Freestone · Mixed · Colorado, US

Arkansas River — Upper (Granite to Buena Vista)

A metal truss bridge spanning the Arkansas River near Granite, Colorado, with mountains and pine trees in the background.

Up here above Buena Vista the Arkansas is a high, cold, tumbling freestone, and it fishes like one — pocket water and pucker-brush banks, browns mostly, with rainbows mixed in.

Tomorrow · About as good as it gets
Pheasant Tail
Forecast · Tomorrow
About as good as it gets
On the feed top to bottom — start on the rises with a dry, drop a nymph if they stay down.
90% projected
Today's fly
Pheasant Tail
Pheasant Tail
Conditions on the water · Tomorrow
Estimate
Level
Dry recently
No gauge reading
Water temp10.2°C
ClarityClear
Weather13°C
WindN 7 km/h
Pressure1021 hPa
Rain · recent0.2 mm
Rain · ahead0.1 mm

No gauge on this water — readings are regional estimates from weather, not a live gauge.

Water temperature for Rainbow Trout
Ideal
10°C est.ideal 10–18°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Rainbow Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Excellent — water temperature is right today, though insect activity could be better.
Likely species
Mayflies
Caddisflies
Hatch timeline · tomorrowPeak at 12pm

12pm(now) — Mahogany Dun

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 95%
Also:Black Midge47%
Peak emergence windowDegree-days at peak6 food groups active

Peak activity at 12pm — Mahogany Dun (Mahogany Dun, Peak emergence window)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · September highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Brown DunHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Western Green DrakeHatch
2
2
Flav (Small Western Green Drake)Hatch
2
3
2
Mahogany DunHatch
2
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Rainbow Trout fly box
SD
Sex Dungeon
2-6 · Pattern
Proven pattern for this period
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Colorado licence
  • Gold Medal reach (Lake Fork to Parkdale)
  • Verify CPW reach rules and watch for low-flow/temperature advisories.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 3
Taylor River (below Taylor Park Reservoir)
35 km
20
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
Arkansas River — Browns Canyon (Buena Vista to Salida)
44 km
66
Brown trout · Rainbow trout
South Platte — Dream Stream (Spinney to Eleven Mile)
54 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
Gallery · 2
  1. A metal truss bridge spanning the Arkansas River near Granite, Colorado, with mountains and pine trees in the background.
    Bridge across the Arkansas River
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Up here above Buena Vista the Arkansas is a high, cold, tumbling freestone, and it fishes like one — pocket water and pucker-brush banks, browns mostly, with rainbows mixed in. The pre-runoff window in early spring can be the best secret in the state, right up until the snowmelt comes down out of the Sawatch and turns the whole thing to cold café-au-lait through May and June. Wait it out. When it drops and clears in July the dry-dropper fishing is honest and uncrowded, which up here counts for a lot.

  • Mixed
Water quality · US Clean Water Act
  • Aquatic life: Supporting
What this classification means

EPA ATTAINS assessment unit 'Arkansas River, mainstem' (COARUA03_A), 2024 Integrated Report. Aquatic Life use: Fully Supporting. This is a Clean Water Act assessment-unit classification (the US analogue of WFD), not a live reading.

Status is for the Clean Water Act assessment unit covering this reach.

EPA ATTAINS (Clean Water Act) · COARUA03_A

The full read · show the working · for Rainbow Trout · confidence 90%
How the 82 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity85 × 18%15.3
Feeding Time70 × 13%9.1
Pressure75 × 7%5.3
Insect activity59 × 12%7.1
Conditions total= 82
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 January → 31 December
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts