SALIDA — It’s an odd combination, this thing of grasshoppers and high water. But purely from a fish-catching perspective, the combination may not be as strange as one might think.
Consider the circumstances Saturday when water measuring 1,300 cubic feet per second gushed down the Arkansas River near the hamlet of Wellsville, just below Salida.
All this water — clear and a near-perfect 58 degrees — served to push the trout close to the bank, where they encountered grasshoppers of biblical plague proportions.
Welcome to dry fly heaven, extended runoff style.
“On this river, anytime the water gets above 55 degrees the trout will always be looking up,” Abe Gaspar said during a brief interval between trout.
A guide for the Salida-based Arkansas River Fly Shop (719-539-3474), Gaspar had been picking his way along a steep highway embankment where brown trout sparred for nearly every favorable holding position.
The commotion of wings that erupted with every step through riverside grass suggested an exclusivity of hoppers. In truth, almost any dry fly will do these days on the Arkansas.
“I could give you every attractor dry fly in the box and they all would work,” said Bill Edrington, who operates the Royal Gorge Anglers shop farther downstream at Cañon City (719-269-3474).
“The fish seem to key on a different fly a little bit more than others each day. I can’t tell you how long it’s been since we had this much fun fishing dry flies on this river.”
The continued high flow — dropping every day, but still a formidable rush — actually serves as an aid to angling by pinning trout close to shore. Whether floating or wading, a fisherman never has to wonder where to place a fly or lure.
Gaspar, a dramatically precise fish catcher, is quick to find the beauty in the current condition.
“We get spoiled with the easy walking during low water, but fishing actually is much better when the water is high,” he said.
Gaspar trails his thread of logic to the fact that, after a long runoff with very little angling activity, trout are less wary, little stressed, adding, “With very few people on the river, we definitely have well-rested fish.”
With the drama of the recent bite, that’s about to change. On an afternoon when storm clouds marched like dark avengers down the steep slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, a procession of fishing rafts announced that the good times indeed had started to roll.
But as Gaspar pointed out, the continued high water provides a buffer of sorts against the usual commotion caused by river traffic, whether it’s fishermen or the usual Arkansas overload of splashers.
“At low water, the rafts are very disturbing to the fish,” he said. “Now, with all the fish on the bank, there’s not much problem.”
At a peak of summer heat, the advantage also extends to water temperature. With no afternoon overheating, trout remain active throughout the day.
For now, this activity almost always involves the surface.
“I haven’t seen a day when the dry fly isn’t better than the nymph,” Gaspar declared.
The serendipity of the Arkansas includes an ample amount of public access, either along the highway, at locations inside the Arkansas Headwaters State Park corridor; at numerous state wildlife areas; or at several Bureau of Land Management sites.
You can find these detailed in the Upper Arkansas Valley Fishing Guide ($5.95) published by the Collegiate Peaks Anglers Chapter of Trout Unlimited or the free Central Colorado Fishing Guide, both available at local shops.
Charlie Meyers: 303-954-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com
