Arkansas River
The best month to fish the Arkansas River is April. The month to avoid is July. Right now, in September, it is worth going.
- January: 60 out of 100
- February: 68 out of 100
- March: 76 out of 100
- April: 90 out of 100
- May: 55 out of 100
- June: 44 out of 100
- July: 40 out of 100
- August: 71 out of 100
- September: 71 out of 100
- October: 83 out of 100
- November: 72 out of 100
- December: 62 out of 100
Water averages 62°F this month — fishable, but the margin is thinning. Fish early, land them fast, and stop when the afternoon heats up.
GAUGE 07096000 · COLOURED BY SEPTEMBER
Month by month
| MONTH | TYPICAL FLOW | RANGE (P20–P80) | WATER | AIR HIGH | RAIN | SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 436 cfs | 349–529 | 32.7°F | — | — | 60 |
| February | 431 cfs | 351–554 | 35.7°F | — | — | 68 |
| March | 410 cfs | 323–541 | 44.1°F | — | — | 76 |
| April | 339 cfs | 253–416 | 51.0°F | — | — | 90 |
| May | 893 cfs | 652–1,292 | 56.1°F | — | — | 55 |
| June | 1,887 cfs | 1,209–3,003 | 61.1°F | — | — | 44 |
| July | 819 cfs | 633–1,450 | 67.3°F | — | — | 40 |
| August | 586 cfs | 425–697 | 67.6°F | — | — | 71 |
| SeptemberNOW | 300 cfs | 218–367 | 61.8°F | — | — | 71 |
| October | 314 cfs | 243–379 | 50.5°F | — | — | 83 |
| November | 386 cfs | 319–488 | 39.3°F | — | — | 72 |
| December | 421 cfs | 376–499 | 33.4°F | — | — | 62 |
WHERE THESE NUMBERS COME FROM
Flow and water temperature are medians of the monthly means reported by USGS gauge 07096000 over 1999-2018. Air temperature and precipitation are ten-year normals from Open-Meteo at this river’s gauge coordinates.
The window is deliberate. USGS’s own full-record statistics for a dammed river reach back before the dam — at Lees Ferry, to 1922, forty-one years before Glen Canyon closed — and describe a river that no longer exists.
Flow is scored against this river’s own fishable band of 386–586 cfs. There is no universal band: 8,000 cfs is low water on a big tailwater and a flood on a spring creek.
Water temperature is a ceiling rather than a weight. Above about 68°F a trout that is fought and released frequently dies anyway, so no month above that line is scored as worth booking, however good its flow.
The Arkansas River is at its best in April — water around 51°F, flows near 339 cfs.
← RIVERS GOING WELL IN SEPTEMBERRegulations, licences and access change without notice and are not reproduced here as fact — check the state agency before you travel. A median describes twenty years; it does not forecast your week. Source: U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Information System.