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Browns Creek of the Arkansas River Fishing Information
Main Section - near Buena Vista, CO
Browns creek, despite its name, is a brook trout fishery that gives anglers a chance to get a good hike in for the day on either little browns creek trail or browns creek trail off 272 with miles of public water to fish. The water is small giving you a chance to sneak up on wild brook trout using bow and arrow casts with single dry fly presentations. Short and small 2wt – 4wt is all you need for these creeks and a subtle presentation. Fly selection isn’t very important, anything that floats and is smaller than a size 12 will work well for these brook trout that range from 4 to 12 inches.
Most brook trout die every year in high mountain streams such as this and they re populate each year. This make them easy to target as they aren’t used to being fish and are only weary of other nearby predators found in the natural habitat. For this reason, it’s best to fish mid to late summer and into fall, so the fish have time to grow and increase in numbers. July to October can be a great time to enjoy a beautiful hike and even more beautiful brook trout away from the more popular Arkansas river down stream.
Other areas to check out similar to this are Chalk Creek of the Arkansas, Clear Creek of the Arkansas, and Cottonwood Creek of the Arkansas. Fly fishing is good to excellent in all of these creeks including browns creek.
Fish: Some Small-Sized Fish
Popularity: Low
Difficulty: Medium
Accessibility: Hard
Best Techniques: Dries
Best Seasons: Spring - Fall
River Type: Small Freestone
Fish Types: Brook Trout
Dog Friendly: Yes
Located in the Arkansas River Basin near Buena Vista, CO
Exploration Images
Exploration Images
Exploration Images
Exploration Images
Exploration Images
Exploration Images
Exploration Images
Fishable Seasons & Current Weather
The best seasons to fish this river are Spring - Fall. See the current weather reports for the next 5-6 days listed below for the nearest city.
Knowing what flies to use is only have the battle. You have to know when the insects are active on the water and when it's likely the trout are feeding on them. Refer to our hatch charts below to understand when the insect categories and some of the possible hatches on the river.
Midge Hatches
Midges hatch year round, but their importance is from September through winter into April. During the warmer months, the trout often focus on larger insects as they are more active on the water like mayflies, caddis and stoneflies.
Aside from Blue wing olives, mayflies are active most commonly from May to August in Colorado. There are many different mayfly hatches found on most rivers and the most common are listed below.
Blue Wing Olive: September throut winter to April
Colors: Green/Olive
Sizes: #16-24
Pale Morning Dun: June to Mid September
Colors: White, Yellow
Sizes: #14 - #20
Stonefly Hatches
We have some great stonefly hatches in Colorado and while not all rivers carry all species of salmonflies, you can often fish stonefly adult patterns with confidence from May to September. Start off in bigger sizes and get smaller till September hits (size 8 - 16)
Terrestrial Activity
Terrestrials don't hatch since they are out of the water, but they can have importance starting in Mid April and ending in September.
These are the the top flies we sell for this river. Use the hatch chart above to know what flies you will want to have in your fly box during your adventure on the river and then select the flies here 30 days before your trip to get them at a great price. All of our flies are hand tied to each order to ensure quality and to keep our prices low for you.
Click on a fly below to select a size and color for purchase.
Our fly assortments make fly selection easy. We take our entomology knowledge and years of fly fishing experience on these rivers to bring you the right fly patterns, including the correct colors, sizes and quantities to set you up for success. A good selection of flies will prepare you properly for anything the trout may be eating on the river and our fly assortments are specifically curated to maximize your success. Take a look at the assortments we provide below and add one to your box today. Use coupon code AST50 for $50 off and free shipping on these as well, just to help make fly fishing a little more affordable!
Click on any of the pictures to see what flies, colors and sizes we recommend in each assortment.
View our access map for the Browns Creek of the Arkansas River and learn public and private access points as well as other notable features around fly fishing this river. We include headwater and confluence data and in an effort to not "hotspot" river access points that are better than others, we list every access point available. This serves two purposes. First, it keeps us from hotspotting, which is just showing the best spots and bringing unwanted and harmful attention to the specific access point. The second reason is while we want to help you catch fish and find great places to explore, we don't want to spell it all out for you. If you get it all spelled out, we're doing the exploring, not you. Missing out on the journey of exploring places to fly fish is one of the more enjoyable aspects of fly fishing. While not everyone has time to go explore everything in person, we provide some of the top level data to help you know if something is worth your time, then pass it off to you to explore and find your own adventure. Now enjoy the info, if you're on this page then this river is worth exploring! Go out and find some memories.
Browns Creek of the Arkansas River Tips & Resources
Use these epic resources to get ready for your adventure. Whether you're planning your trip, learning your insects, improving your fishing with expert tips or getting detailed resources from the USGS streamflows or DoW, we got you covered to help you find the river and find the success you want.
