Time: 10:00AM – 4:30PM

Location: Texas Creek and braided area above Pinnacle Rock

Fish Landed: 13

Arkansas River 04/28/2010 Photo Album

Reports on the Arkansas River looked promising as the low level snow melt was over and water clarity improved. Wednesday’s high was supposed to be mid-70’s, and then four days of cool and possibly damp weather after Wednesday convinced me to make the trip.

I arrived at the Arkansas River above Pinnacle Rock and began fishing at around 10AM. The sun was out and the sky was blue but wind was an issue. I hiked up the road and spotted two fishermen in a spot where the braids merged. I went further up the highway and then dropped to the river and crossed two channels and cut through the willows to a spot on the north braid. I was only 20 yards or so above the other fishermen, but they couldn’t see me.

I tied on a Chernobyl ant and dangled a bright green caddis pupa, but this wasn’t drawing any interest. I switched out the Chernobyl for a yellow Letort hopper on top, and still no interest. There were thousands of caddis on the willows along the stream, and they occasionally fluttered and dipped on the water. It was obvious that the caddis had already emerged in this stretch.

I decided to go deep with a split shot and strike indicator so I could generate more movement on the flies subsurface. I tied on a beadhead prince nymph as the top fly and added a beadhead bright green caddis pupa on the point. This proved to be the ticket and five browns grabbed the prince as I prospected up the north braid. After covering a small amount of water, the two fishermen rounded the corner and asked if I planned to fish upstream. I nodded emphatically, and then they asked where I’d begun. I informed them, and they jumped in below my starting point.

I continued quite a bit upstream and near the point where I stopped for lunch, had a sharp strike on the first cast into a nice little pocket above a split in the current. I set the hook and the line flew back to a bush. When I retrieved the line, I realized I’d snapped off the fly in the fish’s mouth.

I hiked back to the car and decided to drive upstream to Texas Creek to hopefully get to a point where the caddis were about to emerge. I parked in the lot across the bridge and immediately scrambled to the river and shook some willows. Very few caddis flitted from the branches.

I ate my lunch then hiked down the bank along the river further than I’d ever gone before to some nice water where the river widened out. I stayed with the nymphing set up but went back to the bright green caddis and a gray wet fly. I was assuming I was fishing water where the trout would be focused on emerging caddis. I got snagged several times and ripped off quite a few flies before finally catching a decent brown on the bright green caddis pupa. During this time, the wind began to gust so strong that I turned my back and held my hat in place. The sky clouded up for periods and the caddis on the willows began to swarm and dap the surface. Apparently I was wrong, and the caddis had already emerged in this stretch as well. I decided to go back to the prince nymph, and this proved to be a great decision. During the afternoon I picked up another eight brown trout, several quite nice in the 13-14 inch range.

The fish were in the deeper pockets and runs just off faster currents. When I reached the island near the confluence with Texas Creek, I fished along the south side of the island to the top of the island. There was another fisherman at the top so I circled back to the bottom and fished up the right channel. The same fisherman was at the top of the run waving at me as I approached. I finally figured out that he was telling me in sign language that his hat had blown off and was floating down the river toward me. I scanned the water but didn’t see anything.

It was now around 4:30, so I decided to call it a day and head home.

Time: 10:00AM – 2:00PM

Location: Braided area above Pinnacle Rock

Fish Landed: 0

Arkansas River 03/31/2010 Photo Album

I caught up on all my work at Saddleback and another nice spring day was forecast with high’s in the low 70’s. I was able to get an early start on Wednesday, so I read the report on the Arkansas River. It sounded encouraging with the potential of a BWO hatch, so I decided to make the trip. I stopped at the Royal Gorge Angler and purchased four golden stonefly nymphs recommended by Bill Edrington, the owner. Bill said the golden stoneflies were molting and fish were taking them at the top of pools. He advised to switch to bright green caddis pupa and BWO nymphs in the afternoon. He also cautioned that the river had quite a bit of discoloration. This should have been a red flag.

I drove to the area above Pinnacle Rock where the river splits into four channels. Quite a bit of discoloration was an understatement. The river was the color of dark olive split pea soup. Visibility was 6 inches at best in the riffles and along the edges. I rigged up and tied on the chenille rubber leg stonefly nymph I purchased and trailed a beadhead hares ear and began working the top of runs with a strike indicator. I did this for an hour and a half in some nice juicy deep runs to no avail.

I walked back to the car to eat my lunch, but decided to drive to Texas Creek and check out the water on the smaller tributary. Texas Creek was raging and murky, so I returned back to the braided stretch and ate my lunch. After lunch I waded across two channels to get to the nice northern most run which historically is one of my favorites. The water was discolored, but not high, so I switched to a yellow Letort hopper trailing a beadhead hares ear and beadhead RS2. This produced nothing in some nice riffle stretches that normally hold fish.

When I got to a third nice stretch of water, I replaced the flies with a glass bead caddis nymph followed by an emerald caddis larva fly. I finally managed to hookup with a small brown, but as I set the hook and lifted, the fish turned its head and got off the hook. I worked my way upstream some more hoping to see a BWO hatch. When I reached a point where the streambead narrowed and the water wasn’t as enticing, I decided to walk back to the bottom of the north braid and rest on a log and observe the water in hopes of a BWO emergence. I lied down on the ground with my head propped up on a log and dozed off. I woke up and discovered I’d taken a 45 minute nap and it was 2:45. I decided I’d had enough fun and returned to Denver.

Time: 10:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: Braids above Pinnacle Rock

Arkansas River 04/14/2009 Photo Album

I took advantage of forecast nice weather and shifted my non-working day from Friday to Tuesday and drove to the Arkansas River. Temperatures were forecast to be in the 60’s and sunny. This proved to be 50% correct.

I pulled into the pullout above Pinnacle Rock and below the braids. There was a pickup truck there already, but the fisherman was next to the pullout, and I wanted to fish up the river. I put on my new waders and wading boots. I discovered the neck strap that enables me to wear just my front pack without the backpack was missing from my bag, so I had to wear the frontpack and backpack. I also discovered that my new waders were so tight around my chest that I couldn’t stash my camera and case behind them as I did previously with my old waders. But I persisted.

[peg-image src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LnkhIINX4qg/VGGPNZGnRRI/AAAAAAABCR4/mBkwTIQonPQ4Vjpn-r3f9qH91poBYVv3ACHM/s144-o/P4140001.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108128655430094950653/04152009ArkansasRiver?locked=true#6080298432166577426″ caption=”Starting Point on Arkansas” type=”image” alt=”P4140001.JPG” image_size=”2048×1536″ ]

I began fishing up the left channel right next to the highway and prospected with a yellow Letort hopper trailing a beadhead hares ear. Fairly quickly, a 10 inch brown rose and inhaled the hopper, and I photographed the first trout of 2009. I continued working up the left bank and caught three browns on the hares ear and another on the hopper. One came from the very narrow 8-10 foot wide channel section along the highway. When I got to the deep pool above the lower braids, I switched to nymphing as I spotted some BWO’s flying around. I kept the beadhead hares ear on top and tied a small silver bead RS2 on the point. I swung this through the deep riffles and run at the head of the pool and picked up a rainbow on the hares ear nymph. I had a few other hookups that got off fairly quickly.

[peg-image src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GZqDY0AVVCk/VGGPWRY8_4I/AAAAAAABCR4/1Aa0ylCr7FgU_R37aLlcf1J4EMEhQ0FYQCHM/s144-o/P4140003.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108128655430094950653/04152009ArkansasRiver?locked=true#6080298584714837890″ caption=”First Fish of 2009″ type=”image” alt=”P4140003.JPG” image_size=”2048×1536″ ]

Around noon I hiked back to the car for lunch. The truck and other fishermen departed, and the sun emerged so I shed three layers. I removed my waders and adjusted the straps to loosen up the upper section. This worked nicely and gave me enough room to stash the camera. I was concerned about a fingerprint on my camera lens, so I cleaned that.

[peg-image src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i0CYTG3eqzo/VGGPYtaaROI/AAAAAAABCR4/Kw-MTx1UVqEO6qOJDTcY5LAguM4_qtFCwCHM/s144-o/P4140008.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108128655430094950653/04152009ArkansasRiver?locked=true#6080298626596881634″ caption=”Here’s the CDC BWO” type=”image” alt=”P4140008.JPG” image_size=”2048×1536″ ]

After lunch I hiked back up the highway and crossed two braids, so I could fish the right-most stretch, which is my favorite. I had the river to myself. I went back to the hopper and beadhead hares ear, but fairly quickly some clouds moved in, and BWO’s started to emerge. I nipped off the hopper and hares ear and tied on a size 22 CDC BWO. The cloud cover remained most of the rest of the afternoon, and the BWO’s emerged off and on as well. I gradually worked up the north (right) channel spotting rises and catching fish. The rises were fairly sporadic and difficult to spot in the riffles. My greatest difficulty was following the small gray fly in the sun glare and riffle, and I had to position myself for the best light many times. At one point, I thought the hatch had ended and went back to the hopper/dropper and caught a brown, but then BWO’s re-emerged, and I switched back to the CDC BWO. During the afternoon I caught 8 browns on the CDC BWO.

Fish Landed: 15

[peg-image src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ERyBfHb5xL0/VGGPYcJY21I/AAAAAAABCR4/tQWNYupoaHUvGyJufCsS2Klgr2TC3hFRQCHM/s144-o/P4140007.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108128655430094950653/04152009ArkansasRiver?locked=true#6080298621962083154″ caption=”Nice Brown Inhaled CDC BWO” type=”image” alt=”P4140007.JPG” image_size=”2048×1536″ ]

[peg-image src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cqlMVOy301s/VGGPZCyn8wI/AAAAAAABCR4/z1KuPDeu_2kdJcIey0jZIRqO3S-pv3dDwCHM/s144-o/P4140009.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108128655430094950653/04152009ArkansasRiver?locked=true#6080298632335586050″ caption=”Channel Covered in Afternoon” type=”image” alt=”P4140009.JPG” image_size=”2048×1536″ ]

Time: 10:00AM – 4:30PM

Location: Salida Area – County Line

Arkansas River 04/30/2006 Photo Album

The Royal Gorge Angler report stated that the cold weather slowed the progression of the caddis hatch, and it was projected to be in the Salida area for the weekend. I passed on fishing Saturday due to unsettled weather and decided to give it a try on Sunday. With our new house on the north side of Denver, I checked the map, and it appeared to be closer from Stapleton to Salida via US 285 compared to going through Colorado Springs. The Springs route was my normal choice from Castle Rock or to access the lower Arkansas near Canon City. Also, there was much road construction on the north side of Colorado Springs, so I hoped to avoid this potential delay.

I left early, around 6:15AM and arrived at the river by 9AM. There was already a car in the pullout with three fishermen charging down the bank. I watched them, and when I was ready, I hiked down US 50 a ways to the point, where I can normally cross the river and fish around an island. I descended to the river and fished up from a large rock wall with no luck. I rigged up with a strike indicator, split shot, double bead caddis (Scott Sanchez book), and an emerald caddis pupa. Since there were fishermen above me, I decided to try and cross to the island, and then work down the far channel. But I progressed one-third of the way across and realized it was too risky and retreated. I then decided to reascend to the highway and continued down river below the large rock wall below me and the island to see whether a different crossing point emerged. Unfortunately there was no place to cross, so I fished back up to the rock wall. Along the way I had some significant tangles and tree hookups.

I was quite frustrated and feeling like I hardly fished, when I approached the downside to the run along the rock wall. I waded up around eight feet out to the head of the run, and I began to swing casts through the area. On one of the swings away from the wall I felt a tug and hooked up with the beautiful rainbow that is pictured in the associated photo album. Next I fished along the left bank of a long pool/riffle above the island, since the fishermen on my side moved on. I caught one small rainbow, and by 11AM, while one-third of the way up the long run, I decided to head back to the car and eat lunch early in case the caddis hatch occurred. Large numbers of caddis occupied the bushes and rocks, so I felt it was unlikely there would be an emergence.

Rare Arkansas Rainbow

After lunch, I returned to the spot where I ended, but I grew tired of nymphing, and decided to tie on a caddis dry. Perhaps fish along the edge in fairly shallow lies would be opportunistic and pounce on the caddis. The tactic did not produce, so after giving it a good try, I switched back to nymphs, and this time I tested a beadhead prince on top and beadhead hares ear on the end. I caught a fish on this combo and then eventually moved the beadhead hares ear to the top and tied on a size 18 grey sparkle caddis pupa that I produced a long time ago. It was the only one I had, but I caught several fish on the classic fly. I caught at least two while just holding the flies dangling below me (on purpose, not by luck as I’ve sometimes experienced). All this time there were strong gusts of wind, and several times I needed to stand sideways and hold my hat.

A Very Rare Ark Cutthroat

Around 3PM the wind subsided and caddis started dancing and dapping on the water. I spotted several sporadic rises, so I changed to a deer hair caddis dry. I started fishing where I spotted sporadic rises, and I was able to pick up another six fish. One of these was a surprise cutthroat. I caught some by prospecting in likely spots in addition to casting to observed rises. The last one I landed, a nice brown that I photographed, actually took the dry, when it sank at the end of its drift in front of a rock. When this happened, I thought the fish were tuned into egg laying adults, so I experimented with a prince nymph, which usually works in this situation, but it did not tempt any fish, so I decided to call it a day.

Fish Landed: 11

This One Didn’t Escape

Time: 9:00AM – 5:30PM

Location: Pinnacle Rock Area

Arkansas River 04/22/2006 Photo Album

I got an early start in anticipation of crowds, as the Royal Gorge Angler report stated hatching began on the lower river around Canon City. I was cognizant that off days were not an option during the coming week, so I concluded that this was my only chance to meet the heavy spring caddis hatch on the Arkansas River.

Downstream from Pinnacle Rock

I parked slightly downstream from the Pinnacle Rock access area in the canyon section between Royal Gorge and Texas Creek The report suggested using caddis pupa until surface activity appeared, so I rigged a strike indicator, split shot and beadhead hares ear trailing a beadhead emerald caddis pupa. Initially action was absent, but when I approached a rocky wide stretch near Pinnacle Rock, I began to land fish. There was a gentleman fishing a pocket behind a rock above me, so I crossed over to the far bank and continued working upstream. I was catching trout mostly on the swing, with around 80% going for the pupa and 20% on the hares ear.

Beadhead Emerald Caddis

I noticed more fishermen above Pinnacle Rock, and it was 11:30, so I headed back to the car for lunch. I netted 10 browns by this time, and all were twelve inches or smaller. I ate my lunch overlooking the river on a high bank and watched a couple guys who waded into their waists, as they flailed the water. I took a couple photos of them, and then gathered my stuff and hiked back to where I ended the morning and resumed my upstream progression.

The Real Thing

Once again, because of other fishermen on the roadside bank, I crossed over to the far shore and hiked the railroad tracks for a while to get above a fisherman. In a stretch where the canyon narrowed along with the river, I landed two trout by stripping the pupa upstream along the bank streamer style. Generating strikes was more difficult, and extra searching and movement were required to entice fish. But I persisted and caught several on the swing in the wide tail next to where I typically park to fish the braided section above Pinnacle Rock.

Another Landed

I encountered some geese in this area, and then I moved up to the braided section and proceeded to fish the extreme right channel. Because the river splits, these channels carry less volume, so I switched over to my favorite technique of using a large attractor with a nymph dropper. I tied on a Chernobyl ant trailing a beadhead prince in case egg laying adults made their presence known. I worked the channel thoroughly all the way up to where it split from the main stem and caught four trout in the process. One was probably the biggest of the day, but not much more than 12 inches. One of the four surfaced and inhaled the Chernobyl. I ended up the day with 20-25 trout landed. I was disappointed that I did not meet the heavy dry fly action, but it was a good day nevetheless.

Fish Landed: 24

Juniper Close Up

Time: 10:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: Braids above Pinnacle Rock

Arkansas River 04/14/2006 Photo Album

Close Up of Brown

See photos. Rather cryptic report in 2006!

Fish Landed: 7

Dead Cottonwood

Looking Back at Bend

RS2

Time: 10:00AM – 5:00PM

Location: Chafee/Fremont County Line

Arkansas River 09/24/2005 Photo Album

I checked the Royal Gorge Anglers web site, and the report looked promising. Flows were decent, and owner Bill said fishing was good in the morning and late afternoon. Fishing riffles deep with rubber leg stones was producing in the mid-day. Armed with this optimistic information I drove to the Arkansas River hoping to hit the elusive red quill hatch that I had not encountered in four or five years. I decided to drive to the special regulation water between Salida and Wellsville, because that is where I hit red quill hatches in the past. The location of our new house necessitated a three hour drive to that stretch of the Arkansas.

Upstream from Island

I arrived at the destination area by 10AM, and I rigged up and hiked down route 50, and then I climbed down the bank and crossed half way to the top of the island. I walked down the south side of the island, and then I crossed to the north bank and went down below the island a bit where a nice long riffle and run exists. I tied on a size 12 gray parahopper and trailed a beadhead pheasant tail. I worked the entire run, but I had no action, so I began working up the smaller north channel, where I frequently experienced success in the past. In this stretch I had a refusal and nicked a brown. As I cast to the channel, I landed four trout, and some were quite nice. Most of the landed fish grabbed the trailing beadhead pheasant tail. When I got to the top of the channel, I covered the shallow tailout of the main river, where it spills into the smaller north braid. Here I landed another brown in some very thin water not more than two feet deep.

Parahopper Produces

I crossed back over and went back to the car and ate lunch. I took my lunch down to a rock ledge, and while eating I began to notice several fish rising in the wide smooth tail out of the pool in front of me. I went back to the car to return my lunch bag, and then I returned to the river and waded in. I noticed some small BWO’s emerging, so I tied on a CDC olive. I generated a look from the fish I observed during lunch, but I could not connect.  I spotted three or four fish rising upstream and across from my position, so I targeted them. I hooked one, but when it ran across the current, I applied too much pressure and broke off the CDC olive. I tied on another and hooked and landed one of the fish, but the others were being very selective. I moved up along the shore to see if there were fish rising in the deeper run. I spotted several rising in the riffles, and I cast and landed two trout in short order. Unfortunately the rises ended as suddenly as they began, so I reeled up and walked back down the highway to the island. I continued below the small island and started at the same point where I began in the morning.

Struggling for Freedom

I decided to work deep with a beadhead prince and WD40 to imitate the BWO nymph. I drifted my flies through the beautiful run, but no action was forthcoming. Then I thought I would work up the north channel of the island again, but this time I would test the CDC BWO. Most of the fish I landed in the morning were in the top part of the channel. Sure enough, I landed two very nice browns on the CDC BWO and had a couple other momentary hook ups. Once I fished to the top, I followed the north shoreline up to the next section of pocket water. I did not see anymore BWO rises or mayflies, so I reverted to the gray parahopper and beadhead pheasant tail. I had the pheasant tail dangling only a foot or so below the hopper. In the next section of pockets I landed two beautiful browns; one on the BHPT and one on the parahopper.

Nice Riffles and Runs

I continued progressing upstream, but the action slowed significantly, and in fact it disappeared. I went back to nymphing, and I tried a caddis pupa, and then switched back to attractor dries such as the lime green trude and some caddis dries. I had one trout rise and look at the green trude, but no more hook ups. At around 5PM, I realized I was not having any luck, and I called it a day.

Fish Landed: 13

Time: 11:00AM – 5:00PM

Location: Lone Pine

I decided to try different stretches that I saw from the highway that I previously bypassed. I began at the Lone Pine recreation area, as I parked along the highway to avoid the parking fee, and I hiked straight down to the river. There was a wide area in front of me with a drop off, and I waded along the edge of the drop off until I approached the far side. I tied on a yellow Letort hopper and copper john. A large boulder was situated in the water, and current curled around it and entered a nice pool, and I cast above the boulder along the bank. The hopper drifted along the current, and as it tumbled to the drop off, it disappeared. I set the hook and had the largest brown that I ever caught on the Arkansas River. It extended to around 16 inches. I did not have my camera, as Jane and Dan took it on their ascent of Mt. Elbert.

I moved upstream casting to shallow lies, and I caught browns on nearly every cast. I worked up the small channel on the north side of an island, and by the time I reached the top of the island, I landed twelve trout. I crossed back over to the parking lot and moved to the next spot. I parked just before the Loma Linda KOA campground and hiked the path and ate my lunch by the river. After lunch I walked down the highway, and then I fished back upstream. I caught a couple trout in the wide flat area, where I crossed back to my lunch spot. I caught these trout on a elk hair caddis. Next I walked the path around a place where a family was swimming in a deep hole. I worked upstream, but it transitioned into very slow water. When I reached the campground, a man was spin fishing, so I turned around and returned to the car.

Next I drove upstream to an area of pocket water just before Cotopaxi. I hiked down along the river, and then I worked my way back up from just above some rapids. I picked up a few more browns and then quit for the day at around 5PM.

Fish Landed: 17

Time: 8:30AM – 1:00PM

Location: Fremont – Chafee County Line

Arkansas River – 08/07/2005 Photo Album

We got up early and had breakfast at the Country Bounty. We first stopped near where we ended the previous evening, but farther upstream in some pocket water. I tried various attractors; a yellow Madam X, a lime green trude, a parahopper with a copper john dropper; but I experienced limited success. I landed two small trout. We tired of this lack of action and decided to head back to the Texas Creek area.

We fished the same stretch below the Texas Creek bridge that we covered the previous day. I caught a nice brown where I began on a beadhead hares ear, and then another on a yellow Letort hopper. After this short lived success, however, I began absorbing refusals. I tried a gray Madam X and green trude, but none of these options delivered. Next I tied on an elk hair caddis, and I began connecting with fish. By the time I reached the top of the island, I landed another 12 fish; all browns on the elk hair caddis.

View Upstream from Texas Creek

I worked my way up the river along the right bank toward the bridge. I picked up a small brown in a deep eddy along the side, and then I approached Dave Gaboury, who was working the bank in the pool downstream from the Texas Creek bridge. He had on a Royal Wulff with a flashback pheasant tail. I watched as he cast a foot away from the bank. On three successive casts a brown rose and inhaled the royal wulff. I was 10 feet out from the bank, so I switched to a Letort hopper trailing a copper john. I landed a nice rainbow that took the copper john along the current seam and then a smaller brown near the shadow of the bridge.

Fish Landed: 17

Time: 6:30PM – 8:00PM

Location: Fremont – Chafee County Line

We headed back to the river after dinner and parked at the county line, and then we walked down the bank. I decided to try dry flies, and I knotted on a lime green trude. I caught two trout on the trude. At dusk we began noticing trout launching out of the river. I deployed a seldom used LED headlamp and rigged up with a strike indicator and caddis pupa, but this tactic did not generate any success.

Fish Landed: 2