Where to Go Arkansas River – Pueblo

  We have seen a pretty god fluctuation in flows here over the last 2 weeks. There was a big bump that lasted a few days, then the flows dropped down to 150 cfs. Today the flows went back up to 167 cfs. These flows have spread the fish out and they have been very happy. With the winter storage program ending for Lake Pueblo, we could see more frequent flow increases on the tailwater. Downstream water demand will dictate this. The rainbows are starting their spawn process and starting to seek out areas of the river to do their deed. This will also bring increased feeding activity as they prepare for weeks of using a lot of energy. PLEASE avoid any spawning fish or redds in the river.

Clarity is great and the sightfishing has been a ton of fun.

Hatches:

 Midges are the main bugs right now, but we are starting to see more BWO's on a daily basis. 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. Mix in some "junk" with the usual smaller patterns.

Tactics:

 With the warmer weather, we have seen the fish become a lot more active. Its still a good idea to cover ground and really make sure you are efficiently fishing your spots.  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 with the flow increase. The fishing has been best from about 9am to 3pm.

Weather:

Short Term-  The wind machine has been cranking as of late. This weekend will be extremely windy. There is a red flag warning and we could see a lot of blowing dust. Temps will be warm though and in the 60's and 70's. We will see some good wind through Monday and then things look to calm down a little. Next week will be a preview of summer, and we could see highs reach the 80's next Thursday!

Long Term-  Next weekend a storm system will be coming into the high country. Right now it doesnt look like it will have an impact here, besides dropping the temps 10-15 degrees. We should see some intense winds return around this time as well.   Longer range forecasts are lining up to show some potential storm activity at the end of March/first part of April. Lets hope this happens as all of this recent wind has really dried things out. Speaking of wind, we will be seeing quite a bit more of that this spring. We are getting too warm too fast this early spring.

We have had some very warm and windy conditions over the last couple weeks. This has started to deplete the snowpack a bit. We have had some storms at higher elevations in the Arkansas river basin and thats kept the snowpack at a standstill. As of today, snowpack in the Arkansas basin is at 77% of average. As we roll into spring we will have longer days, a higher angle of the sun, and a lot of wind. 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:

With the flow increase, be sure to mix in some larger food sources. Bacon and eggs can be deadly this time of year. We would suggest keeping an eye on the flows as well.

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!