Weekly Fishing Report: 09/24/24

Where to fish? With recent storms float fishing from WWG down to Cr-17 is open. Flows are just under 400 CFS at WWG so perfect for floats from this section down. Wade fishing is accessible anywhere right now and the fish are spread out due to our cold water temps and increase in flows. Above Marshal Park boat ramp the wade fishing is great right now for nymphing and streamer fishing.

What time to fish? Creede has been getting into the high-low 30’s at night so water temps are cold in the morning. Starting at 9:00 should be about the earliest you get on the water. Prime time fishing will be from 10:00-4:00.

What to use? Hatches are done for the Rio this year as far as big insects go. We may see smaller mayflies coming off but the fishing is mostly a subsurface game right now. With the constant change in flows your best flies will be stonefly and caddis nymphs. Almost always this time of year our guides will have on a 20 incher, pats rubber leg, prince nymph, hares ear, pheasant tail, or larger perdigon for our first fly. Trailing a smaller fly like a WD-40, RS2, killer may, pheasant tail, perdigon, or a micro may will get the job done. Focus on depth more than anything and add weight as the day progresses. The fish will be moving from the shallow water to deeper water as the day progresses. Before moving from a pattern try to change colors first. For example; if you have a black pats rubber leg on with no action, change to a brown color pats. It seems like a small change but it can make all the difference. There isn’t a huge selection of bugs in this river that fish feed on this time of year so make small changes to color and size of the patterns recommended above.

It’s Fall season in the Rio Grande Valley and that screams streamer fishing for our brown trout junkies out there. Our guides will live in the 2-4 inch range for streamer sizes. Streamers with a heavy head will be your best friend for keeping your bug down while adding a lot of action. We like sculpzillas, zonkers, and smaller sex dungeons this time of year. You can go big on streamers but we find big and small fish alike are keyed into smaller sizes. On darker days we prefer black, olive, black/purple, or olive/white. Sunny days we like, Olive, White, and Yellow.

Where are the fish? With water temps being on the cooler side fish are spread out everywhere. This is a great time of year to hit all pocket water, long riffles, shelves, and slow moving pools. Adjust your rig according to water speed. Earlier in the day the fish will be shallower and in slower water and as the day progresses you will find them in the deeper heavier water. We have been catching a lot of fish on the swing so get your full drift in especially as you swing into a shelf or parallel riffle.

To learn more about the area in and around Creede, Colorado click here.