Time: 10:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: Near Salida

Arkansas River 06/20/2025 Photo Album

I was pumped up to edge fish the Arkansas River on Wednesday, but a spike in flows caused me to doubt my plan, and I detoured to the South Platte River. As I considered options for Friday, June 10, I renewed my desire to test the receding flows on the Arkansas River. The DWR graph for Nathrop indicated that the flows leveled out at 1800 CFS, and they were on a downward curve to the 1550 CFS range on Friday morning. This was all I needed for motivation to make the two hour and forty-five minute drive to Salida. My illness waned to a minor irritation, so that was another positive factor for a day of fishing. The high temperature in Denver was forecast to reach one hundred degrees, so that was a concern, although the snow melt and high flows were expected to buffer against the high air temperatures, unlike the South Platte River where no such volume offset was available.

The Descent to the River

High but Clear

I arrived at my chosen destination a bit after 10:00AM, and I was prepared to fish by 10:30AM. Normally I would have fit together my Sage One five weight, but its status was still listed as “repairing” on the Far Banks web site. Hmm, I wonder how active the repairing is? Instead I pulled out my Scott four piece six weight. I bought this rod for my trips to Alaska and Argentina, but I had not used it in a couple years. I am a nonconformist, when it comes to reels, as I am right handed but have my reel set up to be reeled with my right hand. You may ask how this works? If I hook a fish, I normally just strip line to bring it in. If I end up using the reel, I make a quick hand switch and hold the rod with my left and reel with my right. At any rate, I thought I remembered that the reel on the Scott was set up to wind left handed, and this was an impediment to my usage.

Finally on the Board

As I prepared to fish, I pulled out the reel with the six weight line , and I was pleased to learn that it was set up for right handed reeling. With this advantageous discovery, I decided to deploy the Scott six weight on Friday. I was fishing a big river, with high water, and strong gusts of wind and the possibility of larger than average fish. A six weight made a lot of sense.

Salvation Did the Trick

I hiked along the river for .4 mile and then angled down a steep bank. The river was indeed running fast and tight to the banks, but clarity was quite good. I began my day with a yellow Letort hopper fished solo. I read that golden stoneflies were present, and I figured the size 10 Letort hopper was a solid imitation. The hopper gambit was a total bust, so I switched to a yellow fat Albert trailing an iron sally and salvation nymph. In the forty-five minutes before lunch I notched two refusals to the fat Albert. It made me wonder, whether I abandoned the yellow hopper pattern too soon.

Another Representative Trout

After lunch I resumed my progress along the left bank. The lesson I learned was that the speed of the current was the prime factor dictating trout holding locations. In the morning I wasted time fishing very marginal relatively shallow runs and riffles next to the bank, as the current was a bit too swift. The key to finding trout was current breaks such as trees and large boulders. If I found slower moving current with some depth near these structures, I generally found trout.

Tough Wading Here

Between noon and 3:30PM I landed nine trout. This included a splendid pair of fifteen inch brown trout along with a pair of smaller relatives, but the rest were respectable browns in the twelve to thirteen inch slot. All these fish were quite healthy, and they put up spirited fights. They were probably extra combative, since they probably had not experienced a hook in quite some time.

Hot Spot Among Rocks

The size of the fish was more than acceptable, although the catch rate was fairly average. Of course, had I hooked the five refusals and landed the four fish that escaped, my day would have looked considerably more impressive. Two of the larger long distance releases broke off both nymphs in their frenzied efforts to escape. Why are the best fish always the ones that get away?

Long One

By 2:30PM I suffered a lengthy pause in action, and refusals to the fat Albert were prevalent, so I decided to try a double dry. I removed the dry/dropper elements and switched to a size 12 yellow stimulator and trailed a size 14 olive-brown deer hair caddis. These flies yielded two brown trout, with the second and last fish on dries being a very fine fifteen inch brown trout.

Better View

Boulder Field

Nine fish in 4.5 hours of fishing was fairly lackluster; however, I tangled with some very nice trout that required careful fish playing skills. I improved my ability to identify likely fish holding locations. If I do the Arkansas River edge fishing again, I will be more selective with my casting. Rediscovering my Scott six weight was perhaps the highlight of the day, and it will surely see more action during edge fishing season, if my Sage five weight remains out of commission.

Fish Landed: 9