The Arkansas River Mother’s Day Cranefly Hatch?

Trout were feeding heavily on the abundant craneflies on Friday, April 25,2025.

Overview:

We are seeing trout feeding on a variety of aquatic insects including lots of craneflies. The dry fly fishing has been great when the weather is overcast and calm.

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 like it will be a bit of a roller coaster with periods of sun and cloudy conditions. It may even rain a bit. Don’t skip out of the cloudy, cool, wet days. Those are the best days to fish. The sunny warm days may be more comfortable but the truly spectacular spring fishing this river can offer often happens on the drearier days.

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-50’s on sunny afternoons.

Flows:

It’s currently 389 cfs and rising at the Wellsville gauge. Which is pretty typical if not a bit high for this time of year. Flows are being augmented with a small amount from Twin Lakes as Lake Creek is currently running at 115 cfs. Some low elevation snowmelt is also helping to keep your boat from needing four-wheel drive. We are now past the peak of our snowpack for the year. Looks like the Upper Arkansas Basin will be just under 100 percent of median snow water equivalent for the winter. State-wide we’re 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. But 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. The length and peak flows of runoff will be largely dependent on the weather in May, but I wouldn’t expect runoff as high and long as the last couple years.

Clarity:

We are definitely getting enough low elevation snowmelt that the water is a bit cloudy. This is less of an issue the higher upriver you go. Experienced anglers know that the clearer the water the more precise your presentation needs to be.

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. The Rainbow Trout are spawning right now so look for them in deep slow water feeding before or after they spawn in nearby gravel.

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. Don’t overlook the emergence of craneflies as an important food source this time of year. As the caddis hatch has diminished in recent years, craneflies and BWO’s that hatch at the same time as the caddis have become much more abundant. A good cranefly imitation could become your new secret weapon as is simply identifying when the fish are taking craneflies over caddis.

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. So, watch out for mini strainers and logs from time to time. There has been some construction on the road along the river going into Ruby Mountain that involves blasting the cliff near the river. As a result, the river has been closed in that area as well as vehicle access to Ruby Mountain. Don’t expect to be able to float from Fisherman’s Bridge to Ruby Mountain or put in at Ruby Mountain until May 1st. So, for all intents and purposes the river is closed to boaters from Fisherman’s Bridge through Brown’s Canyon to Hecla Junction.

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 probably still be found. The river has been closed near Ruby Mountain due to blasting for road construction. Access to Ruby Mountain will be closed until May 1st.

Etiquette:

This time of year, the Arkansas gets much busier with both boat and angler traffic so it’s important to take a deep breath and realize it’s just fishing. Float and wade anglers are generally pretty courteous to each other, but other recreational boaters may not understand the etiquette around fishing. With that said, most of the river traffic right now will be anglers with other recreational boaters showing up during run off and the summer. When wade fishing, realize that most anglers will be moving upriver and will want to cover a lot of water on a river like this. Especially this time of year, wade anglers don’t often post up at a pool for long periods of time. They’re typically on the move. So, wade anglers on the Arkansas expect at least a couple hundred upstream yards in most cases. 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. Also, this time of year you can often wade far into the river or all the way across it. If you find yourself in or near the main channel keep an eye upriver for boats that have no choice but to float through the spot you’re standing in. Likewise, boaters need to be aware of wade anglers in spots they may not normally be able to get to and let them know you’re on the way well in advance. 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.