Arkansas River?

Anybody out there ever fished this river? Any suggestions on guides? My wife and I will be in Colorado late spring or early summer and we would like to do some fishing.

I fished it years ago below Climax mine. The fishing was good, lots of rainbows.

matt

Thanks Gilly. Anyone else? How about the Gunnison River?

EasyE, I fished with Larry Fredricks at Arkanglers a couple years ago (www.arkanglers.com). Great guy and I landed about 70 trout on one float with him. Trout ranged from 8-18". Arkanglers used to have access to a private ranch that had some huge 'bows and browns in a little 100 cfs stream. Sight fishing was a rush! Big fish was about a 5 lb 'bow. Unfortunately, some gazillionaire bought the place and no longer allows access

Also fished with the Blue Quill out of Evergreen on the Platt and Cheeseman R's. Hiked in to these and managed to figure out some tricks. Even sore-armed ourselves landing about 60 3-5# Kokanee on another river. Great fun on a 5wt. Lots of stories about that trip! Have fun!
Michael

Thanks for the info Michael. Arkanglers has come up several times in my search for a guide. What time of year were you there? We still haven't decided exactly when we are going. The Gunnison river also looks interesting.

3rd week in August....

No, but my wife and I are heading over in mid April for a week. I've talked to several folks about this fishery...in particular was a group I met on Rock Creek last year and they really talked it up. I've called ArkAnglers, Royal Gorge and one other fly shop (whose name I don't recall) about the fishery and timing. They say from 4/15 through 5/15 is prime time and even if you hit some run-off, you can find action somewhere along the 80+ miles of fishable water....much of which is public access. The "tax day" hatch starts around Cannon City and moves 7-10 miles upstream each day.
We will stay in Canon City our first couple of nights, then head towards Salida and eventually make our way over to the South Platte as we head back to Denver for a return flight. I'm psyched about the trip and hope to witness what is described as a caddis blitz rarely seen on any other river.
My only other trip to Colorado was part of a business trip in late February some years back. The week before I left, it was "blue-bird" weather and the Deckers area was on fire. As luck would have it, a weather system moved in and it never got over 5F the week I was there...ice-off had no effect!
I'm certain this trip will be better. Have fun and we'll probably pass you on the river.

My son has worked as a raft guide and fly fishing guide out of Buean Vista for the last 4 years. This was his time of year to fish
He could not say enough about the hatch you are talking about. I was down for his graduation form school and we had two geat days of fishing. Good Luck

Sounds like it will be a great trip freestone. Looking forward to a report when you return. Looks like we will be there in August and will probably book a float with ArkAnglers.