SALIDA — Relax. Go to brunch. It’s Mother’s Day, after all. And in this most unusual of springs, there’s still plenty of time for tradition.
In the face of spring weather only a mother could love, the traditional Arkansas River caddis hatch that many anglers set their fishing calendars by has taken its time this season. And local experts say you can too.
“The caddis are up into this area now, but we’re not seeing the big blizzard wall hatch so far this year. It’s very spotty,” said Danny Quinto, a lead guide at ArkAnglers in Salida. “What I’m telling people is, if it hits 1 o’clock and you’re not seeing them where you are, move 100 yards. Or look up and find the sparrows. If the sparrows are diving, you know the bugs are probably popping there.”
With a deep mountain snowpack that has bucked tradition by growing deeper for weeks after its customary peak, the fabled brachycentrus caddis hatch that annually marches up the Arkansas River from Cañon City has been held at bay. Cool days and even colder nights have kept water temperatures along much of the Arkansas just below the 54-55 degree trigger point responsible for releasing a blizzard of mothlike bugs from the river bottom that send fish and fishermen into a frenzy.
By Mother’s Day, the wall of bugs has usually made its way upstream to Salida. The pace has been slower this season, but it will happen eventually.
“It’s really, really odd. Some people are coming in and saying they’re having the greatest caddis day of their life, and some people are coming in saying they’re not seeing very much,” Quinto said Friday. “I think the caddis now are anywhere within an 8-mile circumference of Salida. Our guys came in yesterday saying they went way downstream to the Cotopaxi area and they really didn’t see many at all. They just kind of sputtered here and there, 20 minutes at a time.”
As Salida entered its warmest weekend this spring, expectations are high that the water will warm and the caddis will show as anticipated. In the absence of sparrows, the best technique for tracking them amounts to topping off your windshield wiper fluid and driving U.S. 50 along the riverbank until bugs start smearing the windows.
“I’ve seen it that way a couple days driving to Pueblo last week. It was like a wall,” said Kyle Waggoner, manager of ArkAnglers in Buena Vista. “You’d drive into Spike Buck and it would just cover your windshield. Then the next day you’d hit that wall of bugs in Cotopaxi. I think it’s about to explode.”
Today could be the day for some fine dry fly-fishing after a couple consecutive days of sunshine around Salida.
“If you can find a rock to stand on,” quipped ArkAnglers guide Carol Neville.
Indeed, the fishermen have held up their end of agreement this week, arriving en masse to occupy any open fishing hole and roadside parking space available. While the early birds are snagging their favorite fishing spots, the cool morning temperatures have posed more problems for landing fish.
“When you get here in the morning, you need a double nymph rig. There’s nothing really happening until around 11 or 12 o’clock,” said Quinto, suggesting a large stonefly trailed by something smaller and chartreuse. “If I was going to come fishing here, I would look for 1 to 2 feet of water, where the sun hits the bottom and heats it up. You’re definitely going to see some bug action there.”
If the caddis aren’t cooperating, keep an eye out for baetis, which have provided outstanding fishing as both adults and emergers all spring, local pros say. A recent crane fly hatch also has sent the trout into a tizzy.
“It’s good right now, but I think you’re going to see some exceptional fishing in the next few days,” Quinto said. “We just need a little bit warmer temperature, like 1 degree, and it will take off.”
Field notes.
A bill designed to merge Colorado’s Division of Wildlife with State Parks won approval in the House on Friday with a vote of 49-14, virtually guaranteeing the merger proposed by Gov. John Hickenlooper as a cost-saving measure for the two divisions within the Department of Natural Resources. SB 208 already passed through the Senate on a 34-1 vote and could see final Senate approval of minor changes as early as Monday.
With Hickenlooper’s signature, the boards governing the parks and wildlife divisions will merge and begin developing plans to combine the agencies this summer.
• The House delayed a final vote on Rep. J. Paul Brown’s (R-Ignacio) bill to extend the bear-hunting season. The bill is not expected to return to the floor before the legislative session concludes May 11.
