Where to Go Arkansas River – Pueblo

  WE ARE SEEING A LOT OF REDDS AND ACTIVELY SPAWNING FISH. PLEASE USE CAUTION AND AVOID THESE AREAS.

 Conditions have remained good on the Ark tailwater. The flows are a bit lower than average for this time of the year and are currently at 68 cfs. We expect these flows to remain at or right around this rate until mid March. The winter storage program will end on March 15th. After that we could see increased flows on the tailwater. Water temps have started to creep up overall and we have seen some increased bug activity.  The river has remained pretty busy and it doesnt seem to matter if its a weekend or a weekday. That being said, there is still plenty of fishable water down here. The fishing can be on the technical side, but persistence is the key. The fish are occupying all parts of the river and moving into riffles or shallower water to feed during the peak of the hatches. Nymphing has been the best method and the dry fly fishing has been fun during midge or BWO hatches.

Hatches:

There are Midges, BWO's and still some Tricos in the system. Especially with lower flows, keep your patterns small and sparse! Pay attention to the hatches and switch accordingly. Cloudy days are supporting some absolutely great mayfly hatches.

Tactics:

Cover ground. Even though its busy you can still find some parts of the river that are relatively empty. Keep your terminal tackle on the small side with 5x and 6x tippet, and either small or no indicators.

  The river has been EXTREMELY busy. With the increase in angling traffic, its a great time to explore some of the lesser visited areas on the tailwater. Fishing in town has been great, just be cautious on where you park. and do not leave ANYTHING in your car.

Weather:

The flows in Deckers have been dropping over the last couple of days. Current flows are at 119 cfs. This drop is likely in response to the recent rain and snow we received on the front range. Look for these flows to increase with another warm and dry stretch of weather. These are still great flows for this time of year and the fishing has been good. The river is running clear and visibility is great. Focus on the softer and deeper areas of the river. The river is technical and attention to detail is key to success.  Nymphing has and will be the most productive method right now. The dry fly fishing can be good as well in certain areas. Again, look for the slower tailouts for fish eating on the surface. These fish want good, clean drifts! Longer leaders and lighter tippet are a good idea.

Weather:

Short Term-  Warm and windy, thats the forecast. Spring time is typically pretty windy here and the short term forecast is no exception to that. This week we will see high temps clear into the mid 70's. Wednesday will cool slightly and will be windy through Thursday. Morning lows are not going to be all that cold either and we should see lows in the 30 and 40's. Friday and Saturday will be gorgeous and quite warm. On Saturday  we will see another round of pretty strong winds here. Sunday will cool into the 40's as a small system moves through the area. This system will only bring colder temps to this area. Spring is here folks!!

Long Term-  Next week will be another beautiful week. In fact, we could hit record highs on Wednesday. High temps will be in the upper 80's in the latter part of the week. Next weekend looks equally nice, although we may cool slightly. Temps will still be quite a bit above average though. Longer range forecasts are suggesting a pattern change around the 21st, but its still way too far away to tell if anything will come of that. Precipitation chances are pretty much zero for the next 2 weeks. Not good news for our already low and weakening snowpack.