South Platte River: Dream Stream

Sitting at 38 cfs, the fishing is technical and trout are illusive. Due to the active sucker spawn, don’t be surprised if you come across and hook into more suckers than trout. To put trout in the net, anglers will want to cover a lot of ground and focus on making precise casts, clean drifts. Keeping a low profile when fishing from or walking along the bank will pay dividends, as well. Spending time exploring every inch of a pronounced pool and/or run is a great place to start. As water temps rise and hatches kick off (midge and BWO), give some attention to rock gardens, riffles and transitions. Midges and BWOs are the most prominent hatches at the moment. Until water temps rise above 50 degrees, caddis activity will be minimal. Take full advantage of dry fly opportunities with a dry fly or dry dropper setup. Otherwise, nymph rigs with yarn indicators and 5x tippet are most reliable. Baetis emergers are particularly productive between 11 am and 3 pm. During the morning and late afternoon/early evening, midge pupa patterns are a great option. Patterns such as olive leeches, Buckskins, Caddis Candy, Blood Midges, Miracle Nymphs, Micro Mayflies, Flashback Pheasant Tails, JuJu Baetis and perdigons are effective attractor patterns.