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Williams Creek of the Piedra River Fishing Information
Main Section - near Pagosa Springs, CO
Williams creek is one of the best creeks in this area and holds some of the best views. While the fishing can be hit or miss depending on time of day (morning evening seems most productive), it’s one of my favorite rivers to fish in CO for the sights alone. Nestled near the Weminuche Wilderness and the surrounding mountains, the peaks, trees and colors of the area as well as the trout are a great way to spend a day if you’re in the area, or a couple if you’re camping. There is ample dispersed camping around as well as come campgrounds by the reservoir and the creek. Reservations are likely needed ahead of time.
I found the fish below the res and all the way down to be on the small side, though with a good presentation they were eager. I fished it for about an hour and found about 20 small sized browns and rainbows on a dry dropper. They did miss the fly quite a bit (or I just missed them) and i think sizing down on the nymph with a tungsten beadhead would have done me some good, but those are still great catch rates and I couldn’t complain. You can find some crowds on the river in the more popular stretches, but if you find some parking off the road and hiek 10 minutes down to the river, you can avoid the crowds.
While you may avoid the crowds, you won’t avoid the cattle. Watch your dogs in the area as there are free range cattle. Aside from the issues cattle present to the fishery, this creek has everything else going for it.
The upper section (search for it on the River Explorer) holds fewer trout from our experience, but larger ones. While I only fished it once, I was able to sight a 16″ trout which was sizeable for the creek. That was the only fished sighted or spooked as I fished the river upstream. There is a campground up towards the top of the creek, above the res you can fish the creek up there as well and up into the wilderness.
Located in the San Juan/Dolores River Basin near Pagosa Springs, 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
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 Williams Creek of the Piedra 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.
Williams Creek of the Piedra 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.
