April 28th, 2025

 

 

Arkansas River (Lower Freestone Basin)

For all those that dedicated the time to come out for our Fly Fishing Film Tour fundraising event for the Minnequa Dam Redesign and the River Cleanup the next day...THANK YOU! It was a WOW crowd at both! We raised some incredible money for Minnequa and collected a literal TON of trash out of the river corridor. For those that missed, join us for our Fall cleanup on October 5th!

 

This past week featured some bonkers Caddis hatch activity, and BWOs were certainly in the mix as well...double dry fishing was the ticket and alot of fish came to hand! In addition, dry/ double dropper, nymphing and streamer fishing continue to be extremely consistent producers. Long story short, fishing is solid...get here! 

As of Monday of this week, the leading edge of the "Brachi" Caddis hatch seems to be in Upper Bighorn (Swissvale upstream) with some sporadic more localized hatches in Salida. We continue to see very consistent fishing on the the full lifecycle of the Caddis in the entirety of Bighorn Canyon and Canon City as fish are very conditioned to Caddis and there are still plenty of bugs in the air with very solid Egglayer returns in the morning and evening. Blue Winged Olive lifecycle activity continues to be a key to success as well, so be prepared on that front. Our guides continue to clean up on Stonefly nymphs and Cranefly larva in areas, and there has even been a fair amount of adult Craneflys flying around as well. We're now in the prime streamer fishing water temp window for the Spring, so for those that like to toss meat...its time! The last several weeks of April and first few weeks of May can be some of the very best and consistent fishing of the entire Spring season...so plan some days!

Arguably the best fishing weeks of the Spring season are upon us...April and Early May are truly hard to beat! Get some days on the calendar and call us if you're ready to book a guide trip! (888) 994-6743

 

 

 

We're pre-booking prime dates for the Spring and Summer season in 2025! Call us today to get a trip on the books if that is something you're considering! 719-371-4530 or CLICK HERE for more information.

 

 

Stream Conditions

Wellsville Flowrate: 378 cfs

Cañon City Flowrate: 348 cfs 

Clarity-  Tinted to Clear

*The river is in phenomenal shape...really optimal conditions. As of April 15th there is a little more release in the river...however, the river will likely stay in the 350-500cfs range at the Wellsville gauge until the middle of May. We may see some short offcolor slugs with low level snow melt...but plenty of clean water to choose from!

 

Suggested Methods

We're beginning to see a wide variety of methods take fish out there! While nymphing will be your staple for much of the day, we're now seeing full scale lifecycle activity of the Caddis and a continuation of heavy Blue Winged Olive activity, so fish are spreading out a bit more and looking up at times. We're certainly beginning to see fish move into riffles on those warmer afternoons signaling active Caddis and Stonefly nymphs. When nymphing, focus on your efforts on Stoneflies and Craneflies in combination with Caddis Larva/ Pupa and or BWO nymphs/ emergers. Always be prepared with the full lifecycle of the Caddis and Blue Winged Olive as there will be some really great hatch activity ahead. Our guides are starting to see some strong moments with smaller streamers out there also, so swing by the flyshop and we can get you the juice if you're a streamer junkie!

Swing by the flyshop for our go-to patterns...and all of our favorites are available online or via phone order 888-994-6743.

 

 

 

Arkansas River (Upper Freestone Basin)

 

General Overview

The Upper Basin just continues to get better and better with consistently warmer weather. Look for strong Caddis activity in the Salida area this week, possibly stretching up to Stone Bridge. Blue Winged Olive activity is full swing from Salida to Leadville, with fish keyed on all lifecycle stages and solid hatches on cloudy days. The streamer bite hasn't quite kicked on in the upper elevation like it has in Bighorn Canyon, but nymphing will continue to be a staple.

 

 

Stream Conditions

Leadville Flowrate: 62 CFS

Granite Flowrate: 282 CFS

Salida Flowrate: 352 CFS

Clarity- Tinted to Clear

 

Suggested Methods

We're beginning to see a wide variety of methods take fish out there! While nymphing will be your staple for much of the day, we're beginning to see full lifecycle activity within the Blue Winged Olive category, so fish are spreading out a bit more and looking up at times. We're certainly beginning to see fish move into riffles on those warmer afternoons signaling a big ramp up of Stonefly and BWO activity. When nymphing, focus on your efforts on Stoneflies and Craneflies in combination with Caddis Larva and or BWO nymphs/ emergers. Always be prepared with the full lifecycle of the Blue Winged Olive as there will be some really great hatch activity ahead. Our guides are starting to see some strong moments with smaller streamers out there also, so swing by the flyshop and we can get you the juice if you're a streamer junkie!