As brisk mountain water flowed through a deep pool, the silky surface was split by the surge of a burley brown trout, its big hooked jaw clamped angrily on a No. 16 stimulator. The trout leaped high in the air, shaking its head frantically from side-to-side to dislodge the hook imbedded in its lower lip. As the line tightened, the fish charged across the pool, the reel shrieking as the line fed. After several runs, the 16-inch beauty surrendered to fatigue and was led to the riverbank and released.

Colorado angler Chet Wallace fishes from the bank of the Arkansas River. Photo by Neil McGahee.

Folks around the Salida, Colorado area say that's the Arkansas Miracle, but it's not a story of Hope -- Bill, Hillary and Socks the cat -- it's a story of deliverance.

SOME HISTORY
From its headwaters in the Sawatch mountains near the Continental Divide, the Arkansas River tumbles down steep slopes, augmented along the way by streams of gin-clear water from neighboring ranges, supporting a veritable Eden for brown, rainbow and occasionally cutthroat trout. It wasn't always such a nirvana.

For almost a century and a half, mines -- gold, silver, lead, zinc and copper -- around Leadville spewed thousands of gallons of toxic wastewater laced with cadmium, zinc and other hazardous metals directly into the east fork of the river. To further speed the process, two four-mile long drainage tunnels were dug in 1906 and 1943 discharging even more effluent into the Arkansas.

Although most of the mines had closed by the 1960s, the drainage continued -- more than four million gallons a day -- until the Arkansas was nothing more than what many viewed as a sewer defined by stained, barren banks and an absence of life.

When metal sulfides oxidize, sulfuric acid is a by-product. When the acid-laden drainage flows into streams, iron ions separate forming iron hydroxide, which clog streambeds, leaving hideous rust-colored stains on rocks and along the banks. The acidic water exterminates all life in and around the stream.

But thanks to a 1993 Superfund cleanup ordered by the Environmental Protection Agency, the river miraculously rebounded and is more ecologically balanced than ever. Now it's a resilient freestone stream teeming with trout -- more than 4,000 per mile -- averaging 12 to 14 inches and some exceeding 16 inches. This cleanup has significantly changed this river for the better.

THE RIVER NOW
The Arkansas stakes its reputation as a brown trout stream with a few rainbows and cutthroats thrown into the mix. Most of the browns range from 12 inches to 16 inches long, but there are larger ones lurking in deeper runs and remote canyons. The Arkansas probably isn't the place for anglers who want to catch wall-hangers, but it's definitely the place for those who want to catch lots of decent-sized trout.

Boulders litter the river so long casts are usually fruitless. You'll often find fish in the shallows alee of the main current. Stealth when approaching and fishing for these wild trout is advisable because they spook at the first sign of danger.

Although the Arkansas hosts a diversity of aquatic insect life -- baetis, pale morning duns, red quills and green drakes to name a few -- the caddis is king.

Fly-fishermen come from all over the world to fish the legendary, if misnamed, "Mother's Day" caddis hatch. In early April, long before the actual Mother's Day date, as water temperatures surpass 50 degrees, caddis begin hatching near Canon City. They follow the warming water upstream intensifying in number to blizzard-like swarms clogging automobile radiators and making it difficult for anglers to breathe or as Rod Patch, owner of the ArkAngler in Salida, calls it a "breathe-through-your-teeth hatch." These mega-hatches continue until the spring runoff in late May stops the action.

During this two-month span, it's possible to fish every stage of the caddis' life cycle. Imitating the pupae stage seems to work best -- cast upstream and let the fly dead-drift past you. As the fly begins to drag in the downstream current, lift the fly to mimic a rising pupa.

"I tell people to fish with spinner patterns if they see fish surface-feeding on dead caddis from the night before," Patch says. "If nothing is happening on the surface, try an adult caddis pattern with a bead-head pupa as a dropper."