stonefly nymphs were producing, thus the iron sally.

Nymph Eater

Between 12:30PM and 2:00PM I worked my way upstream at a fairly rapid pace with the dry/dropper, and I landed three brown trout in the eleven to twelve inch range. Two snatched the olive perdigon, and one grabbed the iron sally. The fishing was actually slower than the streamer experiment, as I made a ton of unproductive casts. Places that were normally certain producers yielded only empty drifts.

Prime Water

At 2:00PM I decided to give streamers another trial. I dug out another sculpzilla style fly and added a Mickey Finn trailer, and I tossed this combination for twenty minutes, before I quit. Once again I endured a pair of bumps, but no landed fish. The bait fish imitations seemed to arouse attention, but only tentative eats. Did I have the wrong flies, or was my retrieve too slow or too fast? I’ll never know the answer to that.

I ended my day at 2:30PM and climbed the bank and returned to the car. Six hours of driving resulted in four brown trout in the eleven to thirteen inch range. It was not a very efficient day, and I used an abundant quantity of gasoline and time. Nevertheless, I logged a day of fishing in November, and I caught some fish, and I was reasonably comfortable. A day outdoors in Colorado was a win in my book.

Fish Landed: 4