Arkansas Below Pueblo
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Flows 95
Sorry for the lateness is posting this report...life sometimes gets in the way of fishing! I"m neck deep in my busy travel season right now and the wife is busy with fair season going on. Lucky for me, this means that when the wife needs to work down in Pueblo, I get to tag along and do some fishing!
The flows have been very low all summer, allowing for easy wade fishing unlike previous years when the river is roaring at 1200. This has been a blessing and a curse for the river...fishing has been good all summer, with great hatches going on, but fishing pressure has been extremely heavy and I'm seeing lots of people leaving the river with big fish stuck on a stringer. I have nothing against taking some fish home for dinner, it's just sad to see these big fish, some that I'm sure I've caught and released being taken home.
I started the day at Valco, and I thought I was there early enough to beat the crowds...unfortunately, the parking lot was already full! I rigged up my rods and made my way down to 3 rocks and was able to get into some fish right away! There were 3 guys fishing the slack water below who immediately made their way up and tried fishing where I was when they saw I was catching fish.
I picked up a few more on a prince nymph and another that took a brown z wing caddis.
Instead of sticking around and trying to fish around the 3 guys that moved up, I decided to move on and see if the fishing was any good upstream.
I made my way past a few other fisherman fishing the hole just above the parking lot, and past another 2 that were fishing the gauging station. The fast riffles and pocket water above didn't have anybody in there so I dropped in a picked up a couple smaller fish.
The brown z wing caddis took most fish, with a few taking the prince. There were quite a few fish slurping the surface, but I was too lazy to change and besides, I was catching fish!
Around noon, the fishing died down...the fish stopped slurping...and I was ready for a drink and on to some old familiar water! I headed over to the water treatment plant played around in the riffles and pocket water. all small fish, but it was nice to fish in an area not as crowded as Valco.
After about an hour or two, I started wondering if the city park spillway was fishing any good...so I hoofed it back to the car and headed on over.
I didn't see anybody fishing! I soon figured out why.
Although I caught some fish, all were small and it wasn't as productive as it's been in the past. The low flows, the higher temps and people taking fish home most likely attributed to the poor fishing here. Usually there's at least a couple bait dunkers trying to fill up a stringer. I did find a pod of suckers and they proved to be fun for a little bit, but I decided to move on back to Valco to see if I could get into some bigger fish.
It was getting late, and my arm was getting tired...I haven't had a full day of fishing in a while and I was getting fatigued! My casts were getting sloppy but I was determined to get a few more fish before I called it a day.
So after a few more fish, I decided to call it day. I long day, filled with great fishing! Some big, some small, but it was still fun feeling the tug of a fish. No brownies this trip, but the rainbows put up a good fight!
I nymphed all day, being lazy, I never tied on a dry. Even though there was a trico hatch, a midge hatch, and a small caddis hatch. I mainly used a prince nymph, barr's emerger, a z wing caddis, and a micro mayfly. 5x tippet/leader, with a small split shot. This rig can be fished about 90% of the time in Pueblo, even in the winter, and I'm actually looking forward to this winter when the fishing pressure will be off and some of the bigger fish will be out!
I would agree that Pueblo has seen far too much pressure this year, both in the numbers of fish taken out on stingers and by less than educated anglers who don't understand that fighting trout in waters that are running +60 degrees stresses the fish and resources to the point that catch and release often becomes catch and release accompanied by a slow death. It's a shame to see that going on when a tailwater of that nature should be protected, either by regulation or common sense.
ReplyDeleteI wish that the entire stretch from the dam to Pueblo Blvd was catch and release. This stretch has the highest concentration of large fish as well as prime habitat. I know there was a reason why they selected from Valco Bridge to the Nature Center to be catch and release, but that stretch sees far less pressure compared to the Dam to Valco, a stretch that needs far more protection.
ReplyDeleteWhat drives me nuts is people that take home the large browns that they catch. The browns are naturally reproducing in this river and are not stocked. Every one that is removed, is one less fish helping to maintain their population.
I also think these issues are exacerbated by the fact that the water has been low and fishable all summer. Usually there's about a 2 month window when it's super high and difficult to fish driving most people to fish the stillwaters in the area. I hope the trout of Pueblo can make it through this summer!!!