Fly Fishing the Arkansas River Pueblo Tailwater + CASTLE ROCK SHOP TOUR
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Time to read 4 min
Follow Colin from Golden Fly Shop as he takes you from our new Castle Rock location to the Arkansas River tailwater in Pueblo, Colorado, breaking down exactly what he’s fishing and why.
He starts in the shop walking through a Pueblo-ready fly selection—mini leeches, natural-colored eggs, RS2s, Jedi Masters, and tiny midge patterns—then heads to the river to rig a 4X drop-shot nymph setup built around Colorado tailwater staples like the RS2 and Dorsey’s Top Secret Midge.
On the water, Colin:
Adjusts from hoped-for dry-fly action to a deep midge/egg/leech nymph program when clouds and cold temps shut down surface eats
Explains why he leans into riffles over slower water when fish are actively feeding
Shows how a Top Secret Midge and egg combo can clean up once midges and BWOs start popping
Talks through reading aggressive fish behavior, chasing the “right” fish, and why some fired-up rainbows still aren’t the target
If you’re planning a day on the Arkansas tailwater in Pueblo, this video and breakdown are a great starting point for what to stock in your box and how to approach the river when conditions are cold but bugs are still moving.
Intro – Castle Rock Shop Tour
“Hold up. Redo. Where do you want me standing?”
…
“Hey, how you doing, guys? It’s Colin with Golden Fly Shop, down here in the Castle Rock location that we opened in July of 2024. Thought I’d show you guys around a little bit before we pick out some flies for Pueblo tomorrow.”
(Shop B-roll / quick walk-through.)
Fly Selection for Pueblo Tailwater (Arkansas River)
“All right, so let’s show you some flies I’m planning on using fishing Pueblo tomorrow—the Arkansas tailwater section.
We’re going to start with some attractors. It’s a little bit low right now—I believe flows are in the 70s to 80s CFS—so we don’t need anything super big, super flashy, or super heavy.
A size 14 or size 12 leech is always a good option—something on the smaller side. Even this one is a little big for that flow, but it’ll still get down. It’s always smart to have a slightly larger profile like a leech in your box, especially post-brown spawn.
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Eggs are another good one I’m probably going to use. I personally like peg eggs, but we have a ton of different egg patterns here in the shop. A peg egg is simply a bare hook behind a bead with some silicone pegging through the middle.
With eggs, I’d stick to natural colors:
Clear
Opaque
White
- Nothing super flashy or unrealistic.
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Good bugs to have down there:
RS2s
Juan’s Jedi Masters
- I like them in olive, sizes 22–24. Great as trailer flies or middle flies in the rig.
Another must-have is midges. My personal favorite midge pattern in the shop is Hans’ Pale Olive Midge in size 20. I run that a lot as a middle fly and as a trailer.
Rainbow Warriors are another good option.
If we get into some dry-fly action—hopefully we do—then:
Mole Midge is a must for any midge dry-fly game
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A couple of BWO emergers:
B-wing/Blue-wing olive emerger patterns
Foam-back Sparkle Dun BWOs
All of those in sizes 18–20 are perfect.
Thanks for letting me show you guys around the shop. We’ve got our bugs picked out for tomorrow, and I’ll see you on the water in the morning.”
Rigging at Pueblo – Drop-Shot Nymph Setup
“Going to rig up a little drop-shot nymph rig here with some 4X fluorocarbon—SA Supreme Tippet, to be specific.
Turns out, with how cold it is just getting here, we might have to be a little patient. It’s supposed to warm up in a few hours, but we’ve got a low layer of clouds covering the sun, which is making it super cold.
The original plan was to catch some fish on dries—that may have to wait a bit.
So for now we’re going to:
Nymph pretty deep
Run midges, leeches, and eggs through a few of these holes
We’re rigging up with 4X, putting a Top Secret Midge in the middle, and an olive RS2 in size 22 above that.
If you’re on a Colorado tailwater and you don’t have RS2s in your box… I really don’t know what to tell you.
All right, let’s boogie on.”
On the Water – Hookups & Fish Behavior
(Fishing + music montage.)
“Yeah, brownie.”
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“There’s a dark rainbow.”
(Fish, netting, release shots with music/lyrics over the top.)
Aggressive Fish & the ‘Wrong’ Eats
“That’s him. Oh yeah—that’s him.
…Oh, that is not him. Get the hell, dude.
I mean, that’s how you want them to act, but not when it’s the wrong fish. This guy’s all tough.
That was crazy—he’s on the Top Secret Midge as well. Look at that Top Secret Midge. Good pattern for today.
Now this guy isn’t worth my time either. I know film guys are like, ‘Oh my gosh, we need to get our fish.’ Trust me, we’re going to get plenty of fish today.”
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“There’s a big drop-off right here too, though.
Okay—there he is. That’s him 100%. Get your camera. You see him? He’s taking off again.
So we were walking down that riffle trying to spot the fish we saw earlier acting aggressive. Walking down, the flies ended up going over him at some point.
This is not the brown, actually. This is just a fired-up rainbow.
…We still have a brown.
No, I got him. It’s a big fish though—on the egg. He does not want to give up. He’s not that long, but he’s hefty, for sure.
All right, here we go—sweep.”
(Fish in the net.)
End-of-Day Recap – Conditions & Productive Water
“Pretty solid.
It was a little bit colder than we expected. We got there at about 12:00, and around 2:00 PM the blue-wings started to come off pretty consistently.
Right when we first got there, there were midges coming off, but not enough for me to run back to the car and grab my dries.
About an hour later, the BWOs were pretty prolific—they were everywhere. We got some good footage of fish rising—I’m sure you’ll see that.
I pretty much nymphed the riffles all day:
Egg–leech combo
Lots of fish on the Top Secret Midge earlier in the day
Later, once I added the egg, a lot of fish started eating that egg
They were holding pretty heavy in the riffles, not so much in the slower water I hit in the morning. It seemed like they were in the faster stuff, feeding.
All in all, pretty solid day.”