Arkansas River Fishing Report | mid August, 2025

Michael Atwood
Aug 14
3 min read

August 14, 2025

Arkansas River Flows

Leadville (Empire Gulch): ~78 cfs

Granite (below): ~570 cfs

Browns Canyon/Nathrop: ~630 cfs

Wellsville: ~645 cfs

Twin Lakes Release: ~420 cfs (will fluctuate/rise often this time of year)

Turquoise Res. Release: ~4 cfs

Clear Creek Res. Release: ~25 cfs

Arkansas River Fishing Report:

The Latest:

Enjoy these last few days of augmented flows on the upper Arkansas River!

We expect to have ~600-650cfs at the Wellsville gauge through August 17th! If you dream of float fishing through Brown's Canyon, you have until the 17th of this month to make that happen. You can book your float trip directly through our website. After the 17th, we will see a significant decrease in flows, and the river will be at it's "native" flows. It could be roughly half the discharge that we see right now, so be prepared for those changes upcoming! We will still be booking float trips after the 17th, however we will become more selective with our floating sections and we will more commonly be in the Salida-Bighorn Canyon stretches of the river.

You can always keep an eye on flows by visiting dwr.state.co.us/tools/stations and looking at the hydrographs.

Upriver guide, Adam Groskin, anchored up and put his flies into a promising drop off on the Arkansas River.

General Arkansas River Fishing Report and Tactics: Hopper-dropper rigs are probably still the best way to go right now. There will be times when dry fly fishing is great, usually in the late afternoon and evenings in my experience. Nymphing will probably bring more fish to the net, if you are being really thorough and getting good drifts. Hopper-dropper is just so effective and straight-forward, it is hard to recommend anything else.

Hatches have changed a bit lately, and there are some mid-day lulls where maybe you won't see much of a hatch at all. We are seeing smaller bugs more consistently now, from microscopic tricos to sz. 18-20 caddis flies. Mayflies are still coming in a variety of sizes and colors, so you should be hopeful for some bug activity when you hit the Ark. In my opinion, we are at the time of the season where smaller flies will be more effective. This will become even more evident after the flows drop next week. Trout will become a bit more selective, and your presentation will matter much more now than it did in early July. Start to think about using fluorocarbon tippet when fishing subsurface, in the 5X to 6X size range. Finer tippet, and longer sections of that fine tippet, will improve your presentation. Presentation matters (usually more than specific fly pattern)!

Alpine Lakes and Streams:

The alpine is wide open, so you best get it while you can! Sight fishing is usually the name of the game at the alpine lakes. Dry fly fishing is the way to go at this point in the season. Try small or medium sized terrestrials, and if the trout are being picky try to match any potential midge or mayfly emergence that you can see happening. A tiny Griffith's Gnat or Parachute Adams will usually persuade the more picky rising trout. Cover some ground, and spend lots of time looking for cruising fish along drop offs. Usually we don't have to blind fish at the alpine lakes. If you aren't seeing cruising fish, find a deep drop off and fish some deeper flies under an dry fly or indicator for your best chance. Scuds and caddis are also really common food sources at these alpine lakes.

Most of the cutthroat lakes that we frequent are past the spawning season, which means more cruisers and dry fly eats!

Alpine streams should all be hot and firing right now with your favorite dry flies. These mountain streams can be a great escape from the heat and from the busy feeling along the Arkansas River.

Spinney Mtn and Antero Reservoir Fishing Report:

The S. Park Reservoirs are usually pretty tough this time of year. Warm temps make for some lazy fish. Your best bet is to get out really early in the morning, and try to fish while things are still relatively cool. The evening fishing should provide some decent opportunities as well, if the wind dies down. A variety of food options are available to the fish, and the great challenge is finding what the fish are feeding on, and where they are doing it. Lately, damsel fly nymphs, scud and callibaetis nymphs have been doing the most catching on the S. Park reservoirs. There are some dry fly opportunities as well, when the callibaetis adults are on the surface. Hoppers have become a decent dry fly option as well, perhaps with a nymph underneath. Look for fish to be cruising in and around the weed towers.