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For the fisherman
To have attained a position in life where time and
money can be comfortably set aside to enjoy the pursuit of fishing is
truly a privilege. To live in a place where such beauty forms the daily
backdrop of life is the ultimate blessing.
It is said that the function of famous rivers is to keep the majority of fishermen away from the really good ones. Whoever coined this phrase had probably wet a line on the Arkansas River a time or two. From it’s headwaters on the continental divide high above Leadville, until it emerges from the depths of the Royal Gorge one hundred and twenty miles downstream near Canon City, few western rivers can offer today’s angler the same quality and variety of fishing experience.
If you are like me, size of fish is secondary to the quality of the experience. Quality for me means the opportunity to lock horns with wild fish in their natural environment, no crowds and beautiful surroundings. And on a river where most of the time a dry fly is the fly of choice. If this sounds like you too, then you need to visit the Arkansas River if you haven’t already.
Wild brown trout
in particular thrive in this cold, clear freestone
river, although the Arkansas is also home to significant rainbow, and
in its higher reaches, even brook trout populations. The
river bed itself is ideal habitat for significant populations of mayfly,
caddis and stonefly nymphs, so the months from April to October in particular
offer a great variety of dry fly opportunities. The lower end of the
river, between Salida and Canon City, flows through what we locals call
the Banana Belt. This means relatively mild winter temperatures, a surprising
number of sunny days in the forty to fifty degree temperature range,
and the opportunity to fish nymphs and midge patterns productively throughout
the colder months.
Significant amounts of the river are public accessible, meaning it is usually no problem to find a quiet spot to fish by yourself, without needing access to private land. If you enjoy float fishing, the Arkansas offers more than eighty miles of floatable water, with an unbeatable combination of faster, bouldery pocket water and long grassy banks stacked with aggressive fish. And we haven’t even started to consider the countless miles of small streams, beaver ponds and high lakes that surround the valley.
