A Record Setting Day

January 31, 2024

The Arkansas River – The Tailwater – In Town (The Steel City Run to Wild Horse Creek.)

Brian with a 23" brownie.

Flows:  103 cfs.

Moon Phase:  Waning Gibbous (81% illumination).

Water Temp: 38F @ 9a. 40F @ 1p.

Water clarity: Off color - about 2’ of visibility.   

Air Temp: 32F @ 8:30a – 62F @ 4p.

Hatches: Midge: 11:30a – 3:30p (Sparse hatch - ~size 22).

Spawning: No redds seen and no spawning activity observed.

Flies: #16 Hare’s Ear, #16 Purple Prince Nymph, #22 Black Manhattan Midge, #16 Red Midge Larva, #20 Red Midge Larva, #22 Flashback Black Beauty, #16 Sawyer’s Style Pheasant Tail, #16 & #20 Red Tube Midge Larva, #20 Mercury Flashback Pheasant Tail, #16 Bead Head Caddis Emerger.

Top producers: Red Tube Midge Larva (Both #16 & #20), Mercury Flashback Pheasant Tail, Bead Head Caddis Emerger, Hare’s Ear, Prince Nymph.

We've seen a few Bald Eagles along the In-town section of the Tailwater.

It was a record setting day for Brian.

Lights out.

To quote him – “My best day ever for quality of fish and a very good day for quantity of fish”.

Our expectations were high as we drove down 25 to Pueblo.  The weather was forecasted to be in the low 60s – very warm for the last day of January. With the very temperate weather I was expecting – hoping would be more descriptive – for a heavy midge hatch. Maybe we’d even see some of the winter BWOs that have been in absentia so far this winter. All in all, we were expecting – or hoping – for a good day on the river.

Don was out on Monday and reported a very slow day and a very sparse midge hatch.  He fished the middle section of the Tailwater and it was slow for him and everyone he talked to.

Murals on the levee.

Even before hearing from Don, we were leaning toward fishing in town.  We’ve had a stretch of warm weather and it should have compensated for the cold snap we had a few weeks ago bringing the in-town section of the river back to it’s normal winter conditions. The ice would no doubt now be melted and the fish’s metabolism back to what is normal for winter. We were hoping that the nice weather wouldn’t bring the crowds out.

We decided to start at the Steel City Run and work our way upstream to the Honey Hole. The same stretch of the river that we covered last time fishing in town.

We pulled into the stadium parking lot at 8:30a and were on the river by 8:45a. We were surprised and happy to find the place completely deserted - no other fishermen in sight and the river completely open. Our plan was to slice the run in half – with one of us fishing from the top of the run to the middle of it and the other one starting at the middle and fishing it downstream to the tailout. This way we’d both have fresh water to fish.

This big, meaty sucker was my 1st fish of the day.

I took the top and Brian started in the middle. There were no midges in the air which isn’t unexpected for early winter mornings, but I was expecting them to start hatching earlier because of the warm weather. After inspecting my rig, I decided to leave my two top flies #16 Sawyer’s Style Pheasant Tail and my #22 Flashback Black Beauty and replace my last fly – the #22 Black Manhattan Midge with a #12 Red San Juan Worm. The only weight was my Sawyer’s and a .12g splitshot.

After positioning myself at the very top of the run I casted into the riffles and let my flies drift into the drop off of the deep trough that forms this run.  On my third cast, just as my flies hit the drop off my indicator paused and I set the hook.

Fish on! And it was a weighty – big fish.

Wow – I was really happy with this start! After fighting the fish for a while and getting him close in I saw it was a sucker. That deflated my excitement.

Brian got this 18" rainbow in the Blue Heron Run.

The big, meaty sucker hit my San Juan Worm. It was a big one too – a little over 20 inches. After fishing in the Ohio River as a kid and catching a bunch of carp, catfish, and suckers – I’m no fan of any of them, but Brian asked me to snap a picture of it for Ash – his granddaughter who thinks they are cute.

I ended up snagging another one of those big, meaty suckers before we left to work our way upstream. There is a stretch just upstream with a couple of weirs that we wanted to try last time, but they were occupied then. Now with the river completely open, we headed that way.

Before going though, I wanted to try the small, deep pocket just upstream of the Steel City Run. I hooked up a nice rainbow there last time and wanted to see he – or another one – was there.  After covering it, I found it empty.

One of Brian's rainbows.

Brian Kenney.

I decided to change up my rig - then work upstream. I was thinking without an active midge hatch, I wanted midge larva as my target flies. For some reason I decide to change out my Sawyer’s Style Pheasant Tail too – replacing it with a #16 Hare’s Ear.  I followed it with a #22 Mercury Flashback Black Beauty and a #16 Red Midge Larva – then headed upstream.

I hit a couple of fishy spots as I made my way and finally above the first weir, I met up with Brian as he was bringing a nice 18” rainbow to net. He got it in the flat water below the second weir - the first trout of the day and it was a nice one.  It hit his Bead Head Caddis Emerger. I got a kick out of that because I considered a Caddis when I made my change a bit earlier, but decided against it. Saying to myself “there shouldn’t be any caddis emerging in this river at this time of year”.

Just goes to show you.

Brian would net several nice rainbows - like this one.

Brian Kenney.

After releasing him, we both worked our way further upstream and ended up in a run that we named the In-town Blue Heron Run. Naming it that because of a mural of a Blue Heron on the levee across from it.  This is not to be confused with the Blue Heron Run in the upper section of the Tailwater. We fished the run from opposite sides – Brian on the levee side, me on the trail side.

The water in this run is swift. It flows over a weir and into a pretty deep channel – then slows for a couple hundred yards before it flows over yet another weir. I added some weight hoping to get my flies down in the fast water.  Before long Brian had another 18” rainbow on and fought him to the net.  This one hit his Mercury Pheasant Tail and he got it in the seam on his side of the run where the slow water meets the fast.

For some reason I felt antsy. Maybe I was thinking about the Honey Hole – not sure, but soon I decided to pull up stakes and head that way. Brian stayed and continued to fish the run.  There were no fishermen in the various holes as I walked up the bike trail toward the bridge, the river was completely open until I reached bridge and the Bridge Hole.  There was a guy fishing it.

My 1st rainbow of the day.

I could see from there that the Honey Hole was open and before going there I decided to walk up on the bridge and take a look into the river.  From that vantage point I could get a read on the river structure for reference later – and I might spot some fish!  There were no fish in sight as I checked the upstream and downstream side of the bridge.  Well at least I did get a read on the rive structure.

As I waded into the river at the Honey Hole, I noticed that the water was off color and murky.  The river seamed to flow differently through the run even though the flows from the dam were pretty consistent over the past several weeks. Brian would find out later that there was construction on the river upstream of us and that was what was clouding up the river. Something to keep in mind when picking a section of the river to fish.

As I reached the Honey Hole I noticed an adult midge in the air. It was close to 11a and I was happy to finally see come bug activity.  We would see a midge here and there the rest of the day – no heavy hatch that we were anticipating – at least on the water. We would see a cloud of them as we walked along the bike path to the car at 3:45p. And we did see some – spent adults – on the water in the afternoon, but didn’t see any BWOs.

Another rainbow in the net.

Brian Kenney.

After covering the Honey Hole I moved downstream – walking my flies in a trough that leads to yet another weir. There are a bunch of them in the in-town section of the river – and a lot more are being placed to add structure and improve the habitat.  As I walked my flies downstream my indicator paused, very briefly.

Hook set – fish on! 

Brian had walked up just as I netted a beautiful 16” rainbow. It hit my Hare’s Ear. The Hare’s Ear is a fly that resembles many types of aquatic insects, none of which are midges. Even though, it must have looked appetizing to the opportunistic rainbow. There are many types of insects in the river in various stages of development and even though they may not be hatching they get displaced at times, getting caught in the current and provide a meal for the trout.

I was happy to finally have a trout in the net.

The Honey Hole.

We both fished the Honey Hole and the slow water above and below it, and the weir just downstream of it, taking different positions as we did. I moved downstream below the weir fishing the deep pool just below it and continued to move further downstream. As I did, Brian fished the Honey Hole and landed another rainbow about 16” on one of his Red Tube Midges.

Eventually I came back upstream and fished the above the Honey Hole, moving about 1/8 mile upstream. Each time I set up and covered a run I would see another spot upstream of me that looked enticing.  After getting snagged up and losing my rig, I retied it with a #16 Purple Prince as my lead fly and followed it with a #18 Purple Theo’s Emerger and a #22 Manhattan Midge. I was debating on whether to use the Theo’s Emerger or not as it mostly imitates a baetis and there were none hatching at the time, but I stuck with it.

The weir just downstream of the Honey Hole.

By the time I came back downstream Brian was now fishing downstream of the Honey Hole in the deep pool below the weir. He had his #16 Caddis Emerger, #18 Red Midge Larva, and #20 Red Midge Larva rigged up and netted a few more rainbows – all 18 inches.  They were taking his #20 Red Midge Larva – the hot fly of the day for him.

After he netted yet another rainbow, I changed my target fly to a #20 Red Midge Larva. If it was working for Brian it should work for me too – right?  Well it didn’t.  Still no hits, no nothing since the rainbow I netted before lunch.

I wasn’t feeling the love!

Measuring the big brownie.

As I covered the Honey Hole for what seemed to be about the tenth time Brian hooked up yet another fish. I could tell it was a big fish by the bend of his rod. When he got it close he called out that it had to be 23 or 24 inches. As he was fighting him to the net, I retrieved my line and waded down to see what he had. It was a big brownie – 23” – the biggest trout Brian had ever landed. It took what else but his #20 Red Midge Larva.

The water runs fast as it flows over the huge boulders that make up a short, deep pool. At the end of the pool the water slows considerably and there is a slow seam that flows river left toward the bank where there is a large, downed tree that lays in the water. The seam is about ten feet wide and I’m guessing about four feet deep.  That’s where Brian was hooking up his rainbows and the big brown. 

Brian got several rainbows and his big brownie between the rock and the downed tree.

After a while the action slowed for Brian – it never did heat up for me – and we decided to head downstream toward the car.  We would have enough time to cover one more run and I was thinking of the Steel City Run, hoping that the rainbows would be in there feeding.

As we walked along the bike trail we ran into a guy at the Blue Heron Run.  He lived in Pueblo his whole life and was a regular on the river. As we were chatting I peered downstream and saw that there we two guys in the Steel City Run. With the Blue Heron Run open we shared it with the guy and began to cover it – me on one side, Brian on the other and the guy chatting with Brian rather than fishing.

I started at the very top of the run in the riffles on the levee side covering a seam near shore and worked my way down to the large boulders that lay in the middle of the river. The water is slow right in front of the boulders and I hoping to find a fish there.  After covering it a few times I was ready to give up on it when I had hit.

Fish on!  

A skinny female - just shy of 20".

As I was fighting the fish I was thinking to myself “jeez, I almost forgot what it felt like to be fighting a fish”!  Once netted I saw he had hit the #16 Purple Prince Nymph. It was a nice rainbow measuring just shy of 20”.  After releasing him I moved below the boulders and began to cover the middle of the river.

As I was walking my flies downstream my indicator paused, and I had another nice rainbow on. Man – after the slow morning it felt really good to have some action in rather short order.  This rainbow was challenging and took me all the way down to the weir before I finally netted him – a nice 18”, plump rainbow. He hit the Purple Prince Nymph too.

Releasing the last fish of the day.

We were now out of daylight and it was time to go.

I finally got some action on the last run of the day, but the day belonged to Brian. He slayed ‘em with a bunch of 18” rainbows in the net and that big, bad 23” brownie.

It was a record setting day for him – and one that I’m sure he will remember.