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Lake Fork of Conejos River Fishing Information
Lower Section - near Conejos, CO
The Lake Fork of the Conejos is a small tributary of the Conejos River. The nearest town is Platoro and you drive along tons of great water along the main conejos river to get here. The lower section is a small 1/4 mile to 1/2 mile of river before it dumps into the Conejos. This river produces a large number of small brown trout ranging from 4 inches up to 14”. It’s not likely you’ll catch large fish here, but the numbers and ease of access make it a great place to try if you’re in the area and aren’t having luck on the main river. The fish need a delicately placed dry fly right in the seams to eat, but they are forgiving and with persistence, you can get them to eat fairly easily once the right cast is made. It’s a pretty shallow meandering meadow stream in this section and can easily get crowded if too many fish it. Overall, there is much better, higher producing water nearby, but if you find yourself getting beat down by the fish on the main river, this can be a place to get your confidence back. Beginners will find good luck here and is a good place to check out to learn fly fishing.
The best approach I’ve found is a dry dropper rig. A small stimulator size 14 on top or a mayfly of some sorts will produce trout with whatever your favorite beadhead fly dropped below 24 inches or less. 4x, 5x, 6x, doesn’t really matter in my experience but a good, dragless drift will entice the fish correctly. It’s a fun place to spend a couple hours if you’re in the area. If you are up there, don’t overlook the many sections of the Conejos river including Elk Creek, Lower Conejos, Middle Conejos, Tailwater Section of Conejos, and Headwaters Section of the river as well. Take a visit down to this area and you’ll have plenty of water to explore from the time you arrive to the time you leave.
Given the geography of the area, we decided to do a single map of the conejos area. See the map below, and notice the dozens of access points along the river and it’s tributaries. Explore all the ones you can during your trip, variety is the spice of life in this drainage! If you are up for a little hiking, you can access the trailhead up above and fish the upper section of the lake fork with good success as well with miles and miles of additional fishing opportunities.
<p>The best approach I’ve found is a dry dropper rig. A small stimulator size 14 on top or a mayfly of some sorts will produce trout with whatever your favorite beadhead fly dropped below 24 inches or less. 4x, 5x, 6x, doesn’t really matter in my experience but a good, dragless drift will entice the fish correctly. It’s a fun place to spend a couple hours if you’re in the area. If you are up there, don’t overlook the many sections of the Conejos river including Elk Creek, Lower Conejos, Middle Conejos, Tailwater Section of Conejos, and Headwaters Section of the river as well. Take a visit down to this area and you’ll have plenty of water to explore from the time you arrive to the time you leave.</p>
Fish: Many Small-Sized Fish
Popularity: Low
Difficulty: Easy
Accessibility: Easy
Best Techniques: Dries & Nymphs
Best Seasons: Spring - Fall
River Type: Small Freestone
Fish Types:
Brown Trout
Dog Friendly: Yes
Located in the Rio Grande River Basin near Conejos, CO
Hatch Charts
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
Trico Mayflies: Mid July to Mid September
Colors: Black, White, Grey
Sizes: #18 - #26
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)
Little Black Stone: January to May during warm sunny days.
Colors: Black, Grey
Sizes: #16 - #20
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.
The best approach I’ve found is a dry dropper rig. A small stimulator size 14 on top or a mayfly of some sorts will produce trout with whatever your favorite beadhead fly dropped below 24 inches or less. 4x, 5x, 6x, doesn’t really matter in my experience but a good, dragless drift will entice the fish correctly. It’s a fun place to spend a couple hours if you’re in the area. If you are up there, don’t overlook the many sections of the Conejos river including Elk Creek, Lower Conejos, Middle Conejos, Tailwater Section of Conejos, and Headwaters Section of the river as well. Take a visit down to this area and you’ll have plenty of water to explore from the time you arrive to the time you leave.
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 Lake Fork of Conejos 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.
Lake Fork of Conejos 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.
