Time: 11:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Big Horn Sheep Canyon

Arkansas River 03/09/2026 Photo Album

I wrapped up my fly tying, and with high temperatures forecast to reach the mid-70’s on Monday, March 9, 2026, I sought a destination for my maiden fly fishing outing of 2026. I did not have to search very far, before I settled on the Arkansas River in Big Horn Sheep Canyon. The flows were around 300 CFS and ideal for wading, and the high temperature was projected to be around seventy degrees. These were prime fishing conditions for September, not late winter.

With the recent time change in place, I did not plan to be on the river early, since 11AM was really comparable to 10AM temperature-wise under standard time. I departed Denver by 8:20AM, and this enabled my arrival at my chosen fly fishing destination by 11AM.

New Setup

For my first day of fly fishing in the new year, I was breaking in a new raincoat, sungloves and new eyes. New eyes you ask? This was my first attempt to fish following cataract surgery on both eyes in December. I had my distance vision restored to 20/20, but the offset to this was an inability to see up close without the aid of magnifiers. Consequently, I was sporting new non-prescription sunglasses and magnifiers that clipped on to the brim of my hat. I tested Clic readers, but the retainer on the Clic tangled with the retainer on my sunglasses. The clip-ons only cost $10, so I concluded that the experiment was cheap, and I could always default to dueling magnifiers. In fact, I stuffed the magnifiers in my backpack just in case. The eyewear conundrum also created a change to my headwear. My floppy wide-brimmed hat was not stiff enough to hold the clip-ons, so I opted for a billed baseball cap. How would all these changes work out? Stay tuned.

First Fish of the New Year

In addition to the equipment modifications, I tied quite a few new flies over the course of the winter, and I was anxious to break them in as well. I had two Lance Egan flies, the Frenchie and silver bullet. From Juan Ramirez I tied some sniper baetis, and from Charlie Craven I produced some mole flies. I hoped to see some blue wing olive activity in order to test the baetis, silver bullet and mole fly.

Beast Filled the Net

Because of all the changes in my routine, it took me longer to prepare to fish than normal, but I found myself situated along the river ready to make my first cast at 11:30AM. I started my pursuit of trout with an amber ice dub chubby Chernobyl, Arkansas rubber legs, and silver bullet. I read that molting stoneflies were in play and that blue wing olives were hatching. There was intermittent gusting of wind, but for the most part the weather was nearly perfect. During the thirty minutes before my lunch break at noon, I landed one twelve inch brown trout on the Arkansas rubberlegs, and I experienced two temporary hook ups. I was pleased with the amount of early action.

Olive Perdigon Still Stars

After lunch I continued up the river, but I suffered through a forty-five minute drought. The section that I fished was a bit marginal, and I managed another long distance release, but my nymphs continually snagged bottom. I concluded that the conehead Arkansas rubber legs was too heavy, so I exchanged it for an olive perdigon and swapped the silver bullet for a sniper baetis. This move paid dividends, and I landed a gorgeous eighteen inch rainbow that snatched the olive perdigon.

Long Brown Trout

Unfortunately another cold spell ensued, and I now felt as if my drifts were not gaining enough depth, so I added a 20 incher and trailed the tungsten bead olive perdigon. This action turned the tide, and for the remainder of the afternoon I progressed up the river and built the fish count from two to fifteen. Needless to say, I was a very happy angler.

Great Trough

Roughly half of the landed fish snapped up the olive perdigon, and the remainder chomped the 20 incher. The quality of these fish was unsurpassed. I fought and landed a football sized brown trout that probably extended to eighteen inches, and another brown trout filled the net to about sixteen inches. A few more rainbows were in the mix, but the catch on March 9 was predominantly brown trout. Every fish that I landed on Monday was twelve inches or greater and many browns in the thirteen inch slot prevailed. I was quite pleased with the size of the trout that rested in my net.

This Was a Hot Spot

Between 2PM and 3PM there was a fairly dense blue wing olive emergence, although I never saw surface feeding. The wind was at its worst, and the tiny mayflies tumbled across the surface and through the air, as I looked on. By this time I was in faster pocket water, and it was impossible to see naturals or rises among the swirling currents, so I stuck with the dry/dropper approach. And why not, since I was landing gorgeous fish along the way. Nevertheless, I never had the opportunity to experiment with the mole fly.

Best Brown of the Day

What a day! This was, in all likelihood, my best opening day ever during my many days of fly fishing. The river was in perfect condition, and it appears that hatches are two to three weeks ahead of schedule.

Fish Landed: 15