Where to Go Arkansas River – Pueblo

 Conditions have remained good on the Ark tailwater. The flows are on the low side at 62 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 not super cold and 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 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.

 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-  The dry and mild weather stretch will continue in the short term. We will have some absolutely gorgeous temps over the next several days. Highs will get into the 60's and 70's and feel very spring like. Morning lows will be chilly and will take a bit to warm up. This winter has been extremely mild, and this will continue through the weekend and into next week. Then we may see some changes on the horizon.

Long Term-  We have been in a stubborn and persistent high pressure across most of the west this winter. As we have been tracking, it looks like we may finally see this pattern lose hold. As we get into next week, the overall pattern will shift a bit. This should allow us to be more in line for incoming storm systems through most of February. Temps will cool to more seasonal averages, and we should at least see the overall storm pattern shift to start favoring Colorado. This first wave will come through on Thursday 2/12. This first part will just bring wind, but the high country should get some snow. Temps will still be nice here, but back down into the 50's. It looks like we will finally have something positive to talk about regarding snow. (at least in the high country) Lets hope these storms do develop and we can add to our record low snowpack. Fingers crossed!