Stone Fly Nymphs Begin Molt

The Arkansas has been fishing pretty darned well on these nice days, and the fish are starting to move to the outside seams from the deep runs and pools. That behavior is a little early, but I believe that Stonefly nymphs have started to molt and that along with a little increase in water temperature has changed things dramatically. The best time to fish is from about 10AM till 3PM and the best rigs are deep running Stone Fly nymphs trailing a #16 BH Prince, Chartruese Copper John, or a #20 Red Pure Midge. A few fish are coming to the surface to eat adult midges, but very few.

On rivers like the Arkansas, Stonefly nymphs offer up their protein load to fish coming out of the winter doldrums. There are obviously a lot of different stonefly species in our rivers, but the one that really kicks off the feeding frenzy are the Golden Stones, Hesperoperla pacifica and Claassenia sabulosa . These are fairly large bugs measuring from 24 to 38 mm or on the average a little over an inch long. When they are mature, they have a dark brown back with a yellow underbody. These insects live in the nymphal stage for two years during which time they undergoe several instar phases or molts. Like a snake, everytime the insect sheds is exoskeleton, it grows a little. It's hard to say exactly how many instars it goes through, but most folks think somewhere between 7 and 12. I personally don't really care. All I know is that sometime in mid to late February (this year the first of February) through early April, the little beggars molt and drive the fish crazy. The molt occurs around daybreak and anywhere from 6 to 8 hours later, the nymphs have hardened up again and turn darker. So, in the mornings, they have a buttery translucent appearance to the fish, making them a wonderful food source. I think they probably look a lot like Mom's mac and cheese or a wonderful dish of veal picatta. Perhaps not.... Anyway, you want to fish the golden stone imitations in the mornings until mid afternoon, then switch back to the darker ones. Remember, not every stonefly nymph in the river is exactly the same age, so this process continues for a few weeks. A golden stone nymph is always my lead nymph through the spring hatches. On cloudy days, I trail it with Larry's #20 Black Ice for a Baetis nymph and in early April I always tie in on with a Caddis Larva. In late February and early March I will fish it by itself with about three split shot on a 6 foot leader. I use the short line, bounce nymph method in heavy, choppy water. That's where the creatures live, so that where you need to be. Keep adding split shot until you get the nymph on the bottom quickly. Don't work into position just to have your bug float over the heads of the fish. Forget the strike indicator and high stick the fly through the rocky bottom. Takes will be unmistakable, so don't worry too much about that. Just keep the thing bouncing along through the drift.

Wright and McGill Superstore Launched

Royal Gorge Anglers has launched a new web site featuring all Wright and McGill products. We have always been a big supporter of this old Colorado Company and since its foray back into fly fishing a few years ago, we have sold lots of W&M products to lots of satisfied customers. Now, everyone can buy these products on line and in addition, we are offering free shipping to all customers in the lower 48. Products are available directly from the factory, so availability will not be a problem unless the factory is backordered. Please go to the new site and take a look. Just click the title of this blog or go to http://www.wrightmcgillsuperstore.com

ARK Fishing

The Ark is looking good even with the rain over the past few days. I guided a half day trip this morning and fish were on Apes with a Red thunder or Red / Silver high voltage PT early in the morning and then Hoppers followed by the same droppers later in the morning. Remember fish are still in tight to the banks. Curtis

Arkansas Finally Fishing Again

After a seemingly endless runoff (sometimes you get what you ask for), the Arkansas is finally dropping and edges are clear. The river is dropping regularly each day and small creeks seem to be back into normal shape or getting there rapidly. With fish stuck on the edges to escape current velocity, fishing is bonehead easy right now. A big PMX trailing a PMD nymph or attractor nymph like a High Voltage Pheasant Tail is a good bet for lots of fish. Wading can still be a bit treacherous, so be careful and don't wade where you can't see your feet. I suspect that the river will now be great until Thanksgiving, so get out there.

South Platte Fishing

With flows in the high 300's the South Platte has been fishing great! The best Flies have been Scuds, Beads, and San Juan Worms trailed by PMD RS2 and Midge Larva. Fish can be taken through out the day with tan caddis if you prefer fishing drys. Then in the afternoon we have been fishing Hopper / Dropper rigs with small Dave's Hoppers or Parachute Hoppers trailing Yellow Thunders or Gold ice. If you like fishing streamers that has also been good on sinking leaders fished tight to the banks. Curtis

Wishing for lots of Water

After a high water spring and marginal fishing conditions due to releases from Twin Lakes to make room for runoff, the river has finally started to really rise. The largest snowpack in about 25 years is waiting for the rivers to take it away. The end result should be a cleansing flow that will remove a decade of silt and other drought related maladies. Hopefully this will be the year that gravel bars clean up, islands disappear and new islands reappear. We'll see.......

Spring Fling and BWOs

We just completed our 7th annual Spring Fling at the Arkansas River KOA at Cotopaxi. We had great weather and a great time. Thanks to all of you who participated. I hope the BBQ was to your liking. I thought it was one of the better fares of late.

BWOs have been hatching away on cloudy days as we prepare for the Caddis Hatch. We have a little more water to contend with this year than we are used to, but that has stabilized water temperatures and should lead to a great hatch. If snowpack stabilizes or some of it evaporates, we are told that BOR may actually cut back on releases in a couple of weeks. We'll see, but if flows stay as they are, it will still be excellent. Get out and fish. April is Numero Uno.

Spring has Sprung for Fly Fishers

The South Platte below Spinney is fishing extremely well right now and some big spawners from Elevenmile are cruising upstream now. Micro eggs, Midge Larva and Black Leeches are the trick. Lots and lots of fish to the net with some 5 to 8 pounders possible.

The Arkansas in Canon City and West to Salida has broken ice free and Browns are having a good ole time on molting Stonefly Nymphs and Caddis Larva. Basically any green Larva in a #16 and a #10 Golden Stone will do the deed. Fish are in deeper runs in the early morning and by Noon have filtered out into prime lies. Some fish are moving to Black or Brown Woolly Buggers. The rivers have certainly come alive the past week and fishing will only get better before runoff, which could be substantial this year, but probably not early. We've got lots of great fishing days before May 15, which is average runoff startup for the Arkansas.

Spring is up next, believe it or not

With the Christmas season upon us, spring is right around the corner. Years pass pretty quickly for me, so as usual I find myself behind in planning for spring fishing. My buddy, Larry Kingrey and I are confirmed for lots of presentations after the 1st. We'll be doing seminars on the Arkansas hatches, how to tie and fish Caddis hatches, and tying and fishing wet flies. I hope we're in your neighborhood and that you'll come out to see us. Our schedule right now looks like this:

January 4,5,6 The Fly Fishing Show...Denver; February 8,9,10 The Albuquerque Sports Show; February 22, Wichita, Kansas Flatland Fly Fishing TU; March 13, Cherry Creek TU, Denver. I suspect we'll add a few more to the list, but I wanted to post these so you can put them on your calendar. We're looking forward to seeing you.........

Bill

Fishing Report

Fishing has been very good over the last week. Fish Have been On hopper / Dropper rigs using a Red October trailing # 16 Red Thunders, #20 Black Ice, # 20 Black Thunders and # 20 Purple High Voltages. Streamer Fishing has Been good in the afternoon With Olive Squirrel Streamers, and Spruce Streamers. Blue Wing Olives have been hatching mid day with fish eating adults even on the sunny days. Curtis

Fishing Report

Fishing was good today. We had clear water from Coaldale up in the morning and grey / olive water at Texas creek in the afternoon. As long as we don't get a heavy rain tonight I think we will have fishable water all the way to Canon City on Sunday. The picture is Evan with his first Arkansas fish. Fish were on # 10 red Octobers, And royal PMX's, # 16 Red thunders, # 16 Red / Silver High voltages and # 16 Orange / Yellow High voltages. Most fish were still on the edges. Curtis

Low Flows and Hungry Fish

After a long spell of heavy rain, the Arkansas has now dropped in flow and is fishing extremely well. Wet flies like the little Brown Hackle Yellow in the photo are responsible for lots of hook ups right now as are the traditional hopper/dropper rigs that are so popular on this river. Approaching fall, we are turning to Royal patterns for the top flies such as a Royal PMX, Royal Wulff or Royal Trude. Copper colored bead heads like Larry Kingrey's Copperhead, Curtis Andrew's High Voltage Pheasant Tail and a standard old Copper John will all take lots of fish when suspended below the big dry fly. Streamers are right around the corner, but for now we need to enjoy the numerous Caddis species that are hatching as well as the sporadic hatches of Red Quills. Me, I'm just waiting for the Royal Wulff hatch..........

Arkansas is fishing well now

The Edges are now clearing from all the rain we have had over the past couple weeks. Flows are still up and pushing the fish to the edges. My wife and myself had an evening float on Sunday the 12Th and did very well with streamers ( muddlers and olive buggers)fished on sinking leaders. We also moved some fish with hoppers. The pictures are of a couple fish that we caught including my wife's first fish on a fly rod! Curtis

Arkansas is Perfect

The Arkansas is now clear and flows have dropped to around 700cfs which is where they will now stay until mid August. We have PMDs, Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies, and incredible late day Caddis hatch and hoppers. Walk/wade fishing is now easy and floating is spectacular. We're starting out the day with a hopper/dropper rig running a Parachute Madam X or Stimulator with a #16 Gold Ice, Yellow Thunder or High Voltage PT in orange/yellow. Afternoons are Caddis, Hoppers, and Yellow Sallies. Caddis are tan and olive bodies in a #16, Hoppers are yellow or olive in a #10 to 14, and Yellow Stimulators or Larry's Yellow Sally in a #16 work well by themselves up until dark. Watch for afternoon thunderstorms which can stain the water and lightening which can stain more than the water.

Fishing Report

Hello, fished the Texas Creek area today and did very well with large hoppers and a # 16 Yellow / Orange High Voltage PT (see Picture ). This bug can be fished for a PMD, Yellow Sally or Red Quill. Edges are clearing nicely, but still remember to use caution if you must get in the water. Curtis

Arkansas in Runoff

The Arkansas has been taking runoff now for the past few days and is yet to crest. We will probably see peak flows by sometime next week and then edges should start to clear, giving us access to lots of fish and lots of hatching Golden Stones. By simply walking shorelines with a #10 Yellow Stimulator you can have the easiest fishing of the year. Pulling a streamer off the bank from a boat is not bad.....as a matter of fact, once we have a clear strip off each bank, it is very good.

Caddis Explode upstream

On Thursday, Caddis literally exploded off the water from Pinnacle Rock to up past Cotopaxi. Today we are experiencing a very strong hatch even to Coaldale. This one's a killer, so get out there over the next two weeks. Very good dry fly fishing on Black Foam Caddis and Larry's Egg Layer.

Chris, Greg and Abby enjoying the Arkansas

Hi,had a full day trip out on the 24th, the weather turned out to not be that bad had some rain off and on along with some wind. Air temp was 48 in the afternoon with water temp 46 to 48. Fish really turned on to BWO nymphs. The best pattern was the Purple Pheasant Tail in a #18 . We also moved a few fish on Brown Hackle yellows and olive buggers. We never had a strong BWO adult hatch.

Fishing Report

Hello everyone had a full day trip today fishing started slow up at Texas Creek but came on strong at about 1100 using a QD Larva / Black thunder rig.Water temp at 1100 at Texas Creek was 50 degrees. We moved down into Canon and found caddis this afternoon. Fishing was hard but if you gave them a pupa on the swing they would take it. As for drys they are starting to get picky and you need a pattern like Larry's hi vis or the brachy adult. Curtis

Caddis Upon Us

Full day guide trip today.....Fished Parkadale in the morning, took a number of fish on size 12 Yellow Sally, and also very productive with a mettalic caddis larva. Afternoon was spent hunting down some risiers on the riverwalk. A strange occurance today, as there were 2 overlapping hatches. First started about 1 PM, 2nd at about 3 PM, and at 430 we had egglayers back on the water. So, there were plenty of bugs, however, the fish were slow to key on them but came along nicely towards the end of the day. Fished a black foam caddis, trailing a Lofontaine Caddis Pupa, this was productive all afternoon.....get on the water, the blow up hatch should be in the next few days!!!!