Time: 11:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: Upper Basin

Arkansas River 05/19/2021 Photo Album

After two days of rain across Colorado, Wednesday was projected to be the start of a warming trend, so I decided to take advantage and log another day of fly fishing. I had my eye on the upper basin of the Arkansas River, since I drove past the area on my way to the Buena Vista section on Friday, May 14, 2021, and it reminded me of a place on my future exploration list. The high temperature in Leadville was forecast to reach 55 degrees, and this fell within my tolerance range, so I made the drive on Wednesday morning.

The temperature on the dashboard was 50 degrees, when I arrived at the small parking area at the fence opening, so I donned my North Face light down jacket and raincoat along with my billed hat with earflaps. The wind was gusting frequently, so I assembled my Sage One five weight to counter the fierce air currents. My attire proved appropriate, as I was only on the warm side a few times when the sun peeked through the heavy clouds.

Mt. Massive

The upper basin gauges of the Arkansas River posted flows in the range between 80 CFS and 235 CFS, but I was uncertain of my position relative to these two meters. Judging from the current velocity, where I fished, I can vouch for higher than ideal river flows, as I never attempted to cross the full river.

Two other vehicles preceded me to my chosen pullout, so I was conscious of their presence throughout my day on the river. Since it was my first visit to this section of the Arkansas River, I was not familiar with the structure and nuances. I did not want to fish directly behind other anglers, but I also did not wish to invade their valued space.

Typical Structure

I found the river difficult to read in this area. The terrain was mostly flat with a lower gradient than I am accustomed to in the west. The majority of the river rushed relatively full between the banks, and with few visible current breaks such as large rocks and logs, I sought places where currents shifted from one side to the other or where currents merged forming a deep V in the riverbed. Other prime targets were deep, slower moving ribbons next to the bank. I bypassed quite a few long stretches of fast riffles and runs that spanned the entire waterway.

Headed in That Direction

Normally I hike a good distance, before I wet my line, but my unfamiliarity caused me to begin casting relatively close to the parking area. I spotted another fisherman 80 yards upstream, so I decided to do some early exploration, before I interfered with his space. I knotted a yellow fat Albert to my line, and then I added a 20 incher and salvation nymph. This combination generated two temporary connections in the early going as well as a few refusals to the fat Albert. I paused for a quick lunch at noon, and after lunch I continued with the same combination for another thirty minutes. I persisted with the same flies for a longer than normal time period, because the attractive spots were so infrequent, that I was not sure that my fly selection was to blame for the lack of success.

Finally after some additional refusals, I decided that the fish were mainly looking toward the surface for their meals, so I clipped off the three fly dry/dropper and migrated to a single Chernobyl ant. The Chernobyl also generated some tantalizing swirls, and eventually I landed a small brown trout to prevent a threatened skunking, but it was getting late, and I had no answer for the infrequent surface snubs. The nymphs seemed to be more trouble than they were worth with the periodic tangles and the bothersome wind gusts. I opted for a size 10 yellow Letort hopper and trailed a size 16 olive-brown deer hair caddis. This offering was an attempt to retain the yellow color scheme of the fat Albert but in a downsized imitation. The double dry failed to produce, but the yellow hopper did provoke a pair of heart stopping boils, but they never converted to a bite.

Narrow Band of Slow Water Along the Bank Produced

Quality Brown Trout

The refusals convinced me that the river contained some decent fish, but I was clueless over how to fool them. I returned to a dry/dropper approach with a pool toy hopper and then a different Chernobyl ant. I combined the surface foam attractors with a hares ear nymph and the 20 incher, but once again my efforts were futile. I sat down to ponder my plight next to a delightful long deep run that deflected off the opposite bank below me. This struck me as perfect deep nymphing water, so I took the plunge and rearranged my system to include a New Zealand strike indicator, split shot, hares ear nymph and 20 incher. The set up failed to pay dividends in the attractive water next to me, but over the last hour I salvaged my sanity, as I landed a fifteen and thirteen inch brown trout on the 20 incher and hares ear.

Re-entry

The sudden taste of success provided a surge in optimism and focus, and I moved up the river with renewed enthusiasm to explore the deep runs and seams; but, alas, a three trout day was my ultimate fate. Of course, three landed trout was below my expectations, but I take solace in the fact that I explored new water and learned some things, that I can apply, when I visit in the future. I suspect that my dry/dropper offerings were too high in the water column, and I need to add more weight on future ventures. I clocked my return hike with my watch, and I now know that I was one mile from the parking lot, when I ended, and the more distant section seemed to offer more prime holding spots for trout. I stopped to chat with a young angler on my return hike, and he told me that he and his buddy were having success with RS2’s. I did try one briefly in my dry/dropper system, but I never added an RS2 to the indicator nymphing approach. Hopefully I can leverage this knowledge to greater success on my next visit to the upper basin of the Arkansas River.

Fish Landed: 3