June 20th, 2026

Arkansas River (Lower Freestone Basin)

Perfect wade conditions with flows at 280cfs at Wellsville, and float fishing is still manageable in the right sections!Evenings have been nice and cool, so water temps are in a great range and hatches are plentiful. Still, best fishing will be found in the morning first thing to around noon, and then again in the evening. Get here to get on some fish...Early Summer fishing has arrived!

Things are transitioning pretty quickly into prime Summer fishing on the Arkansas River Freestone! With nearly record low snowpack on the Ark basin, runoff never really happened..so fishing will just continue to roll on. With hatches beginning earlier than average, we've already began to see Yellow Sallies, Pale Morning Duns, Red Quills and a few early Hoppers in addition to the still substantial Caddis & BWO activity. We likely will see flows in the 250-400cfs mark over the next several weeks as what remaining high level snow make it's way down...but it likely will have little affect on clarity and fishing will remain excellent. Be sure to plan some days in late May and June, as they could be some of the best weeks of the season this year!

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Stream Conditions

Wellsville Flowrate: 280 cfs 

Cañon City Flowrate: 243 cfs

Clarity- Clear

Snowpack is all but gone at this stage in the game. There is some release water coming out of Clear Creek and Twin Lakes, but for the most part any snowmelt coming into the upstream reservoirs is being held. Clarity is exceptional and we should see flows hold in the 250-400cfs range over the next several months. 

Suggested Methods

Our guides are beginning to see alot of different bugs out there now, so your rigging needs to change accordingly. Fish are eating larger dry flies already due to the introduction of a few more Hoppers, flying Ants, Yellow Sallies and early Stoneflies. Dry/ Dropper or Dry/ Double Dropper will be our focal method moving forward along with nymphing as needed and of course plenty of streamer fishing. Typically we like to run a bushy foam dry up top dropping a heavier attractor nymph in the middle position (Yellow Sally, Caddis, Red Quill Nymph) and then trail a 2nd dropper off that middle dropper as needed (BWO or PMD nymph). You can easily run the same flies in a nymph rig as needed. For those streamer junkies out there...it's time! With more consistent water temps and alot of Brown Trout fry emerging at the moment...streamers have been very effective!

Arkansas River (Upper Freestone Basin)

General Overview

We're seeing localized Caddis hatches all the way through Buena Vista and we likely will see that only ramp up more this week with the warmer weather. The Upper Basin is also seeing a bit heavier BWO activity along with the Caddis, while new Summer Bugs and Terrestrials start to enter the scene on the Lower Basin.