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Ohio Creek Fishing Information
Main Section - near Gunnison, CO
A day-trip on Ohio Creek truly defines the Epic Adventure for the intermediate angler. It is critical that anglers are prepared to battle excessive private water that is not well marked. Public areas along Ohio Creek are well marked and provide remarkable opportunities to explore a gorgeous small stream with spectacular scenery. Anglers can expect to find some better-than-average brook trout that can be really spooky of the angler’s shadow. Intermediate anglers will find a good combination of recognizable, easily fishable water while also having the opportunity to challenge themselves with some tight casting and small pockets. Fishing this area in Fall is simply spectacular and something that needs to be on your bucket list. The adventurous explorer can find a fantastic adventure in searching for the beaver ponds in the area. If an adventure and nice sized brookies are what you seek, Ohio Creek is the place for you.
Ohio Creek and the surrounding small creeks make up a bunch of places for you to find some excellent water. Â Access is private land in the lower sections but once you get to national forest, things open up and there are rainbow and brook trout throughout the drainages. Â Mill creek provides access to the upper west elk wilderness area and miles of small creek waters. Â Ohio creek will allow you to drive a loop up and around back to crested butte giving you a great scenic drive with some fishing along the way.
Overall, Ohio Creek is not a stream that requires precise fly selection. You can expect to fish basic, small stream flies that include caddis and small stonefly dries, mayfly dries and a variety of small mayflies and midges. In mid-summer, fishing will be significantly easier and fish will be eager to hit your dries. However in Fall, fish can be extremely spooky. In this case, be sure to downsize to 6X or 7X tippet if necessary. During these Fall times, a small (size 18) Parachute Adams to a smaller (size 20-22) Brassie or Mercury Black Beauty is a really great place to start.
Fish: Some Small-Sized Fish
Popularity: Medium
Difficulty: Medium
Accessibility: Medium
Best Techniques: Dries & Nymphs
Best Seasons: Spring - Fall
River Type: Small Freestone
Fish Types: Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Brook Trout
Dog Friendly: Yes
Located in the Gunnison River Basin near Gunnison, CO
Exploration Images
Exploration Images
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
Callibaetis: June to August
Colors: Tan, Grey
Sizes: #16 - #22
Pale Morning Dun: June to Mid September
Colors: White, Yellow
Sizes: #14 - #20
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
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.
Overall, Ohio Creek is not a stream that requires precise fly selection. You can expect to fish basic, small stream flies that include caddis and small stonefly dries, mayfly dries and a variety of small mayflies and midges. In mid-summer, fishing will be significantly easier and fish will be eager to hit your dries. However in Fall, fish can be extremely spooky. In this case, be sure to downsize to 6X or 7X tippet if necessary. During these Fall times, a small (size 18) Parachute Adams to a smaller (size 20-22) Brassie or Mercury Black Beauty is a really great place to start.
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 Ohio 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.
Ohio 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.
