Arkansas River Headwaters

With scant rain in the last ten days, the Arkansas River has dropped to a base flow of about 325 cfs through Bighorn Sheep Canyon. The water is very clear and the water temperatures are swinging from high 40 degrees up to mid 50 degrees. Active aquatic insects include morning midges, blue winged olive mayflies in the afternoons, some late red quills, and a mixture of caddis. There is also still a strong population of hoppers. The brown trout exhibit a sort of tidal movement through the day, starting early along the edges and in riffles to feed on midges, going deep with the ascending angle of the sun during late morning, moving back up into broken water to feed on drifting mayfly nymphs in the afternoons, and then back out onto the edges for the lower light of evening. As a result, fly placement is often more important than specific pattern – one has to fish the water where the active fish are holding. This general daily routine should persist for about a month or so more, depending on weather and water temperatures (Courtesy of ArkAnglers) Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area

Clear Creek Reservoir

Trout fishing at Clear Creek Reservoir remains fair from both boat and shore. A majority of anglers reported landing homogeneous groups of 8 to 12 inch rainbow trout. Shore anglers are still experiencing success at landing trout on a bubble and Pistol Pete combination. Bait anglers fishing from shore have caught trout on Berkley's Floating Magnum Eggs. Most of the trout strikes from a boat occurred in depths less than 15 feet. Boat anglers experienced tremendous success at landing trout with gold Mepps spinners and Rapalas. Kokanee salmon fishing conditions have improved drastically. A few boat anglers caught kokanee salmon on pink Tasmanian Devil lures in 15 feet of water. 

Lake Pueblo

Surface temperature is around 69 degrees and slowly dropping as the days are shorter and the nights are getting cooler. This is certainly good news, as the fishing is only getting better. Fishing has been fair to good lately. Bass fishing is picking up as the bass are gorging on shad right now. Anglers are having success with crank baits and spinner baits. Walleye fishing has been fair to good, with a few smaller walleye beginning to move up into shallower water. Grubs and small crank baits will produce a few bites for walleye in shallow water. There have been a few reports of trout being caught trolling. The catfish are being caught on the west end using chicken liver and worms. The wipers have been few and far between. Lake Pueblo State Park

Trinidad Lake

The lake is at 770 surface acres with a surface elevation of 6188.18 feet. The surface temperature is around 70 degrees. Juvenile smallmouth bass and perch are being caught from areas of cover using night crawlers. We are also seeing a few trout on PowerBait from the shore. Early mornings and late evenings continue to be the most productive. Fishing from the shore has slowed down. Boaters are still catching trout, walleye, and perch using jigs tipped with a night crawler or artificial minnow. Some boaters are catching fish trolling worm harnesses. Trinidad Lake State Park