The First Hint of Autumn

Over the weekend we had our first taste of fall with snow on the mountains in both the upper Arkansas River valley and South Park. While we have not received the moisture experienced on the Front Range, there have been quite a few showers recently and the valley has greened up dramatically. The precipitation also kept the flows higher than normal, as the end of the summer flow augmentation program came and went and the flows remained above the 700 cfs target level. After a few days of milder weather, the flows have come down to 221 at Granite, 531 in Browns Canyon, and 588 at Wellsville. Barring significant rains in the weeks ahead, we can expect to see the river levels slowly decline, probably hitting 350-400 at Wellsville 2-3 weeks from now.

 

This has been a year of extremes, culminating in extremely good fishing over the last four weeks. While flows have pinned wade anglers to the banks until recently, the float fishing has been epic. We continue to fish mostly dries along the edges, though we are starting to see times where a beadhead dropper is a good second fly. This last week has seen a plethora of mayflies; pale morning duns, red quills and blue wing olives all hatching at once. Various species of caddis continue to pepper the water in the evening. And hoppers are extremely prolific.

 

Looking ahead, it is safe to say that we have another 65 days of quality fishing ahead of us. In the case of last year, the “endless autumn” went on for another 95 days. While there is no predicting late fall weather, it was a real eye-opener to see post spawn browns returning to the feeding lies and feeding hard on blue wing olives and midges. We plan to run float and wade trips daily through October. After that, we will still have wade trip availability but float trips will depend on the weather and water temperatures. Most of our best guides will be hanging in there through the fall – please call us at 719-539-4223 or email to greg@arkanglers.com if you would like to set up a trip.

Arkansas River Flows Below Average

This winter’s upper Arkansas River drainage snowpack ended up exceeding 200% of normal. The Fryingpan River drainage, from which the Arkansas River derives significant imported water, also posted an extremely high snowpack. Yet year to date precipitation on the valley floor in Salida is only 45% of normal and our summer rainfall in June and July has been minimal. The result of this is that river flows from Granite downstream are actually below the historic averages for this date. If the “monsoon” rains arrive, a phenomenon that has occurred the last two years at the end of June, we may see flows stabilize or even rise and we will face the daily possibility of murky water in lower Bighorn Sheep Canyon. However, the longer we go without experiencing this, the less likely it seems to be. The forecast for this week calls for a daily possibility of thunderstorms – we shall see what, if any, impact this has on flows.

 

From a fishing perspective, the current conditions are very beneficial. Wading the Arkansas has become a much more attainable goal while float fishing remains completely viable. Lower, clearer water, coupled with a decreased current velocity in many areas, has encouraged brown trout to move off the edges, particularly through the middle of the day when skies are bright, and this has led us to resume using nymphs on a more regular basis. Dry-dropper rigs out on the seams, or double nymph rigs off significant shelf lines, are producing well. Bugs like pheasant tails, hot wire and psycho princes, and pmd Barr emergers are all taking fish. On top, we continue to fish a lot of double dry rigs – a stimulator, hopper, or parachute madam x followed by a caddis or pmd has been typical.

 

With flows dropping, conditions are also good for our rowing instructional program. Many of our guests have voiced interest in these classes this year and we have largely put it on hold until conditions were more conducive to a good experience. From here on out, I think it is a productive situation. In addition to our one-day individualized instruction, we also used to offer a 5-day spring intensive course. This course, while aimed at private recreational boaters, does fulfill the 50 hour state training requirement for whitewater and float-fishing guides. We did not offer this course this spring but are considering doing so this fall. Interested parties should contact me at greg@arkanglers.com or by phone at 719-539-4223. If we can get several folks together for the same time frame, we can possibly make this work.

 

We look forward to an excellent fall season – hope to see many of you back before long!

 

Greg Felt

ArkAnglers