Fishing in the Canon City CO area?

Hi Everyone, I have fished the Arkansas in the Salida to Canon City area and will be there again mid August.
Was wondering what other waters I should fish while there.
Thanks in advance for any info.
bill dorgeloh
Fredericksburg, Va

Bill,

I haven't fished there, but our family may be taking a trip up there in Sept.

I'm interested in fishing there in down-town Salida on the Arkansas River with my nine year old. Do you know if the wading is tough? Or, should the river be fished from shore?

Thanks

Vinny

Vinny , I haven't fished in down town Salida. There are many public parking area's along the Ark. with access to wade , can't speak to the difficulty wading not knowing the flow and height of the river. sorry. I'll try and remember to check out places to fish for you and get back after the trip
bill

Bill, the only places I know are private access feeder creeks. I've fish a couple of them because my friend developed relationships with the landowners years ago. I guess asking permission to fish wouldn't be a bad start.

Vinny, I've fished the downtown Salada area several times (in May and October) and would be very cautious in letting a nine year old wade. The times I've waded the water was swift enough that I found my self using my wading staff often. Your boy should do OK from the shore particularly if he can roll cast. You may find some eddys that he could safely wade to get better access to the current. Salida's a nice place and I've always enjoyed my time there.

Z

AND, if fishing is a bit slow, don't forget the Royal Gorge as a possible spot to visit. A bit of a "trap" and the "trick" is to find an AMERICAN concessionaire. Personally . as a young lad, I spent hours viewing the Royal Gorge with my View Master viewer. Remember............ ?? BUT, as to the topic of the post, although I was stationed ( Army)not too far away at Ft. Carson, I never did fish the Ark.

Mark

Bill,

It all really depends on how far you are willing to drive. If you have the time I would seriously consider driving north past Buena Vista and fish the South Fork of the South Platte River near Anterro Reservoir. A quick google map check showed this to be about a 45 minute or so drive from Salida. I've fished either the Middle or South fork of the South Platte every year for the past few years (we stay in Breckenridge). This year fishing was extremely tough when I was there (two weeks ago), due to runoff still being extremely high (according to locals it peaked on July 10th right in the middle of our trip), however by mid August it should be fishing great. Both the middle fork and south fork (the south is closer to Salida than the middle), have State Wildlife areas available for fishing and there are also private ranches which are available for a modest rod fee (most less than $50 a day) in Park County.

Vinny,

The areas along the South Platte are very easy wadding when the water is down and would be perfectly acceptible for a 9 year old, so certainly keep them in mind as well.

If you want some suggestions on State Wildlife areas to hit shoot me a PM and I'll give you some suggestions based upon my experiences.

Brian

Thanks for the suggestions . I've got time to explore and driving a couple hours is no problem.

Bill

I also, would like to thank everyone for the suggetions.

Vinny

Vinny, downtown is one of my favorite places to fish, but you have to do a bit of exploring to find the easy places. One of them is where I had an "epic" day with Adams parachutes and RS2s. If you are interested, pm me and I'll give you directions.