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Dolores River Fishing Information
Upper Section - near Rico, CO
The Upper Dolores is a fantastic cutthroat fishery. Full of beautiful, wild cutts, this river is a joy to fish and one of the many true wild gems of Colorado fly fishing. The upper section begins when the main fork aligns with the main road (HWY 145) and ends somewhere below Rico (its a bit subject where the upper and the middle section starts and ends but somewhere in there fits). The lower you go, the better chance at finding rainbows and browns, but staying above Rico you’ll find mostly cutthroats who maintain a biased interest in dry flies.
On my adventure, I got to a wonderful hole with crystal clear water and at least 30 small cutthroats actively feeding through the entire water column. Some were eating nymphs so I tried some euro nymphing on the hole and to my shock, I didn’t catch many (I think 2). I then went back to the car to grab my dry fly rod and 3 casts in got fish to actively chase and eat my dry fly and CDC emerger. I hooked into several in that hole shortly after and it helped re-jog my memory about cutthroats wonderful little addiction to dry flies.
As I worked my way up the river fishing about 1/2 miles worth of river, I was able to fish every part of the river including the riffles, runs and holes and pocket water and found trout on every part of the river willing to eat a dry fly. I was fortunate enough to catch a few in the 14-16” range as well which is always a treat for a wild trout. Most were in the 8 – 12” range but when you’re in the scenic mountains of Colorado catching wild cutthroat on a dry fly….size truly does not matter (don’t let anyone tell you different :).
I would recommend a double dry rig, single dry fly, dry fly with a trailing emerger, or a dry fly and a dropper like a pheasant tail for this fishery. Those 4 options will likely produce the best fishing and are always a fun way to fish. Cover all the water and look for patterns. I did find these fish to be fairly picky on what flies they would eat. It isn’t one of those places fly selection has no impact cause the trout are always willing to eat. They were selective about the flies used, but once I threw on a brown mayfly and a cdc emerger, I started finding a lot of fish. Every day and season will be different though so make sure to have your fly selection skills up to speed.
Fish: Some Small-Sized Fish
Popularity: Low
Difficulty: Medium
Accessibility: Easy
Best Techniques: Dries & Nymphs
Best Seasons: Spring - Fall
River Type: Medium Freestone
Fish Types: Rainbow Trout, Cutbow Trout, Cutthroat Trout
Dog Friendly: Yes
Located in the San Juan/Dolores River Basin near Rico, CO
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Weights I would use first: top fly with a 2.3mm bead and bottom fly with a 3.3mm bead.
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
Green Drakes: June to August
Colors: Olive/Green
Sizes: #8 - #14
Mahogany Dun: September to October
Colors: Red, Brown
Sizes: #10 - #16
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
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 Dolores 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.
Dolores 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.
