Arkansas River Fishing Report

Fishing Report July 3rd
Jake Clemens

Today turned out to be one of the best days of the year. Increasingly favorable flows and actively feeding trout made for a high quality angling experience. In the morning I ran a trip from Big Bend to Salida East with a woman learning to fish with her eight year old son. Both caught fish. The boy was a natural at casting his spinning rod. When he got his lures in the current above an eddy near the bank and allowed them drift down close to the seam and retrieved them quickly back toward the boat was when he found success. The woman had numerous strikes and chases using a similar technique with streamers. She also caught fish on a size 12 PMX fished close to the banks. Everyone had a fun morning.

Fishing Report, July 1
Dave “Doc” Moore

Man, is it great to be back fishing the Ark again !! The float trips have been simply fantastic. Lets just say that again…….FANTASTIC.

The flows are finally dropping and are now a bit above 1000 cfs and headed down. By next week we will no doubt loose a digit and be in the 700-800 cfs range.
The water is clear, near perfect, and the fish are on the banks…..let me repeat..ON THE BANKS………and that is what make it a perfect time for floating, and makes it a bit tougher for the walk wade angler.

We are fishing all drys…..a nice indicator fly, PMX, Turks, Stimulator, etc in size 10, maybe even an 8 on top (yellow seems to be taking honors on the color side)….and behind we have been doing very well with a size 16 caddis. The caddis in either black foam, or classic peacock, we also used H & L Variants until we ran out in a size 16.

The fish that are hitting are inside the current on the banks. We have upped our fish per hour by simply not casting to flowing water on the banks, but waiting to cast until we can see an inside seam that gives 10-12 inches of slack water on the bank. By select casting to these spots you can have your fly in productive water longer. If you simply cast the flowing bank repeatedly as we will do in a few weeks, you may not be ready when the prime water comes along……and we are taking very few fish when casting to a bank with current ON the bank…..when the hoppers start in a few weeks we will start pounding banks unselectively, but now, take your time and pick your pocket

The takes have often been very subtle. Keep your fly”s Shaker Dry! This is so you can easily see your small , 2nd fly when it hits. Many times we are simply seeing the small fly disappear without a visible take……and that is a fish that you just happened to hit on the head, and they just immediately suck it down. Also wait it out as long as you can…
We have had many takes when the fly can sit for 4-5 seconds in the pocket, just about the time you lift to cast, the rascal will show………we have been taking the fly from these guys and not getting a take because we just run out of drift time.

Walk wade is tricky now if you want to fish a dry fly. You have to work up stream along the bank, very slowly. And you need to find banks that have not been fished or had traffic for at least a half hour. We are getting some reports of double down nymphing with a 14 prince or Flash Back PT on top, and a 16 of same, or caddis nymph on the bottom.

We are seeing PMD and Caddis, but we have not yet seen any Yellow Sallies….it won’t be long.

Fishing Report July 10
Dave “Doc” Moore

The Arkansas is once again letting us see a bit of its funky side. One day she giveth us fish, the next day she keeps the fish to herself. Now running at or about 700 cfs the river is beautiful, clear and a joy to row. That part is fantastic. This weekend, however, it seems like everyone that has not been here yet this year showed up. Much busier than the fourth of July weekend….go figure, eh. There were tent camps set up in three or four places on the river South/East of Salida that I have never seen campers before. And the traffic both on the water and on the roads was significant. Many floaters on the river both private and commercial, duckies and fly fishers. It truly was great to see many folks enjoying the water and the weather cooperated as well…a perfect weekend.
The fishing was spotty. Perhaps this was due to the volume of float fishermen. We would hit stretches of several fish in a short period of time, then go for some time with a single here and there, then hit another bank with active fish. Fish count to the boat overall was down slightly from the previous week. We switched from double dry with an attractor and small caddis trailer to an indicator fly (PMX, Stimulator, Turks) and a beadhead nymph dropped 20-24 inches below. The vast majority of our fish this weekend came on the nymph dropper. The old standards all seemed to work: Copper Johns in black, green, red; FBack PTails; Prince, and Tung Head Hares Ears. No need to get fancy……the tried and true seem to be consistent .
Hoppers are soon to become a part of the diet. We are seeing them in the grass, so it won’t be long before hopper patterns start picking up.
Early morning seems to be the ticket up on top. The first boat down the river has an advantage for sure. If someone is ahead of you watch where they are fishing and fish where they do not. If they are working all dry, then go dry dropper. Don’t be afraid to mix it up.
Walk wading is getting better and better as the flows start to drop. The fish will start to become concentrated below runs and eddies.
The weather is great, fishing very enjoyable…….see you soon on the Arkansas

Fishing Report, July 13
Dave “Doc” Moore

Great couple of days…..wake wade trips fantastic, and float trips during the week, much better than on weekends……has a a lot to do with boat traffic on weekends. The walk wade fishing is great where you can get to low boat traffic areas. Fish the quiet sides of the river and use double dry fly presentations.
The river conditions are really great, flows are going to be holding in the 700’s for the next few weeks, the afternoon showers have not been enough to cloud the water. The edges are clear.
Hatches are consistent for this time of hear: Caddis here and there, PMDs, and a few yellow sallies….Hoppers are not far away.
The trout are looking up on the edges and eddies. The PMX as a lead fly is still the ticket, with a 16 yellow caddis, or PMD behind. Working the seam with nymphs is also producing nicely.
We are taking more rainbows each year, and when you latch into a nice 17-18 incher you will know its a scrappy rainbow.
Afternoon floats are doing very well, as are the late afternoon walk wade trips.
Its a great time to experience the Arkansas in the Salida Area

Fishing Report
Dave “Doc” Moore
July 1, 2010

Man, it sure seems like a long time since we have had any fishing on the Arkansas RIver…….but the time is fast approaching !!

We fished yesterday, a walk/wade, with the river running a hair over 1600. It had rained the night before so the banks were showing about 15- 20 inches of viz when the morning began. Later in the day they cleared up nicely to 25 inches of viz or so.

Dry dropper tight to the banks was the AM ticket, but the fish did not think so. Switched to double down indicator fishing the eddy line of a couple very nice pockets, also great idea, but the fish were just being ornery. The trick turned out to be double streamer fished down and across. Got a dandy 18 inch bow within minutes of the switch, and that was the pattern we stayed with the balance of the day. Fish can be caught at this level, but it is work requiring a goodly amount of patience.

We have been waiting for the river to get in the low teens, and stable for a bit around 1000 cfs…….when that happens we are mighty sure that we will be in for some fine dry fly activity. Indicator fly on top with a caddis behind, will be our go-to set up, going to a hopper dropper rig as the day proceeds . Floating trip will be returning once again to our beautiful river, and we will keep you posted on the results.

WELCOME BACK ARKANSAS, we really missed you…

Arkansas River Fishing Report
MAY 14, 2010
Dave “Doc” Moore

Ok this is starting to try our patience…
Today I had fishermen that could only fish half day afternoon. For me no problem, for them, no problem…….for the weather conditions…..BIG PROBLEM.
While it was nice in the morning, the afternoon……..not so much. At 1pm, the overcast sky became darker, the wind picked up to 25-30 mph……and the sleet and rain began to pelt down on us. Let’s not mince words here-38 degrees with wind an sleet and rain. Well, it takes some grit to deal with.
But the BWO were coming off and even though we could not seem them, the birds could, and there were scads of birds whisking all over the place. Dry fly fishing was not to be even remotely considered. So, we grabbed the soft hackle box and suited up.
Soft hackle, partridge and hare’s ear on top, and a Partridge and grey biot on the bottom-both size 16. Those were the flies we had on all afternoon.
We had very steady action, and some really nice size fish, with a couple in the 15-16 inch range. Numbers were good, so the interest level was kept high enough to help to put up with the really tough weather conditions.
I just got a report from the float trip that was also a half day afternoon. They also had good numbers of fish, with a dry dropper being the answer. Size 14 Caddis on top with a green copper john on bottom. And a few fish picked up on Adams on top.
The good news was that some caddis were observed. That has been a very rare and spotty thing , so the news was good to hear.

As I wrap up, let me tell you………IT WAS COLD, and really nasty…..but we all had fun,
and had what was a “bonding” experience. Conditions are supposed to improve daily so come up and give it a whack……..we are ready to go….and soft hackles are really fun to fish…..a great change..

Arkansas River Fly Fishing Report
May 12, 2010
Dave “Doc” Moore

Where have all the caddis gone ?
Hmmmm, it seems that every day that I write these reports, I am writing about a different river. Today I looked at three calendars to make sure that the date was really mid May and not mid March.
Yesterday we decided to find the caddis once and for all. So we headed down stream early in the morning. We first stopped between Howard and Valley Bridge, the water was yuck. Visibility was about a foot and no caddis seen, so we shook the willows and looked for birds and watched the water.
Nothing.
We headed up the private back road along the river that heads to Wellsville. We stopped south of Rincon. Water a slight bit more clear, but not good. No birds, no bugs, nothing in the willows. We did manage to fool a pesky Hofer rainbow about a foot long, but did not turn another fish on double down rigs with Caddis Nymph on top and black copper john on the bottom. That combo should have been like ice cream and chocolate cake to those fish. And we pounded known holding areas to absolutely no avail.

This time we decided to go above Salida, behind the River Run Inn. Water much better, almost perfect, wind was around 20 mph or at least in that range. Birds were present in big numbers, but no caddis in the willows and we could see nothing in the air. We squatted down to get close to the water for a better view and could only pick out a BWO every now and then. The number of birds doubled in the next half hour, so we switched to Baetis soft hackles and double down Blue Wing rigs. While the fish were rarely visibly taking emergers, we did manage to get a few fish on the swing. The birds were telling us there were bugs all over but the fish could not get to them on top before the wind, and the wave action was probably making it tough to zero in on emergers.
Frustrating……A major March blue wing hatch in mid May, and no caddis.

Where have all the caddis gone? Today it is completely overcast, another classic blue wing day…..but WHERE ARE THE CADDIS ?? We really want our caddis, after all it is mid-May on the Arkansas and we are still waiting, and waiting and waiting!

Anglers Junction Arkansas River Fly Fishing Report,
May 11, 2010
Dave “Doc” Moore

The River is back in beautiful condition! Flows are up a tad but still nearly perfect and steady at 284 in Salida. And, we have clear water once again…the cloudy stuff only lasted 20 hours……

Now that the river is nearly perfect, we have to get the fish active again. The fishing yesterday was good, but we had to change tactics a bit to get a bite. The dry dropper in-close was not as productive as we would have liked, so we switched to double-down nymphs which worked well the previous day but that was not productive. Dry fly fishing was not an option due to the wind ( it was a mighty wind ), so we elected to swing soft hackles.
Bingo!…..all of our fish were taken on softies after about 2 pm. We used hare’s ear and partridge bead head in size 16.

The technique is to cast across the current, then do a couple up stream mends to allow the flies to sink. When the line gets tight down stream the fly or flies will swing toward your side of the river and come up in the water column. That is when the fish will hit. And there will not be a question about whether or not you had a hit-they will pop it !!
Fish your swing to actively taking fish just like you would with a dry presentation. Try to swing your fly over their position.

We still recommend leaving your rubber boat at home…..walk-wading continues to be much more productive, as the caddis are spotty around Salida. The fish are also spotty on their activity. The real competition for eating hatching bugs has not yet begun on the surface.

By staying on your feet working a run, you will be able to take advantage of the time when the fish decide to become active and that is a mystery as to why and when. They turn off and turn on, sometime on BWO nymphs, sometimes on emerging caddis.

There is plenty of chow floating down the river and the fish just seem to change their desire. It can be frustrating or rewarding beyond normal expectations. But either way it is FISHING ! Use your head out there, don’t be afraid to change it up to find the pattern and technique……..it is chess with fish !!

John Cochran demonstrating an upstream mend

Anglers Junction Fishing Report
Dave “Doc” Moore
May 10, 2010

Surprise, Surprise. The river came up about 80 cfs at Wellsville today, and with it came the loss of clarity. What was a pretty decent caddis hatch yesterday, was not so great today. Float fishermen had a rough day, walk wade fishermen an ok day. But flexibility was the key to catching fish today. Those that were stubborn about their dry flies were those that ended the day with more than an little disappointment. Those that went dry-dropper and fished shallow slow runs, had a smile. Those that went double down with nymph rigs and fished faster water were the most productive. Weather for the next two days is looking a bit more nasty than we would like, with a forecast for wind, colder temps, and a chance for rain and maybe some snow showers early. It would be a great time to leave the rubber boat in the garage and stake out a beat to work over, staying flexible with your choice of presentation and flies.

Arkansas River Fishing Report
Dave “Doc” Moore
May 9, 2010

The Arkansas is everything you want it to be !
It is low and clear, and the caddis are indeed engaged in their annual birthing rite!
We fished above Salida today. There were a few caddis in the willows, and a light hatch occurred from noon until about 4:30 pm. Prior to noon, the blue wings were active and the fish were keying on them. Once the caddis started, the fish switched immediately!
Two versions of caddis were present, both size 18; a light tan, and a dark molted brown-black. The fish were not excited about the dark ones, but loved the light tan. The hatch was sparse, and the fishing on top was not fast, but we experienced enough takes to make dry fly fishing fun. Later in the day we switched to double nymph rigs and fished fast water doing very well on the size 18 zebra midge, while the fish ignored the size 16 bead head lead fly.

We apologize for the delay between reports as we took a week long trip with our local Trout Unlimited Chapter to the Green River at Dutch John. The weather was rough, very windy and cold. Floating was a test of rowing will and skill, so after a couple days we gave up, even though we had good productivity on small midge patterns. The last two days we elected to fish Flaming Gorge Resevoir. The results were fantastic. We found a shallow sloping shore with gravel and scored big on pre-spawn rainbows. A few 18 inchers were caught, but the vast majority were 19-24 inches with a couple males that may have gone a tad over 25 inches. Scuds and eggs under an indicator were the norm, but when the wind came up to 30-35 mph we had to switch to a cone head black leech under an indicator. We fished that rig in the muddy water, which was all we could reach from shore with our 6 and 7 weight rods. The fishing continued to be outstanding but it took every bit of grit we had to stick it out. The fish count was very high both days.

Our timing was great, Antero, and Spinney are both open, and the Caddis are marching their way up river. If the weather holds, and the run off takes it’s time, we should have absolutely fantastic fishing for the next several weeks……Y’all come to Salida soon !!