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Colorado River Fishing Information
North Fork - Headwaters Section - near Granby, CO
Headwaters || RMNP Section
The Headwaters of the mighty Colorado River are some of the more beautiful in the state. Full of gorgeous fish and scenery, the river meanders through a meadow on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park. To access the public section of this stretch you will need to purchase a park pass, but the scenery and river is a ton of fun to fish. Log jams, runs, riffles and holes make up most of the river making for some great dry fly opportunities throughout the spring through fall. Don’t overlook terrestrials in the summer like hoppers, ants and beetles, they can do very well and make for an epic day of fishing. In this section, you’ll find mostly brook trout with some scattered chances at brown trout, cutthroat and rainbow trout as well. This gives a chance at the grand slam for the day, though I’d recommend fishing some other nearby streams in conjunction with this one in order to get the grand slam.
The Dream Stream of the Colorado River
The section between Shadow Mountain Reservoir and Lake Granby is similar to the Dream Stream of the South Platte only because it is between two reservoirs. Aside from that, there are few differences. There are numerous trout in these waters, but not many of size. I believe most of the larger trout move to the lakes and the smaller fish hang out in the river where more insects and relative safety exists. Just a theory though as the few times I’ve fished it I’ve caught dozens upon dozens of small trout, but no trout beyond 14 inches. I”m sure there are some larger fish in there, but I think it’s a place that can teach you a good lesson in presentation and put up some numbers. The small fish have always been fickle for me until I figure out the right presentation. At times, it’s skating a dry fly or an emerger, other times, it’s a dead drifted nymph and other times it’s a small dry delicately presented upstream. It’s a challenge and a nice reward to figure them out as catching one often leads to catching 20 more.
You can’t go wrong with either of these two sections on the headwaters of the mighty Colorado river. There’s something spiritual about fishing the headwaters of such a river and touching water and catching fish in streamflows that others will experience weeks and months later downstream. Get out and explore this area, and as always take extra good care of these rivers and headwaters, they are a true gem and resource to many and it’s our job to protect and maintain it properly as stewards of the river.
Fish: Some Small-Sized Fish
Popularity: Medium
Difficulty: Medium
Accessibility: Medium
Best Techniques: Dries & Nymphs
Best Seasons: Spring - Fall
River Type: Medium Freestone
Fish Types: Rainbow Trout, Cutbow Trout, Brown Trout, Cutthroat Trout, Brook Trout
Dog Friendly: No
Located in the Colorado River Basin near Granby, CO
Fishable Seasons & Current Weather
The best seasons to fish this river are Spring - Fall. See the current weather reports for the next 5-6 days listed below for the nearest city.
Knowing what flies to use is only have the battle. You have to know when the insects are active on the water and when it's likely the trout are feeding on them. Refer to our hatch charts below to understand when the insect categories and some of the possible hatches on the river.
Midge Hatches
Midges hatch year round, but their importance is from September through winter into April. During the warmer months, the trout often focus on larger insects as they are more active on the water like mayflies, caddis and stoneflies.
Aside from Blue wing olives, mayflies are active most commonly from May to August in Colorado. There are many different mayfly hatches found on most rivers and the most common are listed below.
Blue Wing Olive: September throut winter to April
Colors: Green/Olive
Sizes: #16-24
Pale Morning Dun: June to Mid September
Colors: White, Yellow
Sizes: #14 - #20
Caddis Hatches
Caddis hatch starting early in May and continue to the end of October.
Colors: Olive, Green, Yellow, Tan, Orange, Brown and Black.
Sizes: #10 - #20
Stonefly Hatches
We have some great stonefly hatches in Colorado and while not all rivers carry all species of salmonflies, you can often fish stonefly adult patterns with confidence from May to September. Start off in bigger sizes and get smaller till September hits (size 8 - 16)
Golden Stone: June to August
Colors: Yellow, Tan
Sizes: #8 - #14
Yellow Sally Stonefly: Mid June to August
Colors: Yellow, Tan
Sizes: #12 - #18
Salmonfly: Mid May to Mid July
Colors: Orange, Red, Brown
Sizes: #6 - #14
Terrestrial Activity
Terrestrials don't hatch since they are out of the water, but they can have importance starting in Mid April and ending in September.
These are the the top flies we sell for this river. Use the hatch chart above to know what flies you will want to have in your fly box during your adventure on the river and then select the flies here 30 days before your trip to get them at a great price. All of our flies are hand tied to each order to ensure quality and to keep our prices low for you.
Click on a fly below to select a size and color for purchase.
Our fly assortments make fly selection easy. We take our entomology knowledge and years of fly fishing experience on these rivers to bring you the right fly patterns, including the correct colors, sizes and quantities to set you up for success. A good selection of flies will prepare you properly for anything the trout may be eating on the river and our fly assortments are specifically curated to maximize your success. Take a look at the assortments we provide below and add one to your box today. Use coupon code AST50 for $50 off and free shipping on these as well, just to help make fly fishing a little more affordable!
Click on any of the pictures to see what flies, colors and sizes we recommend in each assortment.
View our access map for the Colorado River and learn public and private access points as well as other notable features around fly fishing this river. We include headwater and confluence data and in an effort to not "hotspot" river access points that are better than others, we list every access point available. This serves two purposes. First, it keeps us from hotspotting, which is just showing the best spots and bringing unwanted and harmful attention to the specific access point. The second reason is while we want to help you catch fish and find great places to explore, we don't want to spell it all out for you. If you get it all spelled out, we're doing the exploring, not you. Missing out on the journey of exploring places to fly fish is one of the more enjoyable aspects of fly fishing. While not everyone has time to go explore everything in person, we provide some of the top level data to help you know if something is worth your time, then pass it off to you to explore and find your own adventure. Now enjoy the info, if you're on this page then this river is worth exploring! Go out and find some memories.
Colorado River Tips & Resources
Use these epic resources to get ready for your adventure. Whether you're planning your trip, learning your insects, improving your fishing with expert tips or getting detailed resources from the USGS streamflows or DoW, we got you covered to help you find the river and find the success you want.
