Time: 11:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: Bighorn Sheep Canyon

Arkansas River 10/01/2024 Photo Album

After a successful outing on the South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon last Monday, I decided to switch things up and try my luck on the Arkansas River at Bighorn Sheep Canyon. With previous trips around this time of year yielding modest results—five fish one year, eleven another—I kept my expectations in check, as I headed out on Tuesday, October 1st.

The drive was smooth, until I was about a mile from my chosen pullout, where I hit a snag: one-lane traffic due to road construction. After sitting for eight minutes, stewing in anticipation, I was relieved, when my fishing spot appeared just beyond the last construction cone.

The weather couldn’t have been better. My dashboard showed 60 degrees, with a brilliant sun against a cloudless sky. Flows were in the 380 CFS range, which led me to stick to the bank along the highway rather than attempt a potentially risky river crossing. I rigged up my Sage R8 four weight, feeling confident, as I strung it with a dry-dropper setup—tan pool toy hopper, 20 incher nymph, and salvation nymph, on a four-foot dropper.

Low and Clear

The first hour produced some mixed results: one twelve-inch brown trout made it to the net, but I also experienced several momentary hook-ups and fouled hooked a few fish likely resulting from the excessive length and weighted 20 incher. After dealing with too many snags and missed opportunities, I decided a change was necessary. Out went the hopper, in came a trusty peacock hippie stomper, and I downsized the 20 incher to a size 22 sparkle wing RS2, while also shortening the dropper to three feet.

Hippie Stomper Fan

The adjustments paid off. I netted a beautiful fifteen-inch brown that couldn’t resist the hippie stomper in a shallow spot near the left bank. Still, the action was slower than I liked, so I switched to a double dry fly rig—hippie stomper and a tan mini chubby—a combo that worked wonders on Cascade Creek recently. The mini chubby duped a fish, but a wave of refusals followed, so I added a size 16 light gray deer hair caddis as the second fly. This fly attracted another nice brown trout, and I found myself sitting at four fish, when I paused for lunch.

Wild Fish and Bubbles

As I sat by the river, I noticed some surface activity—three or four small fish leaping after insects. The riffles in front of me looked perfect for another round of dry-dropper fishing, especially with blue winged olives and red quills potentially in the mix. I swapped flies again, opting for the mini chubby paired with a salvation nymph and sparkle wing RS2. Despite my efforts, the riffles remained quiet, so I moved on to a spot, where the main current angled against a rocky bank on the far side of the river.

Site of Rainbow Feeders

Here, I spotted two nice fish periodically rising, which convinced me to break one of my rules: don’t linger on fish too long. After running through a few different fly combinations to no avail, I finally tied on a size 22 soft hackle emerger and greased it to ride in the surface film. This choice was spot-on. I hooked and landed two gorgeous rainbows, both sporting brilliant red stripes and measuring fourteen to fifteen inches. These moments were the highlight of my day.

Pink and Scarlet

Afterward, I continued with the mini chubby and soft hackle emerger, as I worked my way through a stretch of pocket water. Thanks to the lower flows, I was able to wade out and reach some excellent pockets, which produced two more brown trout, bringing my total to eight. Both fish grabbed the soft hackle emerger, just as I began to lift at the tail of a pocket, and though I missed three more fish in this stretch, it was satisfying action nonetheless.

Wide Stripe on Second Rainbow Soft Hackle Emerger

By 2:30PM, I decided to try one last spot before heading home. I jumped in the car, drove .2 miles downstream, and rigged up again. I experimented with a few different caddis patterns, hoping to match the hatch of autumn caddis I’d read about, but the fish were unimpressed. After a couple more half-hearted strikes, I called it a day at 3:30PM.

Tuesday followed a similar pattern to my previous October trips on the Arkansas. While eight fish may seem average for four hours of fishing, the quality more than made up for it. Three of the trout were solid fifteen-inchers, and the rest were all chunky specimens between twelve and fourteen inches. The fall foliage was at its peak, with golden leaves lining the banks, and the weather was simply gorgeous. But the highlight of the day was the brief window of dry fly action with those stunning rainbows. I can only hope October offers a few more fishing days like this one!

Fish Landed: 8