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Los Pinos of Cochetopa Creek Fishing Information
Lower Section - near Gunnison, CO
I fell in love with this river after fishing it in June of 2017. Â This is one of those streams that doesn’t get fished often and is full of brook trout. Â You can put up triple digits on a full day fishing. Â For beginners, this is the type of place that will get you hooked on fly fishing and for more experienced anglers, this is the type of place where you can practice techniques, and remind yourself about how fun it is to catch a ton of fish in a day.
The river is a small, meandering creek that is tea or coffee stained in color. Â The off color of this water screams brook trout heaven and there are dozens of trout in each hole. Â You will have your best luck fishing a streamer, or a dry dropper set up. Â In my experience I caught most fish on nymphs, and a few more eager brooks would eat the dry, but most on the nymph. Â You can tell this place doesn’t get a lot of pressure because you can catch nearly every trout in the hole as you fish upstream and they don’t really seem to spook. Â It’s a super fun place to spend a day. Â You can fish all the water, but your best water will be the holes and big bends with the most water. Â Fish group in there by the dozens and though you don’t see them, you’ll see them eat your fly with relative ease.
Though you can prepare yourself for a double or even triple digit fish day on this river, you also need to prepare yourself for a challenge. Â While getting to the SWA parking spots are easy in just about any vehicle, the 1/4 mile walk to the stream is a frightening challenge.It’s a bona-fide bog getting there and some of the weirdest walking I’ve ever done. Â You feel like you’re hiking in on a water bed and it’s unerving to feel the ground pulsate beneath you. Â I recommend fishing this with a friend as it’s a remote area and who knows how deep the water is under the peet bog, and falling it would require help to get out. Â Walk it carefully and take your time as it’s also tiring walking on that type of ground. Â Once you get close to the river, the river bottom reinforces the ground and makes it easier and more stable to walk. Â Work your way up or down river as you please and then you can walk along the road after you cross the bog again to get back to your car.
CAUTION: WILD TROUT WATERS
This river is designated wild trout waters and is 100% catch and release. Â These fish are naturally reproducing and considered wild. Â Barbless hooks, handling the fish with wet hands and using a landing net is mandatory. Â These fish are here in such numbers because they are well protected and tenderly fished. Â Make sure you adhere to the rules as they are enforcable by law.
Fish: Many Small-Sized Fish
Popularity: Low
Difficulty: Easy
Accessibility: Medium
Best Techniques: Dries & Nymphs
Best Seasons: Spring - Fall
River Type: Small Freestone
Fish Types: Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Brook Trout
Dog Friendly: No
Located in the Gunnison River Basin near Gunnison, 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
Green Drakes: June to August
Colors: Olive/Green
Sizes: #8 - #14
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
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 Los Pinos of Cochetopa Creek 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.
Los Pinos of Cochetopa Creek 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.