/Time: 11:00AM – 3:00PM

Location: Salida area

Arkansas River 06/09/2026 Photo Album

After a stellar outing on my trip to the Arkansas River last week, I craved a return visit. However, not wishing to be rash, I also reviewed the Eagle River near Avon and the South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon. The flows and fly shop reports convinced me that my best option was, in fact, the Arkansas River. I made the three hour drive on Tuesday morning.

Near the Start

I arrived by 10:30AM, and I immediately observed the river and confirmed that the flows were 330 CFS and clear. The air temperature was in the upper sixties, but one negative weather factor became obvious; wind. By 11:00AM I was perched along the river with my Sage One five weight. I began with a size 8 yellow fat Albert, a 20 incher and an iron Sally. I wanted to test the yellow-bodied foam imitation, since I felt like the trout were seeking yellow during my visit a week ago. Stoneflies are always a good bet on the Arkansas, and the iron sally was my top producer on June 3.

Nice Run

As things evolved, Tuesday was a relatively rough day, and I blame the wind. I had to stop and turn my back against the wind frequently, and casting was a challenge. The wind caused my normally accurate first and second casts to go askew, and it also contributed to several ridiculous tangles that caused me to invest an inordinate amount of time to resolve.

Has Some Girth

In the early going I stuck to the three fly arrangement as described, but it was not delivering results other than a few refusals to the fat Albert. Before lunch I logged three small brown trout, after I replaced the 20 incher with the iron sally and then added a supernova PMD nymph. One of the three early catches grabbed the iron sally, and the others nailed the supernova. I fished some very attractive spots, and the three small fish were my reward.

Just Above the Water

The nymphs were not getting it done, but I noted several swirls to the dry fly, so I changed my tactics after lunch. I abandoned the dry/dropper for a double dry fly set up. For the first fly I attached a size 14 yellow stimulator, and behind it I trailed a size 14 yellow sally dry fly. The trailing yellow sally prompted a take, and I landed a very nice thirteen inch brown. The stimulator created quite a bit of action in the form of refusals, but it never actually delivered a fish. I also hooked a second nice brown on the yellow sally, but it released itself, and then I discovered that the fly was missing most likely due to a poor knot.

Placid Section

The trout were looking toward the surface as evidenced by the stimulator refusals, but the heavily hackled attractor apparently was not a close enough imitation. I spotted a very large stonefly, probably a golden, as it clumsily fluttered above the river. I decided to try a classic Letort hopper, but in an attempt to cover my bases, I added a single salvation nymph on a 3.5 inch dropper. The Letort hopper created a splashy refusal, and then it ceased to be an item of interest.

Deep Colors

On June 3 a tan mini chubby Chernobyl  was effective as a surface fly, so I replaced the Letort hopper with the mini. I kept the salvation in place, and eventually I added a hares ear nymph. This combination enabled me to increment the fish count from four to seven, before I retired for the day at 3:00PM.

Another One in My Net

One gullible brown crushed the mini chubby, and the other two snatched the salvation from the drift. I covered a massive amount of water and made an abundant quantity of casts to land the three afternoon fish, but they were all very robust wild browns in the thirteen to fourteen inch range.

What Lies Ahead

On Tuesday I battled the wind and waded along a large amount of river shoreline in order to catch and release seven trout. Four were very worthwhile catches, and three failed to measure twelve inches. I spotted a pair of yellow sallies and one golden stonefly. I never really noticed any caddis or mayflies. I suspect that the wind was blowing insects off the water, before trout had an opportunity to hone in on any food items. My intuition and research led me astray. Of course this presumes that the other options were better, and that I will never know.

Fish Landed: 7