Time: 11:00AM – 4:30PM

Location: Lunch rock and upstream and then Vallie Bridge lease in late afternoon.

Fish Landed: 10

Arkansas River 05/04/2016 Photo Album

For some reason I am obsessed with meeting the Arkansas River caddis hatch in 2016, and a forecasted window of nice weather enabled me to resume my quest on May 4 and 5. I packed most of the camping and fishing gear on Tuesday evening, and this enabled me to depart my home in Denver by 7:20AM. I drove the US 285 route, since I planned to fish in the upper portion of Bighorn Sheep Canyon, and I pulled into the parking lot at ArkAnglers by 10:15AM. My stated reason for visiting the shop was to purchase thingamabobbers and split shot, but my true motive was to gain useful information regarding the location of the leading edge of the caddis hatch.

A young lanky gentleman behind the counter helped me find the split shot peg board, and after paying for my purchases, I popped the question regarding the caddis hatch progression. The young man quickly replied that I should begin near the Wellsville Bridge, although he also cautioned me that quite a few other fishermen preceded me, so I would likely encounter others in that area. He then went on to say that caddis were present from Cotopaxi to Salida, so that did not give me confidence or narrow down the possibilities very much. Another red flag appeared in my mind, when he added that the hatch no longer appears in dense clouds, but instead is more scattered in small clusters.

Up the River from Lunch Rock

Since he mentioned the Wellsville Bridge first, and I happen to favor the stretch of the Arkansas River between Wellsville and Salida; I made a beeline for the spot that I named Lunch Rock above the Wellsville Bridge. A huge rock juts into the river, and I often relax there to eat my lunch and observe the eddy below for trout or insect activity. One other car preceded me, but the associated fisherman was in the run below Lunch Rock, and I planned to fish upstream, so I parked and prepared to fish. I elected to assemble my Sage One five weight, and began my quest for trout with a nymphing set up that included an ultra zug bug and a go2 sparkle pupa. This is a fly I created that combines the chartreuse diamond braid body from Tak’s go2 caddis with the structure of a LaFontaine sparkle pupa.

First Fish Was This Brute

Much to my amazement I landed four brown trout in the first half hour of fishing, and I was feeling quite euphoric about my choice of fishing location and fly selection. Two of the thirteen inch trout sucked in the ultra zug bug, and two grabbed the go2 sparkle pupa. What a start! As this story was unfolding, I spotted a few blue winged olives, and although I felt it was early, I replaced the ultra zug bug with a Craven soft hackle emerger size 20. I now had a caddis pupa in case of a brachycentrus emergence, and a baetis emerger in case the fish favored the mayflies. Despite this keen observation and an arsenal of match the hatch offerings, I suffered through a half hour with no action despite casting through some very attractive shelf pools.

Respectable Fish

It was now noon, so I stopped to eat my lunch back at the car on lunch rock. How appropriate! After lunch I resumed my migration up along the left bank from the point where I quit to eat. I approached the huge wide deep slow moving tail of a pool where the strong center current cut the large river in half. This created two relatively smooth slower moving shelf pools on either side, but I could only reach the one on the south side of the river. I began drifting my nymphs at the tail by casting toward two o’clock, dead drifting  downstream, and then allowing the wet flies to swing at the end. What a smart tactic! Nice brown trout in the twelve to thirteen inch range began attacking my flies like kids in a candy store. It was a pleasant turn of events, as I landed six additional brown trout between 12:30 and 1:30 from this area. Four fish consumed the soft hackle emerger, but two pounced on the go2 sparkle pupa, so both flies caught the attention of the fish at the tail of the long pool.

Back You Go

As one might imagine, I was feeling rather confident by 1:30 when I encountered another fisherman twenty yards above me just upstream from another large rock and associated deep eddy pool. In fact the fisherman and vehicle appeared to be the same as the person at lunch rock when I arrived earlier in the morning. I climbed the bank to the shoulder of the highway and returned to the car and moved a bit farther west. The bank between the Santa Fe and the river was relatively low where I resumed, and I fished some juicy edge pools with no signs of fish. I was actually in a state of disbelief, as I was confident I had the correct imitations, and the water looked like a brown trout fish farm with deep pockets and runs among large submerged boulders.

The guy in the fly shop mentioned a fisherman who reported that he had success casting a caddis dry fly along the edge even though there were no visible rises, so I decided to experiment with this tactic. I tied on a size 16 olive brown deer hair caddis and hoped to attract some opportunistic edge dwellers, since a fair number of caddis were dapping the water. It did not work. Next I tried a Chernobyl ant trailing the go2 sparkle pupa and the soft hackle emerger, and these flies were likewise firmly ignored. I realized that blue winged olives were absent from the environment for quite awhile, so I swapped the emerger for the ultra zug bug in the event that the fish tuned into egg laying caddis as the afternoon progressed. None of these changes evoked interest from the suddenly lockjawed trout of the Arkansas River.

At 3PM the sun was beating down, and it was quite warm, and I approached another fisherman, so I returned to the car once again and continued driving east on route 50 to the Vallie Bridge area, where I planned to camp. Perhaps the caddis progression had not yet reached Wellsville despite the fly shop’s recommendation, and I surmised that Vallie Bridge was a reasonable guess regarding the whereabouts of the elusive insects. I drove past the campground and continued for another two miles, until I reached the lease area where I parked. I usually fish upstream from the parking lot, but since no competing fishermen were present, I decided to explore the extreme eastern portion of the lease. I hiked down the railroad tracks for a half mile, and then I fought my way through some dense willows and bushes. I dipped through a dry irrigation bed and then climbed the berm between the ditch and the river and found myself adjacent to a nice stretch of water with deep runs among large submerged boulders.

Lower End of Lease West of Vallie Bridge

The dry/dropper set up remained on my line, and it was not exciting the fish, and it was after 4PM. In anticipation of a late afternoon egg laying caddis event, I returned to the nymph rig and tied on a prince nymph along with a Gary LaFontaine diving adult. The latter fly is a wet fly that uses sparkle yarn as one of its components, and it is intended to imitate the female caddis as they dive to the bottom of the river to lay their eggs. Over the next hour I managed to hook two fish on the egg laying imitations, but both escaped before I could net them and identify which fly they favored. Nevertheless I was thrilled to experience action on some newly discovered water.

I thought I was far from other fishermen, but miraculously I bumped into another angler at this remote corner of the lease. This surprise encounter forced me to execute an early exit strategy, so I scrambled through some thick brush and then once again traversed the dry irrigation ditch. Once I reached the railroad tracks, I was lucky to find a gap in the fence, and this allowed for an express route along the dirt road back to the car.

I decided to make one more last ditch effort to surpass ten fish, so I hiked the railroad tracks west until I reached some nice deep runs and pockets at the upper end of the lease. The egg laying imitations failed to produce, and I returned to the campground by 5:30.

My Tent in the Midst of Cattle

I managed to reach double digits, and I enjoyed two relatively short intense periods of action. The ten fish were all quite nice, as they measured in the twelve to fourteen inch size range. The weather was perfect with blue skies and high temperatures in the mid seventies. I sampled some new water on the lower end of the Vallie Bridge lease. Despite all these positives I once again failed to achieve my goal of meeting the magical emergence of caddis on the Arkansas River. I suffered through long periods of fruitless casting around the two time spans of concentrated fish catching success. I am coming to the conclusion that the dense caddis emergence of previous years no longer takes place. Thursday would be another chance to discover the caddis, but I was increasingly skeptical that this scenario would develop.

Time: 10:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Down river from Cotopaxi in the morning and then Vallie Bridge and upstream in the PM.

Fish Landed: 6

Arkansas River 04/26/2016 Photo Album

After rallying to land eleven fish late on Monday afternoon including a fifteen inch brown, the largest brown trout of the 2016 season, one would assume that I was pleased and prepared to spend another day between Parkdale and Texas Creek. But one would be mistaken. The allure of finding the leading edge of the hatch gnawed at my brain, and additionally I did not wish to spend another morning and early afternoon wading and casting with no results to justify my activity.

My Five Points Campsite

I camped at Five Points on Monday night along with two other crazy early season enthusiasts. One of the other campground inhabitants had the comfort of a RV, but the other fellow was toughing it out in a tent. After I snuggled up in my sleeping bag at 9PM, light rain began to patter on the rain fly. I read for a while before dozing off, and I remember hearing the wind and rain as I entered my dream world.

Frozen Water Droplets on My Rainfly on Tuesday Morning

I planned to pack everything up in the morning before I embarked on another fishing adventure, so I was concerned that the rain fly would be wet and delay my departure. As I climbed out of the tent on Tuesday morning, I immediately inspected for moisture, and except for some large scattered drops along the top seam, it appeared that the wind had taken care of most of the rain. Upon closer review I was surprised to learn that the large raindrops were actually frozen! What happened to the forecast lows of 42 degrees? I suppose that was Canon City, and I was ten miles farther west, although I guessed that it was a combination of a missed forecast and a different location.

When I left the river on Monday, I vowed to return to Royal Gorge Anglers to obtain some local insight. The fishing in the morning was less than spectacular anyway, so why not invest an extra hour to obtain some professional direction? In addition I needed to replace the retractor for my nippers, as the cord snapped during a fishing trip the previous week.

I was pleased to discover that Taylor Edrington, the owner, was present in the fly shop, so I asked him for advice. He informed me that I was below the leading edge of the advancing hatch, and this explained my lack of success on caddis pupa as well as the late action on the adult dry. The fish were tuned into egg laying adults in the late afternoon and evening, so I caught the early portion of this activity. Taylor went on to note that his guides and clients encountered a decent emergence in Cotopaxi on Monday, and he suggested that I migrate to that area or even as far up river as Vallie Bridge, if I hoped to fish to emerging brachycentrus.

I mentioned that I had success with an RS2 in the middle of the afternoon, and he politely dismissed the RS2 as being too slender to imitate emergers, and he sold me some CDC folded wing emergers. Taylor is a persuasive salesperson. Armed with five new flies, a new retractor, and confidence that I would meet the caddis hatch below Cotopaxi; I departed and returned to the campground and took down my by now dry tent. In my absence the sun peaked over the ridge to the east, and the combination of the sun and wind removed any remaining ice and water.

In a supercharged state of anticipation I continued west on route 50 until I reached a nice wide pullout .3 miles below the Cotopaxi bridge. After I rigged my Sage One five weight, I walked back along the highway to the bend and then followed a path half way around the curve, before I dropped to a section of river that was narrow with swift currents in the center. The edge closest to me featured some nice shelf pools, so I tied on a bright green diamond braid caddis (Go2 Caddis) as my top fly and added one of the newly purchased CDC BWO nymphs as the bottom fly on an indicator nymphing system.

Another Pretty Brown Trout

Between 10:30 and 11:30 I worked the most attractive runs and pockets along the edge of the river and landed three trout. Two were respectable thirteen inch browns, and the third was a small fish barely over the six inch minimum. I was pleased with this late morning production, and I remained confident that Taylor’s advice would lead me to caddis hatch nirvana. Meanwhile the air temperature was in the low fifties and the wind was stronger than Monday but tolerable. Some large dark gray clouds were building in the distant western sky. I decided to break for lunch early, as I was roughly fifty yards below the car.

I climbed the steep bank to the car and gathered my water and lunch bag and returned to the edge of the river as I am apt to do, so I could observe any insect activity while eating. I can report that I saw no evidence of blue winged olives and only a couple small caddis dapping on the water. In fact when I brushed the trees and willows, far fewer caddis scattered compared to when I executed similar actions on Monday farther to the east.

After lunch I resumed from my exit point and fished intensely from 12 – 1PM, at which point I was getting close to the town of Cotopaxi. I landed a fourth brown during this time period, and this one was around twelve inches. In addition I had a chubby brown hooked for a split second, but it shed the fly when it leaped high above the water. This bit of action transpired early on, and then I went through a fish catching drought despite casting to some exceptionally attractive water. The sun was shining brightly at this time, and I concluded that the fish should have been responding to the caddis pupa, if they were staging for an emergence in the early afternoon. Based on this logic I guessed that a leading edge emergence was not ilikely, so I decided to move farther upstream in search of the elusive hatch.

Unfortunately there is minimal public water between Cotopaxi and Vallie Bridge, and the section that is open was occupied by two groups of fishermen. I continued westward to Vallie Bridge and parked at the boat launch, and then I crossed to the south side of the river above the bridge. Here there is a long deep pool and a huge eddy where the water cycles back upstream and creates a large foam slick.

Back in the Net Big Guy

I covered this water thoroughly with no action, and then I retreated to the downstream side of the bridge. I began fishing just above the point where a small channel forks away from the main river. I made an obligatory half-hearted cast thirty-five feet across and allowed the bright green caddis pupa and soft hackle emerger to drift to the tail. Much to my surprise as the flies began to swing, the indicator paused, and I set the hook and found myself attached to a significant weight. The angry fish on the end of my line made several speedy and abrupt attempts to free itself, but I allowed line to escape and then eventually recovered and guided a fifteen inch brown trout into my net. What a surprise! This was the type of featureless water that I typically skip, but perhaps I need to reevaluate my approach.

I fished upstream through some more appealing deep water along the current seam below the bridge, but this proved fruitless. Next I crossed back to the car and drove to the lease water two or three miles to the west on the north side of the river. I parked, and in short order I hiked down river along the railroad tracks and eventually cut to the river. I discovered that I was above another fisherman by thirty yards, so I began my upstream migration at this point. The water above me was relatively unattractive, but after my surprise below the bridge, I dutifully cast upstream to the narrow six foot band of slower moving water next to the bank.

This time, however, my hunch was correct, and I simply exercised my arm. I moved rather quickly with only one or two casts to each section, and then I approached a much more interesting wide shelf pool where the river merged after splitting around a small gravel island. I worked this twenty-five yard segment of water thoroughly and drifted the flies along the current seam numerous times, but again I was disappointed.

When I reached the top, I noticed there was a deep trough just above the point where the currents merged. I lobbed several casts to the top of the trough, and on the third drift, as the indicator passed through the merge point, it dipped, and I intuitively reacted with a solid hook set. The fight was on. Once again I released line a few times to compensate for a strong run, but again I was able to scoop a fifteen inch brown trout into my net. This brown was actually not as long as the previous catch, but it was much heftier. I snapped quite a few photos and then released the brute.

Impressive Width on This Guy

The rest of the afternoon was consumed by moving quite a distance upstream along the right bank. I skipped huge amounts of stream real estate, as the river is relatively wide with many sections of shallow riffles or wide smooth water of moderate depth. The latter may actually harbor a decent amount of fish, but without any rocks or logs or current breaks, I am intimidated by the prospect of prospecting this type of water without some sign of fish such as a rise.

Near the end of my progression, I encountered two fishermen on opposite sides of the river. I was fifty yards below them in some very attractive deep runs below some exposed boulders. The sky grew extremely dark, and the wind kicked up, and a large quantity of dainty blue winged olives emerged and tumbled across the surface. Just prior to this point in time I swapped the soft hackle emerger for a CDC emerger that I purchased from Taylor, and I was certain that the trout would attack my subsurface imitation given the large population of olives on the surface.

Nothing. The fish never rose to feed on the surface because the wind blew the adults away before they could react, and my wet fly was totally ignored. This rude rejection of my offerings caused me to reel up my line, and then I scaled the steep bank until I reached the railroad tracks and hiked back to the car. Along the way I spotted a single rise in the lower end of the wide nondescript pool, so I slid down the bank and switched to a double dry setup with a size 16 olive brown caddis and a size 20 CDC BWO. I cast to the vicinity of the rise and on the tenth drift, just when I looked away for a split second, I heard the sound of a rise and instinctively set the hook. I felt some momentary weight and then the fish was off. I don’t know if the fish refused one of the flies, and I grazed it with the trailer, because I reacted to the sound, and never saw what happened.

That was the end of my Tuesday, and I returned to the car and made the long return trip to Denver. I spent two days on the Arkansas River in pursuit of the elusive 2016 caddis emergence, and never sniffed it. Of course I second guessed my decision to leave Cotopaxi, and I imagined waves of caddis popping from the green tinged surface of the river, while swallows criss-crossed overhead, and hungry trout slurped skittering emergers. I will never know if this was the case. I convinced myself that the emergence occurred in the long segment of water between Cotopaxi and Vallie Bridge, and only a short section is open to the public. Land ownership is my excuse for not finding the caddis sweet spot on April 25 and 26.

I am not done. Cool rainy weather is forecast for the rest of this week, so the progression will likely stall. This means I may have another shot at the caddis emergence in the vicinity of Salida early next week. Stay tuned.

Time: 10:30AM – 4:30PM

Location: From 10:30 until 11:30 at Five Points and then the afternoon in the braided area above Pinnacle Rock

Fish Landed: 11

Arkansas River 04/25/2016 Photo Album

It has become an annual ritual that I follow every spring. I did it practically every year since I moved to Colorado in 1990, yet the successful intersection of my regular pursuit and the sought after fishing experience has only occurred three or four times. The event that I am describing is the caddis hatch on the Arkansas River.

A couple times in the 1990’s I stumbled into the leading edge of the fabled brachycentrus emergence, and it was an experience I will never forget. Swarms of caddis skittered across the water and bounced and fluttered, and the trout slashed at them in gluttonous hunger. Poor casting skills and the dreaded drag were the fly fisherman’s best friend, as these presentation attributes best imitated the active skittering emergence of thousands of caddis.

My most recent encounter with the Arkansas River caddis hatch occurred in early May 2010; May 4 and May 14 to be exact. If you read these reports, you will understand my obsession with chasing this elusive hatch. A period of mild weather entered the forecast for Colorado following the heavy wet spring snowstorm during the weekend of April 16 and 17, and I estimated that by Monday most of the low level snow melt on freestone streams had passed. The last report on the caddis emergence indicated that they stalled in the lower canyon before the storm, and the local experts predicted that the progression would resume on Friday April 22 with the advent of warmer temperatures.

Based on this information I planned a fishing/camping venture to the lower Bighorn Sheep Canyon area for Monday and Tuesday. One of the advantages of retirement is the ability to make these sort of spur of the minute decisions. The low temperature for Monday night was projected to be 42 degrees, thus my intention to camp. I camped several times in the fall when temperatures dropped below the freezing mark.

Upstream from Five Points with a Cholla in the Foreground

On Monday morning I departed at 7:20, and traffic was reasonable thus allowing me to pull into the parking area at the Arkansas Headwaters Five Points access area by 10AM. This is where I planned to camp, so I made a quick circle to scope out the campsites, and only two of eighteen sites were occupied. Clearly there was not a groundswell of campers on Monday April 25 in lower Bighorn Sheep Canyon. I brought the car to a halt across from the campground and pulled on my waders and assembled my Sage One five weight rod. The weather forecast called for twenty-four mile per hour winds, so I needed a long stiff rod in the event that this prediction was accurate.

I had no idea how far the caddis progressed, and I probably should have stopped at Royal Gorge Anglers for information, but I pressed on in my desire to get back on the river after the snowstorm. When I approached the water I noticed that it was murky, but decent visibility existed along the edges. The weather was partly sunny, and the wind was not a significant factor at 10:30.

I began with a nymph rig that included a bright green caddis pupa and a prince nymph. The caddis prepared me for emergers and the prince covered egg laying adults. Unfortunately shortly after beginning my caddis hunt, I broke off both flies, and I tied on another bright green caddis pupa and then replaced the prince with a second brighter green caddis pupa. The body of the second one was constructed with bright geen diamond braid, and it is named Tak’s Go2 Caddis.

These flies produced a momentary hook up, and I also observed the flash of the side of a brown, as it inspected my drifting flies, but I was unable to begin my fish count. I was disappointed with the lack of interest in my flies so I went through a series of changes that featured a slumpbuster, emerald caddis pupa, and ultra zug bug. At another point roughly halfway through the morning I foul hooked a fish on the green caddis pupa. When I brushed the willows along the stream, a cloud of caddis took flight in an obvious response to my rude interruption of their streamside relaxation.

By 11:30 I decided to get an early start on lunch, and based on the quantity of adult caddis on the vegetation, I assumed that the hatch progressed farther upstream. I drove farther west on route 50 until I was less than a mile below Texas Creek, and here I parked and descended to the river, where I brushed some willows and shrubs. Based on this unscientific experiment I concluded that the caddis were not as thick below Texas Creek, so I turned around and retreated to the section where the river splits into numerous side channels. It was clear that I should have stopped at Royal Gorge Anglers, and I was now shooting in the dark, but I was weary of driving and decided to make my stand.

I grabbed my lunch and found a perch next to the channel closest to the road and observed the river intently for signs of insect activity, and I was rewarded with the vision of two sporadic rises. When I resumed fishing, I fished the southern most channel first, but to no avail. Next I crossed the nearest channels and bushwhacked to the bottom of the northern branch where it entered the main stem of the reunited river. The sky became progressively more cloudy, and as usually is the case in Colorado, this spawned increased wind velocity. Finally at around 2:30 I landed my first fish, and despite its small size, I snapped a photo as I was unsure that any additional fish would find my net.

The North Braid

Normally if an intense caddis hatch is in the offing, it commences by 2PM, so I was fairly convinced that I would not meet my objective on Monday. Fortunately a fine blue winged olive emergence overlaps with the caddis hatch, and these tiny mayflies enjoy cold overcast blustery conditions. Between 2:30 and 3:30 the state of the weather did in fact conspire to create BWO activity, and this development saved my day. I landed eight brown trout during this period after I reconfigured my line with the go2 caddis as the top fly and a size 20 beadhead RS2 as the bottom food imitation.

15″ Brown Sporting a Tiny RS2 Lip Piercing

I worked my way upstream on the northern branch of the river and cast the nymphs to all the likely places. I imparted quite a bit of movement by making downstream mends to accelerate the flies as well as lifting and dropping the flies in a jigging motion. Most of the landed trout chased the RS2 on the swing, but two justified the presence of the go2 caddis on my line. One very nice pool farther up the braid than I normally progress yielded a fifteen inch brown that clobbered the RS2, and this represented my best brown trout on the season so far. Quite a few of the netted fish were chunky twelve and thirteen inch wild specimens, and I was thrilled with the turn of events.

Pretty Chunky Fellow

Eventually I reached the point where the north channel split off from the main river. My ability to move back down to the crossing point required some very cautious wading among large round boulders and deep pockets next to the brushy bank, but I endured. I crossed the two intervening channels, and then I hiked back down along the highway until I was next to some large attractive shelf pools below where the river was reunified as one channel. I managed to add a small brown to my fish count to reach nine, but as the sky clouded up again, some very spaced out splashy rises began to appear.

Bank Pockets

I was near the end of the day, and my success level dropped considerably, so I felt I had little to lose. I converted to a single size 16 gray deer hair caddis, and I began prospecting it tight to the rocks along the bank. Wham! I saw something suck down the caddis in a swirl, and I set the hook instantly. Unfortunately the stabbed trout streaked to the heavy nearby main current and snapped off my caddis in an instant. I was quite disappointed to miss my opportunity to reach double digits, but I persisted and knotted a new size 16 olive brown deer hair caddis to my tippet.

I Like the Arch

I continued scrambling my way over large boulders and added two more brown trout to my count. Of course this made me second guess whether I should have prospected the edge all day in search of opportunistic feeders that pounced on unaware dapping adult caddis. Fortunately I had another day on Tuesday, and perhaps I could employ this strategy and catch some fish earlier in the day.

In summary it turned out to be a decent day with eleven fish landed, and quite a few were in the 12-15 inch range. On the negative side, I fished for nearly four hours before I landed a fish, and I once again failed to locate the adrenaline producing main emergence of the Arkansas River caddis. I resolved to drive back to Royal Gorge Anglers in the AM to gain some insight on the best chance to meet the elusive leading edge hatch.

Looking for More Privacy

Time: 10:30AM – 4:30PM

Location: Between Salt Lick and Pinnacle Rock and then upstream from Pinnacle Rock to the braided area.

Fish Landed: 11

Arkansas River 04/15/2016 Photo Album

Friday April 15 on the Arkansas River proved to be a good day, but it had the potential to be spectacular. The most notable accomplishment, however, was overcoming the various forms of adversity sent my way. As one would expect, fly fishing was a taxing venture on tax day.

The weather forecasts indicated that a major winter storm was bearing down on Colorado, and this caused Jane and I to postpone our plans to ski at Vail. An abundance of snow is one thing, but warm temperatures and rain at the base were more than we were willing to contend with. When I checked the weather in Canon City, I was pleased to discover that high temperatures were forecast to be 64 degrees with cloudy skies in the afternoon. 64 degrees was more comfortable than the low 50’s projected for Denver, and the highs in the higher elevations streams would be roughly ten degrees colder. Cloudy afternoon skies portended a blue winged olive hatch, so I was drawn to the lower Arkansas River as a destination where I could sneak in a day of fishing before the storm precluded further attempts.

Following an uneventful trip I arrived at a small pullout along route 50 at 10AM a mile above the Salt Lick access. I intended to continue my progress along the river from where I ended on Sunday, April 10. The temperature was 54 degrees, but it was moderately windy so I pulled on my fleece layer as well as my raincoat to serve as a windbreaker. I grabbed my five weight Sage One rod and walked back along the shoulder until I found a reasonably safe place to cautiously scramble down a boulder field to the river. This placed me just above a nice long deep slow moving shelf pool, so I stayed back from the river and moved to the tail of the attractive location. I began my day with a strike indicator, split shot, green caddis pupa, and salad spinner.

Salad Spinner Produces

I was rather excited when the indicator paused at the top of the shelf pool, and I connected with a twelve inch brown trout that inhaled the salad spinner. The generic midge imitation created by my friend Danny Ryan continues to impress. After I set the wild brown free, I resumed my progress, but I was unable to land additional fish over the remainder of my first hour of fishing. I did experience one split second hook up and saw a fish flash as it looked at my flies, but no additional trout found my net.

My Kind of Water

At 11:30 I climbed the steep bank and hiked back to the Santa Fe. I surveyed the river between where I was parked and Pinnacle Rock prior to parking upon my arrival at 10AM, and I was not pleased with the structure of the next segment, so I drove west until I reached a nice wide pullout .2 miles above Pinnacle Rock. I hoped to consume my lunch while overlooking the river, but the wind now accelerated to gale force status. I opened the front passenger door to retrieve my lunch, and my ball cap was instantly swept five feet from the car. I moved to the tailgate to remove my sun gloves, and one of them was uplifted and deposited ten feet away. Needless to say the wind became a significant factor, so I sat in the car and munched my sandwich and carrots while listening to the Rockies vs Cubs pregame show.

After lunch I swapped my wide brimmed hat for my billed cap with ear flaps, and I quickly snugged it tightly on my head. This hat was warmer and tighter fitting in light of the gusting wind. I slid down an angled path to the river and began lobbing the nymph rig to the likely deep pockets and runs along the left bank. The salad spinner was being shunned, so I exchanged it for a RS2, as the time of the day when baetis nymphs become active was approaching. I fished the nymphs in a dead drift presentation as well as with active movement. I covered some areas with moderate depth until I approached the stretch where the river narrowed, and this created smaller but deeper pockets and runs along the roadside of the river.

The wind continued to be ridiculously offensive, but I was able to power casts upstream due to the weight of the indicator and split shot, and finally I enjoyed some action. Between noon and 1PM I moved the fish count total to five with the average size of the fish greater than the landed fish in my previous visits to the Arkansas River. At one point my flies wedged beneath a large boulder, and the water was too fast and deep to rescue them, so I snapped both off along with the split shot. I replaced the shiny bright green caddis pupa with a bright green sparkle pupa tied Lafontaine style, and this fly produced two of the brown trout, while the RS2 accounted for the other two.

After this flurry of action I approached a pair of nice deep slow shelf pools, and I was certain that these locations would yield several fish each. I paused at the tail of the first one to observe, and some dark clouds moved above me, and this seemed to signal the wind to blast at greater velocity. For the first time I spied some tiny mayflies clinging to the surface of the water, and then a flurry of subtle rises caught my attention in the current seam at the tail of the pool. What was I to do? I made some casts hoping that the fish were aware of subsurface and surface food, but the RS2 did not attract interest. I resigned myself to convert to a dry fly approach, but I knew that this would take some time. Have you ever attempted to change your fishing setup while forty MPH winds shoot down the canyon? It was not easy.

Adding to my woes was a troublesome split shot. It was the type with no fins that can be squeezed to separate the opposite side. I struggled with the obstinate piece of lead for at least five minutes, but I could not open the slot to slide out my leader, so I did what any frustrated fisherman would do; I clipped off the line on both sides of the shot and reconnected it with a surgeon’s knot. Finally I was ready to configure my line with the BWO imitation, but for the sake of visibility, I first knotted a size 14 stimulator to my tippet and then tied on a size 22 CDC olive. Finally I was set to cast to the feeders in front of me.

Rainbow Lair

Of course you can probably guess what happened. The wind became such a force, that it blew the tiny olives off the water before the fish had a chance to eat them. I watched for a few minutes, and no signs of surface feeding fish remained. Perhaps they were still there looking for surface food? I threw some casts at a forty-five degree angle, but this proved to be futile. In fact the very act of getting a drift over the target area became a massive challenge, and the flies were nearly impossible to follow due to the constant wind-created riffle and my inability to follow the path of my cast. I pursued this exercise in frustration for five or ten minutes until I realized that the weather conditions were not going to enable me to fish dry flies on Friday April 15.

Fifteen Inch Rainbow Holds the Prize for 2016 So Far

I sat down on a rock and reverted to the bright green caddis pupa and RS2, and these were supplemented with a split shot (with tabs) and a strike indicator. I resumed my progression, and I landed a nice brown trout and a fifteen inch rainbow. Both fish consumed the RS2, and the rainbow trout was a huge surprise. I cast to the very top of the second shelf pool where a narrow deep slot passed a large submerged boulder. Just as the indicator passed five feet beyond the boulder, it dipped, and I reacted with a swift hook set. The victim of the penetrating hook point immediately went into escape mode, and this featured several streaking charges downstream. I managed to release and gain line while maintaining pressure and eventually guided the beautiful rainbow into my net. This fish proved to be the largest of the 2016 season, and I was ecstatic with my ability to land it.

River Divides into Four Channels Ahead

I was now just below the point where three or four braids of the Arkansas River merge. This is perhaps my favorite segment of the lower Arkansas, since one can fish the small channels similar to a small stream, yet they are connected to the much larger main river. The small braids allow easier wading and better sight fishing similar to smaller streams in other parts of Colorado. I quickly moved up along the left bank until I found a place where I could cross the closest two channels, and this placed me near the bottom of the northern most channel of the river. This is my favorite as it carries the largest volume of the water of the four.

Perhaps Best Brown Trout of 2016 So Far

Much to my surprise the wind subsided somewhat to occasional strong gusts, but the sky was slate gray, and the temperature probably dropped into the upper 40’s. I had the entire section of the river to myself, so I began casting the nymphs to the standard fish holding spots. For some reason I replaced the RS2 with a beadhead soft hackle emerger prior to embarking on this expedition up the side channel. None of the places that historically produced fish for me delivered on this day in April, until I approached a nice area about two-thirds of the way from the river to the place where two channels merge.

A Caddis Pupa Fan

For some inexplicable reason, my flies suddenly caught fire. During the remainder of my day in this area I landed four additional fish, but it could have just as easily been eight. This is just a guess, but I suspect I experienced at least six long distance releases, and I blame this phenomena on the small size 22 soft hackle emerger. At the very top of the long run and riffle area there was a very narrow long slot. I estimate the structure described ran for forty feet, but it was no wider than eight feet. This one spot produced at least six hookups, as the fish grabbed the soft hackle emerger as it tumbled tight to the current seam on the far side of the narrow trough. Fortunately I managed to land a fourteen inch brown trout and another rainbow from this area before reeling up my line and calling it quits. My heart beat elevated during this time period as a result of the wind, the fast water and the rapid pace of hooking fish.

A Second Gorgeous Rainbow Trout

In summary I landed eleven fish and the average size was definitely a notch above any of my previous fishing outings in 2016. Had I been able to convert more of my hook ups to the net, my fish count could have easily reached fifteen, and this would have elevated the day to outstanding. Of course all this was accomplished while overcoming wind that almost blew me off the water after lunch. The stubborn split shot only added to my woes, and the one minute of teasing rises put me through a twenty minute knot tying practice session. I continue to me amazed by the value of persistence in fly fishing. On this day tenacity was rewarded.

Time: 10:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: Salt Lick river access area and then upstream.

Fish Landed: 15

Arkansas River 04/10/2016 Photo Album

On Friday Jane and I enjoyed a day of skiing at Vail Ski Resort, and one of our favorite runs was Cloud 9. Because of the surrounding trees, the snow did not get as soft and slushy as the runs in the bowls that were exposed to direct sunlight. The name of this run reminded me of Cloud Nine, a song by the Temptations that was popular in 1969. I checked the weather forecast for Canon City, CO for Sunday April 10, and my app indicated that the sky would be overcast and cloudy on the lower Arkansas River. Could all the references to clouds be a harbinger of cloudy conditions that would yield a productive baetis hatch on one of my favorite rivers?

I announced to Jane that I was making the drive to lower Big Horn Sheep Canyon on Sunday, and she elected to accompany me. We departed Denver a few minutes before 8AM and arrived at the Salt Lick river access area a bit after 10. The temperature was 63 degrees, and there was a slight breeze, but nothing compared to the gales that I endured in previous trips to the Arkansas River. I assembled my Sage One five weight and marched to the edge of the river next to the wide gravel beach that is used to slide rafts into the rushing water.

Up the River from Salt Lick

To begin I used a strike indicator with a split shot and an ultra zug bug and emerald caddis pupa. I worked my way up the left bank of the river during the first hour, and I was disappointed by a total lack of interest in my flies. I decided that a change was in order, and I exchanged the emerald caddis pupa for a bright green caddis pupa. This imitation displayed a shiny diamond braid body, and I hoped that it would be a fish attractor. I approached a huge vertical rock wall that would halt my upstream migration, but a nice run of moderate depth angled from the bank back toward the main river. I cast the flies above the riffle and allowed them to tumble through the run, and as they swept past a medium sized square submerged rock, the indicator dipped, and I quickly set the hook. I was attached to an eleven inch brown trout for a short time, and then it figured out how to slide free. I continued fishing for a bit until my path was obstructed by the rock wall, and when I reeled up my flies, I discovered that the bright green caddis was no longer attached. Apparently a bad knot enabled the thrashing fish to break off the tippet and fly.

First Fish Took Ultra Zug Bug

I decided to turn around and return to Jane and the car for lunch, as I was at a point where farther progress required a steep climb to the highway to circle around the rock barrier. It was 11:30, which is a bit early for lunch, but it was convenient to eat before continuing above the rocks. I replaced the green caddis with another one, and as I returned to the boat launch, I stopped at the location where I hooked the evasive fish. I ran the nymphs through the same run, and on the second drift, the indicator paused, and I landed my first trout of the day. It was an eleven inch brown, and I pondered whether this was the same fish that stole my fly earlier.

Streamside Lunch

After lunch I hiked along the shoulder of the highway until I was beyond the barrier, and then I scrambled down a boulder field to the edge of the river. Between noon and 2PM I worked my way along the left bank of the wide river and fished only the pockets and runs next to the steep rocks. I spent roughly half of my time rock climbing and the other half casting, but I managed to land three additional brown trout. Unfortunately I covered quite a bit of water to register this tally, so the fishing was not the heated affair I imagined. In addition the sky remained mostly blue with occasional puffy white clouds. This also was not the cloud cover that the weather app predicted.

Bright Green Caddis Fooled This Nice Brown Trout

I was beginning to resign myself to another moral victory, meaning great weather in a beautiful setting with a modest fish count, when some dark clouds appeared above the peaks to the southwest. The impact of this weather event on my fishing fortunes was almost immediate. Suddenly a few small gray mayflies made an appearance, and I spotted several fluttering up from the surface of the river. I responded to this sign from nature, and I tied a beadhead RS2 to my line and moved the bright green caddis to the top position. I executed both dead drift presentations and active movement, but I quickly discovered that the fish preferred action. Between 2 and 2:45 I experienced the hottest fishing action of the 2016 season.

Great Spot Pattern

The best results came near the tail of deep pockets and runs when I lifted the flies. In many cases this provoked a response. Less effective, but still productive, was a jigging action that I imparted to the flies when I cast directly upstream. My fish count advanced from four to twelve during this forty-five minute period, and I was quite pleased that I finally settled into a rhythm that produced hungry fish and positive results. After 2:45 the action slowed a bit, but my catch rate remained above average, as I landed another three fish. It was during this time that my indicator darted in a fairly fast run over some large submerged boulders. I quickly reacted and fought a feisty fourteen inch rainbow to my net. This was the only rainbow on the day, and it was likely my best fish of the 2016 season.

Only Rainbow Was Best Fish of 2016 So Far

Sunday evolved into the kind of fishing outing that I looked forward to in the spring of 2016. The key factors merged and produced some fast action. The heavy cloud cover and warming water temperatures activated the blue winged olives, and this food source in turn caused the fish to assume their feeding stations. I expected to catch most of my fish on the RS2, but interestingly the two-thirds of the fish that I landed chomped the bright green caddis. This probably indicates that drifting caddis larva and pupa are becoming more prevalent in the flows of the lower Arkansas River. With this successful excursion to the Arkansas under my belt, I am already anticipating another journey during the coming weeks. Cloud 9 skiing, Cloud Nine the song, and fishing under cloudy skies are all fun in the eyes of this fisherman.

Lots of Attractive Pockets and Runs Ahead

Time: 11:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: Spike Bike, up and down stream.

Fish Landed: 6

Arkansas River 04/03/2016 Photo Album

I probably should not read the early season fishing reports from the fly shops near the Arkansas River, as they nearly always raise my expectations beyond reasonableness, and that is what happened on Sunday, April 3, 2016.

My first fishing outing upon our return from the Arizona road trip was Monday on the South Platte River, but landing three small fish simply served to whet my appetite for more. Unfortunately a cold front moved through Colorado, and this deterred me from further fly fishing activity. Finally on Saturday the weather improved, and highs in Denver reached 65 degrees, and the forecasters projected that Sunday would be even nicer with temperatures reaching the upper 60’s or low 70’s. I could not restrain myself, and after reading glowing reports on the Arkansas River fly shop web sites about heavy blue winged olive hatches, the continuing presence of stoneflies, and drifting caddis larva; I convinced Jane to join me on a Sunday drive to lower Big Horn Sheep Canyon.

By the time we parked at Spike Buck access area it was 10:30, and I hustled to assemble my gear which enabled me to dip my wading boot in the river by 11AM. Jane accompanied me on my hike along the shoulder of US 50, as I moved briskly to my favored entry point .5 mile below the parking lot. Unfortunately as we strode along the highway, I spied a pair of anglers .2 miles above my targeted starting spot. I made a quick assessment and decided that enough time elapsed so that the water was adequately settled in the event that the fishermen covered the water below their current position.

I scrambled down the bank and rigged my line with a thingamabobber, split shot, beadhead hares ear, and ultra zug bug; and I began methodically covering the likely fish holding locations. After fifteen minutes of fruitless casting, I hooked up with a medium sized fish, but after a thirty second tussle, it slipped free of my hook. A bit later I hooked a small brown trout along the bank, but upon examination in my net, I found that it was foul hooked. Finally just prior to breaking for lunch I saw a pause in the pink bobber deep in the tail of a narrow slot, and I reacted with a swift hook set. This action yielded my first fish of the day, and I snapped a couple photos of the twelve inch brown trout that inhaled the ultra zug bug.

First Decent Arkansas River Brown on Sunday

Once I released the wild brown, I climbed the steep bank and returned to the access area, where I joined Jane for a quick lunch. The two fishermen ahead of me progressed to just below our lunch spot, so I decided to change tactics and move up the river, so that I was certain that I was covering new water. Another fisherman was on the opposite side of the river from the access area parking lot, so I skipped past him on the side next to the highway and found some nice water thirty yards up the river. For the next couple hours I methodically worked my way along the left bank and fished to some attractive runs and pockets.

Pocket Water Ahead

I observed a few sporadic blue winged olives, and this provoked me to reconfigure my offerings so that the beadhead hares ear was the top fly, and a RS2 was the bottom. This was somewhat successful, and the RS2 penetrated the lip of a brown to move me to a fish count of two. After this however I endured a long interval with no action, so I exchanged the RS2 for a soft hackle emerger in case the fish were more attuned to baetis in a more advanced stage of emergence. When I swapped the BWO imitations, I also removed the hares ear and replaced it with an ultra zug bug. By two o’clock I advanced my fish count to four, although number three and four snatched the ultra zug bug when I created rapid movement near the tail of the drift.

Another Fair Brown Trout

At this point I encountered the two fishermen that infringed on my plans earlier, and they appeared to be joined by a young person and another adult. I was forty yards below them, so I climbed the bank once again and retreated to the parking lot. By now I felt the stretch of river between the access area where Jane was stationed and my morning exit point was sufficiently rested, so I hiked to that point and resumed my upstream migration. I informed Jane that I would be back when I reached her or 4 o’clock, whichever came first.

I would like to announce that the competing fishermen were the reason for my modest catch rate in the first hour, and that the undisturbed fish went berserk and crushed my flies after resting the water, but that was not the case. I covered the .3 miles of water and landed two more brown trout in the 10-12 inch range. Both fish grabbed the ultra zug bug. I knew from prior experience that there were fish in this segment of the river, so I  was convinced that I was not presenting food to their liking. At one point I discovered a bright green-emerald caddis larva on the point of my fly, when I reeled it up to check for debris. I reacted by replacing the ultra zug bug with a caddis larva fly that matched the color quite well. Shortly after this move I had a momentary connection with a fish, but I could not determine which fly generated the interest.

The caddis larva and soft hackle emerger combination did not remain on my line very long, as the flies got wedged beneath a large boulder, and the depth and swift flow precluded me from rescuing the flies. I broke the pair off along with the split shot, and after I reconfigured my line with the same set up, I once again snagged a boulder and broke off the weight and flies a second time. I concluded that these flies were bad luck, and my final selection was a slumpbuster trailing an ultra zug bug. The slumpbuster certainly had an encouraging name, and the ultra zug bug was my best producer on the day so far.

Ultra Zug Bug in Lip

I worked these flies very actively. In some cases I cast upstream and dead drifted them, but more often I stripped the slumpbuster in streamer fashion. During one of these upstream strips, a twelve inch brown trout attacked the ultra zug bug, and that accounted for number six on Sunday. I also experienced one soft bump and observed a decent brown following the slumpbuster on another retrieve, but I never managed to land a fish on the streamer.

It was a gorgeous early spring day with a bright blue sky and temperatures in the low seventies. I enjoyed my time with my beautiful wife, and I landed six wild Arkansas River brown trout. I was able to fish for five hours just over two months after surgery. All in all it was a great day, so I simply need to ratchet down my expectations when I read optimistic reports on the internet.

Time: 12:00PM – 4:00PM

Location: Five points and then up the river.

Fish Landed: 9

Arkansas River 03/13/2016 Photo Album

Double digit fish count is always my goal. I did not achieve this objective on Sunday, March 13; however, I came close and had my best outing of 2016. In addition I endured my longest amount of time casting for the new season, and I climbed over numerous large rocks, and these were notable achievements in my recovery from surgery.

Sunday’s forecast anticipated high temperatures around 67 degrees near Canon City, so Jane agreed to accompany me on the long drive to the lower end of Big Horn Sheep Canyon. We pulled into a river access parking space at Five Points at 11:45, so I immediately downed my sandwich and snacks and prepared to fish. Fortunately I placed the Colorado State Parks pass on my windshield before we left, so I did not need to worry about DOW agents citing me for illegal parking.

The Arkansas River Near Five Points

The one negative to Sunday was the periodic gusts of wind that howled down the canyon, but I have grown to expect this adversity. The wind made dry fly or dry/dropper fishing a poor option, so I assembled my thingamabobber nymphing rig. I connected my fly line to the thingamabobber with a six inch section of 0X leader and followed that step by knotting a five foot section of level 5X to the eye of the thingamabobber as well. Next I added an eighteen inch section of 5X with a surgeon’s knot and tied an Arkansas rubber legs to the tippet. The large nymph was weighted, and I expected it to serve in lieu of a split shot. Finally I added a beadhead hares ear to the terminal end of my leader, and I was set to begin my quest for Arkansas River trout.

I fished for forty-five minutes with this combination, and although I experienced two split second hook ups, I did not add to my fish count, and I began to lose confidence in my approach. I snipped off the Arkansas rubber leg, moved the hares ear to the top position, crimped a split shot to my line above the surgeon’s knot, and then knotted a RS2 to the end of the 5X. Finally with this arrangement in place, I landed a small six inch brown trout, and I celebrated despite its diminutive size.

As I moved above the Five Points access area, I encountered an island below a large bend, and I chose to explore the left braid which carried two thirds of the river volume. The most attractive portion of this segment of the river is the sharp bend where the current deflects off a large vertical rock and creates a nice deep run and shelf. I anticipated at least one fish from this juicy area, and I began to thoroughly cover the likely fish holding locations. First I probed the narrow slack water between the bank and the faster current, but this failed to yield a tug. Next I cast along the current seam next to the deep pool, but this was also futile. Finally I lobbed the nymphs to the center of the slow moving pool, and suddenly the thingamabobber took a dip. I quickly set the hook, but I was confused to discover my line flying back toward my position, while the thingamabobber drifted sideways toward the faster current. I looked on in amazement as the float and nymphs bobbed down the river while my line dangled before me. I sadly realized that the knot connecting the 0X leader to the thingamabobber unraveled, and I lost my entire system including strike indicator, split shot, five feet of tippet, and two flies. Needless to say I was a frustrated angry fisherman.

Lots of Pocket Water

I waded to the island and found a place to sit down on the soft slanted sand, and here I began the time consuming task of recreating the entire nymph configuration. Of course as I embarked on this task, I began to observe small blue winged olives as they took flight over the riffles in front of me. This always happens when I am struggling with a tangle or fly change and serves to increase the anxiety associated with not having ones fly on the water. Since I was starting over, I opted to try an emerald caddis pupa as the top fly, but I found another RS2 for my bottom offering.

Best Trout of the Year So Far

Now I was set to attack the river. The intensity of the wind increased, but I spotted more BWO’s in the air above the river, and I was certain that I had the proper set up and flies to achieve afternoon success. I waded up the river to a point above the island and prospected some nice pockets, and my confidence was affirmed when I landed a nice twelve inch brown trout that inhaled the beadhead hares ear. Perhaps I was on the right track. Next I worked my way across to the bank along the road, and here I began exploring some deep slots next to some large boulders. Unfortunately on one of the drifts, the flies wedged beneath a large exposed boulder. I attempted to wade into position to extract them, but the current was fast and dangerous, and I avoided reaching my arm into the icy water not wishing to get my shirt and Under Armour sleeve wet. Just as I broke off both flies, I heard a voice high above next to the road, and it was Jane admonishing me for wading into a fast deep segment of the river.

This Brown Trout Liked the Beadhead Hares Ear

I quickly added more tippet to my leader, and this time I reverted to a beadhead hares ear as my top fly with another RS2 occupying the bottom position. As Jane remained above me, I cast to a nice short riffle of moderate depth, and here the indicator paused. I reacted quickly and hooked and landed another 10-12 inch brown while my wife watched from the edge of the canyon above. It is always fun to catch a fish while a spectator is watching.

Decent

The remainder of the afternoon was a blast as I worked my way up the river along the left bank and landed six more brown trout. Two of the netted fish snatched the RS2, but the others grabbed the hares ear. I alternated between dead drifting the nymphs and imparting motion, but the most effective presentation was lifting or swinging the nymphs at the tail of the drift. The one constant through the last two hours of fishing was the relentless wind, and several times I stopped to brace myself by holding my flies and turning my back.

Nice Water Near End Point

At 3:50 I carefully climbed the steep rocky bank and hiked back along the shoulder of route 50 and found Jane reading at a picnic table. I requested ten minutes to try my flies in a nice deep slot that I covered close to the start of my day, and she graciously honored my request. I walked back to the river on a path and then waded the edge until I found the location that I was targeting. I covered the lower half and then the upper half of the slot quite thoroughly with lots of motion, but fish number ten eluded my best efforts. Finally I returned to the car and prepared for the drive home.

Sunday was my best day of 2016 in terms of fish count and size of fish. I fished for four hours and did not aggravate the healing parts of my body. In fact, from a physical perspective, it was the best I felt during my post-operative existence. The wind was a nuisance, but otherwise it was a sunny warm day with active fish. I remain a happy fisherman.

Fish Landed: 9

Time: 9:00AM – 5:00PM

Location: Nature and Raptor Center on the Arkansas Tailwater below Pueblo Reservoir

Fish Landed: 6

Arkansas River 11/23/2015 Photo Album

All the factors were aligned for a noteworthy late November fishing trip. Unfortunately the dark side of mankind made an appearance during our otherwise enjoyable fishing trip, and this placed a dark cloud over perhaps my last outing of the 2015 season.

My friend Danny Ryan emailed me a week in advance to inquire whether I was interested in joining him for a trip to the Arkansas River in Pueblo on Monday November 23. I read several articles about this fishery, and the literature suggested that the Arkansas tailwater was the premier winter fishery in Colorado. The southern location and lower elevation combined with the constant water temperatures associated with a bottom release tailwater to create a benign environment for fishermen and fish. The long range forecast suggested that high temperatures would be in the low sixties on November 23, so I quickly responded to Danny that I would love to join him.

The weather did in fact develop into a gorgeous late fall day, and the water clarity was perfect. The flows were actually lower than desired at 115 cfs, and fly shop reports suggested that we could expect a dependable blue winged olive hatch. Fishing surface flies near Thanksgiving is icing on the cake for avid fly fishermen. Although the flows were somewhat low, this condition translated to fairly ideal conditions for wading and crossing back and forth on what is normally a very large river.

Danny Begins His Day on the Arkansas River Tailwater

We departed from Denver by 6:30 and arrived at the first parking area after the pay station lot at the Nature and Raptor Center of Pueblo by 8:30. My Weather Underground app indicated that the temperature hovered around the freezing level as we hastily dressed in our layers and pulled on our waders. In a concession to the cold morning temperatures I wore my down vest, wool finger-less gloves, toe warmers, and New Zealand brimmed hat with ear flaps. I am not a big fan of fishing in temperatures below 45, so I was a bit concerned about my comfort level as we strode down the path to the river. Danny on the other hand loves winter fishing, so he could barely contain his high energy as he guided me to the first decent run.

Fortunately the bright sun warmed the air quickly, and I managed to endure the first cold hour before conditions became quite pleasant. Danny and I began our day tossing nymph rigs, and I began with an ultra zug bug and RS2. For the first two hours we did a lot of slinging of split shot and indicators with little action, but I did manage to land two small rainbow trout in deep runs below man-made stream improvement structures. There are many angled rock deflectors throughout this section of the Arkansas River below the dam.

My first rainbow attacked a size 22 black zebra midge, and the second chomped the same diminutive fly. After forty-five minutes with no action, I swapped the RS2 for the midge larva, and then a bit later I exchanged the ultra zug bug for a bright pink San Juan worm. Danny meanwhile was experiencing similar success, although he seemed to land several fish that were slightly larger than mine.

This Area Was My Favorite on November 23 2015

By 11 o’clock we approached a bridge, and I noticed a very attractive section of water with numerous large midstream boulders and several nice deep runs. I paused to claim this water while Danny circled around and moved above me. As Danny was moving by, he pointed to an area along the current seam where he spotted a rise, so I observed some more and spotted several additional sips. I was not setting the world on fire with my nymphs, so I decided to make the conversion to a single blue winged olive dry fly, and I extracted a size 22 CDC BWO from my fly box and knotted it to my line.

A Decent Rainbow Trout

For the next half hour I experienced the best action of the day, as I landed three rainbows in the 11-13 inch range. I enjoyed this success by casting across and then allowing the fly to drift downstream to the point where the center current tailed out into the pool. On three occasions a  rainbow trout tipped up and slurped in my tiny surface offering. Unfortunately after landing the third fish, I hooked my fly on a stiff branch high in a tree, and I was forced to snap it off and replace it with another CDC BWO that had a bulkier wing.

Eventually the rises stopped so I exited the river and circled beyond two fishermen who entered between Danny and me. A third fisherman was on the upstream side of the bridge, so I went around him on the north side of the river, and then I spotted quite a few fishermen occupying inviting pools for the next one hundred yards. I traversed on a high bank until I could look down at the river, and after passing two fishermen, I found a stretch of water that looked attractive and offered a decent buffer between downstream and upstream fishermen. The other allure was the ridiculous number of rises that dotted a sixty foot segment of the river.

I began to cast across and allowed my fly to drift downstream using an approach that served me well in the previous pool. Initially I landed a small rainbow to bring my count to six, and then I pricked a pair of fish. Quite a few refusals joined the mix, but I was lured into thinking that my fly was a reasonably good match to the blue winged olives that bounced on the surface and fluttered into the warm November air. Danny joined me from the other side of the pool, and for the next hour we cast relentlessly to the pod of rising fish that slurped and sipped ravenously in front of us. Sadly for the most part we simply exercised our arms and shoulders. There had to be at least twenty-five fish feeding in the water surrounding us, but our flies went nearly unmolested. Toward the end of the hatch at approximately 3PM, I used my seine to collect samples from the surface film, and I discovered quite a few cripples and stillborn baetis along with a large quantity of empty nymph shucks. Upon close examination it was clear that the blue winged olives in my net were size twenty-four or smaller, and this probably explains the rejection of our over sized offerings. I probably should have skimmed the water earlier, but it would have made no difference, as I did not possess BWO’s that were that small.

Danny Changes Flies Late in the Day

From three until 4:30 I stripped a sparkle minnow through five or six deep pools, and I experienced one hook up, a couple bumps and one follow but no landed fish. Danny returned to nymphing, and he managed a few momentary hook ups, but the action was quite slow. While the sun remained above the horizon, the air temperature remained quite pleasant, and although stripping a streamer did not deliver much action, it allowed me to remain in constant motion while I basked in the unseasonably mild weather.

By 4:30 Danny and I returned to the area where we experienced the dense hatch in the early afternoon, and I decided to retire the sinking line and returned to my floating four weight. I was reluctant to return to nymphing, so I decided to try a size 14 stimulator with a trailing beadhead soft hackle emerger. I saw a few large caddis on the water thus the stimulator, and I also hoped that perhaps the soft hackle emerger would imitate straggling blue winged olives. Over the next half hour as the light quickly diminished I managed a few refusals to the stimulator. Quite a few fish resumed feeding on the surface, and I could not see anything obvious in the water, so I swapped the soft hackle emerger for a griffith’s gnat. On one upstream cast I pricked a fish for a split second with the gnat, and then I temporarily foul hooked another fish that refused the stimulator and could not avoid the path of the trailing gnat.

Danny continued deploying his nymphs thirty yards above me, and miraculously he reveled in a game saving hot streak as he landed three very nice rainbows as darkness descended. One of his fish attacked a black leech and the others nabbed a small gray midge pattern. By five o’clock it grew quite dark, and although Danny was reluctant to terminate his belated streak of good fortune, he begrudgingly agreed that we needed to begin our long return hike. We waded along the edge of the river for .3 mile, and then we found a path that intersected with a dirt road and hiked another .75 mile to the parking lot. By the time we approached Danny’s truck it was quite dark and cold, but Danny asked if we left the window open on the passenger side. I replied that I never put the window down, and as we grew closer, we were astonished to see that someone had smashed the glass so that the window was entirely open.

Danny instantly checked for his wallet and phone and found them in the center console. I was concerned about my blue and white tote bag which contained my wallet, iPhone 6, and prescription sunglasses; but I was too cold to climb over the seat to look immediately. I did remove the rod case that was angled toward the window, and I quickly assured myself that the two piece Loomis rod remained in the tube. I quickly clipped off my flies, broke down my rod and climbed out of my waders. Once I was back in my warm and comfortable street clothes, I climbed over the passenger seat that remained covered by shards of glass and searched for my blue and white tote bag. It was gone! The low life cretins that smashed the window apparently grabbed my bag and took off. There is nothing worse than the sinking feeling of being robbed and the realization that one’s wallet is gone.

Well I could go on bemoaning my misfortune, but my impression of the Arkansas River tailwater in Pueblo will be forever tainted by this experience. Until this point, I enjoyed a gorgeous day with some late season trout in a new location. Unfortunately individuals that have no regard for personal property ruined our fun on November 23.

Time: 10:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: .5 mile below the county line

Fish Landed: 7

Arkansas River 10/13/2015 Photo Album

The summer weather in October continued on Tuesday October 13, and I could not resist the temptation to take advantage. 9:30AM found me standing behind my car at a small pullout along the Arkansas River below Salida, CO. My dashboard informed me that it was 51 degrees, so I wore a fleece top for my morning on the river. I pulled my Sage One five weight out of its case, and proceeded to set it up with the Thingamabobber/level line configuration, since I expected to fish deep with nymphs during the morning session.

Once I was prepared, I walked down a worn path to a huge rock that jutted out into the river. A large deep pool and eddy formed below the jagged rock, so I stealthily walked to the tail and began to probe the depths with a salvation nymph and a zebra midge. I was quite confident that I would pick up some fish in the delicious water in front of me, but the pool did not deliver. After fifteen minutes I vacated the pool and moved above the rock to some deep runs that were very similar to the water that delivered outstanding results on October 2.

Once again my hopeful mindset was misplaced, but I continued to move upstream along the left bank. I was anticipating that as the water warmed up, the fish would become more active. The river structure that I was prospecting was very similar to areas that contained many hungry wild brown trout during previous visits to the Arkansas River. By 10:30 I lost confidence in the tiny zebra midge, so I swapped it for a RS2, and for the remainder of the morning I enjoyed a modicum of success. Five fish spent some time in my net. The first two were small brown trout that snapped up the RS2 in some narrow slack water along the bank.

Salvation Nymph Victim

Number three grabbed the salvation as it began to swing at the tail of a midstream pocket, and the fourth brown trout grabbed the RS2 in a riffle section with moderate depth. The fifth trout was a fifteen inch brown trout that hammered the salvation nymph in a deep trough in front of a large submerged boulder. As I climbed the bank to access the highway to hike back to the car for lunch, I was complimenting myself for managing to land five decent fish in relatively challenging conditions.

The Nice Brown Was In Front of the Exposed Rock

Opportunistic Morning Feeder

After lunch I drove west and parked at the familiar Fremont – Chafee county line. I contemplated crossing the river to fish the north bank as is my custom, but I convinced myself to seek some variety and remained on the south side of the river. I began fishing above the high ledge rock that often serves as my lunch spot. and I continued offering the salvation nymph and RS2. The morning session provided an average amount of action, so why tamper with success?

The afternoon water was even more attractive than that which I covered in the morning, but the fish were totally uncooperative. The sky was bright blue, and the sun was bright and warmed the air temperature to 80 degrees. These were not favorable conditions for a blue winged olive hatch, and in fact I only spotted one small adult during my entire time on the river. When I saw the one tiny mayfly above the river, I exchanged the RS2 for a beadhead soft hackle emerger. I fished with the nymph arrangement from 12:30 until 3:00 and connected with two more brown trout. The two afternoon fish were actually very nice, but I expected to land many more. In fact I was about to abandon the nymphing approach just as the larger of the two hammered the soft hackle emerger at the top of a long deep run. The second fish came from the same area.

Best Fish of the Afternoon

Between 2:30 and 3:00 I approached some juicy deep pockets right next to the rocky shoreline. These places are usually money in the bank, but on Tuesday that was not the case. I was able to spot two fish hovering a couple feet below the surface, but they were oblivious to my nymph and emerger, as I drifted them by the targeted fish repeatedly. I gave up on these fish and moved to the next deep pocket, and once again I sighted two fish. One was hanging out in front of a large submerged boulder, and it appeared to be actively feeding as it shifted from side to side to sip something.

I decided to make the time consuming switch from the thingamabobber/level line system to the conventional tapered leader, so I sat on a flat rock and made the change. I tied a Charlie boy hopper to my line and then knotted the salvation and soft hackle emerger below it. I lobbed the dry/dropper combination five feet above the visible trout that was suspended in front of the boulder, and the fish twitched its tail and made a slight move toward the terrestrial. But that was the extent of its interest, and repeated drifts were totally ignored. I probably should have plopped a beetle, but I did not think of this ploy at the time.

I now continued up the river prospecting the dry/dropper threesome for ten minutes, but shadows were making it difficult to follow the hopper, and my confidence was at a low ebb. It was three o’clock when I approached a nice wide deep riffle and pool, and I was bored with nymphing, and the dry/dropper move was not producing. I sat down on a rock and decided to convert to a sinking tip line and a sparkle minnow. The streamer saved my day earlier in the summer on the Williams Fork, so perhaps it was the answer on October 13. All the fly shop reports mentioned streamers as highly effective on pre-spawn brown trout during October.

Sparkle Minnow Ready for Action

I manipulated the sparkle minnow aggressively through three separate pools with no success. All three areas likely held multiple fish, but none responded to my thorough coverage and varied retrieves. The only response was a follow from a twelve inch brown, when I tossed the streamer directly upstream to some fairly marginal water. This gave me some hope, but it was the zenith of my sparkle minnow experience for the day.

By 3:30 I was feeling quite exhausted, and I lost all confidence in my ability to catch more fish. I found myself thinking more about my return trip and a snack than fishing, so I reeled up the streamer, climbed the bank and returned to the car.

Tuesday was a disappointing day of fishing, as I landed seven fish in 5.5 hours of wading and casting. I did not see a cloud in the sky during my entire stay, and the temperature reached eighty degrees. The flows dropped from 280 cfs to 230, so the combination of low flows, clear water, and high air temperatures caused the brown trout to hunker down and close their jaws. Six hours of driving is a significant commitment for seven fish. I need to take a break before giving the mighty Arkansas another chance.

Time: 9:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: Lunch Rock and upstream .5 – 1 mile.

Fish Landed: 20

Arkansas River 10/02/2015 Photo Album

Fly fishing is a fickle endeavor. Since I reserved a room at the Woodland Motel in Salida for Thursday night, October 1, I remained in the area. Otherwise I would have probably driven home on Thursday night. Thursday was one of the toughest and most frustrating days I ever experienced on the Arkansas River; a river that has grown to become my favorite Colorado river. I was seriously reevaluating that designation. Even though I was committed to stay in Salida for the night, I weighed alternative fishing options for Friday. The South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon was one obvious candidate, as I estimated it was probably a one hour drive from Salida.

To help with my decision, I decided to visit ArkAnglers along US 50 after breakfast. I needed some new strike indicators, so that was an obvious excuse to stop at the fly shop and ask questions. A young man was behind the counter when I entered the store, and he quickly assisted me with my purchase, and then I began to pelt him with queries. He essentially confirmed the information that was already presented on the ArkAnglers’ web site. Fish the deep runs in the morning with nymphs including a midge larva. Switch to a baetis nymph at 11AM, and look for the fish to spread out a bit to the moderate depth riffles and pockets. If the sky is cloudy, adults appear on the surface between 1PM and 4PM. If it is sunny and bright, try fishing a dry/dropper along the edges from mid-afternoon until evening.

I concluded that I should give the Arkansas River an opportunity to redeem itself. It was forecast to be cooler, the fish had an additional day to acclimate to the higher flows, I would try new water, and I planned to adjust my approach after speaking with the young man at ArkAnglers.

Starting Point Above Lunch Rock

I drove along U.S. 50 until I approached Lunch Rock, and here I executed a U-turn and parked by the rock facing west. Lunch Rock is approximately .5 mile above the Wellsville bridge. The temperature was in the low 50’s, and the sun finally broke through the thin cloud cover, so I chose to stuff my raincoat in my backpack and fish without an extra layer. As a significant commitment to changing my technique I rigged my Sage four weight with the level line nymph set up that Taylor Edrington taught me several years ago. I removed my tapered leader and attached a six inch section of 0X tippet via a loop to loop connection to my fly line. Next I used an improved clinch knot to tie the 0X section to a thingamabobber, and then I unfurled a five foot length of 5X tippet and knotted that to the thingamabobber as well. My final step included crimping a small split shot a foot above the top fly, and then I added a salvation nymph and size 22 beadhead zebra midge. I was skeptical that the tiny midge larva would produce fish in the big water of the Arkansas River, but the store clerk insisted.

First Fish Inhaled a Zebra Midge

I am still somewhat in disbelief over what happened next. I positioned myself above Lunch Rock to fish a narrow deep slot, and on the fifth drift deep in the tail of the trough, the indicator dipped, and I fought and landed a fourteen inch brown trout. When I examined the fish more closely in my net, I was shocked to discover the zebra midge in its lip! How could such a large fish detect such a tiny morsel in the large volume of water spilling through a chute above Lunch Rock?

I continued fishing upstream along the left bank for the next hour and landed four more trout. Three inhaled the tiny midge larva imitation and one snatched the salvation nymph from the drift. It was mind boggling, and I was indebted to the ArkAngler store clerk for insisting that I use a midge imitation. In addition to the fourteen inch brown the other fish were quite respectable and measured in the twelve inch range with a thirteen inch brown also in the mix.

Pretty Fish

By 10:30 I spotted a blue winged olive or two hovering above the water, and this was a clue to change out the midge larva for a RS2. It was a bit early according to my ArkAnglers’ directions, but I decided to make a slight deviation. It proved to be a fortuitous move, as I landed six additional brown trout before breaking for lunch at 11:40. All the deep pockets and runs seemed to yield fish, and four attacked the RS2 while two more were attracted to the salvation. I was actively imparting movement to the nymphs by lifting and reverse mending, and the trout seemed to respond to this action.

Just before lunch I approached a large ledge rock that jutted into the river to create a huge deep eddy. I did not expect this type of water to yield fish, but I lobbed a couple casts to the very tail of the eddy where the turbulent current swirled and sent water in every direction. It looked like the eye of a hurricane to my searching eyes. Miraculously on the fifth cast the indicator darted sideways, and I set the hook and stripped in a twelve inch brown that inhaled the RS2. Another subsequent cast produced a similar reaction, and I was chastising myself for almost skipping this type of water. Several more casts failed to produce, so I moved up and across from the middle of the eddy and flicked a cast to that area. Again the indicator streaked sideways, and I netted a third eddy dweller. I had one more momentary contact with a fish that felt heavier than the others, but this feeder managed to shed the hook in a brief amount of time.

I climbed the steep bank to the shoulder of the highway and marched back to the car and then drove west and parked a bit beyond my lunch departure spot. After lunch I scrambled back down the bank to the eddy, and I began to fish upstream. Between noon and 1:30 I built my fish count to seventeen by employing the same techniques that served me during the late morning hot streak. I saw a few sporadic rises, so I exchanged the RS2 for a beadless soft hackle emerger, and this fly became a desirable commodity to the Arkansas River brown trout. Once again the fish responded to active line movement. The most productive maneuver was to cast three quarters upstream, and then as the indicator drifted back across from my position, I executed downstream mends that accelerated the flies for two to three feet. This action apparently created the illusion of an emerging blue winged olive, because the fish responded quite often by snaring the trailing emerger.

Lots of Vivid Spots

One particularly memorable experience occurred when I approached a long riffle that was two to three feet deep. In this case I shot a long cast directly upstream to the top of the riffle, and after the indicator drifted five feet it paused. I immediately lifted and set the hook and found myself attached to a throbbing head shaking fifteen inch brown trout. I always get a huge thrill out of extracting big fish from less than obvious locations.

Toward the end of this period I reached a spot where a large vertical rock wall bordered the river. This was actually where I sat and ate my lunch high above the water, and while munching my sandwich, I spotted two decent trout in a large pocket behind a large submerged midstream boulder. I made quite a few casts to the area where the fish were observed, but they were not interested in my flies whether dead drifted or twitched. I gave up on the wide deep pocket and climbed to the high point of the rock and then cautiously stepped down the other side so I was just above the deep pool. At this place there was a relatively deep trough similar to the one where I began my day above Lunch Rock.

Only Rainbow on the Day Was This Bruiser

I decided to give it a shot, and began drifting the nymphs through the fifteen foot long slot as I stood near the tail. I allowed drift number seven to swing deep and below me, and as I lifted to make another cast, a heavy throbbing weight interrupted my action. A pink-sided silvery missile instantly launched from the river, and I managed to stay connected through several more leaps and hot runs. This fifteen inch beauty proved to be my only rainbow on Friday and also my largest fish.

Wide Body Out of the Net

By 2:30 the sun was bright and the sky was largely cloudless. The wind began to gust periodically, and my blue winged olive techniques failed to excite the fish as they had during the late morning and early afternoon time period. I decided that it was time to abandon the thingamabobber nymph set up and return to dry/dropper fishing along the edge. I sat down on a rock and removed the level line, thingamabobber and 0X connector and reattached my tapered leader. With the leader in place I tied on a Charlie boy hopper, salvation nymph and soft hackle emerger and began probing all the deep pockets and runs right next to the bank.

My catch rate slowed substantially, but I did manage to extend my day for another hour and landed three more fish to reach twenty. The first fish was a fifteen inch brown that snapped up the salvation nymph as it drifted tight to a protruding boulder. Needless to say this catch was both surprising and gratifying.

Dry-Dropper Victim

By 3:30 I came to another large rock formation along the left bank. Unfortunately this eddy did not produce in similar fashion to the one I enjoyed in the late morning, but I was using a shallow water dry/dropper technique and not the deep nymph set up that adorned my line earlier. When I climbed to the top of the rock with the intention of moving upstream, I encountered another fisherman positioned twenty yards above me. This was a convenient excuse to reel up my flies while I climbed the path to the highway. I was feeling exhausted, the fishing had slowed measurably, and I had a three hour drive in front of me.

Is fly fishing fickle, or are the brown trout of the Arkansas River changeable? Perhaps it has more to do with the fisherman’s ability to read signals and make adjustments? Certainly fishing deeper with the thingamabobber nymph rig seemed to dramatically change my fortunes from Thursday to Friday. I can envision another trip to the Arkansas River before winter places a firm grip on Colorado.