On The Ark @ Pinnacle Rock 22Aug16

With flows falling to ~500cfs I chose to hit the Arkansas River in BIg Horn Sheep Canyon today. The morning was nice but above 80° and the PM included sprinkling at 1:30pm and rain at 3:30pm. I took but did not unleash the wading stick - dunno whether that was flow rate or stupidity; I was able to select crossing spots and did so a couple times. I started about 10am with a red chernobyl, red CJ copper and a variety of droppers. The best flies on the day were the red chernobyl (fun hits 10-noon) and the rainbow warrior. The water was off color from recent rains I assume, so I did go to silver beaded stuff and more flash, including the rainbow warrior. I think my choices during stained water is proven, at least to me. I probably caught ~20 fish on the day and lost another half doz, all browns and all 8-14", but decently strong. Shown are representative fish - one each on the "hopper," copper and dropper, plus one other for measure. Fall is looming and the Ark is shaping up - it wasn't a 50 fish day - but soon it may be possible.

I also looked into the why some browns I catch have orange/red spots and others do not... this is the basic finding... many red spotted browns in the US descended from the German strain, Von Behr. The black spotted strain are Loch Levens, from Scotland. Color variations due to environmental conditions and the mixing of various strains can be found.