Cloudy and Cool Days are the Best Days

Storms roll in near Vallie Bridge on Sunday, May 4, 2025.

Overview:

Fishing continues to be on fire with multiple types of insects hatching, great weather conditions and optimal low spring flows.

Weather:

Do not trust your weather app in the mountains! There are so many microclimates around here it really takes a lot of local knowledge to forecast the weather and not an algorithm. The next week looks a bit cloudy, cool and wet to begin the week. However, don’t skip out on the cloudy, cool and wet days. Those are the best days to fish. Especially, if you like dry fly fishing. The sunny warm days may be more comfortable but the truly spectacular spring fishing this river can offer often happens on the drearier days. I experienced multiple days this spring where the fishing is a bit slow until a single cloud comes over and then fish on.

Water Temperatures:

Air temperature continues to be fairly mild, and we are getting some low elevation snowmelt putting cold water into the river. With that said, water temperatures upriver of BV are still in the 40’s for much of the day and temperatures below Salida are probably hitting the mid to upper 50’s on sunny afternoons.

Flows:

It’s currently 374 cfs and rising at the Wellsville gauge. Which is pretty typical if not a bit high for this time of year. We are not getting any additional water from Twin Lakes at the moment as Lake Creek is currently running at 32 cfs. However, all the rain we have been getting is making up for the loss of Twin Lakes water to keep the flows pretty much what it was this time last week. We are now past the peak of our snowpack for the year. The Upper Arkansas Basin was just under 100 percent of median snow water equivalent at about the time of our peak back in early April. State-wide we were at about 90 percent. The US Drought Monitor has recently put the Upper Arkansas Basin in the moderate to severe drought range after years without drought conditions here. That’s not too unexpected since we’ve been in a La Nina pattern for a while now. All of this to say, I would expect to see a normal flow year on the Arkansas in 2025, and I wouldn’t expect runoff as high and long as the last couple years. If I had to guess, I would expect that we are still two to three weeks away from runoff beginning in earnest.

Clarity:

The recent rain and low elevation snowmelt are combining to make the water is a bit cloudy throughout much of the river. The slight cloudiness in the water will should help the fishing. Like always, the water will be clearer the further upriver you go and downstream of tributaries that have reservoirs on them, like Lake Creek and Clear Creek. Experienced anglers know that the clearer the water the more precise your presentation needs to be, but downright muddy water can be unfishable.

Habitat:

The trout have spread throughout the river and are no longer grouped up in slow winter runs. With that said, they are also not just along the edges either. The flows are low enough that they are able to find pockets around exposed boulders and mid-river runs. Also, look for slow riffles, foamy seams and eddies. Brown Trout (which comprise at least 80% of our fish) excel at finding structure to shelter them from the velocity of the river. So, if you aren’t casting in proximity to a rock, log, eddy or riverbed contour of some kind then you’re probably not casting in proximity to a fish either. The Rainbow Trout are probably done spawning at this point. They will often sit up away from structure in the current in order to get at more food.

Food:

We are seeing fish feeding on a variety of insects right now. Midges, mayflies, caddisflies, and craneflies are on the menu. I suspect the further downriver you go the more active stonefly nymphs will be and the higher chance of terrestrials being around as well. The Mother’s Day Caddis hatch has begun but is fairly localized. If you really want to fish a caddis hatch, you’ll just need to get out as much as possible and be ready to move up or downriver until you find them. Blue Wing Olives are still hatching in the early afternoons and the cloudy rainy weather we should see this week will help the fish target the duns on the surface.

Rigging:

In my opinion, tippet size should always match the size of your fly, and the length of your leader should match the technique you are using or the conditions in which you’re fishing. So, if you are using a size 18 dry fly to imitate the Blue Wing Olive duns the fish will often feed on this time of year you may want a tippet/leader combo at least in the 5x range. If it’s one of our ultra windy spring afternoons then shorten your leader to the 7.5 foot range. Also, the water is fairly slow and shallow this time of year, so you may not necessarily need the faster sink rate that light tippet gives you with nymphs. You’ll also lose less flies on the rocky bottom with slightly heavier tippet to your nymph. When the water is higher and faster in the summer, I find I benefit more from thinner and longer tippet to my nymphs than during the spring. If you want to read more about rigging, click here.

Float Fishing:

Typical low spring flows are making for very technical boating. In my opinion, there isn’t enough water to make float fishing above Big Bend or below Lone Pine worth it at this time. There are no new hazards in the river that I know of but people in Salida do a lot of tree-pruning this time of year and seem to think it’s ok to just let the cuttings drop into the river for some reason. The boat ramp at Ruby Mountain is now open again but you may see delays getting in and out of the area due to the ongoing road widening project on County Road 300. The most common boat you’ll see on the Arkansas is a whitewater raft like the NRS Otter 140 I row. At the current low flows, you may be able to get away with small fishing rafts like the NRS Slipstream or some of the Flycrafts or Outcasts, but I’d be careful. The Arkansas is always way too rocky for hard sided drift boats.

Wade Fishing:

Flows are definitely low enough to make for much easier wading than during the summer. Upriver of Buena Vista will have plenty of places that you can wade across the river. Less so below Salida, but those spots can still be found. Also, most wade anglers I see on this river are standing in the slower structure-filled water that Brown Trout love and casting to the deeper faster water that they aren’t as often in. The most common wade fishing approach this time of year is facing upstream while standing either on shore or in shallow water. There’s often no need to mess with the deep fast water.

Etiquette:

Wade anglers here don’t often post up at a pool for long periods of time this time of year. They’re typically on the move and often look for a couple hundred upstream yards to fish. When in doubt, fish downriver of someone and not upriver. There’s lots of road access and if you come to a pull off that already has a car or two at it you should move on a find an empty pull off. With over 100 miles of Gold Medal Water there should be enough space to never feel like you’re combat fishing. Also, the fish in this river are pretty used to seeing a ton of boat traffic and will quickly go back to feeding after a raft comes through. So, I don’t typically lose much sleep over quietly boating through a wade angler’s water. But I don’t fish that water either. Boat ramps should be less busy this time of year, but you should still try and keep to a max of 15 minutes of loading/unloading time on the ramp. I typically am in the habit of unstrapping and pumping my boat in the parking lot and then backing my trailer down the ramp and immediately putting my boat in the water and moving it as far up or downriver away from the ramp as possible while I park my truck or do a shuttle. I also NEVER let my dog run off leash around the ramp. The ramp is not the place to practice if you’re new to backing up trailers.