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South Platte River Fishing Information
Denver Section (DSP) - near Denver, CO
During the winter, when the water cools, you can catch a few trout in town and they can get to some good size as well. Â There aren’t many however, and usually fishing waterton or deckers will provide better results for the day. Â During the spring to fall however, this place is an excellent carp fishery. Â If you like to chase carp on the fly, you can find tons of access through town and carp well over 30” hang out in this river. Â Bring some streamers too, you may just find a chance to catch small mouth or the random trout in the river as well.
Cheeseman Canyon Tailwater
Let me start by saying, no matter what, you can’t have a bad day in the canyon. Â That said, it is one of the hardest places to fish in the world. Â Many say it is the most techinal fishery in the country and for good reason. Â It’s a steep canyon so access is tricky. Â Once you get to the clear water, the fish are spooky and require perfect drag free drifts through the multi and cross currents that the large granite boulder create. Â Mainly a nymph fishery these fish are indicator and split shot shy and require small flies to have success. Â Pretty much all the tough aspects of a river are rolled up into one on the Canyon (or as I like to call it, the Chedda). Â Cheeseman canyon is popular but requires a hike to access keeping the less adventurous out. Â There are some days in the canyon that are lights out and even if you spend your whole day not cathing a fish, the water is gorgeous and you’ll see more fish than you do in most other rivers. Â The canyon gives you a birds eye view to the fish and I often spend half the day just watching the trout feed from the big boulders above. Â Fish range 12-18” in this section and can get much bigger than that if you know where to look.
Deckers Tailwater
On the other side of the wigwam club private water below cheeseman, Deckers section begins and continues to the confluence with the north fork of the south platte. Â This section has a ton of fish and is only an 60-90 minutes from the front range. Â The proximity to denver makes this place often pretty crowded, but with some driving, you can find open water. Â There are miles of fishable water and the fish are plentiful. Â There are more fish above the bridge in deckers most times, but there are also 3x the amount of crowds. Â Fishing downstream of the bridge often yields more fish. Â I’ve seen some real beasts down there too, so don’t overlook these sections. Â There are a lot of 18”+ fish in the river that are worthy of a picture or two. Â Practice good catch and release here as the fish get pressured hard. Â It’s a fun and challenging place to fish for the day.
Waterton Canyon Tailwater
Waterton canyon is a great tailwater that is less than 30 minutes from Denver. Â It requires a hike to get into and can get crowded. Â The trail is easy and you can bike in making it easier to access the upper reaches which sees less pressure. Â Brown and rainbow trout hang out here and can get to be over 20” though most are in the 12” – 18” range. Â fishing is similar to Deckers with the exception of different fly selection. Â Scuds and sowbugs play a good importance on this section of the river on top of the standard caddis, midges, mayflies and stoneflies. Â This area makes a great day trip or even something you can access in the evening for a few hours after work.
Carp flies need to be different weights so you can get it down fast to the bottom, but without spooking them. Â Crawdad imitations like backstabbers and the common craw are great. Â The carp hybrid by John Montana is a great pattern as well. Â Carry these all in olives, browns and oranges in different weights and in sizes #8 – #12
For trout, they never seem to picky during the winter and midges, san juan worms and eggs all seem to work the best. Â Small flies in the #18 – #24 for midges and SJW in #14 – #16 range are great and will find the fish. Â Cover lots of water if you can’t find them.
Fish: Few Medium-Sized Fish
Popularity: Medium
Difficulty: Medium
Accessibility: Easy
Best Techniques: Nymphs
Best Seasons: Winter
River Type: Medium Tailwater
Fish Types: Rainbow Trout, Cutbow Trout, Brown Trout, Common Carp
Dog Friendly: Yes but Leashed
Located in the South Platte River Basin near Denver, CO
Fishable Seasons & Current Weather
The best seasons to fish this river are Winter. 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
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)
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.
Carp flies need to be different weights so you can get it down fast to the bottom, but without spooking them. Â Crawdad imitations like backstabbers and the common craw are great. Â The carp hybrid by John Montana is a great pattern as well. Â Carry these all in olives, browns and oranges in different weights and in sizes #8 – #12
For trout, they never seem to picky during the winter and midges, san juan worms and eggs all seem to work the best. Â Small flies in the #18 – #24 for midges and SJW in #14 – #16 range are great and will find the fish. Â Cover lots of water if you can’t find them.
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 Platte 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.
South Platte 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.
