Fishing The Ark In BHSC ~ Greg Met Me Half Way For Decent Fishing Among CoWWs 08Apr26

BHSC... Greg & I hatched a plan to meet in Big Horn Sheep Canyon (BHSC) for a fishing day on our classic freestone section. BHSC has recovered since the Hayden fire years ago but sports many more rainbows than prior to the fire, when it was almost exclusively a brown trout fishery... both co-exist now (and of course both are exotics as the Ark should hold cutthroats in CO) and that's fine, 'cause humans disrupt ecosystems all the time. We arrived at Pinnacle Rock (thx GL) about 9am and quickly donned our gear and weapons ~ we went to the east end of the section to make a full run. Greg had his custom built rod and I presented with the RF Diamond Blaze 4wt.

I dropped in immediately and GL wandered downstream to his 'special spots' on the Ark. His home water is this fine freestone river. My 3rd cast yielded a small brown on the oil can Perdigon ~ it's kind of a mayfly but more like a FOMO (fear of missing out) fly tossed in faster moving water; it sinks like a demon and is regularly my weight now. Landing the tiny was netless; yeah, I'd forgotten it... trudged back to the car and back downstream.

North Bank Pass @ PRock... I headed across the river to fish the north bank... I prefer it on this stretch as fewer folks dare the cross. It was fine at 250cfs today. I had a good morning with a number of good browns and rainbows behind structure. I didn't even try the mid-stream structure as most of the fish in my experience (IME) are <6' from the bank on the Ark in spring. The Perdigon, a #18 MHFBPT, and a #20 Purple May Reign took the fish this AM. Got some 'bows as expected but thankfully scored mostly browns (flashback). Nobody hit the caddis despite my seeing plenty along the bank timber and rocks and on my clothes as I trodded past. The 'bows were bigger, like 14"-15" and the browns were thinner.

Fine Dining On The Ark... I completely lost my rig 5/6 of my pass at PRock and signed to GL I'll be heading over to the south bank near our cars for lunch. That was directly after scoring a sucker ~ he 'threw' the rig and was tail caught. GL & I communicated. I enjoyed my home built turkey sammy and a Red Leg hazy from an ethereal picnic spot ~ I noted too that mine was one of few tables to have already been deployed this season by CPW. I really like being out in BHSC.

Moving Ahead... We didn't go far upstream but hit a favored curve and river split a mile ahead of PRock. It's not named but we all know it. I often cross and encounter longhorns but left that for the return ~ I fished the left bank up to the split and watched Gregger again head downstream to secret spots. I was warm at heart after a good 7 fish in the AM, and started again with a decent brown soon along the left. Nice. Then I wandered across and through the 3 channels of this section without much take. Yet I settled in coming through the biggest water of the channels and scored another 4 fish for the PM! The fish are not generally large out here, but they are less discriminating and a blast. I was wandering in less trodden parts and came upon a mom goose on her nest, eyeing me intently as I backed away. And yeah, on the return to car, there were huge longhorns pooping in my way.

There's nothing to not like about SoCO on the Ark with a CoWWBoy and plenty of fish. We don't adhere to the "Madison Mantra" of "don't dare tie on a nymph" ~ heck, that's our jam in CO.