8:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Flows normal for this time of year
Air temps got up to 64.
Typical warm day down in Pueblo. I was fishing with my friend Dave again and we both decided to spend the night down in P-Lo so that we could get an early start.
Dave fished on Friday at Valco and said he got into some big fish so we decided to start there. When we pulled into the parking lot, there were already 3 cars. Plus, there was 1 car with a ticket on it already! Don't forget to pay the park fee or get a year park permit. Sucks that he could have paid $7.00 to park there but he now has to pay $27.50. So we tried to fish at Dave's favorite spot, only to see that there were 3 guys down there already. They weren't in the water, but as soon as they saw us, they starting working fast to get rigged up. We decided today would be a day to explore, so we moved upstream and found a spot that actually held plenty of fish! Sometimes it's good that your favorite hole is taken; it forces you to find new spots that are even better! Dave and I spent the better part of the morning fishing from below the gauging station up to deep hole, and everywhere in between. We both managed quite a few fish, but they were your typical Ark in Pueblo fish, 12-14 in, some with beautiful color!
Fish were taking two bit hookers, flashback midges, black beauties, and jujubaetis.
We noticed some rising fish around noon, and a pretty prolific midge hatch, but we were having a hard time getting the fish to commit to our dries. Sometimes, a good midge hatch is a blessing and a curse...you know what the fish want, but you're competing with naturals. So we decided to run over to the spillway and see what was going on there.
At the spillway, we counted 7 bait dunkers and one "clumsy" fly fisherman. As we pulled into the parking lot, the "clumsy" fly guy hurried to get his waders on and started running down the hill to get to the "good spot". Although fishing right in front of the spillway is good, it's not always the best, especially when the bait dunkers are splashing around right in front of you. Dave and I made our way down to the water to fish downstream and closer to the bridge where the fish are actually less pressured and more willing to eat. I ended up catching quite a few fish while this fly guy was still tying on, and what made it even funnier was that on his second backcast, he caught the fence. After catching a few more fish and watching him awkwardly climb up the rip rap to try to retrieve his fly, we decided to do a bit more exploring and give the Nature Center a try.
Fish at the spillway were taking just about anything. Red price nymphs, barr emergers, improved barbie dolls, and blue poison tungs.
When we got to the Nature Center, there were already 5 guys fishing downstream and at the bend hole so we decided to move upstream and fish the wall. Unfortunately, we got the big skunk. We tried everything, emergers, midges, nymphs, but we didn't get a single nibble, or a even see a fish rish. This coming weekend is the Frostbite Fish Off Tournament...I would hate to draw the Nature Center as a beat. We spent about an hour and a half exploring the water around the Nature Center, so we decided to cut our losses and go back to Valco.
Dave said that the bigger fish he caught on Friday were caught in the afternoon. It was 3:30 and the sun was just starting to move lower in the sky. Dave's favorite hole was still occupied by the guys from this morning, so we moved on upstream again just below the gauging station. Dave started the afternoon with a nice 16 incher.
I followed with my 16 incher, looks like Dave's prediction of bigger fish in the afternoon was right!
We kept fishing, picking up quite a few more fish and I finished off the day with the biggest right around 4:30.
This 18.5 incher took a black beauty in a size 18. The fly of the evening was definitely midges.
Fishing was great all day long, with the exception of the Nature Center. Pretty surprising since I've had good days there before. The DOW must have also recently stocked, since there were a ton of fish at the spillway all stacked up and all the fish we caught at the spillway looked like stockers with a more silverly look rather than the more colorful markings of natural rainbows or holdovers who have stopped eating pellets.
Don't forget, that next weekend is the tournament. They apparently have 23 teams already so the river will be pretty busy with the tournament going on. I would stick to water east of Pueblo Blvd, or avoid it all together and find a new place to fish!
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