Best Arkansas River - Buena Vista Fly Fishing

North of Salida, the section of the Arkansas River near Buena Vista is very popular with fly fishermen. The Arkansas River is one of the longer rivers in the state of Colorado. The headwaters are just north of Leadville and it flows south through Buena Vista and Salida. Beyond Salida, the river turns east heading toward Canon City and beyond through Pueblo and Lamar on its route to Kansas.

The most popular fly fishing section is the 75 mile stretch from Buena Vista to Canon City. There are plenty of pools, riffles and pocket water, and the river runs between 70 to 100 feet wide. You can expect to find plenty of brown trout and acceptable numbers of rainbow trout; typically the fish are about 14 inches long. Access along this stretch is off SR24 from Buena Vista to Salida. There are many nices sections to wade, just make sure to be careful during winter runoff from May through early July. The caddis hatch is typically July and August, but midges can be found from March through October.

Overall, Arkansas River - Buena Vista is the 18th most popular fly fishing river of all 37 fly fishing spots in Colorado. Several of the better fly fishing rivers are nearby Arkansas River - Buena Vista including Arkansas River - Cotopaxi, Arkansas River - Parkdale, Arkansas River - Salida and Arkansas River - Granite.