Arkansas River
7/18/2016
Flow:  748
Water Temp:  63
Brian and Harrison are members of Pikes Peak Fly Fishers and Brian bought a trip during their annual auction that Steel City Anglers donated to PPF.  I was more than a little concerned about the high flows and water temperature.  My concerns were relieved when  they proceeded to land about a dozen nice bows in what I am calling the “The Trout Slam”.  Harrison landed a beautiful  pure cut on the third cast then a cut bow , rainbow and Brian landed a nice brown.  Both of these guys have fished in Alaska and lived for 12 years in Hawaii they never learned nymphing.  They had an incredible time and are planning on coming back in the fall after winter storage.  Bugs of the day BH Hares Ear, with the exception of one bow on a SJW, all took the Hares Ear.  Do trout have a bug fixation?  We have another trip this weekend and the water temperature should stay below 65 degrees.    It was a fun day and the Coyote Grill out did themselves with three Buddy Holly's, lunch was incredible!
Tight Lines.
Lou

July 9, 2016

Flow: 706

Water Temp: 61-70

The water is cloudy, the river is roaring and monsoon rains have flooded our favorite park. But I will once again climb up and beat the old dead horse by using the phrase; in every adversity is the seed of an equal or greater benefit. This morning the flow was pushing a thousand cfs and I was all set to fight the current and cherry pick a few spots. But lo and behold the waterline was receding. By ten o’clock the flow dropped to six-fifty. The clarity was less than optimal but that’s not the reason we fish this river. The trout don’t go away; they don’t fast in imperfect conditions, the delight in it! Predators are kept at bay and it appeared the only fools willing to fish the Ark tailwater were me and Steve. Being five miles from the dam I sat down my stool and had a long draw of coffee and gave my old pooch an extended pet and listened to the river flow. Finally I stood back up and on my second cast put it to the brown. Just as I netted it Steve found me to take a few pics.

Upstream above the Flag Hole we found the spring run side channel had dropped and trapped several nice trout in a pool that was rapidly warming up. I got two on the Douglas Upstream 3wt and Steve got two nymphing. All four were rescued and released in the main channel.

We fish here not because the conditions are perfect, we fish here because this is our home and we know where to go, we know the water, we know the trout and we know we know we can walk in with our muddy feet and get a cold beer at the Coyote Grille.

Thanks for reading and if you have a few hours to volunteer for something the Nature and Raptor Center need a lot of help after the landslide.

Tight lines,

Ben

June 17, 2016

Flow: 2582

Water Temp: 55

Last week I received the Douglas Sky 9’5# four piece. This rod has seen some great reviews and even though the river is cooking but I had to test the mettle of the Sky on my home water. The first thing I noticed is the accuracy at ten feet or sixty. My favorite color of indicator is a clear thingambobber. Fishing heavy foam lines I usually have to switch to black. Today I didn’t have to do that because my presentation landed exactly where I anticipated and I could follow it easily. This thing casts to a dime and at $650.00 outperforms rods pushing $1000.00. The sky played trout well and even at our flows gave me the confidence to get into tight spaces. The brown depicted was caught with me on my back in tight quarters the rod pitched perfectly three or four times and we hooked up. Great backbone allowed for the ability to turn the brown a few times away from the lumber before putting it to the net. Lake Pueblo is fishing well and there’s a little more accessibility now. I spent the day doing more trolling than fishing however. The visibility in the lake is beautiful and sight fishing from a pontoon is a kick. When the waters high there is always something to do in P-Town.

Tight Lines,

Ben

May 18, 2016

Flow: 1334 (Was 350)

Water temp: 48-52

Shoulda been here yesterday.

That’s a phrase we hear often in the fly fishing world and one I usually take with a grain of salt. If you didn’t fish the Ark tailwater over the last month however, you missed out. The river gave the best sendoff to high flows I can remember in years. Rs2s and midges below copper johns and sjws produced well. Streamers were taken like candy. Dry droppers disappeared over suicide strikes. If there was ever a time to carry three or four rods it was the time. Woulda, coulda, shoulda…

The good news is there are still honey holes spread about the tailwater that Pueblo’s local guides can direct you to in safety. I had the rare opportunity to float the lake recently when the water was smooth as glass and visible to thirty feet. Stay tuned as we’ll be exploring the high water version of the ark and the lake itself. Then again the gate keeper at the dam may show us more love and drop the flows.

Stay tuned and tight lines,

Ben

April 3, 2016

Flow: 483

Water Temp: 43-53

Ode to a dog. My little pup is the most unlikely canine fly fishing companion but I couldn’t ask for a better friend. Diamond was a rescue dog, run over as a stray and through the benevolence of the animal shelter and Pets and Friends Animal Hospital she was saved and shortly after my parents adopted her. I’ve had her now for ten years. She’s been through multiple dog attacks and near drownings on many of Colorado’s rivers. Just last summer we had a close call in Brush Hollow Reservoir when her leash got wrapped in the blades of a trolling motor. My pontoon boat has a platform on the back for Diamond and she loves floating lakes and rivers. The trolling motor caught her rope and sucked her under just before I heard the most heartbreaking wail. She isn’t afraid of the boat at all but we have a new rule. No leash on the boat.  This week was time for her summer shave and trim and today she was the belle of the ball. We had a few days of fishable flows and the trout are unforgiving, picky on the presentation but when you do that voodoo that you do they fight like hell. Patterns were across the board, presentation maters. Trout were suspended across the tailouts. It’s technical, uh… hire a guide and hug your own dog.

Tight lines,

Ben

Date:  3/28/2016
Flow:  360 – 398 CFS
Water Temp:  43 – 46 Deg F
I met Kelly and Dave at the Nature Center at 9AM and they were two of the nicest guys I have guided recently.  We proceeded to the 100 Yard Run rigged up and I assessed their capabilities.  Dave hit our favorite spot and hooked up on a nice 19” bow which unpickeld and he immediately said these fish are not pushovers.  We moved upstream crossing over to the sun side for a little sight fishing.   Pictures tell a thousand words.  Dave was the first to connect with a nice fat 18 inch bow on the south side of the first weir.  The cross vein on the south bank below the first weir has always held nice bows and even though the stream has had serious damage from gravel fill in there was a small back eddy that was holding 18 to 20 inch bows probably off redd feeding.  Kelly landed a nice 18 inch bow out of that run.  Bugs of the day were size 20 Olive BWO emerger, Olive BH Midge size 20, Red SJW, Grey RS@ size 20, BH Pheasant Tail size 18.  Hatches of olive midges in the morning and size 18  to 20 BWO’s in the afternoon dictated the flies of choice.
Tight lines,
Lou

March 26, 2016

Flow: 330

Water Temp: 42-48

In the waning days of fishable flows and fluctuating flows we’ve seen some beautiful days and great guests on the tailwater. It is time for the Arkansas River to start pumping out irrigation flows and let some water out of lake. I can’t guess what this summer is going to look like but I can say for certain that the trout are doing well. Rainbows are on their redds but the spawn will be short lived with the dramatic increase in water we’re about to see. Enjoy these last few days on our remarkable tailwater. One of my last memorable trout sipped a 20 parachute adams connected to my gorgeous Douglas upstream 3wt. Hopefully the trout will get a good break in pressure and we’ll see a great return when the water drops. In the meantime have a wonderful Easter.

Tight lines,

Ben