It’s an old joke about voting practices in Chicago, but it might be paraphrased to advise eager springtime anglers on the Arkansas River.
Fish early, fish often.
“It’s a great strategy for fly-shop owners,” Bill Edrington joked as he discussed the early options for a river he watches intently from his Royal Gorge Anglers shop in Cañon City.
But in a season of deep snow, this is precisely the proper approach for anglers on the Arkansas and every other free-flowing river soon to be taken captive by snowmelt.
“I advise everyone to get lots of fishing in before May 1,” Edrington said, turning to more serious details.
A heavy snowpack hangs over virtually every major river basin in Colorado; at 155 percent above normal, the Arkansas is no exception. With its pronounced spring emergence of baetis mayflies followed by a blizzard caddis hatch, the Arkansas attracts early attention from Front Range anglers. Among only a handful of major rivers unencumbered by a main-stem dam, it also poses a time management dilemma for those trying to capitalize on the action before muddy water squelches surface activity.
The time to start is now.
Edrington reported the first hatch of baetis the tiny mayfly anglers call Blue-winged Olive, on Friday, when cloud cover from an approaching storm provided prime conditions on the lower river. BWOs emerge best during overcast, sometimes not at all under a bright sun, keeping a gentlemanly 11 a.m.-2 p.m. schedule.
Nowhere is this hatch more reliable than in late March and April on the Arkansas, where it begins on the lower reaches and progresses steadily upstream to Buena Vista and beyond.
This year’s activity may be early, in large part because the river already has swelled with low-level runoff.
“We’re at about 600 cubic feet per second, and the extra volume provides a cushion that keeps the water from cooling down overnight,” said Edrington, who said the water had assumed a slight amber tint, still perfect for fishing.
Greg Felt, who keeps tabs 60 miles upstream at the Arkansas River Fly Shop in Salida, has seen much the same: sporadic BWO hatches earlier than normal, along with the same reliable activity on caddis and golden stonefly nymphs that Edrington noted on the lower river.
“Things are coming on quickly,” Felt said of a condition that finds brown trout moving from their deep winter redoubts toward midday into feeding positions. “They’ll travel maybe 50 yards where you have feeding structure near winter holding water, then drop back down into the deeper water overnight.”
Felt and Edrington tout exceptional nymph activity anchored by the in-star molting of golden stoneflies, an insect fished in sizes 10 and 12.
Edrington recommends a dual rig with a golden stone trailing a beadhead baetis nymph, either a Pheasant Tail of RS2.
“If you really want to improve your odds, add a green caddis larvae,” he said with the sly chuckle of a merchant who knows the accelerated fly sales such mischief can bring.
The message for this and every free-flowing river is to get your strokes in before runoff. On the Arkansas, it is important to note that the BWO hatch often proves more productive than the more celebrated caddis explosion, which this year may be largely lost to muddy water.
Also embraced for its pre-runoff action, the lower Roaring Fork is awaiting the appearance of BWOs while celebrating its own golden stone nymphing bonanza.
“Dry midge activity has been good, and if we can add a couple of degrees, float fishermen could start picking up fish on Wooly Buggers,” said Drew Reid of the Roaring Fork Angler shop in Glenwood Springs.
Flow is 500 cfs and climbing slowly.
“There’s a slight tinge to the water, but we like that. Bigger flies, bigger tippets,” Reid said.
Charlie Meyers: 303-954-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com
