February 13, 2024
The Arkansas River – The Tailwater – (The Osprey Run to Valco Ponds Run.)
Flows: 107 cfs.
Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent (17% illumination).
Water Temp: DNM.
Water clarity: Clear ~4’ of visibility.
Air Temp: 40F @ 8:30a – Low to mid-50sF @ 4p.
Hatches: Midge: 10a – 3:30p (Size ~24). BWO: Slight – only a few spotted on the water in the afternoon.
Spawning: Redds visible and active spawning activity observed.
Flies: #16 Red Copper John, #22 Blood Midge, #22 Red Midge Larva, #24 Sparkle Wing RS2, #20 Mercury Flashback Pheasant Tail, #22 Stalcup’s Baetis, #22 Black Manhattan Midge, #10 Egg Sucking Leech, #24 Bead Head Olive Zebra Midge, #18 Royal Wulff, #20 Parachute Adams, #20, #22 & #24 Matt’s Midge, #22 Griffith’s Gnat, #20 & 22 Red Tube Midge Larva, #18 Egg, #22 Red Mercury Midge, #22 Blindside Midge, #22 Black Mercury Midge, #20 Mole Fly.
Top producers: Manhattan Midge.
Note from the author: One of the members had asked a while ago if I would include pictures of the flies that we use and I've included some in this blog.
The riffles above the Osprey Run and the redds - the light areas on the bottom right.
On February 14, 2023 – one year and one day before yesterday – I fished the Tailwater solo. The title of the ensuing blog was “If the Fish Are There - You Can Catch Them”.
On that winter day I described moving from one place to another until I found fish – and when I did, I was able to net a few of them. The moral of the story being, don’t waste time fishing a spot that’s empty.
Well yesterday was different. Much different.
We found the fish – and for the most part – the fish ignored our flies. And boy did we try all sorts of different flies. Almost emptied our fly boxes.
The Chubby Chernobyl. I debated to use this one as my "Dry" on my Dry/Dropper rig, but opted for the Royal Wulff.
I suggested we try the upper part of the Tailwater – closest to the dam. Don had been on the river the previous day and mentioned that the fish were starting to spread out and were more active. The rainbows were beginning their spawning routines and they were restless. With that in mind, I was thinking of the Osprey Run.
I’ve had days to remember in the Osprey Run in years past as the rainbows were beginning to spawn. The rainbows fill the run, some sipping midges as they float in the fast riffles into the deep trough that makes up the run. They also hang out below the trough in the deep pool below it.
Big rainbows.
These ones aren’t actively spawning. The spawning beds are upstream of the trough in fast riffles and some rainbows will be paired up on the redd with others below it, waiting their turn. We ignore these fish and give them plenty of space.
My rendition of the Manhattan Midge. It has been a go-to fly for me lately and I used it as my "Dropper" on this trip.
Brian wanted to start in the Hatchery Hole - his favorite hole on this part of the river. I walked with him to the hole then headed upstream. My plan was to walk directly to the Osprey Run but I couldn’t pass up some of the pocket water and the Cliffs Run on the way. It didn’t take too long to cover them, and I found them empty.
Stealth is in order as you approach the Osprey Run where the bank is about ten feet high. The slightest movement or a shadow will send the fish running. As I arrived on the bank and peered into the trough below - I saw that they were there. In bunches.
Perfect!
I walked upstream beyond the spawning beds and crossed the river. I wanted to fish it from mid-stream, casting back toward the bank and into the trough. I made some adjustments before going in, retying my flies. I choose a #16 Red Copper John as my lead fly and followed it with a #22 Blood Midge and a #20 Red Midge Larva. Don had reported success with red flies a day earlier – so I went all red. Brian did too.
Just as I was getting in position mid-stream another guy walked up along the bank. From my vantage point the sun was reflecting off the water creating a glare and I couldn’t see into it, and I was hoping the guy didn’t spook the fish.
One of my Red Midge Larva patterns. Brian killed the fish a few weeks ago with one very similar to this.
The midges weren’t yet hatching, but I would see them start to come off a little later - at about 10a. They were the smaller variety – about a size 24. On the way down we made a conscious decision to look for BWOs. We haven’t seen any yet this winter, which is odd as they usually hatch year-round on this river. Later Brian spotted a few – floating in the current at the Valco Ponds Run with their wings straight up.
When I fish this run I like to cast into the shallow riffles and let my flies drift into the trough. I’ve found quite a few trout in the shallow riffles and it’s a blast to hook them up with their splashy hits. After covering them – I like to cast into the end of the trough and let my flies drift into the deep pool below it.
I followed the script and as I did, I found that my flies were too heavy. The Copper John was weighing them down too much and my flies were getting caught up on the bottom. The only other weight I had on was a .12g split shot – which was the first thing to come off. They were still getting caught up on the bottom and I had to take the Copper John off – replacing it with a #18 Pheasant Tail. I now had no weight on my rig.
The Royal Wulff. It's an effective dry fly later in the year, but I chose to use it as my "Dry" on my Dry/Dropper rig for its buoyancy and size.
Earlier I had seen most of the fish in the deep pool and was covering it with no action. Then Brian showed up on the high bank and I asked him if he could spot any fish. He didn’t see any in the deep pool but spotted several upstream in the trough. They had evidently moved from where I saw them earlier.
Brian joined me for a bit before he decided to head downstream. Between us we covered the entire run backwards and forwards with the fish moving about but not hitting our flies. It was about 10:30a or so when Brian decided to head downstream and after he did a few fish began to rise, forming dimples on the water. It looked like they were eating emerging midges.
As he left I was thinking to myself “I want to crack the code” - figure out how to catch some of these bad boys.
It was then I decided to change up and try a Dry/Dropper setup. I waded over to the bank to rig up my spare rod/reel choosing a Royal Wulff as my Dry. I have a few of them in my fly box from a fly fishing trip many years ago but haven’t used one since. They were left over from my trip and are beautifully tied, but I can’t take credit for them. They were purchased. I followed the Royal Wulff with a #22 Black Manhattan Midge and a #24 Bead Head Olive Zebra Midge.
My Purple Prince Nymph. It was an effective fly last time out.
The bead head of the zebra midge would act as a light weight – sort of like a “Drop Shot”, a rigging method developed by Kelly Galloup a renown fly fisherman, fly tier, and author who owns the Slide Inn fly shop in Montana.
I picked the Royal Wulff for its buoyancy and didn’t expect any fish to hit it. My thought was they would hit the Manhattan Midge just below the surface or maybe the Zebra Midge. They were my target flies.
After several drifts I saw a fish come up and inspect the Royal Wulff. He swam downstream with it for about a foot or so before breaking off. After he did, I thought to myself “so you want some dry flies” and I changed up my rig, this time choosing a #20 Parachute Adams as my lead fly and followed it with a #22 Matt’s Midge.
I didn’t have any action and decided to change the Matt’s Midge out for a Griffith’s Gnat. Below it I added the #22 Black Manhattan Midge back on as a “Dropper”.
A Red Copper John. It's an effective as a lead fly as well as a "Dropper" on an Hopper/Copper/Dropper rig.
After the change I casted my flies into the shallow riffles and quickly had a hit but missed the strike. Then I had another but was not watching and missed it. This caused a brief pause as I had a talk with myself about paying G#&! attention!
I then moved into the trough where I spotted some risers. The sun glare made it hard for me to see my flies. On one of my drifts I lost sight of them - then felt was a jolt. A fish hit and proceeded to fly downstream --- at a very high rate of speed. Since I couldn’t see my flies I don’t know what he hit and I really didn’t set the hook – I just held on. Well, without a good hook set – we all know what happened.
I was not happy – but I did feel some consolation knowing that at least my rig was working. I cracked the code --- well, sort of.
There were spotty rises and I targeted them. I got a perfect cast and drift to one of them and I could see my flies this time as another fish hit. I didn’t see him rise so I’m certain that he hit the Dropper - it was quick and hard. Another jolt.
My Matt's Midge. When fish are rising during a midge hatch it can be very effective.
This time I did set the hook and had that bad boy tight lined as I fought him – thinking to myself “finally”!
I had him about ten feet in front of me and I could see him clearly - a big rainbow - as he fought to get free. And I watched him roll and spit the fly. Oh man --- that was disappointing. These fish know all kinds of maneuvers – and will use them to free themselves!
It was now past lunch time and I hadn’t taken even a short break. I was thirsty and hungry and forced myself to take a break. As I ate I was debating should I stay or should I go? My hope was that Brian had “secured” the Valco Ponds Run and I decided to pull up stakes and head that way with visions of big rainbows eating at the top of the run.
My Guide's Choice Hare's Ear - a fly that I often use as in the lead position as an attractor.
As I walked up to the Valco Ponds Run there was Brian fishing it – and he had all to himself. My plan was coming together!
After crossing the river upstream of the run, I walked along the bank peering into the river to see if I could spot any fish. Before reaching the top of the run I saw a rainbow in the three-foot deep trough near the bank – its bright red stripe giving it away.
I didn’t waste any time going after him with my nymphing rig. After several drifts with no interest from the rainbow, I changed up my flies – leaving the Pheasant Tail on as my lead. I followed it with a #22 Stalcup Baetis and a #22 Black Manhattan Midge, and added a .12g split shot for weight.
A Griffiths Gnat which imitates a cluster of adult midges.
As I was making this change another fisherman walked past very close to the bank and I was hoping he didn’t spook the fish. Once I was done I saw that he had. It wasn’t long though and either he or another fish was back. He had to be eating – that was my thought. Why else would he be expanding the amount of energy necessary to stay in the current?
As I continued to cast my flies to him, Brian moved up toward me and I told him that I haven't been able to get this guy interested. He said he has seen them along the run, but they wouldn’t hit anything. Jeez, this sounded a bit familiar to me – even though I was able to entice a handful of hits in the Osprey Run, they were few and far between.
We were both determined to catch one these brightly colored rainbows and we each made more than several changes to our flies. At one point I mentioned to Brian that it wasn’t the flies – more likely it was depth. But even after changing weight – adding, subtracting, and adding again – and making changes to the depth of my indicator, I still didn’t get any interest.
My rendering of a Sawyer's Pheasant Tail which was the original Pheasant Tail developed by Frank Sawyer a renown guide and author in England - way back in the day.
A lot of times in the winter you have to get your flies right in front of the fish in order for them to take. Their metabolism is so slow they don’t move much. That was my goal and I’m pretty sure I was getting on point drifts, but they continued to ignore my flies.
We were wondering what was going on. We ran into a similar situation on this river a couple of years ago. That time they were eating zooplankton – a microbe – swimming into clouds of them, mouths wide open gulping them down and had no interest in our flies. Was the same thing happening today?
We were also thinking that maybe there is a certain pre-spawn stage when then just quit eating. But I would have to say that this wasn’t anything like I’ve witnessed while observing spawning trout over the many years I’ve been fishing.
Calm water below the Dam Log.
I don’t think we will ever know for sure what was going on, but one thing is certain. They were not exhibiting normal trout behavior and therefore, all the things we’ve learned to do to trick them wouldn’t work.
At one point after adding weight my flies were too low and I snagged a nice rainbow. I did net him and after releasing him I took weight off – again.
A short time later we were below the Dam Log and as my flies were drifting into a line of rainbows, one of them came streaming toward me. It looked like something in a horror movie – swimming crazily, eyes wide open, mouth gaping – like he was running from something. Then he turned and ran across the river, and it was then that I realized that I had him hooked up!
This is the rainbow - a plump, healthy male - who went crazy swimming with one of my flies embedded in his fin.
I’ve never seen anything like it. I was sure he took one of my flies but after getting him close I could see that there was a fly imbedded in one of his fins. After netting him I noticed it had come loose and he didn’t have any flies on his body or in his mouth. With wishful thinking I told Brian that maybe he did hit one of my flies, then got tangled up in another one of them as he fought to free himself.
Nah – I don’t really think that was the case. It was just wishful thinking.
It was now time to leave, and we were both exhausted. We threw the box at them – all the flies in our box it seemed - and except for the few I fooled in the morning --- they were not interested.
A Blood Midge - red is an effective winter color.
I still believe that if you can find the fish you can catch them --- with the caveat --- most of the time.
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