Arkansas River (Pueblo)

Solid 16" bow.

What can I say - love fishing this river. This has really become my "home water". Really starting to learn this river well. Had a great half day fishing with Mart. We hadn't been to Valco bridge in a while so we decided to hit it at daylight and fish till 11 or so.

We hit the parking lot right at sun rise and were at the bridge around 6:30. The bite was on almost immediately. I think I hooked up on my 3rd or 5th cast. The flow was around 70 which makes fishing my favorite run in that area perfect. Not the easiest run to fish but WELL worth the rewards.

The bridge is called Valco but the unofficial name is Heartbreak bRidge. She giveth and she taketh away. Within an hour I had hooked my first 20" class fish of the day. I had seen an article on Orvis about the Forget-Me-Not Midge and had tied up a dozen or so the night before. These things absolutely glow under a black light. The takes I was getting on them were HARD. They don't sip these flies. Had the fish on for about 20 seconds and the hook pulled out. Just didn't get a good hook set.

There are big fish in this channel and they eat big fish flies. I tied on a large San Jan Worm and dredged it with about a pound of mojo mud. Had a monster take and a very large bow came up and broke the water several times. Didn't come out of the water because it was so big but threw several huge wakes on the water. These fish have been hooked before and they know exactly where to go. He headed straight for the pile-ons under the bridge and broke me off. I'm getting used to being owned under this bridge. This guy was easily 20" and was probably a good 22" and FAT. I hurts to loose fish like these but one of these days I'm going to land a 24" class fish in this hole. It's just a matter of time!

Good hatch activity. Midges, a few BWOs, and some Tricos. Mart hooked half a dozen or so on dries. Missed a nice bow on a dry. Activity up top only lasted for 20 minutes or so but Mart took full advantage.

We landed 16 altogether in 4 and a half hours. Not a bad morning of fishing.