Time: 11:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: Smyth Lease

Arkansas River 07/06/2016 Photo Album

The final box to be checked off on my edge fishing goal list was the Arkansas River. On Wednesday July 6 I took steps to complete the remaining challenge. I planned to drive to the Arkansas River and fish on Wednesday. After a day of fishing I would continue on to Angel of Shavano Campground to secure a campsite, and then Jane would make the trip after some morning tennis and join me for two nights of camping.

I departed Denver at 8AM, but unfortunately a normal 2.5 hour trip developed into three hours as a result of three sections of road construction on US 285 between the junction with US 24 and Johnson Village. I survived the frustrating delays and pulled into the pullout next to the bridge that crosses the Arkansas River on CO 291 by 11AM. I targeted the Smyth Lease for my day of edge fishing, since I enjoyed some great action in this area previously during similar river conditions.

It was a hot and sunny day with temperatures reaching eighty degrees. The flows were in the 1400 – 1500 cfs range, and this was nearly ideal for the edge fishing that I anxiously anticipated. I assembled my Scott six weight rod, since I expected big water, plenty of wind and larger than average fish, and then I climbed over the wooden stairs provided to avoid damaging the ranch fence. Another fisherman arrived after me, so I decided to hike quite a distance downstream to avoid interference. Eventually I arrived at a place where a rough path angled down the steep bank to the river, and I descended using small baby steps to avoid sliding in the loose gravel and shale. I was on high alert for snakes having encountered a large bull species on one of my previous visits. My starting point was just above the area that can be accessed via the southern approach to the Smyth Lease, and it was 11: 30 when I stepped into the river.

I paused to assess the river, and it was in prime condition. The water was cold and crystal clear and high, yet it was low enough to allow reasonable wading along the edge. I tied a size eight Chernobyl ant to my line and then added a bright green caddis pupa and beadhead hares ear, and I was primed for action. The Arkansas River is rich in caddis species thus the bet on the caddis pupa. I plopped the Chernobyl to likely spots for fifteen minutes with not response, so I exchanged the caddis pupa for a salvation nymph since that performed admirably on the Eagle River, and the fly shop reports noted the presence of pale morning duns. I rearranged the flies so that the hares ear was the top nymph, and the salvation was in the end position.

When I resumed, a fish finally boiled but refused the Chernobyl ant, so I was reassured that fish existed along the edge, but I was troubled by the refusal. Fortunately after the refusal, brown trout began to notice the salvation nymph, and I notched up the fish counter by four relatively small fish before I stopped to eat lunch at 12:30.

I learned in the first hour that the bigger fish occupied the deep holes and shelf pools along the bank, whereas smaller fish could be caught from the shallow riffles and runs that produce bigger fish later in the season. Based on this observation I spent more casts on the prime areas and only allocated a couple token drifts to the secondary places. Another productive structure was the deep area and cushion in front of large boulders.

I used these observations to drive my fishing strategy after lunch, and the perfect laboratory presented itself. I approached an area where three very large submerged rounded boulders were clumped and surrounded by deep water. I made ten drifts through the area with no results, and I was baffled by this lack of success in prime structure. Before moving on, however, I lobbed a cast farther out along a swift current seam, and connected with a hard charging rainbow. I paused to photograph my first decent fish, and then when I resumed fishing, I tossed a token cast back in the deep area around the boulders. Inexplicably a gorgeous brown trout sucked in the salvation in the very area where numerous earlier presentations failed.

The period from 1 – 3 PM was my best. I moved the fish count from four to eleven, and this included a couple additional browns in the 13-14 inch range. Most of the trout were grabbing the salvation nymph with a minority succumbing to the hares ear. One of my frustrations throughout the day was my inability to land fish that struck the Chernobyl ant. I hooked at least three fish that felt relatively substantial that eventually eluded my bent rod. After giving it some thought, I theorized that the 4X tippet coming off the bend of the hook deflected the bite in some way? During the run off fishing I opted to utilize 4X where I normally apply 5X. As an experiment on Friday I hope to fish a lone foam attractor to test whether the dropper arrangement has an impact on the ability of the hook to hold fish.

Toward the end of the 1-3PM time period I decided to experiment with my old standby yellow Letort hopper with a salvation nymph dropper. Since the Letort hopper is not constructed with foam and therefore less buoyant, I generally limit the dropper to one beadhead nymph. The hopper/dropper combination delivered three additional fish including a fifteen inch brown trout that smacked the Letort hopper and represented my best fish on the day. The two fish that inhaled the salvation nymph on the lift were decent 12-13 inch fish.

By 3 o’clock the action slowed to inaction, so I converted back to the hares ear plus salvation combination, and deploying two nymphs caused me to try a yellow fat Albert as the top fly. One more medium size brown trout nabbed the salvation, and then a small brown slurped the fat Albert. Once again a fish hooked on the foam top fly managed to shake loose, and the energy from the rod catapulted the flies into a tree high above my head. I uttered some nasty phrases and paused to evaluate my dilemma. I gazed at the tree and realized that the branches were dead, and this led to the thought that I could rescue the flies by breaking off the branch.

First I tried tugging rapidly on the line, but this broke off the fat Albert and a small twig. I recovered the largest and hardest to tie fly, but the two nymphs still dangled high above me. In addition to the dead branch, an invasive vine plant was entwined around much of the limb in the area. Again I paused to consider options, and I spotted an eighteen foot long dead branch lying along the river at the base of the tree. Could this be the key? I picked it up and hoisted it toward the dangling flies and then allowed the end to drop on top of the branch gripping the flies and the vine. Miraculously the line and flies hooked into the eighteen foot long natural jousting pole that I was wielding, and once I dropped it to the ground, I recovered my nymphs.

I reattached the flies to my line and resumed fishing, but the sun was bright and the air was quite warm and the small amount of hatching activity disappeared. I worked my way along the bank and some thick vegetation until I reached the bridge, and when I glanced at my watch I realized it was 3:30. I concluded it was time to quit and find a campsite, and I ended my fishing day.

Wednesday completed my goal of edge fishing three large freestone rivers in Colorado during run off. I landed fifteen fish including some fine brown trout and one rainbow in the 12-15 inch range. Once again the weather was pleasant, the water was cold and clear, and I enjoyed steady action in the ten foot band along the bank. I expected more success on the large foam top fly, but four long distance releases was part of the challenge. Colorado Rivers are now falling to prime levels, so the best fishing for 2016 lies just ahead.

Fish Landed: 15