Time: 11:00AM – 4:00PM
Location: Down river from Salida
Arkansas River 04/27/2021 Photo Album
Predicted nasty weather in Denver and along the Front Range sent me searching for more favorable conditions to the south for a day of fishing. Weather stations near a couple of my favorite streams at Pinecliffe, CO and Lyons, CO predicted up to nine inches of snow with cold temperatures and high winds. Salida, CO on the other hand displayed a forecast with high temperatures in the low fifties with a chance of rain in the afternoon and wind in the low teens. With this contrast to nearby destinations the Arkansas River below Salida became my river of choice on Tuesday, April 27.
Productive Area on 4-14-2021
My visit of 4/14/2021 was relatively successful, as I landed thirteen respectable brown trout, and several waves of blue winged olives brought numerous trout to the surface on two separate occasions. I was hopeful that the predicted overcast conditions on Tuesday would lead to similar results. Stay tuned to see whether my expectations were met.
I departed Denver at 7:35AM, and this enabled me to arrive at my chosen pullout along US 50 by 10:30AM. I wore my light down coat with my raincoat as an outer shell windbreaker and hedged against afternoon showers. I put together my Sage One five weight and armed myself with a long stiff rod with the expectation of wind and playing trout in the thirteen to fifteen inch range. I began fishing fifty yards above my starting point on 4/14/2021 and I worked my way upstream between 11:00AM and 4:00PM.
On the Board
A yellow fat Albert, iron sally and classic RS2 occupied my line at the start of my day, and during the pre-lunch time period I landed a very nice fifteen inch brown trout that grabbed a classic RS2. After lunch I continued with the dry/dropper arrangement, and I added two more fine brown trout to the fish count. One gobbled a hares ear nymph and another snatched a sparkle wing RS2. Both of the early afternoon catches responded to swinging the flies at the end of the drift through the cushion in front of large submerged boulders.
Landed Fish Was at the Very Top of This Slick
Pleased With This Specimen
By 2:00PM some dark clouds drifted over the river from the southwest, and a few raindrops dotted the stones along the bank. I also began to notice a few sporadic rises, and since the dry/dropper lost its luster, I switched to a single CDC BWO. I persevered with the dry fly approach for the remainder of the day, and I met with limited success. I hooked and landed one fine brown, but connected with four additional trout that managed to shed my hook after brief battles. Two of the escapees were on my line long enough to make strong runs, before they twisted their mouths and caused the fly to rebound toward shore. Three of the four fish felt similar in size to the netted fish of the day. Halfway through my dry fly phase I added an olive-brown deer hair caddis as the front fly and then trailed a CDC BWO on a six inch leader. This combination made tracking the BWO much easier, and several of the afternoon escapees responded to this two dry fly offering.
Displayed for the Camera
Overall it was a rough day. The weather was much more favorable than suggested by the predictions, and I was actually somewhat overdressed. The baetis hatch was a fraction of that which I experienced on 4/14/2021. The rises I spotted were very infrequent and subtle, so I invested incremental time in surveying the surface of the river and simply observing.. The four trout that I landed were excellent, quality browns, but I must admit that I was disappointed with the catch rate, my conversion rate (four out of eight), and the light hatch, in spite of what seemed like ideal blue winged olive conditions. Perhaps the famed caddis hatch will be in play, if I return to the Arkansas River in the near future.
Fish Landed: 4
Clouds Provided Hope for Another Wave of Emergence