Colorado River Fishing Report: Clear Waters, Hatches, and Hotspots for June 20, 2025

Good morning anglers, Artificial Lure here with your Colorado River fishing report for June 20, 2025.

We’re catching that classic Colorado transition—runoff is winding down, flows are dropping, and water clarity’s dialing in. Just yesterday, Taylor Creek Fly Shops reported clarity “clear to hazy” below Glenwood Springs with flow holding at 4,300 CFS. The color’s coming back after that muddy push from earlier in the month, and fish are getting active again. While we’re still seeing some brownish tinge, the visibility is plenty workable for both nymphs and streamers.

Weather’s mild and pleasant today, with highs around the upper 60s to mid-70s depending where you’re at on the river. You’ll want a light jacket for those early morning riffs, as sunrise hit at 5:33am and it was a chill one on the water. Sunset tonight is at 8:36pm—long, golden evenings, perfect for that last hatch.

On the bite, hatches have been steady. According to Vail Valley Anglers, Yellow Sallies and PMDs are thick now, and with cloud cover you’ll see some Blue Winged Olives popping as well. As the water warms, caddis are making a strong showing. Drift anglers downstream from Glenwood have been nabbing healthy browns and the occasional rainbow—especially on those big, meaty nymph patterns and caddis pupa rigs. The word from Perfect Fly Store is that midges—cream and red larva and pupa—are still a ticket for numbers, especially sizes 20 and 22.

If you’re stripping, streamers like articulated Dungeons and Sculpzillas are making noise on the edges and in the seams. Fish are holding tight to structure, so work those banks and drop-offs hard. Wading anglers are also doing well with black or olive Matuka-style sculpins.

Bait angling’s best with nightcrawlers or salmon eggs around the deeper bends, but fly folks are still finding the most consistent success. Don’t forget: rainbow trout are in spawn—leave the redds alone and fish the runs and tailouts instead. For the hardware crew, a 3-3/4" wooden Colorado River Cutthroat trout lipless lure has been getting solid reviews from pike, walleye, and bass chasers—especially where warmer sloughs meet the main stem.

Top hotspots right now: try the stretch from Pumphouse down to State Bridge for a shot at bigger browns, or work the bends and riffles just below Glenwood Springs for numbers and some chunky rainbows. The side channels near Dotsero are also fishing well, particularly for those who like a little solitude and wild scenery with their trout.

That’s our report for today. Thanks for tuning in—be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss tomorrow’s update and the latest on hatches, flows, and hot spots. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, anglers, artificial lure. Here with your Colorado River
fishing report for June twentieth, twenty twenty five. We're catching
that classic Colorado transition runoff is winding down, floes are dropping,
and water clarities dialing in. Just yesterday, Taylor Creek fly
Shops reported clarity clear to hazy below Glenwood Springs with

(00:20):
flow holding at forty three hundred cfs. The colors coming
back after that muddy push from earlier in the month,
and fish are getting active again. While we're still seeing
some brownish tinge, the visibility is plenty workable for both
nymphs and streamers. Weather's mild and pleasant today, with highs
around the upper sixties to mid seventies, depending where you're

(00:43):
at on the river. You'll want a light jacket for
those early morning rifts, as sunrise hit at five thirty
three am and it was a chill one on the water.
Sunset tonight is at eight thirty six PM, long, golden evenings,
perfect for that last hatch on the bite. Hatches have
been steady according to Veil Valley anglers. Yellow sallies and

(01:04):
pmds are thick now and with cloud cover you'll see
some blue winged olives popping, as well as the water warms.
Cattis are making a strong showing drift. Anglers downstream from
Glenwood have been nabbing healthy browns and the occasional rainbow,
especially on those big meaty nymph patterns and Cattus pupa rigs.
The word from Perfect Fly Store is that midges, cream

(01:27):
and red larvae and pupa are still a ticket for numbers,
especially sizes twenty and twenty two. If you're stripping, streamers
like articulated dungeons and sculpzillas are making noise on the
edges and in the seams. Fish are holding tight to structure,
so work those banks and drop offs. Hard waiting anglers
are also doing well with black or olive matuca style sculpins.

(01:50):
Bait angling's best with nightcrawlers or salmon eggs around the
deeper bends, but fly folks are still finding the most
consistent success. Don't forget rainbow troutter and spawn, leave the
reds alone and fish the runs and tailouts instead for
the hardware crew. A three to three quartermach wooden Colorado
River cutthroat trout lipless lure has been getting solid reviews

(02:12):
from Pike Walley and bass chasers, especially where warmer sloves
meet the main stem top hotspots right now, try the
stretch from Pump House down to State Bridge for a
shot at Bigger Brown's, or work the bends and riffles
just below Glenwood Springs for numbers and some chunky rainbows.
The side channels near dot Sero are also fishing well,

(02:34):
particularly for those who like a little solitude and wild
scenery with their trout. That's our report for today. Thanks
for tuning in. Be sure to subscribe so you don't
miss tomorrow's update and the latest on hatches, flows and hotspots.
This has been a quiet please production. For more check
out Quiet please dot Ai. And that is it for today.

(02:57):
Hit the subscribe button and never miss out. Keep those
tips up in lines wet. This has been a quite
pleased production with the help of AI. Thanks for listening.