To anyone driving up or down the Canyon at the moment, it will probably come as no surprise that the caddis hatch has arrived. Thousands of bugs smeared on windshields are witness to one nature’s most prolific and spectacular examples of birth, renewal and the urge to survive against the odds, at least on the fly fisherpersons calendar. Having spent the last twelve months living underwater as small caterpillar like nymphs, the caddis are now hatching in order to find a mate or three, lay some eggs back in the stream and pass the flame on to the next generation.
For a fisherperson, this is almost nirvana. Most other rivers in the state, on account of their lower elevation snowfields, are blown out, running high and murky. Here on the Arkansas, an average of four thousand hungry fish per mile are ready to begin their own cycle of fattening up after a long, lean winter by gorging themselves on this regular seasonal bounty.
When a guy drives a couple of thousand miles to fish with you because you told him six months ago that if here was here at this time he would have great dry fly fishing, the pressure is on. So it was when Cliff rolled into town. I had the good fortune of meeting Cliff on the Big Horn last year fishing with Jeff Porter, Salida local who is living the dream – skiing, biking and fishing almost daily, with work getting in the way from time to time.
If you fish often enough, the gods will smile on you once in a while, and this day was one of those days. We floated from Vallie Bridge to Lone Pine, a stretch that from a fishing point of view hadn’t produced that well a week ago. But in fishing, as in politics or sport, a week can be along time. To put it mildly, we caught a bunch of fish. They were active primarily on nymphs in the morning, but later in the afternoon as the water temperature increased and the bugs started hatching, the fish switched their attention to dries. A fish taking a caddis is a completely different animal to one taking a mayfly, for example. While the mayfly takes are usually slow and languid, a caddis take is often aggressive and lightening fast. This can make for spectacular acrobatics on behalf of the fish both on the take, and after during the fight..
Right now, the bugs are hatching all the way up through Salida, and the hatch activity should stay strong through the next couple of weeks. For the record, in the morning we fished with a pheasant tail or hares ear below a yellow stimulator, switching to a caddis and a stimulator once the fish had started rising. The purpose of the stimulator is to help you locate your caddis amongst all the naturals on the water, but this fly still takes a significant number of fish as well. This may have something to do with the attraction of a cheese burger after having watched a long line of french fries float by.
If you find yourself in the right place at the right time, the fishing right now can be spectacular. The fish are not shy. I have seen them leap out of the water and take a bug off the side of the boat. I have watched them get driven to distraction trying six times to take the same caddis as it skips around on the water. So arm yourself with a few dry flies, a few nymphs, and get out there and enjoy. If things cool down some this weekend as predicted, look for an increase in blue winged olive activity, and maybe mix caddis patterns with blue winged ones, like sprouts and adams.
THAT was a fun day. :)
From State College, PA to Salida, CO is a tiring 1730 mile drive. But as one can see, a float on the Arkansas River with fishing buddies Jeff and Hayden for an opportunity to experience this Caddis hatch is one reviving experience. Great fishing always makes for good fraternity, but it sure helps to have a top notch oarsman like Hayden. Note that we did manage to quench our thirst…often…(after all fly fishing is hard work) with the “beer of the river”–Modello with lime! Thanks.