Time: 10:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Fremont – Chafee County line and upstream

Fish Landed: 13

Arkansas River 04/14/2015 Photo Album

Five years ago I began tracking my calorie consumption and burn using an iPad app called FatSecret. I am certain that the calories burned under the activity labeled fishing presume the sedentary version of the sport such as sitting in a boat or relaxing in a chair by a lake. My fishing outing on Tuesday on the Arkansas River is testament to fly fishing representing a far different FatSecret exercise category.

Amazingly when I arrived at the pullout along route 50 at the Fremont-Chafee county line below Salida, the air was relatively calm compared to my previous April fishing experiences. The temperature was in the low fifties, so I pulled on my gray fleece cardigan and prepared to fish. I packed my lunch and water in my backpack, as I planned to cross the river and not return until the end of the day. The flows were around 300 cfs, and this level allows crossing the river safely assuming one has a wading staff and is reasonably cautious with foot placement.

Upstream From Site of Two Landed Fish

Once I crossed the wide tail out below my parking location, I decided to work my way upstream. I selected my new Sage One 9′, 5 weight rod, and seeing no insect activity at 10:30AM, I decided to set up the standard nymph configuration with a strike indicator, split shot, ultra zug bug and hares ear nymph. This set up would serve me for the remainder of my time on the Arkansas River. I switched flies infrequently, but I never deviated from the deep nymphing approach for prospecting the clear river.

Second Brown Was Nicest Fish of the Day

The first half hour failed to yield a fish, and I began to see a handful of small caddis flitting about near the surface, so I exchanged the ultra zug bug for an emerald caddis pupa and swapped the hares ear for a beadhead RS2. This change seemed to do the trick, and shortly after 11 I landed two gorgeous brown trout in the 13 to 14 inch range. Unlike most of the fish that I landed so far in 2015, these trout carried more girth. Before breaking for lunch at 12:15, I landed three additional brown trout, and my long drive to the Arkansas was beginning to pay dividends.

Nice Specimen

RS2 Also Produced Some Fish

After lunch I continued fishing the caddis pupa and RS2 with similar results to the morning. I landed an additional eight fish in the next 3.5 hours, so the catch rate was down a bit, but steady enough to prevent my thoughts from straying to baseball or food. Normally if I find myself thinking more about topics other than fishing, I view that as a sign to quit.

Lunch Spot View

My approach for Tuesday was consistent throughout the day. I lobbed the nymphing rig upstream and allowed it to drift back toward me while quickly stripping in the slack. Deep holes did not produce, and the best places tended to be the tail of long riffles and runs where the river rushed over a rocky bottom at a moderate pace with a depth of three to four feet. Not all locations with this type of structure produced, but enough yielded fish to keep my interest focused. Several of the fish grabbed the flies upon the lift to make another cast, but when I simulated the lift by jigging or bouncing my flies as they drifted toward me, I never found success.

Fine Afternoon Brown Trout

In short I covered a huge amount of water, and this entailed climbing over numerous rocks in the streambed and along the bank. In addition my shoulder endured its heaviest test of the season with repeated casting of the nymphs upstream and into the wind which kicked up in the afternoon. I’m certain that all this effort far exceeded the calorie burn incorporated into the FatSecret application.

Attractive Edge Water

From 11AM until 2PM I spotted an occasional blue winged olive, and the RS2 produced four fish during this time frame. I went through a slow spell after 2, so I tested a bright green caddis pupa and size 20 soft hackle emerger, and the bright green caddis produced two fish. Eventually I concluded that the emerald pupa was more effective than the bright green version, so I reverted, and the BWO hatch seemed to end, so I returned to the ultra zug bug. These flies produced the last two browns in the late afternoon.

I had the entire Arkansas River to myself and the weather developed into a beautiful spring day with the high temperature reaching the low seventies. I managed to land thirteen fish on my new rod, and the average size exceeded my previous 2015 efforts. It was a great day to be retired in Colorado.

Time: 10:00AM – 3:00PM

Location: Salt Lick boat launch and then the area upstream of Pinnacle Rock with multiple channels

Fish Landed: 13

Arkansas River 04/07/2015 Photo Album

After two days on Front Range streams catching small trout, I was quite anxious to visit a larger river with the possibility of larger fish. However several additional reasons existed for my desire to undertake a fishing trip. A wider more open body of water would allow me to try out my new Sage One 9′ 5 weight rod that was presented to me as a retirement gift by my friends at Saddleback Design. In addition the weather forecast predicted highs in the low seventies, and this temperature range sparked feelings of spring fever.

I contacted my friend Steve Supple toward the end of the previous week and invited him to join me on a trip to the Arkansas River, and he readily accepted. The reports from ArkAnglers and Royal Gorge Anglers highlighted ideal stream flows, clear water and consistent blue winged olive hatch activities.

I picked Steve up at 7:30 at his house in Lone Tree, and we arrived at the pull out at the Salt Lick access in Big Horn Sheep Canyon between 9:30 and 10:00AM. When Steve and I opened the car doors to stretch and prepare to fish we were blown away…literally. Apparently our conversation was so engaging that we paid no attention to the blowing vegetation and bending trees along our route. The wind was continually gusting, and a cold bite made it even more unpleasant.

Near Starting Point at Salt Lick

We made the two plus hour drive so we were committed to spending some time on the river, but I have to admit that I was skeptical that we would have a productive day in the wind tunnel commonly known as Big Horn Sheep Canyon. In addition, casting into a gale force wind with a strike indicator and split shot was not exactly a true test of the casting qualities of my new Sage rod.

We tossed aside the adversity served up by Mother Nature and rigged our rods and descended the steps at the boat launch to the river. Steve claimed the nice deep run in front of the steps while I walked upstream a bit and tied on a 20 incher and pine squirrel leech. These are two large weighted flies, so I skipped adding split shot, but did loop a thingamabobber to my line just below the junction of the fly line and tapered leader.

I began casting my subsurface offerings to some attractive water with plenty of subsurface boulders, but the fish were not cooperating. Much of my time was spent turning my back to the raging wind currents to wait for conditions more suited to casting a fly. Even when the wind died back a bit, I was forced to over power my forward cast and this involved extending my stroke so that the tip almost touched the water.

An Early Brown Trout

A half hour went by with no action, so I clipped off the pine squirrel leech and replaced it with an ultra zug bug. Finally I saw the indicator dive and fought an eleven inch brown trout to my net only to discover that it was foul hooked. I wanted to count this fish as my first on the new rod, but I complied with my rule to exclude fish hooked in places other than the mouth. I released the brown and continued upstream and finally landed two fish that snatched the ultra zug bug from the swirling currents near the bank among rocky structure. At this point my upstream progression was blocked by a high vertical rock wall. I surveyed the situation and considered climbing the steep bank to circle above the structure, but then I thought better of it, and returned to the area that Steve was fishing below me.

By now it was 11 o’clock, so I told Steve that I would walk downstream along the shoulder of the highway and then fish back along the south bank and meet back with him by noon for lunch. Steve agreed with the plan, and I eagerly marched down the road for the distance of two football fields and carefully scrambled down a steep bank to the river. The next hour was the best of the day, as I moved along the bank and prospected nymphs in a series of deep slower moving side pockets where the fish could find refuge from the heavier current of the main river. I spotted two tiny BWO’s being swept from the surface of the river by the rushing wind, so I reconfigured my line to include the ultra zug bug as the top fly and added a RS2 as my point offering. Because I removed the weighted 20 incher, I crimped a split shot above the ultra zug bug.

Another Brown in the Net

The wind remained a constant adversary, but I found a bit of shelter behind boulders and made short 8-10 foot casts to the deep side pockets, and this resulted in six landed fish including one rainbow and five brown trout. All the fish were in the 9-12 inch size range, and two were fooled by the ultra zug bug with the other four snatching the RS2. I spotted several of the fish and managed to induce takes by providing movement to my flies before they reached the holding position of the fish.

This Guy a Bit Chunkier

Some juicy water remained between me and Steve at noon, but I honored my commitment and slowly negotiated the rocky bank until I reached the beach area below the parking lot. Steve and I grabbed our lunches and munched them on some large boulders that served as a barrier along the edge of the parking area along the top of the bank. We decided to move to new water after lunch, so we threw all our gear in the Kia, and drove along route 50 until we reached a pullout .5 mile above Pinnacle Rock The river in this area braids into four or five channels, and I had some success in this area in the past.

We experienced a bit of good fortune as the wind died back to a constant breeze and the air temperature was now in the low seventies. This was actually the weather I envisioned when I made plans for the trip. Steve began fishing some nice deep runs in the channel next to the highway while I hiked back along the shoulder to a spot fifty yards below the confluence of all the many branches. I began working my way along the rocky bank just below the shoulder of the highway convinced that my ultra zug bug and RS2 combination would continue to attract fish, but as is usually the case, my optimism was unfounded. I managed one brown that was actually visible as it snatched something from the surface. I had one remaining deep pool that fanned out below an overhanging tree next to the bank when Steve arrived and observed from the shoulder above me. Unfortunately this tasty stretch of Arkansas water did not produce, so I climbed the bank and joined Steve and we strode back to the car.

Steve was feeling quite tired due to some new medication, but it was 1:30, and I was still energized and anxious to try the north channel before we made the long drive back to Denver. I gave Steve the keys so he could access his water, and I set out to cross the closest channels to reach the northernmost branch of the river. Within a few minutes I reached the bottom segment of my destination, and I began to loft the tandem nymphs to some nice deep runs. The first attacker of the ultra zug bug was a ten inch brown, and then I ran the nymphs along a current seam on the north side of the river, and a feisty rainbow hammered the RS2 as it began to sweep at the end of the drift. These two fish put my fish count at ten, and I was quite pleased to reach this milestone in spite of the adverse windy conditions.

Nice Rainbow

I continued upstream working the nymphs and added another brown trout, and then I reached a stretch where there was a steady riffle over moderate depth that extended for forty to fifty feet. I noticed a few sipping rises and this caused me to speculate that this water was perfect for a dry/dropper approach. I was aching to cast dry flies with my new rod, so I made the switch. I removed the split shot and indicator and tied on a tan Charlie Boy hopper and then reattached the ultra zug bug and RS2. Guess what happened? The rod cast beautifully as the wind subsided to an occasional breeze, but the trout were not impressed. I covered the entire riffle area with no fish and no refusals.

One of the Four Braids

I decided to recognize this as a failed experiment, and took the time to return to my nymph set up, and the method once again proved itself as the superior technique for April 7. I landed two more fish including the best fish of the day, a fat thirteen inch rainbow, before quitting at 3PM. Both of these fish gulped the ultra zug bug, and the afternoon fish seemed to prefer the zug bug over the RS2. I found Steve waiting by the car, so I quickly removed my waders and stowed my gear, and we were on the highway headed for Denver.

Despite the frustrating gale force wind, I had a fine day and enjoyed breaking in my new rod and landed thirteen fish. I was able to cast a dry/dropper combination for fifteen minutes in the afternoon, and I was pleased with the performance of the new rod. It was a pleasant Tuesday in April, and I’m now addicted to retirement and week day fishing.

Location: Fremont – Chafee County Line
Time: 10:00AM – 4:00PM
Fish Landed: 11

Arkansas River 03/15/2015 Photo Album

When I was a kid growing up in Pennsylvania, the second most anticipated day of the year was the opening day of trout season. In my estimation it trailed only Christmas and easily trumped Easter and Halloween. My grandfather, father, brother and I would rise early on a Saturday morning around the middle of April and head to our favorite spot on Manatawny Creek to secure a prime location. My grandfather was retired, and he assisted with the trout stocking in order to know where the highest quantities of fish were dumped. Of course many other locals possessed the same knowledge, so getting up before dawn was essential to have a shot at the best holes. Aggressive late arrivals bumped us youngsters from the best places, but I have now come to realize it was more about spending time with my Pop Pop and Dad, and less about catching my limit of fish. Of course catching a stringer of fish was still an acceptable result should it occur, but rarely was that the outcome.

Sunday March 15 had many similarities to the opening days of my youth. I contacted my fishing pal, Danny Ryan, and he agreed to join me on a trip to the Arkansas River. The weather forecast predicted highs in the 70’s, and that is bonus time for fishing in the Rocky Mountains during the middle of March. I anxiously anticipated the arrival of Sunday and spent an hour or two on Saturday making sure I had all the necessary accessories in my front pack. I also transferred reasonable quantities of my newly tied flies from the storage bins to my Montana Fly Company boat box. This step initiated my plan to use the boat box as an intermediate storage space that could easily be moved to the back of the car. When I deplete key flies from my front pack, they will be replaced from flies tucked in the boat box.

When Sunday morning arrived, I jumped out of bed early and gathered all the essentials that I prepared the night before. I fished once in 2015 on Valentine’s Day on the South Platte River, but I did not land a fish and in fact only spotted one fleeing trout during my entire 2.5 hour outing. It did not count as an official opener, but March 15 had that feel. I spent extra time preparing, I arose early in the morning similar to the days of my youth, the weather was expected to be unseasonably warm, and my young friend Danny Ryan was joining me in one of my favorite spots on a quality river. I stopped at Danny’s apartment at 6:30AM, and he was just as excited to be on the way as he tossed his gear in the back of the Santa Fe.

We arrived at the Fremont – Chafee County line pullout by 9:30AM, and the temperature on the dashboard registered 38 degrees. Seventies? What was I to believe? I pulled on a fleece and my New Zealand brimmed hat with ear flaps, and Danny and I descended the steep bank to the river. Danny was following my lead, and we waded across the river at the tail of the long pool below the parking area. The flows were around 390 cfs, and the water was very clear. We could not have asked for better conditions, and my heart was racing with the anticipation of finally feeling a throb on my Sage five weight after a long winter.

Danny Drifts Nymphs

We walked west along the north bank a bit, and then I directed Danny to a spot where the river fanned out a bit and created some nice deep lanes between submerged rocks. Danny was already rigged with a small copper john and juju baetis that he tied over the winter. I on the other hand had not attached any flies to my leader, so I wandered farther upstream and attended to this detail. I elected to knot an ultra zug bug to my line as the top fly and then added a chartreuse marabare as the point fly. Because of the cold early season water temperatures I assumed that I would be nymphing the entire day, so I attached a strike indicator and crimped a split shot to my line above the ultra zug bug.

The County Line Section

As I began to cast to some nice water of moderate depth similar to Danny’s location, I heard a shout and smiled as I looked down the river and watched Danny reel in a decent brown trout. He reported that the trout consumed his juju baetis. I continued prospecting with my nymphs, and it wasn’t long before I landed a twelve inch brown that chowed down on the ultra zug bug. Since this was my first fish of the season, I paused to snap a photo and then moved on upstream.

Ultra Zug Bug Secure in Lip

In a short amount of time I reached a nice piece of water where the river widened a bit and ahead of me was some slow moving water flowing over a sand and rock bottom. The depth was probably three feet maximum. I began casting directly upstream in this area, and much to my surprise three brown trout found my net over the next half hour. Needless to say, I was rather pleased with this favorable turn of events.

After landing the fourth fish, I waved Danny upstream and positioned him to fish the remaining half of the flats of moderate depth. As I looked on, he connected momentarily with a decent fish, and I could see the escapee resume a position in a deeper depression in front of a large submerged rock. With Danny now back in action, I moved up the river again and began prospecting some interesting deeper holes below large rocks that jutted from the bank into the river. The marabare was not producing results, and Danny was having success with the juju baetis, so I exchanged the new chartreuse fly for a RS2. Over the remainder of the morning I landed two more brown trout of medium size on the RS2.

A Pretty Spot

At 11:30 we decided to return to the car for lunch, so we walked back along the bank and then crossed the river at the tail of the long pool. We mounted the steep bank and gathered our lunches and then munched them from a high rock bluff above the south side of the river. Here we could see at least 6-8 trout holding several feet below the surface. They were obviously feeding on something subsurface, and occasionally the inertia of chasing food took them to the top of the water.

Changing Flies

Danny was quite excited to stalk these visible targets, so he retrieved his rod and began casting from the high platform to the deep pool with his nymphs. I finished my lunch and returned from the car with my rod and net. I volunteered to be the netter and took a position above the end of the rock ledge, but I stayed seven feet back so that I would not disturb the feeding fish. It was not long before Danny shouted that he had a hookup, so I moved to the edge of the river and scooped a fish with my net. But what a surprise! The fish appeared to be in the char family but was not a brook trout or lake trout. I was not aware of any other fish in the char family in Colorado, but the fish looked strangely like the Dolly Varden that I caught in Alaska. We snapped quite a few photos to show fish identification experts, and then Danny resumed his position high above the river.

Unknown Species of Trout from the Arkansas River

Once again he shouted that he had a fish on, and I once again assisted by swooping my net beneath the struggling captive. This fish was a 10-12 inch brown trout and an expected species for the Arkansas River. Danny gave me his rod for a bit while he attended to something else, and I made a few casts. On the fifth cast I was surprised to feel some weight so I set the hook and stripped in another char. Again we snapped documenting photos.

I handed the rod back to Danny and gave him the remainder of the pool while I moved upstream to a very attractive deep hole along the bank. This spot was not as large as the lunch rock spot I just vacated, but it looked quite juicy nonetheless. By now I spotted a couple blue winged olives, so I was optimistic that I might attract a few fish with my RS2. Sure enough over the next hour I landed four more browns as I moved along the south bank and flicked my nymphs into all the likely fish holding locations. Several of the fish smacked the RS2 when I lifted the nymphs or jerked them with excessive downstream mends.

Another Brown Trout for Dave

I wanted to return to the north and less pressured bank, so I found Danny and informed him that I was once again going to cross. By this time another fisherman had arrived, and he was casting directly across from the high ledge lunch rock where Danny continued to fish with enthusiasm after experiencing the post-lunch success. I crossed and moved above the other fisherman, and I fished aggressively along the north bank for quite a distance. There were some very attractive pools and pockets, but the sun was now quite high in the sky, and the air temperature was now in the seventies. This combination of weather characteristics apparently caused the trout to have lock jaw, as I landed only one additional small brown in the mid-afternoon time period.

Ready to Test the Peanut Envy

By 3:15 I grew weary of the lack of action and returned to the car where I disassembled my Sage four piece and pulled out my Scott six weight. I attached my Orvis reel with a sinking tip line and hiked a short distance to the rock bluff where I found Danny who was pretty much finished for the day. I pulled one of my freshly tied peanut envies from my fleece pouch and knotted it to my line and began to fling the two inch long streamer into the depths beneath the rock. The peanut envy was amazing as it pulsed and moved in every conceivable way as I stripped it across and sometimes upstream. I began lobbing the ugly marabou monstrosity three quarters downstream and allowed it to swing to the edge of the shadow of the rock, and then began stripping it back toward me, and on one of these presentations, Danny shouted that a huge brown trout swam up behind the streamer and nosed it but failed to chomp!

Danny was more excited than me because I never saw anything, but I was pleased to learn that my new fly created interest from a large brown trout. After 45 minutes of fruitless casting, I reeled up my sinking line, and we returned to the car. The three hour return trip seemed to fly by as we speculated on the species of the mystery trout landed.

Bighorns Appear Across the River

We had much more space compared to opening day in Pennsylvania, and we were fishing with flies rather than live bait, yet the anxious anticipation of a satisfying day on the river brought back memories.The tug of a fish and the bend of the supple long rod satisfied our needs after a long winter of tying flies and waiting for warmer temperatures. Let the 2015 fishing season begin.

Time: 10:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Chafee – Fremont County line and upstream

Fish Landed: 13

Arkansas River 10/26/2014 Photo Album

Catching one trout on a streamer on the Colorado River and then quitting left me questioning whether I could repeat this success. I constantly see photos on Instagram of large fish with ugly streamers suspended from their jaws. Did I simply need to commit more stream hours to this method of fishing to enjoy more success catching bigger fish?

Jane and I hoped to take advantage of another unseasonably warm fall day on Sunday October 26, but when I began checking stream flows and fishing reports, I discovered that the local options were limited. I was hoping to visit a larger river that offered good conditions for streamer fishing, but the South Platte drainage was running low, and the stream reports indicated that the fishing was fairly technical. I fished South Boulder Creek on Friday, and I hoped for a different location on Sunday. Reports on the Williams Fork and Big Thompson were fair, but both indicated that crowded conditions were the rule particularly on the weekend.

The most attractive option was the Arkansas River as it represented a larger river, and that meant streamer fishing was a viable option. In fact the reports from the fly shops in the area suggested that streamers should be in a fly fisherman’s arsenal as the brown trout were becoming territorial. Unfortunately Jane is not a big fan of accompanying me to the Arkansas River as most of the best fishing locations are right next to a busy highway. For this reason I decided to make a solo trip, and Jane stayed at home to enjoy the weather doing local activities. I did not want to pass up a day of mild temperatures particularly since I was scheduled for skin surgery on my back on Thursday October 30.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-vA6fByH74yk/VE3CiG9jH4I/AAAAAAAAoJM/yp1eHYWyJ80/s144-c-o/PA260058.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108128655430094950653/10262014ArkansasRiver#6074725363632775042″ caption=”Mt. Princeton” type=”image” alt=”PA260058.JPG” ]

I jumped off to a nice early start and arrived at the Fremont – Chafee county line by 10AM. The temperature was in the low 60’s as I prepared to fish, so I pulled on my raincoat for warmth. The sky was pure blue with no visible clouds, and this condition would remain for the entire day. Because of the larger river and my desire to keep streamer fishing as an option, I elected to use my Scott six weight rod. I dropped my extra spool of sinking line in my backpack so I could make a switch in support of streamer fishing at some point during the day. I did not anticipate surface fishing, so I decided to rig my line with the thingamabobber and level line technique that Taylor Edrington of Royal Gorge Anglers taught me. It is easier to set up this system while at the car, so this delayed the start of my fishing a bit.

Finally I was ready, so I crossed the wide river at the tail of the long pool below the county line and then began walking upstream on the north bank. I normally head downstream, but for variety I decided to explore the water upstream from the parking spot. After skipping the bottom third of the pool which consisted of slow moving deep water, I stopped and entered the edge of the river. As my initial offerings I tied on a weighted 20 incher and then below that I knotted on an ultra zug bug. The area where I entered was characterized by a long slow moving slough off to the side of the main current. The side pool was twenty yards long and averaged twenty feet wide, and I began lofting casts directly upstream to cover the entire width from the bank to the current seam.

I failed to interest any fish in the first couple series of casts, but then as I dangled my flies behind me while wading upstream three or four steps, I felt a tug. I reacted with a soft hook set and felt the weight of a fish. The twelve inch brown put up a spirited battle before I netted it with my new Hobbs Creek net with a rubber bag. I decided to photograph the fish that christened my new net and discovered that the rubber bag material provides a nice contrast for photos.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ivUj1u1CR1c/VE3CjqYeSKI/AAAAAAAAoJg/xGfL3pbgTVU/s144-c-o/PA260060.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108128655430094950653/10262014ArkansasRiver#6074725390320814242″ caption=”The New Net Is Christened” type=”image” alt=”PA260060.JPG” ]

Next I moved halfway up the long side pool and lobbed a cast toward the top and, wham, the indicator dove. Again I reacted with a swift hook set, and a hot fish streaked down the river, but I soon discovered that it was foul hooked by the 20 incher. I release the chunky thirteen inch brown and tossed another cast to the top of the pool and once again the indicator dove. This time a smaller brown leaped above the water, but it became free in an instant after the launch. When I reeled up my line I discovered that the entire five foot section of level monofilament broke away from the thingamabobber. Apparently I tied a bad knot, but I was puzzled by how I was able to land the previous fish, particularly the foul hooked brown that generated quite a bit of tension on my line. Perhaps the foul hooked fish somehow nicked the leader near the knot during the fight to escape.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-UAovLfTneus/VE3C5dkIsVI/AAAAAAAAoKI/eAt2KaLtmYg/s144-c-o/PA260067.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108128655430094950653/10262014ArkansasRiver#6074725764837192018″ caption=”Nice Water Ahead” type=”image” alt=”PA260067.JPG” ]

The early fishing was amazingly hot so I quickly moved on and fished the tandem of nymphs in all the likely runs and pockets along the north bank of the river. In total I landed five fish before breaking for lunch at 12:30, and in addition I experienced several long distance releases and the foul hooked fish mentioned earlier. It was a strong two hours of action. Shortly after moving above the long slow moving stretch, I reached another juicy spot. As I lifted my flies to recast at the tail of the riffle of moderate depth, I felt weight and accelerated my lift into a hook set. This action caused the weight to charge upstream for safety and a solid battle ensued. Eventually I slid my new net beneath a hefty fifteen inch brown trout, and this proved to be my best fish of the day.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-MsFfnHngsKg/VE3C3q9mHZI/AAAAAAAAoJw/Ne-QZDkP1jw/s144-c-o/PA260064.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108128655430094950653/10262014ArkansasRiver#6074725734073900434″ caption=”Best Fish of the Day” type=”image” alt=”PA260064.JPG” ]

The afternoon pretty much followed the morning in terms of fishing method, but the pace of fish catching slowed quite a bit. The fish averaged twelve inches in length, and all were brown trout. The negative factor that affected the afternoon fishing was the strong wind that gusted down the canyon. If I ever had thoughts of fishing with a dry/dropper, the wind reminded me that it was a bad idea. Even with my stiff six weight I had great difficulty punching casts upstream despite the benefit of the extra weight provided by the strike indicator and split shot. In many cases the wind still managed to push the flies back toward me, and this probably affected my catch rate more than I realized particularly in places that lacked depth. In order to generate the line speed necessary to penetrate the wind I overpowered the forward stroke and accelerated my rod tip down toward the water. This worked to some degree, but it created quite a disturbance where the flies splashed through the surface of the river.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-hrbE_TXE3T8/VE3C4dICheI/AAAAAAAAoJ4/N-VhyhDZGQM/s144-c-o/PA260065.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108128655430094950653/10262014ArkansasRiver#6074725747539477986″ caption=”Another Fine Catch” type=”image” alt=”PA260065.JPG” ]

As I was wading upstream, I noticed three or four fish that bolted from the bank cover, so I tried to make casts very close the stream side rocks and vegetation particularly where the river offered depth next to cover, and this strategy paid off with several nice fish. By 2:15 I was not catching fish on the 20 incher, so I swapped it for a beadhead hares ear. I remembered the hares ear generating quite a bit of success on previous late October trips to the Arkansas River, but it was not the right fly for 2014 and yielded no fish.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-oQfOErWgysk/VE3C5_zNIrI/AAAAAAAAoKQ/fnnBLiJkmIw/s144-c-o/PA260068.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108128655430094950653/10262014ArkansasRiver#6074725774027203250″ caption=”Ultra Zug Bug Was Top Producer” type=”image” alt=”PA260068.JPG” ]

As 2:45 arrived my fish count stood at twelve, and all the brown trout fell for the ultra zug bug except for two that favored the 20 incher in the early phase of my outing. The ultra zug bug continues to amaze me with its effectiveness and has become a major weapon in my arsenal. And best of all it is easy to tie!

During the mid-afternoon time period I approached the water across from the next wide pullout as one drives west toward Salida. This fifty yard stretch of river appeared to be absolutely delicious with a series of wide riffles and deep runs behind large protruding boulders and flowing over rocky bottoms of moderate depth. Much to my surprise however it did not produce as I anticipated, and I landed two of the twelve in this area. During previous visits to this area it produced fish after fish, and despite low productivity on Sunday, I pledged to revisit it when I return in the spring if the flows allow me to cross.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-RHWkV_WgT7I/VE3C61V4zPI/AAAAAAAAoKg/1LcCeHqeq2M/s144-c-o/PA260070.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108128655430094950653/10262014ArkansasRiver#6074725788399750386″ caption=”Another Stretch of Attractive Water” type=”image” alt=”PA260070.JPG” ]

At 3PM I sat down on a rock and removed my spool of floating line and replaced it with a sinking tip. I added a couple of sculpzillas to my fleece pouch at the outset of the day, so I removed an olive one and tied it to my line. I began working upstream making mostly short casts across to the current seam and then allowing the undulating olive marabou glob to swing back across toward my position. I twitched and stripped the line constantly as I worked the fly across and below me. I also experimented with upstream casts to deep pools, and during these drifts I jigged the streamer up and down as it tumbled back toward me.

Despite my creative movements, the fish were having none of it until I reached a fairly shallow nondescript stretch of water. I’m not even sure why I did it, but I flicked a backhand cast fifteen feet above where I was standing so that the ugly sculpin landed six inches out from the bank.I was shocked to see a twelve inch brown trout materialize from two feet of water, and it instantly chowed down on the olive marabou mass. I could not believe my eyes, but I set the hook and played the feisty fish to my new net. I snapped a head shot as proof that I caught another fish on a streamer and then released it to the cold clear river.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-qoimy4ZsEKY/VE3C7fH0aII/AAAAAAAAoKk/hifEFYDXTjQ/s144-c-o/PA260071.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108128655430094950653/10262014ArkansasRiver#6074725799615031426″ caption=”My Last Fish Was a Meat Eater” type=”image” alt=”PA260071.JPG” ]

Similar to my experience on the Colorado River, my streamer success did not last long. On the third cast after releasing the fish, the sculpzilla became wedged on something in front of a large rock. The water at this point was fairly deep and fast, but I managed to wade close and discovered a large jumble of sticks anchored in front of the rock. I attempted to use my wading boot to break up the stick jam and free the fly, but somehow in this process I broke off the sculpzilla.

By now it was 3:45 and the shadows were extending over 75% of the river, and the fishing was slow so I decided to begin the long hike back to the crossing at the tail of the long pool. It was a decent day for late October with thirteen fish landed. I broke in my new net, reintroduced myself to the thingamabobber/level line nymphing technique, and managed to land another fish on a streamer. Not bad.

Time: 10:30AM – 4:00PM

Location: Fremont – Chafee county line up and downstream

Fish Landed: 9

Arkansas River 10/03/2014 Photo Album

Every day of fishing is better than a day at work, but not all days are equal. Friday October 3 was one of those fishing days that tested my patience. Jane and I returned from a trip to Pennsylvania where we attended my high school reunion and visited with family members. Since I had not fished in over a week, I was anxious to make a trip while the weather remained relatively comfortable. My last trip to the Arkansas River was disappointing due to the rain and muddy water conditions, and I was convinced that a return would yield some very enjoyable fishing. I opened my blog and read my reports on two trips that I took in previous years on October 2, and this served to increase my desire to make the trip on October 3.

Unfortunately I began feeling the effects of a developing head cold on Wednesday, but I decided to ignore my body’s desire for rest and make the long drive in spite of a stuffy head and a body sapped of energy. The weather forecast called for highs in the low sixties, and this actually sounded fairly pleasant to me for early October. The piece of information I failed to factor into my planning however was wind, and a constant breeze hindered my fishing the entire time I was on the water.

I got off to a reasonably early start, but by the time I reached the pullout at the Fremont – Chafee county line, another car was parked in my spot, and two fishermen were pulling on their waders. I decided to reverse my direction and drove west on route 50 to the next large pullout. The dashboard thermometer registered 39 degrees as I prepared to fish at 10:30AM, so I pulled on my UnderArmour underlayer plus my Adidas insulated pullover and then added my raincoat as a windbreaker. For head gear I chose my New Zealand billed hat with ear flaps, and then I stuffed my lunch in my backpack and rigged my Sage four weight four piece rod.

Starting Point on the Arkansas River

I carefully descended the steep bank next to the highway and crawled through a tunnel that another fisherman had pruned through the willow canopy and found myself on the edge of the river. I remembered a place where I thought I could cross to the opposite bank, but it was forty yards farther upstream, so I began fishing the edge pockets as I moved in that direction. I began with a Chernobyl ant and a beadhead hares ear, and in the first 30 minutes I landed two small trout barely over six inches. The small rainbow slurped the Chernobyl, and a brown trout snagged the hares ear before I reached the place where I planned to cross the river.

As I scanned the river at my intended crossing point, I concluded that it was too risky particularly given my low energy levels from fighing the developing head cold. I hooked my fly in the rod guide and climbed up the steep embankment to the highway and returned to the car and then hiked along the shoulder to the county line pullout. Of course the fishermen that diverted me from my orginal plan were no longer present, and I could have driven to my favorite pullout. I thought about returning to the Santa Fe in order to move it closer to the area I hoped to fish, but I decided that the extra walking was good exercise.

As is my usual practice, I dropped down to the river and waded across the shallow tail of the long pool and then climbed the north bank to the railroad tracks and walked east until I was above the small island that I favor. Much to my amazement there was another fisherman on the north side of the river twenty yards below the tip of the island. I did not feel it would be courteous to take my normal path and cut in just above him, so I scrambled down to the river above the island and then waded along the southern edge to a point where I could begin fishing the small north channel. I skipped the bottom third of the small braid, but I still had the upper two-thirds remaining to fish, and that is generally the most productive portion of the braid.

I was finally in a desirable position, and I began prospecting the north channel with the Chernobyl ant, beadhead hares ear, and ultra zug bug. After overcoming numerous obstacles to reach this water, I expected to be rewarded, but that was not the case. I experienced a couple long distance releases, but failed to land a single fish from my favorite stretch of water on the Arkansas River. From the tip of the island I continued for another fifty yards along the right bank, and once again the fish were uncooperative, so I welcomed a break and found a nice spot to eat my lunch and observe the river. It was now a few minutes after noon, and all I had to show for my efforts were the two trout barely over six inches.

After lunch the sun was high in the sky and quite bright, and I was too warm with my multiple layers, so I removed my Adidas pullover and wrapped it around my waist and rolled up the raincoat and stuffed it in my backpack. In a final concession to the warmer air temperatures I folded my earflaps up under my hat. In addition to changing my clothing, I also elected to swap the Chernobyl ant for a tan Charlie Boy hopper since the Chernobyl was generating occasional refusals. As I made this exchange, I moved the ultra zug bug to the second fly position and replaced the hares ear with a soft hackle emerger on the point. I was refocused with a new positive attitude as I resumed my upstream migration through some very attractive deep pockets that generally are quite productive.

Well I suppose everything is relative. The nice pocket water yielded a ten inch brown and another smaller fish, so that was better than my morning results, but it did not compare favorably with my history in this area. I was now across from the county line pullout at the bottom of the long slow moving pool that I typically skip, but I decided to cast along the edge while I moved quickly and covered a lot of water. I was targeting fish that were holding tight to the bank that might jump at the opportunity of a quick grasshopper meal. The wind continued to blow constantly with intermittent strong gusts, so surely some late season hoppers were getting blasted into the river.

In the deep slow water at the lower end of the pool next to a large protruding rock a nice fourteen inch brown trout smashed the Charlie Boy hopper, and I successfully battled it to my net. Since this fish far exceeded the size of my previous catches, I decided to take a photo; but when I reached inside my wader bib where I usually keep my camera in its waterproof case, I discovered that it was missing. I quickly released the wild brown and remembered that I removed my camera and case in the process of removing layers of clothing at lunch, so I hustled back along the rocky shoreline and fortunately recovered my camera at the lunch spot.

Instead of returning along the river, I scaled the steep bank to the railroad tracks and returned to the point of my missing camera revelation where I resumed prospecting the edge of the pool. During this early afternoon time frame a severe headwind kicked up and hampered my casting, however, I managed to land another decent brown on the trailing soft hackle emerger. I was actually pleasantly surprised that the slow deep water was producing better than the normally preferred deep pockets and runs. Next I approached a very attractive spot where some nervous water fanned out from a deep pocket. It was one of those places that screamed large trout, so I cast the Chernobyl so it plopped at the very tail of the fan area, and the nymphs dropped into the deeper water below the swirly surface. Immediately I saw a large rainbow emerge from the riffled water as it grabbed something. I surmised it was one of my trailing flies, so I reacted with a solid hook set and battled a sixteen inch rainbow to my net. This would be my best fish of the day, and it was an exciting visual experience.

Nice Rainbow Squirmed and Splashed the Lens

As I attempted to photograph my prize catch, the rainbow resisted all attempts to be calmed and in the process splashed my camera lens with water. I snapped a couple photos anyway, so I would have something to remember and then carefully released my valiant foe to return to the depths of the river.

Once again I moved on and landed two more much appreciated medium sized browns in riffle areas. Both fish snatched the soft hackle emerger as it drifted back toward me in water of moderate depth, but I covered many other sections of similar water without similar results.

A Decent Brown Trout

By late afternoon the sun glare frustrated my efforts to follow the surface fly, the temperature dropped, and wind continued its relentless assault on my patience, so I decided to call it quits at 3:45 and hiked back to the crossing point. I climbed the bank once again to the highway and then paid my dues for not moving the car by hiking along the shoulder for another .2 miles. The last hour of fishing was nonproductive and a late afternoon hatch did not seem imminent.

Given my developing cold, my lack of energy, the vexing wind and the lack of a hatch, I was quite happy to land nine fish including three fish in the fourteen to sixteen inch range. The casual sip of my nymph by the large rainbow was certainly a highlight of the day and perhaps one of the better moments of 2014. The season is quickly dwindling, but hopefully I will have a few more opportunities to enjoy autumn fly fishing before the weather drives me to the fly tying bench.

Time: 11:00AM – 4:30PM

Location: Tunnels area north of Buena Vista

Fish Landed: 17

Arkansas River 09/21/2014 Photo Album

Sunday September 21 was probably my last opportunity to fish in September, so I made plans to visit the Arkansas River. The weather report concerned me with a high probability of rain, but overcast skies and light rain generally portend blue winged olive hatches and good fishing, so I decided to follow through with my plan. I mentioned my planned fishing trip to Todd Grubin on Friday, and he agreed to join me. I described the location of the Fremont- Chafee border to Todd, and we agreed to meet there at around 10AM.

I departed Stapleton by 6:40, and the sky was quite overcast and foggy for much of the trip. Unfortunately when I turned left off of 285 on to CO 291, the drizzle changed to rain, and as I crossed the river at the bridge just before Salida, I was disappointed to see a red mud color. Normally I would have turned around at this point, but Todd was meeting me at the county line, so I proceeded downstream. I executed a U-turn and pulled next to Todd along route 50, and we agreed that fishing in the Arkansas River below Salida was not going to happen.

We agreed to continue on route 50 to the ArkAnglers fly shop to inquire about alternative fishing options. It continued to rain steadily as we pulled up to the shop. The salesperson inside told us that the mud was originating in Browns Canyon, and our safest contingency plan would be to fish in an area north of Buena Vista that is referred to as the tunnels. We left with the intention of following ArkAngler’s recommendation, however, as I crossed the Arkansas River at the Stone Bridge access, the river did not look off colored. This surprise caused me to turn left and drive to he Smythe Lease.

The dirt road converted into mud, and Todd and I carefully negotiated the slippery surface to the entrance to the lease. The lease sign was gone, and the gate was open, and excavation equipment was parked near the entrance. Since there was no sign indicating private or no trespassing, we agreed to drive to the parking area. The steady rain changed the recently graded road to mud, and I grew quite concerned that one of us would get stuck and require a tow. Just before the parking area we needed to cross a newly carved lane that ran perpendicular to the road we were on, and there was a drainage ditch between us and the parking lot. I gunned the engine and slid across with a bit of fishtailing and breathed a sigh of relief when I made it.

We prepared to fish while the rain continued to descend in steady sheets, and then we walked down the path to the river. We discovered a very new stair step structure over the fence, so we concluded that the area was still open to the public. Unfortunately when we reached the river, we discovered the water was a deep brown color, rather than the red hue we had seen below Salida  When I glanced down at the river while crossing the bridge, I failed to notice the murky color because I was expecting to see red mud  Todd tied on a San Juan worm, and I knotted on a black leech, and we fished for ten minutes with no action.

Todd and I concluded that it was futile and decided to move on to the tunnels where the water was at least clear. We both agreed it was foolish to continue flailing in dirty water when clear water beckoned farther upstream  Crossing the ditch on the gradual uphill was even scarier than on the way in, and I was thankful for the AWD which activated for 20 seconds as I spun through the treacherous mud. As we drove north on route 285 the rain slowed, but the sky remained overcast with dense gray clouds everywhere.

Finally at 10:45 we reached the tunnels area, and as one would expect, there were a series of short tunnels cut in the rocky hills that ran up to the edge of the river. We parked beyond the last opening and descended a steep path that crossed the railroad tracks before reaching the river. As the sky remained quite gray, and the sun was nowhere in sight, I chose not to apply sun screen. Finally after leaving the house at 6:40AM, I was ready to begin fishing at 11:00AM.

Todd Concentrates on His Fly

Both Todd and I elected to begin fishing with strike indicator nymph rigs since that is what remained on our lines from the brief visit to the Smythe Lease. The water in the tunnels area was crystal clear and deceptively deep as a result of the narrow streambed, and this thwarted my efforts to cross to the opposite bank. Consequently Todd and I alternated positions on the eastern side over the first hour. I beganwith a 20 incher and a beadhead hares ear, but these flies yielded no results. After a bit I exchanged the hares ear for a RS2, but this likewise failed to produce, so I abandoned the nymphing approach and switched to a dry/dropper with a tan Charlie Boy hopper, beadhead hares ear, and the RS2. As these flies swept by the front of a large exposed boulder, I felt some weight and set the hook, and a fish shot diagonally upstream. I gave the fish line at a rapid rate, but my efforts were to no avail as the streaking missile snapped off the hares ear and RS2.

I replaced the lost flies with matching imitations from my fleece pouch and resumed fishing and quickly landed a small brown trout to register the first landed fish of the day. I now moved upstream along the bank and popped casts to the pockets and riffles of moderate depth where the dry/dropper approach is typically effective. I continued to alternate stretches with Todd, and at 12:30 we arrived at a long deep pool. I was about to skip around the pool since this type of water is not very conducive to the dry/dropper method, but we began to see rises near the tail. It was also around this time that the sun broke through the clouds, and Todd loaned me his sunscreen. Brief periods of sunshine began to appear among the predominant dense cloud cover.

While Todd and I stood at the tail of the pool observing the frequent rises, I spotted a pair of blue winged olives, and with this information, Todd jumped in and began casting to rising fish. I meanwhile moved to the midsection still intending to skip by the pool and fish the soft hackle emerger in the faster water at the head of the pool and above. As I moved along, however, I observed an increasing number of emerging mayflies and rising fish. I couldn’t resist the challenge, so I snipped off the dry/dropper flies and tied on a size 20 CDC olive.

A strong breeze was blowing up the river, and this played havoc with my attempted downstream and across presentations, as the wind repeatedly straightened my leader and removed all the slack. In addition I experienced difficulty picking up where my fly landed because of the repositioning caused by the breeze. I persisted in this frustrating manner of fishing for 30 minutes with a refusal or two as my only reward, while Todd meanwhile landed a pair of fish on his size 18 parachute Adams with an olive body. In addition Todd also experienced numerous refusals, or “swats”, as he refers to them.

During a pause in the hatch I decided to eat my lunch on a large high rock above the pool, but before doing so I planned to take a photo of Todd. At this point I discovered that I left the camera in the car, so I walked back to the Santa Fe and retrieved the camera, disposed of some trash, and removed my raincoat and pulled on sungloves.

When I returned to the pool, the hatch resumed, but I resolved to save myself frustration and moved to the top of the pool and returned to the Charlie Boy, hares ear, and soft hackle emerger. I managed to land a few more small brown trout on the hares ear, but the soft hackle emerger was not adding value and the hatch ended, so I substituted a beadhead pheasant tail.

The Sole Rainbow on Sunday

I finally reached a wide shallow point where I was certain I could safely cross, and I successfully did so. Now Todd and I could work up the river in parallel. The Charlie Boy began to inspire rejections from curious fish so I once again made a change to my array of offerings and tied on a Chernobyl ant in place of the hopper. I also suspected that my leader was too short for the deceptively deep pockets and plunge pools in this rocky area, so I extended my tippet an additional 18 inches.

With these changes I finally fell into a nice rhythm on the west bank, and my catch frequency surged, although the fish were predominantly 9-11 inch brown trout. I am convinced that the deeper drift created by extending my leader was a major contributing factor to the higher catch rate. One of the fish succumbed to the pheasant tail, but more snatched the hares ear, so I once again reconfigured by moving the hares ear to the point position and then tried the ultra zug bug as the middle fly.

This combination of flies really clicked, and I rapidly moved my fish count to 17. Interestingly the ultra zug bug began to outperform the hares ear as the afternoon progressed. The most productive areas on the river were wide riffles of moderate depth and the cushion in front of large boulders when accompanied by a lift or sweep. Also prime areas were narrow deep slots between large rocks and faster currents.

Best Brown Trout

Sunday was not the day I expected in my favorite water east of Salida, but the water was clear and the weather evolved into a cool pleasant afternoon, and I managed to land 17 small trout. My best fish was a 12 inch rainbow, and I added three eleven inch browns. Todd did not sample the best that the Arkansas River has to offer, but hopefully I can convince him to return another time under more favorable conditions.

Todd Changes Flies

Time: 10:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: Chafee – Fremont County line

Fish Landed: 34

Arkansas River 09/05/2014 Photo Album

Over the last four or five years the Arkansas River has grown to become my favorite stream within a day trip of Denver. The quantity and size of fish has improved, and the ratio of rainbow trout has increased, but perhaps the greatest attraction to this large river is the abundant amount of easily accessible public water. Because of the size of the river, I can avoid other fishermen even during popular times such as during the caddis hatch in the pre-runoff period.

Arkansas River From RR Tracks

Unfortunately for some reason I did not experience any productive days during the early season in 2014. I did visit the river for some solid edge fishing in early July, but even that trip did not deliver the hot fishing I expected. As Labor Day passed, I was anxious to return to my favorite river, and Friday September 5 was the opportunity. Would I be disappointed once again?

Bugs All Over the Flowers

Jane loves the Angel of Shavano Campground, and it is situated at the trailhead for climbing Mount Shavano, so we planned a long weekend camping trip to that location. Unfortunately the weather forecast called for a high probability of rain on Thursday, Friday and Saturday so we debated whether we should cancel our plan or forge ahead. We chose the latter course and packed the car and took off by 5PM on Thursday. As we drove southwest on highway 285, we could see dark clouds to the southwest, and sure enough as we reached Poncha Springs and began driving west toward Monarch Pass we encountered light rain.

By the time we reached the campground it was dark and raining lightly, so we quickly found site number 12 along the creek and assembled our tent. It rained most of the night, and when we woke up on Friday morning, it was quite bleak and dreary with mist and fog shrouding the entire narrow valley. The forecast suggested even a higher chance of rain on Friday, so we decided to eat breakfast and pack up everything except the tent.

Jane, being the wonderful wife that she is, dropped me off at the Chaffee – Fremont County line along highway 50 where I gathered all my essentials for a day of fishing. Jane then returned to the campground and completed one of her favorite hikes to the Blanks Cabin along the Colorado Trail on the way to Mount Shavano. When she returned, she earned wife of the year honors as she rolled up the still wet tent and tarp and packed everything into the Santa Fe. She then drove to the pull out where I was dropped off and enjoyed the remainder of her afternoon reading along a busy highway and waiting for me to finish my fishing.

I meanwhile descended the bank at the county line and crossed the river to the opposite shore where I climbed the steep bank to the railroad tracks and walked east until I was quite a distance below the small island that is one of my favorite spots on the entire river. The sky remained quite overcast and the air temperature was in the low 50’s as I began at 10AM. The flows were at 380 cfs, and this level is actually lower than average for September 5 despite a high snow pack and more than average rain during the summer.

Nice Stretch of Water

The river looked spectacular, as it was crystal clear and low enough to allow coverage of almost any location I wished to explore. I debated which rod to use, but eventually opted for my Sage four piece four weight. I also considered using the thingamabobber nymph set up that I learned from Taylor Edrington, but when I saw the low clear flows, I elected to begin with a dry/dropper rig. I began with a Chernobyl ant trailing a beadhead hares ear and a salvation nymph. This three fly combination has become my preferred choice for beginning my fishing in 2014.

Early Brown on Beadhead Pheasant Tail

It worked well, and I accumulated seven fish in the first hour while covering some very attractive deep runs and slower moving side pools. When I reached the bottom tip of the small island and worked up along the south side, I added a few more small fish, and these were included in my seven count. I considered converting to something smaller for the small channel that runs along the north side of the island, but my initial flies were performing well, so I stayed with success. Unfortunately the nymphs snagged on rocks in the nice pockets at the bottom of the right channel, and this forced me to disturb the water and spook several decent fish.

Parachute Hopper Duped This Guy

I moved to the tail of the nice deep pool at the lower end of the channel and began lobbing the Chernobyl and nymphs, but the fish were having none of them, and I knew that there were plenty of fish present. I decided to switch gears, and I tied on a yellow sally and dropped a beadhead RS2 off the bend. I began to see an occasional blue winged olive fluttering up from the river surface, so I felt the fish might be tuned in to the active BWO nymphs. Unfortunately this theory did not prove out at this point in the day, so I made another change and tied on a parachute hopper with a hares ear body, and below that large fly I added the beadhead hares ear and a soft hackle emerger.

My success rate went through the roof, and I landed twelve more trout as I worked my way up through the right braid around the island. Initially the parachute hopper was drawing refusals, but then I enticed some fish to grab the hares ear, and by the time I reached the top of the island, all three flies were producing. The fish were somewhat smaller than what I experienced on some previous trips to this area, but they were +12 inches on average, and the two that slurped the parachute hopper were quite nice and measured in the 15 inch range.

A Very Fine Rainbow

When I reached the top of the island, I decided to cross the river to fish a very juicy deep run where the river deflects off a large vertical rock wall. Here I landed a gorgeous fifteen inch rainbow in the oxygenated white water at the head of the riffle, and then I followed that with a 14 inch brown that grabbed the hares ear on a downstream drift next to the rock wall. I was at 21 as I glanced at my watch and realized it was approaching 1PM, and I had committed to returning to the drop off point by one o’clock for lunch in case Jane was back from her hike. Since I was near the side of the river that bordered the road, I continued across to the shore and climbed a path to the highway and returned to the county line.

I had my lunch in my backpack, so I found a nice location and perched above the river on a high rock wall and observed the water as I ate. As I gazed at the deep pool below me, I spotted two decent fish, and they were sipping something small from the surface on a fairly regular basis. One fish appeared to be a large rainbow, and it held in a steady position and drifted up occasionally. The other fish tended to move about and covered a twenty foot area from the head of the pool to a spot right below my lunch spot. I could also see that there were very tiny mayflies drifting in the current, so this was probably driving their feeding behavior.

Pink Striped Rainbow

When I finished my lunch I grabbed my rod and decided to make some casts to the deep pool below me. I targeted the rainbow since it was stationary and easier to fish to. I stripped out a bunch of line and began lobbing casts above the fish, and on several drifts it looked at the parachute hopper but scoffed at my offering. Next I began drifting my flies ten feet above the position of the fish, and then when the hopper was just over the fish, I lifted in an effort to imitate an emerging blue winged olive with my trailing soft hackle emerger. Miraculously on the tenth drift and lift, the rainbow reacted and snatched my fly. I now scrambled down a steep path while stretching my arm out to keep pressure on the rainbow, and eventually I maneuvered on to a small beach and brought the fish to my net. It was a very nice seventeen inch rainbow, and I snapped a photo for the archives.

This disturbance scattered the other fish, so I retreated to the car and hiked back along the  highway and carefully picked my way back down the path that I used to exit the river for lunch. Once I was at river level I crossed back to the north bank and began working my way upstream along the right bank. The rest of the afternoon was spent prospecting with the three flies to all the likely pockets, runs and pools. Because the water level was low, I was able to explore areas toward the middle of the river, but despite my ability to cover more of the river, the pockets next to the bank were the most productive.

A Very Nice Wild Brown Trout

The action in the afternoon was steady but not as frequent as the morning session; however, the slower catch rate was more than offset by the larger size of the fish. After an hour or so I grew weary of continually drying the dubbed body of the parachute hopper, so I replaced it with a tan Charlie Boy hopper. I simply wanted something more buoyant, and I was not catching many fish on the top fly. What a move! Five of the last six fish slurped the foam hopper confidently, and these fish put up spirited battles before sliding into my net. They were all fish in the 13-15 inch range. I covered a lot more water during this time period, but I was rewarded for my persistence and stealth.

Stretched in Front of the Net

By 3:45PM I was in a position across from the county line, and I could see Jane seated in her chair behind the Santa Fe. I continued on upstream for a bit and skipped the long deep pool, and then I prospected some nice pockets. Unfortunately by this time the sun was lower in the sky, and it created a difficult glare on the water, so I decided to call it quits.

Rainbow in the Net

Friday September 5 turned out to be my best trip to the Arkansas River in 2014 and perhaps one of my best visits ever. Thirty plus fish in a day is always a positive, but at least ten fish were in the 14 – 15 inch range and 25% were rainbows, and this combination of factors elevated this outing to outstanding. The dry/dropper technique was on fire, and I love fishing using this method. September fishing is typically the best of the year, and it is off to a grand start in 2014.

Stretched Out to 15″

Jane’s Roadside Campsite

Time: 1:00PM – 5:30PM

Location: Lunch rock upstream to my favorite island below Chafee – Fremont county line

Fish Landed: 16

Arkansas River 07/09/2014 Photo Album

The perfect wave. A powder day of skiing. Edge fishing a river in Colorado as runoff subsides. Participants in the related sports go to great lengths to experience these peak events. Well, perhaps edge fishing doesn’t rank with the others, but it is a lot of fun and on the few occasions when I’ve timed it perfectly, it leaves me thirsting for more. This describes my mindset after a three hour sampling of outstanding edge fishing on the Eagle River on Saturday, July 5. I immediately began formulating a plan to experience more excellent edge fishing even as the streamflows on the major freestone rivers began to trend downward.

My desire to return to a river while edge fishing remained in its prime spurred me to work efficiently, and I completed my closing responsibilities by the end of Tuesday and formulated a camping and fishing plan for the rest of the week. I decided to pack the car on Wednesday morning and drive to the Arkansas River to check on the fishing there. The reports from Royal Gorge Angler suggested that edge fishing was superb with flows still at 1600 cfs and five feet of visibility. I would fish the Arkansas on Wednesday afternoon and then stay overnight at one of the campgrounds along the river. If the fishing was excellent, I planned to remain and fish there again on Thursday, and then drive to Hornsilver Campground Thursday evening, and this would position me to fish the Eagle River on Friday. If the fishing was less than excellent on Wednesday, I would move to the Eagle River on Thursday morning and fish there for two days.

Everything went according to plan, and I departed Stapleton by 8:45AM on Wednesday morning. I elected to drive the route through Colorado Springs as I targeted the Vallie Bridge Campground as my camping destination for Wednesday evening, and I felt the drive on I25 south was a bit easier than heading southwest on US 285. Unfortunately when I descended the long hill from Royal Gorge to the river, I discovered that the water was quite turbid and there was at best one foot for visibility along the bank. Would I even be able to fish on the Arkansas River? I began to chastise myself for not going directly to the Eagle River.

I drove west on US 50, and the river remained quite murky. When I reached the turn for Vallie Bridge, I detoured briefly and examined the accommodations. There were quite a few tent pads, fire pits and picnic tables and only one appeared to be claimed. The bathroom was along the river and quite a distance from the campsites, and there were only a few cottonwood trees, thus providing minimal shade for two or three campsites. I decided I could make this work, but I also concluded that I would check out Rincon Campground seven or eight miles upriver.

As I neared Rincon I passed Badger Creek, a small tributary that enters the river from the north, and here I discovered the source of the discolored water. Badger Creek was dumping coffee colored water into the river, and the river above this point was much clearer with more than five feet of visibility. I was excited to make this discovery and continued on in a more upbeat frame of mind past the Rincon Campground. The campground appeared to be empty at 12:30PM, so I resolved to stop and explore the option of camping there once my day of fishing ended.

With my renewed positive attitude about fishing the Arkansas River, I decided to begin fishing at a large rock that juts into the river near a bend in the highway above the Wellsville Bridge. I refer to this as lunch rock, as I return to this spot to eat my lunch when I am fishing in this area. I’d purchased a sandwich in Canon City, so on this day, I began by eating at lunch rock before beginning my day of fishing.

It was a hot sunny day with little cloud cover as I pulled on my waders and rigged my Loomis five weight rod. The river was indeed high at 1600 cfs, and the only viable place to fish was along the rocky bank that separated the river from highway 50. I decided to tie on a Chernobyl ant for flotation and visibility and then added a copper john since I’d gotten away from this fly, and I wanted to experiment to see if it produced results similar to a salvation nymph; my early candidate for 2014 fly of the year. Like the salvation nymph, a copper john is a general attractor nymph and not a precise imitation of a single insect species.

Nice Rainbow from the Arkansas River

I began working my way upstream from lunch rock, but the copper john wasn’t producing in water that seemed to be excellent holding water for Arkansas River brown trout, so I snipped it off and replaced it with a beadhead hares ear nymph. The beadhead hares ear nymph has historically been one of my best producers on the Arkansas River. Unfortunately I remained without any fish, so I relented and tied on a salvation nymph below the hares ear. The nymph combination spurred more interest, and I landed two modest-sized brown trout to finally get on the scoreboard. The hares ear by itself did not yield any fish, but once I added the salvation nymph, it began to produce, and I landed three more fish as I moved on, and all the fish grabbed the hares ear.

15 Inch Brown

I heard what the fish were telling me and removed the salvation nymph and tied on a prince nymph as my top fly and moved the hares ear to the bottom. At the same time the Chernobyl ant wasn’t generating any interest, so I replaced it with a yellow Letort hopper since this fly produced for me on previous years during the edge fishing time period. Unfortunately the hopper did not attract interest and only grew saturated with water and sank forcing me to continually dry it to maintain buoyancy. I grew frustrated with this routine and exchanged the hopper for a chubby Chernobyl, and this fly stayed on my line for quite awhile along with the prince nymph and beadhead hares ear as I progressed up the river and landed more fish.

The chubby Chernobyl was performing its job well of floating and remaining visible and even resulted in a fish caught, but after I reached eleven fish landed, the wing absorbed water, and the fly began to sink. Once again I decided to make a change, and I replaced the chubby Chernobyl with a tan pool toy with yellow legs. The prince nymph had yielded one fish, so I replaced it with a black wet fly with a shiny body and kept the beadhead hares ear in place. This combination produced the last five fish in late afternoon, and all fell for the hares ear nymph.

A Nice Stretch of Edge Pockets

The catch rate slowed over the last couple hours, however, I did land some sizable brown trout, and that offset the reduced quantity of fish netted. On the day I landed sixteen fish and three were rainbows and the remainder brown trout. Two of the rainbows were around 15 inches and the longest brown measured 14 inches. On the surface this would seem to be a great afternoon of fishing, but numbers can be deceiving. I covered a huge amount of water, and many areas that looked like prime trout habitat did not produce. It was a fun afternoon, but it wasn’t quite the hot fishing that the web site described, or that I remembered from several past experiences.

Opened Wings Just for Me

At 5:30 I found a path to climb the steep bank to the road and hiked a mile back to the car. I decided to check out the campgrounds that I’d passed and stay along the Arkansas for the night, but I also resolved to move on to the Eagle River on Thursday morning. When I pulled into Rincon I discovered a mass of river rafters setting up camp in all the available sites, so I continued down US 50 through Howard to Vallie Bridge. Four or five sites were also occupied by whitewater enthusiasts here, but plenty remained, so I made my claim of site no. 1 and unloaded my gear.

My 2 Man Tent in Foreground

Sixteen fish is a decent day, so perhaps I was taking a risk to move to the Eagle River, but I couldn’t get Saturday’s three hours of success out of my mind, and I needed to know whether this could be repeated.

Time: 10:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: Salt Lick, Spike Buck, and Parkdale access areas

Fish Landed: 3

Arkansas River 04/21/2014 Photo Album

Are my skills permanently eroding or am I in a slump or are external factors controlling my fly fishing results? I’ll choose to blame external factors such as weather and streamflows for now, but if the 2014 fishing outings continue down the current challenging path, I may need to reevaluate.

My friend Steve and I exchanged emails and settled on a trip to the Arkansas River on Monday, April 21. The weather was projected to be warmer on Tuesday and Wednesday, but we were concerned that the wind would be more adverse, so we decided to make the trip on Monday when high temperatures would peak in the sixties. I had my gear packed on Sunday night and was able to leave the house by 6:30 and arrived at Steve’s home in Lone Tree by 7:15. We were off early, and this paid dividends as it allowed us to park along U.S. 50 above Salt Lick access by 9:30. The air temperature hovered around 52 degrees as we prepared to fish, and I pulled on two layers thinking I would shed at least one when Steve and I met again at noon.

River High and Murky at Starting Point

Steve walked back down the highway toward Salt Lick to begin his fishing, and I migrated west along the shoulder and then scrambled down a steep rocky bank to the river. The river flows were elevated for April with the DWR site reporting flows at Parkdale around 800 cfs. We anticipated this, but we did not expect the turbid water that appeared below us. There was visibility of around two feet along the edges of the river, so we assumed this would allow the fish to see our offerings if we presented our flies in the five to ten feet of water along the bank. Given the higher flows, we assumed this was actually the only water that the trout could hold in.

Working the water along the bank is exactly what I did over the next two hours as I worked my way up the river and scrambled over large boulders to fling my nymphs into all the likely protected pockets and slack water areas where I expected to engage hungry trout. I began with a weighted 20 incher and trailed a bright green go2 caddis, but these apparently didn’t appeal to the tastes of trout in this area of the Arkansas River. I worked through numerous fly changes including an emerald caddis pupa, prince nymph, San Juan worm and apricot egg. None of these turned the tide. As 11AM arrived and passed I decided to follow the advice of the Royal Gorge Anglers web page and moved to a RS2 in case the blue winged olive nymphs became active.

I also replaced the 20 incher with an iron sally as the top fly, and finally in the period between 11:30 and noon, I hooked and landed a nine inch brown on the iron sally. As I released the fish I realized that it was approaching noon, and I needed to hustle back up the bank and down the highway to meet Steve. Steve reported that he landed three small browns early on, but had not enjoyed any action since. We decided to move on and try new water, so Steve executed a U-turn, and we drove east to the Spike Buck access parking lot. Here we took our lunches down to the boat launch area and observed the water from some large rocks while we ate.

Intermittent clouds blocked the warming rays of the sun, and when this occurred gusts of wind swept up the river. Fortunately the wind was blowing out of the east and up the river so casting was not as difficult as my last trip to the Arkansas River. Halfway through consuming our lunches, we began to observe small mayflies skittering across the surface of the water in front of us. The small BWO’s didn’t remain on the surface more than a fraction of a second before they were swept up in the air by the wind. For fifteen minutes or so as we watched, there was actually a fairly dense emergence, but we did not spot any rising fish nor any fish hovering below the surface.

Second Fish Landed on Monday

After lunch Steve decided to fish upstream a bit, and I walked downstream to the last point before the river crashed through a narrow chute. I decided to try one of my soft hackle emergers and went with a combination of the emerger on top and a RS2 as the bottom fly. I began to work my way up the river along the left bank and managed to land two additional brown trout in the twelve inch range. Both of these fish snatched the emerger on the lift or swing, so movement appeared to be key to attracting fish. This sounds like great action, but in reality this took place over an hour and a half, and I was convinced that I should be seeing and landing many more fish during this fairly strong BWO hatch.

Soft Hackle Emerger Fooled Two Brown Trout

In fact, I did not spot many fish over the course of the entire day, and this is highly unusual for the Arkansas River. Normally as I work my way upstream I startle numerous fish that dart from cover tight to the rocky bank, but none of this was occuring on Monday. Perhaps the murky water afforded the fish more cover than usual, and they felt safe spreading out to holding locations in the river behind current breaks, and I was largely excluding the middle of the river from my prospecting?

At 2PM Steve and I met up and decided to move once again, and this time we migrated east to Parkdale where we parked at the upstream edge of the access area. I grabbed my rod and walked down the exit road for quite a while and then battled through some stiff dead vegetation to the river. I never fished in this area before, so this was a bit of a scouting expedition. Unfortunately sometimes scouting trips enable one to dismiss certain water, and this was one of those occasions. The stretch of water below the boat launch was a 50-75 yard long featureless trough. I gave it a chance and began at the base and began casting my nymphs upstream within five to ten feet of the bank. I covered the entire stretch until I reached the riffle at the top, and during this one hour of exploration I didn’t see nor hook a single fish.

I exited the river at the boat ramp and walked back up the road and found Steve casting near the picnic tables near the car. We both decided that we were weary and not having any success and looking forward to snacks on the drive home more than continuing to fish.

Steve Calls It Quits

I’m beginning to fear that the current conditions on the Arkansas River will continue right into snow melt, and I will miss productive pre-season outings before the river rages out of control in May. Since my trip to Wyoming I’ve experienced four fishing outings, and the highest fish count was three. Is this a slump, permanent erosion of skills, or convergence of adverse conditions? Too early to know, but I’ll keep plugging away.

Time: 10:30AM – 2:00PM

Location: Below Texas Creek

Fish Landed: 3

Arkansas River 04/09/2014 Photo Album

The story line for Wednesday is wind. I was anxious to go fishing after nearly a two week hiatus, and when I noticed the weather forecast for March 9 with a high temperature of 78 degrees, I exercised poor judgment and discounted the “windy” part of the report.

The fly shops near the Arkansas River were raving over the blue wing olive hatches, so I decided to make the trip. As it turns out, I spent more time driving than fishing with five hours necessary to make the long trip to lower Bighorn Sheep Canyon and back. I arrived at the parking lot at Texas Creek by 10AM, and after putting on my gear, rigging my rod, and hiking along the path to the area below the island it was nearly 10:30AM. I worked the sweet run below the island with a weighted 20 incher and a RS2, but these flies didn’t produce any fish in spite of some great drifts through very attractive water.

Nice Area Where Channels Merge Below Island

When I arrived at the head of the run, and the two fly combination continued to fail, I replaced the RS2 with a bright green go2 caddis. This generated more interest, and I landed a tiny brown trout that was less than six inches and then hooked another small fish that managed to free itself from the fly. Next I worked up along the right side of the island, and once again entered a slump until I arrived near the top of the right channel. Here I finally felt the tap of a fish and responded with a hook set that led to the throb of a live fish. The first fish of the day was a skinny brown trout of approximately 12 inches. I continued along the right bank and added another nine inch brown that pounced on the go2 caddis, and by noon my stomach was growling so I walked back to the car for lunch.

First Decent Fish Landed

I grabbed my lunch bag and water bottle and climbed down the bank below the bridge and sat on the stone beach so I could observe the water while I ate. Sometimes this enables me to spot or observe fish, but on this day, I simply watched the water flow and the wind blow the willows. While I was eating lunch two gentlemen arrived in their pick up truck, and they were ready to fish before me, so they went through the gate and hiked down the path. I was relatively close behind, and I intended to begin fishing after lunch where I ended the morning. Unfortunately the two fishermen stopped at that exact spot, so I dropped down to the river a good distance above them and began working my way back toward the bridge.

The 20 incher was not producing any fish, so I moved the go2 green caddis to the top position and then knotted a BWO soft hackle emerger to my line as the point fly. For the next two hours I worked these flies upstream through the 15 feet of water next to the right bank. I continued under the bridge and another 300 yards beyond, and I added one eleven inch brown trout to my count. The fishing was extremely frustrating due to the constant wind, and my attempt to fish a two fly nymph set up. Because I am right handed, most of my casts required a backhand sling, and needless to say this resulted in numerous entanglements.

The flows were up somewhat for this time of the year and running around 674 cfs when I normally expect around 500 cfs. The water was slightly off color but not enough to impact the fish’s visibility. I discovered that quite a few fish were resting in the clear low water next to the bank, but they were very skittish. In order to cast the indicator, split shot and flies into the strong wind, I needed to accelerate my forward stroke and push my rod tip down toward the surface of the water. Unfortunately this style of casting resulted in quite a splash when the split shot and indicator splashed down in the relatively shallow water within five feet of the bank. I observed at least twenty fish scattering and hiding due to the disruption caused by my approach and casting method.

Unfortunately there really wasn’t an alternative. If I tried to fish from above, the fish would see me and scatter even more hastily. If the wind had been less of a factor, I would have tried a buoyant attractor with a nymph dropper to cover the shallow edge water, as these flies would have caused less disturbance. However, the wind was so strong that this approach would have resulted in the flies landing at my feet with each cast no matter how much I overpowered the forward stroke.

The wind, the tangles, and the constant fruitless casting finally took their toll on me, and I reeled up my line and returned to the car at 2PM. It was a difficult day on the Arkansas River, and I learned that air temperature is not the only factor to consider when choosing a day to fish in Colorado.

The Sign is Self Explanatory