Where to Go Arkansas River – Pueblo

 Conditions have remained good on the Ark tailwater. The flows are at 84 cfs. and are pretty typical for this time of year. We are very unlikely to see these flows vary too much throughout the rest of the winter. Water temps are still in that prime zone that can foster some great winter bug activity. The river has been super busy this year and it doesnt seem to matter if its a weekend or a weekday. This location gets a lot more busy in the fall and winter. 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 strongest, but we have also had some great dry fly fishing here. There are a lot of "pickles" or smaller fish in the river right now. You have to get through them to find some of the larger fish. Its important to take great care of these little guys though, as they are the future big fish in this fishery. There are still quite a few redds in the river and still some fish occupying them. While the brown trout spawn is pretty much done please be cautious of them and their redds (spawning beds). If you see redds there is a good chance they are holding eggs. Its important not to disturb those areas, they are also the future of this fishery!

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 epic BWO 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.

 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:

Short Term-  Warmer than average and dry. Thats the forecast. Unfortunately, there is no end in sight for our warm and dry weather. This persistent high pressure ridge has moved back into the west and will deflect any storms or weather far away from us. Temps this week will be in the upper 50's/low 60's and there is no precipitation in the forecast. Temps will cool a bit towards the end of the week, but things will be quiet and dry overall. Not good news for our record low snowpack. To look at the silver lining here, at least its going to be really nice fishing weather!

Long Term-  The longer range forecast doesnt hold a lot of hope for snow, for anyone. We will have a large lull in snow which will negatively affect our overall already low snowpack. Best case scenario is we see some changes towards the very end of the month. For now, it will be more of the same. Highs will be warmer than average and we could see a fair amount of wind. Lets hope February can bring us some resolve to our sad snowpack conditions.