Thursday Darren, Curtis and I floated the Arkansas and had a fantastic day of fishing. All the factors came together including the weather and water levels and we hit the caddis hatch head on.
We floated from Cambo to Hecla Junction in just under eight hours and caught fish the entire time. Above Fisherman’s Bridge we fished the usual hopper-dropper combo and the prince nymph caught fish as it has done all week. As we got closer to Fisherman’s Bridge around 2 pm we began to see more caddis and switched to the black foam caddis dry fly. That’s when the real fun began.
The top water action was non-stop and at times we were smothered with caddis. Once into Brown’s Canyon the already hot fishing got hotter. We coasted through pools where dozens of trout were rising. We had great fun picking individual rising fish to cast too. The water was so clear we could watch the take long before the fish reached the surface which added to the excitement.
The upper Arkansas is an amazing fishery. Last year I caught the tail end of the mother’s day caddis but by the time I got here the run-off had begun and fishing conditions were tough. I’ve spent the past year imagining what it would be like to fish here under optimal conditions and now I’ve done it.
