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South Fork of Rio Grande Fishing Information
Upper Section - near South Fork, CO
The upper section of the South Fork of the Rio Grande is a great place to build some confidence and catch a lot of fish. Full of rainbows and browns and cutbows, the upper section ends when the south fork crosses the road off highway 160. Anything upstream (West of 160) is the upper section. This is because park and pass creek flow into it downstream changing the size of the river. The upper section is considered a small stream fishery and with it comes some joys and challenges.
First, the challenge is not spooking the fish and getting accurate, well-presented drifts. The joy, however, comes from the willing and plentiful (and beautiful) trout that reside here. Great for beginners, young anglers or anyone who appreciates some solitude and trout off the beaten path.
Expect to see a variety of hatches during the summer months into fall. Spring up here is mixed results depending on the weather and is best fished from Mid May to Mid September and when possible, a dry-dropper set up will yield a fun and enjoyable day. Double dry rigs are also possible if you want to focus on top all day.
Regardless of your approach its going to be a very enjoyable day and I highly recommend this entire area. Be it Pass, Park or Beaver Creek or the south fork or main river of the rio grande, South Fork has a ton of options to enjoy.
<p>There are numerous hatches on this river and trout aren’t overly selective as long as you have the right size and color. Parachute green drake vs a thorax style or CDC style green drake for example makes little difference as long as you have an olive mayfly on that matches the size or one size smaller than what is hatching. A bug seine from our Entomology course really paid dividends for me on this river as well as I was able to capture both adult green drakes and the nymphs to confirm what size they were eating.</p>
Fish: Many Small-Sized Fish
Popularity: Medium
Difficulty: Medium
Accessibility: Easy
Best Techniques: Dries & Nymphs
Best Seasons: Spring - Fall
River Type: Small Freestone
Fish Types:
Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Cutthroat Trout, Brook Trout
Dog Friendly: Yes
Located in the Rio Grande River Basin near South Fork, 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
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)
Skwala Stonefly: March - Mid May
Colors: Brown, Red
Sizes: #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
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.
There are numerous hatches on this river and trout aren’t overly selective as long as you have the right size and color. Parachute green drake vs a thorax style or CDC style green drake for example makes little difference as long as you have an olive mayfly on that matches the size or one size smaller than what is hatching. A bug seine from our Entomology course really paid dividends for me on this river as well as I was able to capture both adult green drakes and the nymphs to confirm what size they were eating.
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 South Fork of Rio Grande 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.
South Fork of Rio Grande 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.
