Where to Go Arkansas River – Pueblo

 We are in typical winter flow rates for the tailwater. Current flows are at 86 cfs. and should hover at or near this for the remainder of the winter season. Water temps are still cold but they are starting to warm slightly overall. Water temps are around 37-40 degrees and will warm a bit on sunny days. Clarity is excellent right now. Despite the colder weather the crowds are still here. This last 3 weeks have been extremely busy on the river. The fishing has gotten a little better and should continue to improve with warming water temps. Be sure to really work your flies and change your depth/weight way before you change your flies! Just stay persistent and make every drift count!

Hatches:

 Midges are the main bugs right now. We have seen fish eating all of these insects both subsurface and on top. The dry fly fishing can also be good if you catch one of these hatches just right. On warmer days we have still seen some BWO's and the fish will key in on them, especially subsurface.

Tactics:

 With the cold water temps, the fish will consolidate more and start occupying typical winter lies. As the day progresses and water temps warm, the fish are moving into shallower riffles during pronounced hatches to feed. Dont be afraid to fish some of the faster and skinny water as we have seen a lot of fish feeding in areas like that. During times where there are no hatches, focus on the slower and deeper water. Nymphing will always be the most effective, but the dry fly fishing here can be good as well.  Streamer fishing has been okay later in the day.  Its not a bad idea to add some leech, cranefly larva, scuds, leeches, or worm patterns to your rig. The fishing has been best from about 9am to 3pm

Weather:

Short Term-   The weather will be pretty interesting here over the next few days. We will have some very cold and heavy air in the area Tuesday and Wednesday. High temps will be in the teens and it will be very cold. To put this in perspective, temps at about 9500 feet will almost be twice as warm during the same time. That cold weather will be short lived and we will warm up quite a bit as we head towards the weekend though. Temps this weekend are forecasted to be in the 60's! Make plans to get out and enjoy it!

Long Term-  The nice weather will extend into next week through at least Wednesday of next week. Temps will be warm and in the 70's. Longer range forecasts are suggesting there may be some changes around then, but its pretty far out to have any confidence in right now. Models are also showing activity around March 1-4, so that may be the next time we have decent precipitation potential. Again, enjoy the weather during this time because its sure to change!

Our snowpack got a little boost this last week. We are still below average in the Arkansas basin and its currently at 85% of average for this time of the year. This will be likely to decrease even further over the next 10 days with the forecasted weather. As we roll into spring we will have longer days and a higher angle of the sun. This combination can start to decrease the overall snowpack at a good pace. With our biggest snow months historically on the horizon March and April), lets hope we can keep building this for our summer water. Snow now means water later, and we can use all we can get!

Tips:

The river has been a lot busier lately. This fishery sees the most traffic in the winter.

This is an area we offer guided walk/wade and float trips, please give us a call if you are interested!

For a custom fly assortment for this location, click here!