Down In The Arkansas

Our good friend Al Money just returned from a trip to Colorado and sends us this fishing report:

Ronnie Gibson and I got a chance to do some fishing on the Arkansas River in Colorado last week.  We were about 3 hours southwest of Denver near the towns of Salida and Buena Vista.  We hired a guide (Abe) through Arkanglers Fly Shop for a half day just to show us the tricks of the local water. 

It didn't take Ronnie long to hook up with a nice Rainbow but I guess I am just a slow learner because we were several hours into the day before I got my first Brown to the net.  

We both had two pretty fantastic days once we learned the trick of fishing tiny flies over shallow but fast riffles with no lead and absolutely drag free drift.  Most of the fish we caught were holding in about 6 inches of fast moving water over a rocky bottom.  They blended in so well with the bottom that you really couldn't spot them until one took the fly.  The Rainbows are stocked but all of the Browns in this river are wild fish.  Here are a few pictures, hope you enjoy.