Colorado River Winter Fishing: Nymphs, Spinners, and Wary Trout

This is Artificial Lure with your Colorado River, Colorado fishing report.

We’re in a classic mid‑winter pattern on the Upper Colorado. According to the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center and recent coverage from Coyote Gulch and KDNK community radio, snowpack in the Upper Colorado Basin is running below average, with an abnormally warm stretch and generally mild temps for January. That means more open water than usual in the middle reaches, but plenty of shelf ice along the banks and in the slower side channels, so wade carefully and mind those undercut ice edges.

No tides to worry about on this stretch of river, just fluctuating releases. The Bureau of Reclamation notes relatively stable winter flows out of the upstream reservoirs, so you’re mostly dealing with clear, cold water, low to moderate flows, and finicky trout. Sunrise is right around 7:30 a.m. and sunset about 5 p.m., but the real bite window has been more like 10:30 to about 3, once that weak sun gets on the water and bumps the temperature a degree or two.

Local fly shops along the Colorado corridor report steady, not hot, action: a mix of browns in the 10–16 inch class, with the occasional 18–20 inch fish, plus a few chunky rainbows out of the deeper wintering holes. Most folks are talking “a half‑dozen to a dozen fish” on a good half‑day if they stay mobile and methodical. Fish are podded up in softer seams, tailouts below riffles, and the slow buckets behind boulders.

Best bet right now is classic winter nymphing:
- Small midges and baetis: Zebra Midges, Black Beauties, Juju Baetis, RS2s in sizes 18–24.
- Add a “junk fly” for a lead: eggs, worms, or a small stonefly to get down.
- 5X–6X fluoro, long leaders, and tiny weight adjustments until you’re just ticking bottom.

For conventional anglers, the slower, deeper runs are still giving up browns on:
- Small to medium **gold or copper Colorado‑blade spinners** slow‑rolled just off bottom.
- 1/8–1/4 oz marabou jigs in brown, olive, or black.
- Natural baits where legal: nightcrawlers and salmon eggs drifted under a small float.

With the clearer water and low light, subtle, natural colors are outfishing bright stuff. According to general spinnerbait guidance from freshwater lure makers, Colorado blades are ideal in cold water for that extra thump at slow speeds, which lines up perfectly with how these winter browns are feeding.

Couple of local hot spots to think about:

- **Pumphouse to Radium**: Classic winter float or long wade. Look for the deeper troughs below the main rapids and the slower inside bends; those spots have been holding the better rainbows. Nymph it hard from late morning on, and don’t overlook the softer water tight to the bank ice.

- **Dotsero area and downstream eddies**: Lower gradient, more moderate flows. This is a good option when it’s really cold up high. Bank anglers are picking off browns on small spinners and jigs in the afternoon when the sun gets on those big, slow pools.

If you’re seeing midges dance around midday and a few noses poking up in the slicks, you can sneak in some technical dry‑fly fun with tiny Griffith’s Gnats or midge clusters, but plan on 6X and delicate presentations.

Layer up, use a wading staff around the ice shelves, and keep those fish wet and in the net – they’re already burning plenty of calories just staying alive in this cold water.

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