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Rock Creek of the Colorado River Fishing Information
Main Section - near Kremmling, CO
This is one of those rivers that gets little attention simply because there are so many other bigger and better fisheries nearby. That isn’t to say that this place isn’t worth a day or more to explore. Often in solitude this creek can be fished up or downstream for quite a distance on the national forest areas and is a fun place to explore and get off the beaten path of the larger rivers nearby. You won’t catch any trophy sized fish here, but it’s a healthy river with good numbers and willing fish if you are sneaky. This river is a great place to work on your stealth and approach. You’ll double the amount of fish you catch here once you’ve done that well.
This river is loaded with fish, but they can be a bit fickle depending on the flows and weather. Fishing this river with some cloud cover is a good idea and when flows are up a bit ideally in the summer. Standard dries and droppers recommended below will work just fine here as the fish aren’t overly picky as long as you don’t spook them casting.
Some tips on approach. Try to stay out of the water whenever possible. Make sure to cover water as you head upstream not overlooking areas that could hold fish. Often, not covering an area will spook a trout up stream, alerting others to your presence and you’ll miss it all. Instead, fish your way slowly up the river with a couple casts in every likely spot and you’ll pick up more fish that way. I also like to release the fish downstream if they’ll cooperate so they don’t run upstream. Keep a low profile and wear neutral, natural colored clothing. Make as few of false casts as possible before casting over the fish and if possible cast to the side of the fish and let the fly pass over them without the line doing so. Practice these tips along the way and they’ll serve you well on many of your fishing adventures.
Fish: Some Small-Sized Fish
Popularity: Low
Difficulty: Medium
Accessibility: Medium
Best Techniques: Dries & Nymphs
Best Seasons: Spring - Fall
River Type: Small Freestone
Fish Types: Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout
Dog Friendly: Yes
Located in the Colorado River Basin near Kremmling, 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 Rock Creek of 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.
Rock Creek of the 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.