Fly Fishing in Glenwood Springs, Colorado - Roaring Fork River, Colorado River, Flyfishing

Fly Fishing

Glenwood is the ultimate Fly Fishing destination in the State of Colorado. The town is trisected by two major gold medal rivers (the Roaring Fork and Colorado River). 15 minutes upstream is the Crystal River and another 15 is the famous Frying Pan River. Dozens of miles of Contiguous Gold Medal Water from three different rivers (with different conditions and hatches).

Fishing and Boating Access Map for the Glenwood Springs Area - please check out the map. You can login and add your own accesses, or, leave a comment. Also, check out a video about fly-fishing in the area.

Roaring Fork River

The Roaring Fork River begins above Aspen at 12,000 foot Independence pass and terminates in Glenwood Springs where it joins the Colorado River.
The Fork is one of Colorado’s most popular rivers in summer and winter. There is a lot of public and accessible water in Glenwood Springs. The Fork’s signature hatch are the Green Drakes which usually start heading upstream into Glenwood during the last two weeks of June and progress upstream for another month. Other notable hatches include

The Mother’s Day Caddis happens right before runoff
Blue Wing Olive in October
Caddis hatch regularly throughout the summer
Hoppers in late summer

Floating the Fork in a dory is a very popular way to fish the river. From its confluence with the Crystal River downstream to the Colorado, the Roaring Fork River is designated as Gold Medal Water

Colorado Fishing Regulationsfor (http://wildlife.state.co.us/regulations/) the Roaring Fork River:
- From the upper Woody Creek Bridge downstream to the Colorado River:
  - Fishing is by artificial flies and lures only.
  - The bag and possession limit and minimum size for trout is 2 fish 16 inches in length.

Colorado River

The Colorado River widens and slows as it nears the Roaring Fork Valley. It’s one of the best rivers in the state for trophy fish. Excellent trout fishing exists in the stretch from Glenwood Canyon to Rifle with fisher larger than the Roaring Fork’s. Hoppers and Streamers are popular to bring out the big-boys.

Colorado Fishing Regulationsfor the Colorado River:
- Flies, lures, and bait may be used to catch fish.
- Bag and possession limit for trout is two fish.

Frying Pan River

The Fryingpan is Gold medal from Reudi Reservoir Dam downstream to the confluence with the Roaring Fork River. I takes about 40-45 minutes to drive up to the dam from Glenwood Springs. It is a beatifuly drive.

The Pan is an iconic river that attracts avid fly fisherman from around the world. It is a “destination river” because of its :

amazing dry-fly fishing for much of the year
ridiculously huge fish in the top mile
filled with bugs for fish to eat
Fishes well nearly every day of the year… even during winter and runoff.

Crystal River

The Crystal River is a wild and free-flowing river, tumbling more than 35 miles through scenic terrain to join the Roaring Fork River two miles below carbondale. The Crystal is home to rainbow, Brook and Cuttthroat trout in its upper reaches. It is a beautiful drive up the Crystal as far as Marble, then it becomes 4X4 driving.

The is a fast river and is not as rich in aquatic life… however, there always seem to be hungry fish on the Crystal that are fun to catch, even if they are smaller.

The Crystal is also a place where you can go if you like fishing smaller streams (ones you can easily wade across in may places, and sometimes jump across). The upper reaches of the Crystal (above Crystal City) Thompson Creeks (4 miles out of Carbondale) offer nearby opportunities. (There are other small creeks on our maps)