Arkansas

ArkAngler Billy

By TB

The Arkansas River starts high in the Rocky Mountains north of Buena Vista, CO.  While many come here to whitewater raft  through Royal Gorge, it’s also a blue ribbon trout stream.  We took on the Arkansas, via raft, with Billy Hicks of ArkAngler Fly Shop in Salida, CO.

As we met Billy at the fly shop and discussed the trip, we found out that he is from Chillicothe, MO, not too far from where Barb and I grew up.  We shared great stories about growing up in Missouri and when we got ready to do our “guide talk” interview with Billy, he excused himself to put on another ball cap he was carrying, as you’ll see in the video.  We also did the video BEFORE we took off on the trip, because we found a great spot for the interview as we were gearing up to put in.  We had a couple of “friends” who “video-bombed” the interview as well.

We had a great day floating and fishing the Arkansas with Billy.  We actually floated the section that runs right through Salida, stopping right downtown for a quick break around lunchtime.  This is such a beautiful river and the fish were willing along the way.  Not huge fish, usually in the 12″ range, but beautiful, hard fighting trout.  We know you’ll enjoy ArkAngler Billy’s views on fishing the Arkansas.