Runoff is Coming to The Upper Arkansas River

The Larimer family 2025 Mother’s Day float.

Overview:

Clearly runoff is not too far away. I would bet on no more than a week of good fishing conditions in the lower sections below Salida and not much more upriver of BV. We have a relatively sunny week forecast and that will start to melt some snow in a hurry.

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. I would bet that we are in store for a lot more sun this week than clouds. That will start to melt snow in the higher elevations.

Water Temperatures:

Air temperatures continue to slowly get more consistently warmer day and night, but due to snowmelt ramping up water temperatures won’t rise a ton. Water temperatures upriver of BV are still in the 40’s and low 50’s while below Salida might hit 60 in the shallows on a sunny day.

Flows:

It’s currently 548 cfs and rising at the Wellsville gauge. Not only are we starting to really melt some snow but flows out of Twin Lakes into Lake Creek have been increased by about 150 cfs over the 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. Runoff looks like it will begin on time this year if not a little early.

Clarity:

Tributaries without reservoirs like Cottonwood Creek and The South Arkansas are starting to run with snowmelt and definitely have some good color to them. The cloudiness in the water will should help the fishing, but could quickly turn to unfishable conditions in the next week or so if the weather stays as it is. 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 will be jockeying for the best velocity shelters as the water continues to rise. Look for them to be more aggressively looking to the edges of the river. But at this point, they should still be able to find mid-river runs that are still suitable. But that could change quickly if the water continues to rise quickly. 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 even saw a Golden Stone and a Grasshopper landing on the water yesterday in the Big Bend area. 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. With the rising water the trout will get more aggressive to defend and jockey for new positions. As a result, they’ll attack and sometimes eat smaller fish that thought they had a safe spot near the shore.

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. As the water rises, you may want to go a bit longer and lighter to your nymphs to get your fly down deeper and faster. If you want to read more about rigging, click here.

Float Fishing:

The water is rising but most boaters would still classify the conditions as technical. Especially compared to what it will be in a couple weeks. However, there is now enough water to get most fishing rafts through everything below Johnson’s Village. With that said, I’d like to see a little more water in the Milk Run and Brown’s Canyon before I go in there with my 14-foot fishing raft. There are no new hazards in the river that I know of but that can change quickly as the water rises. 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 very careful. The Arkansas is always way too rocky for hard sided drift boats.

FLOAT fishing Etiquette:

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.

Wade fishing:

As flows rise and the fish move to the edges, wading deeper into the river becomes necessary. 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. Be careful if you need to cross the river. There aren’t many safe places to cross below BV at current flows. Also, be careful of rattlesnakes in the canyons below Salida. I often see them this time of year sunning themselves along the river.

Wade fishing 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.