Arkansas River - CO

Fishing Outlook & Conditions

ArkAnglers's Tip of the Week

Bighorn Sheep Canyon is fishing incredibly well for March (it feels more like summer!), offering a wider productive window on the water than the river further north. The week begins again with highs in the 60s and 70s and when combined with mild nighttime temperatures offers excellent fishing opportunities for this time of year. Water temperatures are remarkably warm, with daytime highs measuring 50 degrees below Salida in the late afternoon. The fish are responding accordingly, moving into much shallower water to feed, dispersing into riffled areas and pocket water to intercept food. Feeding behavior is more aggressive, too, with fish moving quite a bit further to intercept a drifting morsel. Midges (#18-22) are the primary forage with sporadic hatches prompting localized surface feeding from trout. We're also seeing fish feed opportunistically on golden stonefly nymphs as the naturals undergo their seasonal molt underwater. These can be imitated by nymphs in the #10-12 range. Both free living and cased caddis larvae are increasingly active, particularly in the morning. These average a #14-18. St. Patrick's Day grants blue wing olives official permission to begin hatching, though we've seen some adventurous mayflies a little ahead of schedule already. Plan for the strongest hatches to be on cloudy, humid afternoons (which we haven't seen in a while). That said, even recent bluebird days have produced some strong, localized mayfly hatches and trout are definitely taking notice. Regardless of weather, expect baetis nymphs to engage in behavioral drift each afternoon as the distribute through the river. These insects are best imitated by offerings in #18-20, depending on the pattern. 5x tippet is appropriate, and fluorocarbon is recommended to all subsurface offerings due to the low, clear water. St. Patrick's Day grants blue wing olives official permission to begin hatching, though we've seen some adventurous mayflies a little ahead of schedule already. Plan for the strongest hatches to be on cloudy, humid afternoons (which we haven't seen in a while). That said, even recent bluebird days have produced some strong, localized mayfly hatches and trout are definitely taking notice. Regardless of weather, expect baetis nymphs to engage in behavioral drift each afternoon as the distribute through the river. These insects are best imitated by offerings in #18-20, depending on the pattern. 5x tippet is appropriate, and fluorocarbon is recommended to all subsurface offerings due to the low, clear water.

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