Zoom Flume Rapid

One of the many great things about fishing the Arkansas River is the opportunity to float Brown’s Canyon. The canyon begins a couple of miles below Ruby Mountain put-in and ends just upstream form Hecla Junction and contains a series of class III-V rapids. Floating Browns offers the opportunity to combine some excellent fishing for big brown trout and some thrilling whitewater action.

Left: Running Zoom Flume rapid is a highpoint of the canyon whitewater experience. This class III-IV rapid is notable for the complete horizon line when approaching the rapid, the long continuous drop and “Pyramid Rock,” a spike of granite mid river that can instantly change your day.

Pictures courtesy Colorado Whitewater Photography. Check out their web page for images from the Arkansas. If you float the canyon or elsewhere make sure you check with them as they might have the perfect image to capture the excitement of your trip.

Don’t get the wrong idea, although Brown’s does contain some great whitewater there is plenty of slower runs and especially some large eddies behind house sized rocks. The fishing can be tricky, not so much because of the fish but more on the part of the angler. An experienced Brown’s canyon boatman is the key. A Brown’s guide must not only be able to negotiate rapids like Zoom Flume and Widow Maker but also be able to quickly slow the boat after the rapid and put the angler on the water that holds fish.

As with all fly angling, line control is key but all the more so when fishing from a sometimes swiftly moving boat. For the big rapids I’ll often reel in reel in and hang on with one hand but I’m always prepared for a cast as quickly as possible below the rapid. The slack water and large eddies below the rapids can produce the biggest fish of the day. Also, don’t be too quick to reel in before a rapid as the pools above the swift water can also be a great place to find fish.

I’d argue that the Arkansas River’s wild browns fight as hard as any trout I know and this is especially true of Brown’s Canyon fish. Fishing fine and far off has it’s place but Browns probably isn’t the place for light tippets. Hopper-dropper combinations are very productive but don’t pass up the chance to fish some big streamers off the rocky banks.

Brown’s Canyon

This morning I floated and fished the Brown’s Canyon section of the Arkansas River. It’s an amazing combination of excellent trout fishing and running class III+ rapids.

Four Corners guide Joel and I got an early start, putting-in before 7 am. The river was beautiful at that hour. The first section of the river, called the “Milk Run” is relatively calm but can be great for fishing. I fished streamers, large streamers all day with the idea of catching some big fish with big flies…or at least keeping some of the smaller fish off the hook.

This worked for the most part. I started with a white streamer and got little action. I quickly switched to a black fly in the same pattern and things really picked up. Later, I switched to a “Rattlesnake” and ended up with a “Zoo Cougar.” The Rattlesnake is my current favorite fly. I missed loads ot fish on the Zoo Cougar because, I believe, the fish were hitting the tail. With the Rattlesnake which has a second up-riding hook I was able to connect to more fish.

Part way through the Milk Run we reached the point on river right where Chalk Creek meets the Arkansas. Chalk Creek is aptly named. It passes beneath towering chalk cliffs on the south east side of Mt. Princeton. This summer has been very wet and Chalk Creek has blown out repeatedly over the past few months, most recently last Wednesday.

Each time the creek blows it dumps loads of chalk into the creek and then into the Arkansas making the river a chalky green and often unfishable for days. Even though the creek was running clearer today the evidence of the chalk remains a long way downstream from the confluence where the sandy bottoms between the rocks are now chalky white. The most facinating thing is that the fish that I caught on that side of the river where also a chalky white. The picture (right) is not too good but you can see the washed-out colors of the brown trout. The previous picture is or a brown trout caught within a few hundred yards but on the river left.

Many thanks to Joel for rowing so that I could fish. It was a fantastic trip down the canyon and I look forward to the next run.

Dream Stream

Friday I spent the day scouting South Park. First I stopped at Antero Reservoir, just north of route 24 about 25 miles east of Buena Vista.

Antero re-opened this summer after a long closure. It has been managed as a trophy stillwater fishery and the results are undeniable. An 18 lb cutthroat was taken already this summer and there have been many 5 lb + fish.

But the big fish hype comes at a price. As I walked the banks on the south side of the lake I was saddened to see the trash that has already been left behind by thoughless anglers. I was even sadder when I saw two dead, graying trout bobbing in the water next to shore. Each was bigger than the biggest I’ve ever caught. Add the crowds of shore anglers and an amada of boats and tubes and it’s not a scene I want to repeat while there are so many beautiful places in Colorado to enjoy.

Speaking of beautiful places. Pictured above is the “Dream Stream” aka the South Platte River that flows between Spinney Mountain Reservoir and Eleven Mile Reservoir. The Dream Stream has the character of a spring creek, with the cold water, weedy streambed and large trout that one would expect. The stream has a reputation as a trophy hunters paradise in the spring and the fall when the rainbows & cutts (spring) and browns (fall) come into the stream to spawn from Eleven Mile Reservoir. The summer can also offer some good fishing to stream resident fish but like you’d expect with a spring creek the fish can be picky and I’m told small bugs and fine leaders are the way to success.

I also had a good look at Spinney Mountain Reservoir which along with trout fishing is also known for its northern pike. On entering the park there is a large sign encouraging anglers to harvest pike in an effort to resore the balance between pike and trout in the lake. I look forward to helping them out with that.

Cottonwood Lake

Thursday I drove up to Cottonwood Lake just west of Buena Vista. It’s not exactly a high mountain lake but it does sit at about 9,000 feet and is flanked by tall mountains. The highest, Mt. Princeton to the south is one of Colorado’s Fourteeners at 14,197 feet.

The trip up Cottonwood Pass follows Cottonwood Creek, and then the south fork of Cottonwood Creek. I’ve fished the creek before and enjoy catching small brookies in the meadows and pools, many of which are created by beaver dams.

The lake has easy access from a 3 mile gravel road. It’s a favorite spot for anglers who fish hardware and bait from the banks. I took my Outcast pontoon and had the whole lake to myself for much of the day. The lake is stocked with catchable rainbows but also has some browns. The one in the picture may be stream or lake bred. It’s hard to see but he had excellent colors and a bright red tip on his adipose fin. Even the stocker fish were no push-overs. I began fishing with a large attractor and a small nymph dropper. I took a few fish on the dropper but the water was clear and I could see fish come up to the attractor, almost touching it with their noses and then turn away. I switched to a Dave’s hopper and went a size smaller on the tippet and immediately started catching fish on the surface.

I wrapped up the day by coming back down to 8,000 feet and fishing the Arkansas just below BV. I landed the largest fish of the trip so far which I had actually foul-hooked on my dropper when he’d slashed at my hopper. The combination of the fast water and a large fish foul-hooked was quite a load on my 5 wt. Until I realized that he wasn’t hooked in the mouth I thought I was tied into a monster.

Today I’m off to explore the South Platte.

Colorado Water

I’m back in the Upper Arkansas Valley in central Colorado. They’ve had one of the wettest summers on record and the river is running high. The first couple of days I was here we had heavy rain and a number of the feeder creeks flashed which put the Arkansas off color and made for some poor fishing conditions.

Wednesday morning I guided a halfday for ArkAnglers. The river was still in poor condition as you can see in the picture to the left but the weather had changed back to the usual Colorado blue skies that are more seasonal.

Wednesday evening, my brother Darren (front) and Gringo (rear) took our boat out and floated a stretch of the river known as Wildhorse Canyon. It was a fantastic evening. We didn’t put-in until about 6:30 which meant that it was dark by the time we reached the take-out at Buena Vista around 9 pm.

We were far enough upstream that the water quality was excellent although it was running high and fast for August. I hooked countless brown trout fishing a “zoo cougar” streamer with a sink-tip on my 6 wt. Darren also had some nice fish, one in particular that took his “fly formerly known as prince” nymph but decided to spit it out before we had him to the boat.

Barbless Hooks

I always fish barbless. Well almost always. At the start of every guide trip I let the clients know that they will be fishing barbless. I tell them that it has nothing to do with the fish but everything to do with what happens when they hook themselves, their buddy or their guide.

If you flyfish you will hook yourself. If you guide two fly anglers, one each end of a 14′ boat, you will get hooked.

Left: Yesterday I was bass fishing with a friend. We were fishing barbless. The day was very hot, very long and the fish were not cooperating. We changed fly after fly. By late in the day we’d made so many casts and changed so many flies that we managed to miss crimping down a barb. The spoon minnow hook was completely embedded in Tyler’s neck. I’m happy to say that he put it there himself which helped me but didn’t help him very much. He also removed it himself with a pair of pliers.