Landing The Big Ones
The Arkansas River
By Bill Edrington
One of the finest attributes of the Arkansas is its accessibility. Roughly 60 % has public access and most of it is well marked along major highways. Traveling south from Leadville, you will pick up the river at the Highway 24 Bridge. This marks the beginning of over five miles of the Hayden Lease. The river here is a small, winding stream with willow lined banks. From this point, it begins to pick up speed and water from tributaries as it cuts through BrownŐs Canyon between Buena Vista and Salida. BrownŐs Canyon is without a doubt one of the most scenic wilderness canyons in the state of Colorado. The best access is by boat, launching at FishermanŐs Bridge and taking out at Hecla Junction. You can hike upstream from the lower end of the canyon at Hecla, however you must cross to the east side to access public land and that can be tricky except during low water. Once across, you can use the abandoned rail bed as a trail system and walk the entire canyon, stopping to fish pool after pool of productive water.
By the time the river reaches Salida, it has leveled in elevation and becomes a meandering, classic Rocky Mountain freestone river with wide gravel bars, boulder fields and deep runs accented with shallow pools and backwater eddies. For the next 50 miles, U.S. Highway 50 shadows the Arkansas, providing the most popular recreational access. From Salida to Texas Creek, fly fishers find easy access, wonderful habitat and great fish populations. From Texas Creek to Canon City, the river begins a gradual drop to the foothills. This stretch includes the Royal Gorge, which holds some nice fish, but is extremely difficult to navigate. The twenty miles from Texas Creek to the Gorge takes you through a beautiful granite canyon, complete with one of the largest Big Horn Sheep herds in the Rockies. This water offers excellent fly fishing during the spring and fall. During the summer, it is literally a water park because of the numerous Class IV and V rapids. I particularly like this section due to its close proximity to Front Range cities, and because it looks more difficult to fish, many newcomers pass it by. Actually, the fish here tend to congregate along the edges and outside seams, making shoreline hikes a nice way to spend a morning. The Arkansas in Canon City offers excellent fishing along 3.5 miles of improved river trail systems, called the Riverwalk. This water is public along the trail side (south side) and provides great walking, biking, and bird watching as well. The Riverwalk runs from the ninth street trail head to McKenzie Ave. on the east end of town.
The next fly fishing opportunity comes at Pueblo Reservoir and the tailwater below the dam. The reservoir itself can be excellent for Wipers, Crappie, and Bass. Small Mouth and Large Mouth Bass regularly fall to float tubers, but a powerboat is necessary to effectively chase Wipers. The tailwater has just undergone a habitat improvement project. The selective placement of small and large boulders has created an efficient trout habitat where nonproductive water once existed. The DOW is considering a special regulation stretch of water, so in the future this tailwater could become even a more productive fishery, especially during the winter when so many other waters are locked in the grip of winter.
Even though the Arkansas is the number one whitewater rafted river in the lower 48, the use of McKenzie style drift boats is not encouraged after the river drops below 1000 cfs. During runoff and high water these boats generally work fine, but inflatables in the 13 to 14 foot range such as self bailers from Aire, Maravia, and Down River are the best. Personal pontoon craft in the 8 to 10 foot range navigate this river extremely well. To drift this river, understand your skill level and get a good river map. Launch areas are well placed from Granite to Canon City, giving you the option of short or long floats. Even if you use a boat, probably the best way to fish this river is to get out and walk/wade the boulder fields, rock gardens and long shorelines. Fish hold along shorelines primarily and a competent fly fisher can break the river down into smaller systems and work fish up close and personal. Wading can be dangerous in many places, so use studded boots and a wading staff. It makes sense to be prepared, since the Arkansas is one of those rivers that tempt us to wade Ňjust a little further.Ó
Ninety-five percent of the time, I fish this river with a 9 ft. 5 wt. rod. Afternoons can be breezy, so wind penetration is a must. If you have an 8 ft. 4 wt., it should be perfect for fishing dry flies. One of this riverŐs assets is that it provides something for everyone; dry fly fishing, nymphing and streamer fishing can be effective most of the time.
The Great Hatch
In my opinion, ŇThe MotherÓ of all MotherŐs Day Caddis hatches occurs on the Arkansas. It begins in the Canon City area around April 15, and gradually moves upstream and past Salida until runoff blows it away around 30 days later. The irony is, however, that by MotherŐs Day the fish have seen so many bugs that fooling them with an Elk Hair Caddis is next to impossible. The Caddis species is Brachycentrus, preceded and combined with Rachycophila. The Brachys hatch when water temperatures spike into the low 50s. When people call and want to know where the hatch is, I simply tell them to drive until they canŐt see out the windshield from dead bugs. Then stop, clean the glass and drive about three more miles upstream. The idea is to get above the blanket hatch so fishing a dry fly can be more productive. Having bugs on the water is good, but during this hatch there can just be too many. Just picking out your fly on the water can be impossible, let alone picking them out of your ears and nose.
Being able to think your way through this hatch is very important. As it begins, the larva and pupa patterns are very important. I like to start out the morning with Larry KingreyŐs Rubberleg Stone trailing a bead head Caddis Larva. I run this system deep until mid morning when I switch to a large dry fly (Stimulator or Wulff) with a deep running pupa as a dropper. This system should be fished on the swing (across and down), so that the pupa rises in the current like the natural. When fish move to the adult, I use a Black Foam Caddis, size 14, trailing LarryŐs unweighted pupa or a LaFontaine Sparkle Pupa. Generally mid afternoon is uneventful, so I come back to the water with an Egg Layer and a Spent Caddis from around 5PM, until just after dark. All of these flies are necessary to be successful throughout the entire hatch if you plan to fish all day. DonŐt forget that sometimes when the bugs are too thick to breathe, the fish actually are gorged and donŐt feed much. Use this time to take a break and reassess whatŐs going on. There are days when just fishing an Elk Hair Caddis can bring 75 fish to hand. This is generally around the third week of April before the fish are literally ŇbuggedÓ out.
The interesting thing about the Arkansas is that most folks think the Caddis hatch is the best fishing of the year. It is the most famous, but the spring Baetis hatches can produce just as many fish and the Hopper/Dropper fishing all summer can be exceptional. The first hatch of spring is the Blue Winged Olive, Baetis Tricaudatus. It can be spectacular on cloudy, overcast March and early April days. Light snowfall can generate hoards of these beautiful little bugs, and basically kick starts a feeding frenzy that lasts through the Caddis hatch until runoff. If you fish the middle of April, you may fish BWOs in the mornings and a Caddis hatch in the afternoons as water warms. We commonly see them on the water at the same time.
After runoff, clear edges start to produce big numbers of fish on adult Golden Stones. This generally is available around the middle of June, and is the best time of year to float fish. Working shoreline from a boat produces big numbers and big fish. Just cast to the dirt and let the boat drag it away from the shoreline. Explosive rises occur just inches from the dirt. If you donŐt have a way to float, then walk the shorelines and pick apart the submerged rock gardens with a Stimulator trailing an attractor bead head. These systems are used all summer and fall. Favorite Hopper/Dropper Rigs are Yellow, Orange, or Green Stimulators or Parachute Madam Xs, trailing a Copper John, Silver or Gold Ice, Bead Head Flashback, or Prince nymph on 24 to 30 inches of fluorocarbon tippet. PMD hatches, Caddis, Red Quills, and fall Baetis mix it up with the wonderful terrestrial activity well into November. Streamer season follows with pre and post spawn behavior. Midging fish can make warmer December and January days very attractive, although this river in winter is not very consistent.
The Arkansas, in my opinion, is the best dry fly fishing in the Southern Rockies. Some dry fly will catch a fish twelve months a year. Access is great; the weather is generally very good (they donŐt call this the ŇBanana BeltÓ for nothing and the wild Browns are willing participants in your day off. What else could you ask for?
About The Author
A sociology professor for 25 years, Bill Edringtonn has owned Royal Gorge Anglers in Canon City, Colorado since 1990. In addition to teaching fly fishing, he is an author and outdoor photographer. His most recent book is Fly Fishing the Arkansas: An AnglerŐs Guide and Journal. He has carried a fly rod on Colorado and New Mexico waters for nearly forty years. To order a copy of BillŐs book, visit www.royalgorgeanglers.com.
