The Arkansas River in the Salida area has been fishing great as of late.  We have been seeing much cooler daily air temps which has resulted in cooler water temps that have given us the ability to fish all day long again.  I would still take water temp readings later in the day as temps are still getting close to 68 degrees but at least now they are dropping into fishable levels in the evening hours.  Due to some recent flash flooding the river lower down in Big Horn Sheep Canyon is still seeing some off color water.  We have rain in the forecast through the holiday weekend so there is a good chance the areas that have been experiencing flashes will again.  Water clarity will get better the further upstream in the drainage you go!

Fish are still holding in fast riffles and pocket water, so not much has changed there.  Nymph, hopper dropper and streamer rigs have all been producing fish.  There has still been a good Trico and Red Quill hatch in the mornings but fish have been keyed in on nymphs more than adults when those hatches are present. Fish have been eating hoppers but generally when there is movement on the fly, a dead drifted hopper isn’t always the best technique.

We seem to be over the hump as far as warm water temps are concerned but the river remains low and will stay that way heading into fall.  With the right boat and rowing know how there are still some good float fishing to be had but wade fishing will be the best option for most.

As we move forward into fall and cooler weather, some of the best fishing of the season in on the horizon!  We are stoked and you should be too!!

The shop is open 7 days and week starting at 8am and we are booking wade, float, and high alpine lake fishing trips daily

Suggested Flies:

Perdigons #18-20, Olsen’s Quildigon #18-22, Full Metal Jacket #14-16, Blow Torch #14, Thread Frenchie #14-18, Duracell #14-16, Roza’s Violet Tailed Jig #14-16, Weiss’ BP Perdigon, Chubby Chernobyl #12-16, PMX #14-16, Stimulators #14-18, Various PMD patterns