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Treasure Creek Fishing Information
Main Section - near Conejos, CO
Treasure creeks gems don’t lay in the minerals that were mined years ago, but in the living gems found in the river. As the name implies, it is a real treasure of a creek hosting rio grande cutthroat trout, a protected and rare species of trout to catch. There are no other trout in this river than the cutties and this presents a unique and fun experience if you’re willing to make the drive. It’s probably about 6 hours from the front range any way you slice it, and not much better from any other popular town. This isolation is in part what protects these fragile trout and though some know about it, there is ample solitude, especially on a weekday on this river due to the drive time. You have to pass the conejos, or alamosa river or rio grande to get here but make no mistake, the journey is worth it.
The water seems glacier fed as it’s a beautiful blue hue and frigid temps make a pristine habitat for the orange bellied cutthroat that inhabit this creek. The valley itself really transports you to a place of peace, relaxation and solitude. The few fish that can be caught here are merely icing on the cake to a great adventure. This creek is cold and takes a while into the day and into the year to really warm up. Nymphs work best in the morning and an accurate dead drift is needed to fool these un-pressured fish. As the day warms up, they are more willing to eat dries, and a variety of standard attractor dry flies will draw takes. A dry dropper is likely your best bet as you fish the water. There is a lot of different habitat to explore here. There is a valley meadow, gorged canyon, and beaver pond water throughout the valley making it feel like a new adventure at every turn. Trout can be found in every likely and even unlikely holding area. The times I fished this place, I found the trout to be holding in faster water than I expected and had to make sure I didn’t walk over what seemed to be unfishable water. Any time I did, I’d spook a fish out and I quickly learning to fish every inch of the river but cover it quickly. They don’t need more than one or two casts to be convinced if they are going to eat, if not, then you might as well move on and find a trout willing to eat.
Usually places like this, the fish are so easy to catch it doesn’t provide much challenge and is just a fun place to be. These fish, however, despite the lack of pressure, are weary to eat a fly and need an excellent, drag free drift to commit. You’ll find the right level of challenge on this river as an intermediate or advanced angler, and as a novice, you will feel a little extra challenge beyond what your expectation may be. Work hard to get good drifts and you’ll find fish of astounding beauty that will swim in your memories for decads to come.
Prospect creek is also on the access map. It’s info is on a separate river on the river explorer, but listed on the same map as an area of interest. Not a ton of water to fish on Treasure creek and for the drive time, you’ll likely need a 3 day trip to make the most of it. There is really only one day max of fishing treasure creek unless you also hike up to the south fork (see map), so prospect creek is another good option as well as the smaller creeks up on that same pass near 380.
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: Cutthroat Trout
Dog Friendly: Yes
Located in the Rio Grande River Basin near Conejos, 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 Treasure 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.
Treasure 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.