09/01/12 Arkansas River Salida to Canon City

09/01/12
Akansas River Salida to Canon City
7:00 AM - 7:30 PM

Dave and I got an early start and headed up the road...1st stop was Ark Anglers in Canon City to pick up a few flies and get some info.  Recommended flies were 2 bit hookers, stonefly patterns and Amy's Ants in red/black.  Apparently the Red Quills were coming off so anything with a little red was the ticket.

We made it to our 1st pullout just past pinnacle rock and started fishing.  Dave started with a hopper and Amy's Ant while I started nymphing...a couple of casts in and nothing...this was not looking good!

Dave switched up to a nymph rig too since we didn't see any fish rising and finally managed a nice little brownie on a two bit hooker.

Fish count...Dave 1, Andrew 0.

On to the next spot!

Between Texas Creek and Coaldale was out next stop.  I changed my rig to a two bit hooker followed by a prince nymph and green caddis pupa.

Here we both managed a few fish!  All brownies, and all taken on nymph rigs...again...no fish rising.

These guys were all actively feeding in the fast riffles and tailouts. 

New fish count:  Dave 3, Andrew 2

With the fish count still low, I was giving Dave a hard time since this was his "home" water in the Spring and Fall.  He even makes a few winter trips up here and I've seen his pictures of some beautiful fall browns that he's caught.  With the pressure on to catch more fish, we moved up to his "favorite" winter hole.

Here Dave managed to up his fish count significantly!  Fish here were keyed in on green caddis pupaes and WD-40's and flashback pheasants.

While I managed a couple fish, every time I looked over towards Dave, he was doing this.

Dave was able to add 7 more fish to his count...I was only able to add 3.

So up the canyon we continued!

At Rincon, we saw some beautiful water and made the short steep hike down to the water.  Lots of riffles, tailouts and pockets that held some bigger fish!

After getting the fish count up, it was already starting to get late, but Dave wanted to try one last spot right at Wellsville. 

Dave changed up his rig again and was able to get into 2 big rainbows, but thanks to my poor netting skills, he lost them.  Both took a pink san juan worm.  He was fishing the slower moving water in the canyon while I was fishing the faster riffle water downstream.  Both times, his fish ran for the faster water and were able to spit the hook after a furious fight with one of them taking Dave into his backing.

Final fish count for the day:  Dave 18, Andrew 16.

I was hoping for a bigger fish count and some better fishing, but it was still a decent day.  The guys at Ark Anglers were generous in providing information and flies, but unfortunately we couldn't make it happen with their suggestions.

We hardly saw anybody on the water, and the sun was high for most of the day probably contributing to higher water temps and more weary fish.  We wed waded all day and the water was very comfortable.

Hot flies were mayfly nymph patterns and caddis pupaes.  I wish we saw more top water action, but it just was not to be...

Again, a decent day and it was fun exploring new water!  All my fish were brownies and Dave managed to net 1 out of 3 rainbows that he hooked up with.  These natural fish were all beauties with plenty of fight.  I'm looking forward to trying this stretch again this winter with Dave.  He says he's got it dialed in for the winter...next time, I'm going to beat his fish count!

08/31/12 Arkansas Below Pueblo

08/31/12
Arkansas Below Pueblo
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Flows 106

Holiday weekend traffic put a damper on my spirits during the drive down...I left Parker at 3:00 PM and I didn't make it into Pueblo until 6:30.  Who knew heading south for the holidays was in every body's plans!

I was supposed to meet Dave for some evening fishing, but he didn't get down until about 7:30.  The plan was to be there by 4:30!

I started fishing at Valco and got into a few fish before Dave arrived.  Nothing special, just a few smaller fish that took a prince nymph or a z-wing caddis in brown.  I even managed a sucker!

Overall, fishing started out slow...but once the sun set, we were treated to an amazing caddis hatch!  Fish were splashing everywhere and we were taking them on the surface and subsurface.  We had made our way to above the gauging station and fish were everywhere.  In the riffles, pocket water, and even the slack water taking caddis.  Hot flies were of course the z-wing caddis, caddis pupa, elk hair caddis, puterbaugh's caddis, flashy caddis and even stimulators!

I know...the pictures are terrible, but trying to take pictures with a camera phone in the dark sucks.  I'm not sure if it was because of the full moon or what, but the fish were super active and we continued fishing into the dark.  We each managed a couple more fish but it eventually got too dark to see our flies or indicators.  The clouds had rolled in and what little light the full moon provided, was quickly covered up.

We left happy and content with fish still crashing on caddis but it was just too dark.  We were headed up towards Salida tomorrow anyways and Dave promised a good day so I was willing to leave with hopes of some great dry fly fishing up the road!

08/19/12 Arkansas Below Pueblo

08/19/12
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!

05/29/12 - 05/30/12 Arkansas Below Pueblo

05/29/12 - 05/30/12
Arkansas Below Pueblo
1:00 - 5:00 PM
Flows 429

Memorial Day weekend means spending time with the family down in Pueblo.  I wasn't planning on fishing in town, and I was planning on heading to Canon City to fish the Ark, but since I only had an afternoon, I thought I'd give town a shot and see what I could stir up!

I headed to Valco and I wasn't too surprised to see the parking lot full.  But I didn't see another fly fisherman...just bait dunker and hardware chuckers.

I started off doing pretty well...just nothing of size.

I was pretty surprised since this was usually where we caught bigger fish in the winter, but with the higher water, I assume that the fish are moving around quite a bit.

After catching quite a few cookie cutters, I decided to head over to the water treatment plant since I haven't been there in a long time!

Again, picked up the usual cookie cutters down by weirs.

After catching a few of these guys, I would have been happy calling it a day, but I was rewarded  few casts later when landed this nice 16 incher.

With family obligations in the morning on Monday, and considering that the fishing was actually good in town, I decided to stick around again instead of driving out to Canon City or Salida.

I immediately headed to the water treatment plant and found my groove!  Fish were actively eating in the riffles and the tail outs.  Just about any place that looked fishy, held some fish.

I was even able to get into some bigger fish!

I capped off the day with a nice 19 incher!

 Sorry for the bad picture, a fish that big is kind of hard to hold with one hand and snap a picture!

Hot flies of the day were mayflies and caddis patterns.  Actually, any nymph will do in a size 16 or 18.  I used the same 3 flies for both days and only changed to experiment with new flies as the the ones I was using were getting too beat up to recognize.

Red two bit hookers, z-wing caddis, and olive mico mayflies.  Other flies that worked well too were copper johns, prince nymphs, and even some midge patterns and rs2's.

With the higher flows, more weight is needed so pinch on lead about 12 inches above your lead fly and run a longer leader.  5x tippet is good, and fluro isn't necessary, but I think it helps.  Fish are also eating on the surface, but they are not rising to a specific hatch.  I did see some caddis out fluttering about, and I even saw a few being slurped off the surface.  Unfortunately I left my fly box with my dries in the car...no matter, the nymphing was still great with the big guys feeding in the riffles.

Now is the time to get down to Pueblo!  These higher flows and summer bugs have the fish out and about feeding heavily.  The flows are perfect this year, and depending on snow pack and water conditions next year, it probably won't happen again.