Creating Relationships with the River: ArkAnglers Fly Fishing Shops
Articles - Business Feature

by: ArkAnglersArkAnglers Rainbow

In the upper Arkansas River valley, fall means crystal clear days followed by crisp nights, peaks dusted white with a riot of color below, and a river that grows clearer, slower, and more detailed with each passing week. Hatches of blue wing olive mayflies bring brown trout to the surface to feed and summer’s last grasshoppers topple from streamside brush into the current, providing a windfall to waiting fish and an option for anglers as they tempt trout to the dry fly. Fall may mean football to some, the hunt toWEIDMAN_E9Z3486 (2) others, but for those who are drawn to the stream, it means some of the best fly-fishing of the year.

Among the businesses that facilitate the relationship of Buena Vistans with the natural resources that surround them, ArkAnglers plays a special role. Located at 517 S. Highway 24, the specialty shop stocks a wealth of fly-fishing equipment and flies, provides guided float and wade trips on the river and adjacent tributaries and lakes, and, most importantly,Ellie1 (3) provides information about events beneath the surface of the river that is critical to the success of area anglers.

Greg Felt, co-owner of ArkAnglers, describes the company’s priorities this way, “ArkAnglers provides the infrastructure for visitors and residents to make the most of their fishing time. We carry all of the top lines in rods and tackle and have a tremendous selection of flies, but our most important product is timely, accurate, reliable information.”  

Fly-fishermen state-wide have embraced the ArkAnglers ethos. “We have thousands of  customers who check our website daily or weekly just to stay in touch with conditions on the river.  The Arkansas has a special place in the hearts of anglers in Colorado”.

Small wonder. With dry fly fishingWaterdogCutt2 (2) available March through October and productive fishable days throughout the winter, the Arkansas River provides the angler with a year-round outlet for the fly-fishing passion. Couple that with 140 miles of brown trout water, much of it open to public access, and there is more water available than most people will fish in a lifetime. In fact, that wealth of water is what inspires many visitors to put down roots.

“I can’t tell you how many guests we’ve had over the years who’ve fallen in love with the valley, bought property, and built their retirement home here,” says Felt. “The fishery is more than an amenity, it is one of the area’s primary assets”.

Capitalizing on that asset, ArkAnglers has shops in Buena Vista, Salida, and Pueblo. “On a given summer day, you will find us guiding wade trips below Leadville and near Salida, conducting a hike-in trip to a high lake in the Sawatch range, nymphing for trophy rainbows on Spinney or Antero reservoirs, and float-fishing multiple sections of Bighorn Sheep Canyon,” says Felt who manages the guide service side of the business. “ We are fortunate to have so much great water to work with.”

That fortune benefits the ArkAnglers customer base as well. ArkAnglers accounts for approximately 80% of all guided fishing between Leadville and Pueblo, with a significant portion of that being repeat business. “We have something new for our guests every time they come back. We have so many options on the menu, and with the dynamic nature of the river and fishery, no two trips are the same”.

For those uninitiated in the ways of fly-fishing, ArkAnglers offers complete instructional trip packages from both its Buena Vista and Salida locations. For more information, call 719-395-1796 or visit their website at
www.arkanglers.com.