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!!!!

Hello everyone I just got off a full day trip. Fishing was slow this morning up river, but was ok this afternoon at Parkdale and in Canon City if you found rising fish, then you could take them on a foam body caddis, wire body soft hackle or primetime. Curtis

WE HAVE CADDIS

We had caddis come off today in Canon City. Fish were eating larva ( Larrys QD larva) and adults (Elk hair and Larry's foam body) , fishing was slow on pupa but will pick up over the next couple of days. The adults came off at about 130 and went strong until about 215 when the clouds came over. Water temp. was 56 at 130. So get out and enjoy Curtis

Blue Wings Now....Caddis to Come

Blue Winged Olives have started hatching in earnest this week. Cloudy days are very important to BWO hatches. A little rain, a little snow, a little fog, and all of the above with low clouds will brings lots of bugs up to the surface. Fish follow the emergence all day, beginning with the nymphs close to the streambed and then the drifting larvae to the emerger and then the Adult. BWO spinnerfalls usually occur in this part of the country after dark. The next cloudy day, come to the Arkansas with a box of little Blue Wings in an 18 or 20. OH, be sure to bring the Gore-Tex.

Back From a Long Winter's Nap

Nymphing with Golden Stones, midge larvae, and chartreuse Caddis larvae have taken center stage on the Arkansas right now. Golden Stones from a size 10 to a size 16 are molting and offering themselves to hungry fish in choppy water at the heads of runs. Adult Midges are hatching around Noon until 3PM or so. A #20 Para Adams seems to do the trick. Good stuff to get you out of the house.

Denver Fly Fishing Show

If you live nearby, I hope you went to the Denver Fly Fishing Show. It snowed a foot on Saturday on top of 6 feet that previously fell......therefore....not many folks showed up on Friday. They made up for it on Saturday when the sun came out. Chuck did his usual terrific job of putting on a great show. The new cane rod section was a big hit. I came home with some by Curt Elder for the shop. Great rods for around $800 each....almost unheard of quality for this price. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and said hello. It was good to get our and talk about fly fishing for a change. We're sitting here in a foot of new snow and it was -8 last night. Spring is just around the corner.

Winter on the Arkansas

We'll not spend a lot of time on the blog during the winter, however, we would like you to visit us at the Denver Fly Fishing Show Jan. 5,6,7 2007. We'll be back after it when the spring hatches start. I apologize for the negligence this fall. I had a motorcycle wreck with severe injuries and am just now getting back in shape.

Excellent AM and late PM fishing....

I took this guy on a #16 Egg Laying Caddis evening before last. Fishing is incredible on these bugs with several Caddis hatches occuring late in the day.