Arkansas River (Pueblo) - Pillars Park

My nicest out of Pueblo so far. Not the longest I've caught but this guy is a specimen.

What a day! Three fish over 20" is good anywhere. Having that kind of day in the middle of a large city is pretty unique. We headed back to Pillars Park for another chance at dredging the weirs. Ben Lewis, Marty, and I showed up at daylight. A bit chilly in the morning but warmed up fast. Flow was around 40 at Moffat St. We started downstream on the weirs but it was slow going at first. I wound up catching one nice chunky bow here on the right. She slammed a size 16 chartreuse Amnesia John. Took a BIG run and I thought it was a bigger fish. Very strong bow that new how to throw her weight around. 

After whipping the weirs pretty good we decided to go upstream to the Martini Hole. I caught a few small bows but it wasn't too hot at first. Ben Lewis joined us and hit a nice 20" bow pretty quickly on a San Juan Worm. This fish was a fighter! She took a few really strong runs. She just wouldn't come in. I was finally able to get a net on her. What a fish! I love the graffiti in the background. This makes for a pretty unique picture and fishing experience. Very nice stretch to fight a big fish. Not a lot of underwater obstructions and a nice bank that you can run after fish along.

After Ben gave us a clinic on how to do it with a San Juan, I decided to try a sparkle worm. It didn't take too many casts before hooking into this nice 21" bow. Ben got a nice worm hole shot on this guy. This was turning into an epic day on the Ark. These fish were not sipping Tricos. They wanted meat. And what better combo than steak and eggs? I decided to trail my sparkle worm with an Otter's Egg and I moved up closer to the top of the run where I could get a faster drift. Anyone seen the movie Low & Clear? There is a line that stuck with me that talked about swinging an egg just as you would a streamer. Well.... it works. On my first swing attempt this guy about took the rod out my hand (fist pic and shown below). Any dry fly purists still reading? This guy took some nice runs downstream. Unfortunately he did some alligator roles on me and got my sparkle worm stuck in a fin. That made getting this guy in really hard! I eventually just had to horse him in and pray that I didn't break him off. Good tippet (Trout Hunter 5X)! This fish was awesome in every way. Jaw, shape, colors, spots. Just a really nice trout. An awesome day on what is really becoming my favorite Tailwater. There is a ton of water and big fish throughout.

Marty was having a rough day so I decided to see if I could help. We adjusted his rig and fly selection and he hooked up after a few minutes. Remember that the slightest adjustments make all the difference between catching fish and not catching fish. You have to dial into each run that you fish. You should be adjusting your indicator and weight every time you move to a new run (check out Mojo Mud). Just a few steps up or down stream can put you off the bottom or have you stuck on the bottom. The other thing to remember is that if your leader has become too short from fly changes, you really need to add some tippet to extend it back to 9'. If the butt section of your leader is within 3 or 4 feet of your flies then the fish will see it and avoid your rig altogether. Depth and presentation are more important than fly selection. Especially in the fall and in between hatches. Before changing flies make sure you are dialed into the run you are fishing. After that you should be able to hook up with one or two fly changes.