Recently my Friday fly fishing partner, Kim, and I decided to finally take our much-discussed fly fishing trip to the Arkansas River. I had told Kim, on several occasions, what a great fishery the Arkansas River was, and we should fish it. We finally agreed now was the time and headed east from Durango for a two-and-half day outing of fly fishing. As usual, we loaded enough gear into my truck to last a month and headed out. 

We decided to stop on the way over and fish a small feeder stream to the Rio Grande River just west of South Fork. We parked at a closed National Forest campground, booted and suited, then walked to the stream. I had fished this area several times and caught a fair number of trout. Today was to be different. The weather was clear and warm. The stream was flowing at a very acceptable rate, with lots of pools and slow-moving ripples. The only thing missing were hungry and aggressive fish. We tried multiple fly patterns, fished through lots of great looking water, saw two fish, and had one strike. By mid-afternoon, as we sat on the bank, we decided this day proved why it’s called fishing and not catching and headed to Salida. We knew the next two days would include catching lots of fish, and we wanted to rest up for them. Those that fly fish are the most optimistic people in the world. 

We met our guide, Mark Richardson with Arkanglers, the next morning, loaded some of the copious amounts of our gear into his truck, and headed for the river. I told Mark I really wanted to use dry flies. He nodded, he understood and proceeded to rig both of us with nymph rigs. To his credit he used a Chubby Chernobyl as the indicator. That was followed by two nymphs dropped below it. This made for challenging casting. Thankfully there was little to no wind, hence, no wind knots, yeah right. 

When Kim and I float I like for her to be in the front of the boat. That way the guide can’t see me and really has no idea how I’m doing, unless I begin to use language unacceptable around young children. Once we pushed off, Kim wasted no time demonstrating her ability to cast three flies and catch fish wherever Mark told her to cast. Being the easy going, non-completive person that I am, I just enjoyed casting into the spots where Kim was catching fish. Every now and then I would make a quick cast into the pool that Mark wanted Kim to cast and catch the fish before she could. The technical term for that is poaching. I was chastised. 

After a lunch break, I asked Mark to cut the nymphs and Chubby Chernobyl off my leader and replace it with a single dry fly. To his credit, he did, and said good luck. Mark then put me in areas where trout might eat a dry fly. And a few did. However, these were shallow areas and Kim’s nymph set up wasn’t producing nearly as many fish. I had no problem with that; Mark did. He re-rigged me and rowed us into deeper water where the trout were waiting, in great numbers, for the nymphs. Mark knew we would both finish this day with lots of trout on a nymph rig, and just enough on a dry fly to put smiles on all our faces. 

After cocktails, dinner, and a good night’s sleep, Kim and I met at the truck and headed out to fish on our own. Kim decided to stay with the Chernobyl and nymph rig. I, of course, tied on a dry. Kim soon found a deep run and picked right up where she left off the day before. I went through several dry flies, had some strikes, and landed a nice brown trout. We both were smiling from ear to ear. 

Wading on all the slick rocks was beginning to take a toll on me. Kim, being the great partner she is, agreed we should cast our flies in a nearby town lake for the afternoon. Here we continued to catch fish, although smaller than from the river. I finally played out and sat down to finish the day watching Kim continue to catch trout. At dinner it was decided we would return in May to fish the Mother’s Day caddis hatch on the river, then use our float tubes on a high mountain lake. It was a great way to spend two and a half days. 

Now, I will once again leave you with my annual politically incorrect statement. I wish everyone Felize Navidad, Happy Hanukkah, a good Eid al-Adha, and of course Merry Christmas. If none of those fits your beliefs, then may whatever touches your heart with hope be with you for all of 2024.