Colorado River Fishing Report: Runoff Winding Down, Trout Feeding Strong

Artificial Lure here with your Colorado River fishing report for June 22, 2025.

We’re in the sweet spot of the season right now—runoff is winding down, flows have dropped to a fishable 4,300 CFS below Glenwood Springs, and clarity ranges clear to hazy, making for prime conditions. The river's color is bouncing back after the muddy spell from earlier in June, and fish are responding with solid activity. Sunrise this morning was at 5:33am and sunset is slated for 8:36pm, giving you those long stretches of golden evening light that Colorado anglers live for. Weather’s holding mild and pleasant, with highs expected in the upper 60s to mid-70s. Bring a light jacket for early sessions; it’s brisk at dawn and cool in the shade, but warms up fast by midday.

Fish are hot on the trail of food right now. Hatches are steady, with Yellow Sallies and PMDs thick across the river, and if you catch a bit of cloud cover, Blue Winged Olives start to pop. Caddis are also coming on strong as the water temperature rises. Downstream from Glenwood, drift boaters and waders alike are reporting healthy browns and the occasional rainbow—most taking big nymph patterns, caddis pupa rigs, and PMDs. Midge patterns in cream and red, especially in sizes 20–22, have been a steady ticket for numbers according to the crew at Perfect Fly Store. On overcast days, streamers like the articulated Dungeon or Sculpzilla thrown along the banks are tempting the bigger browns to bite, especially if you strip them on the swing.

Nymphing remains the most consistent approach with the slightly off-color water below Glenwood. Pair a big stonefly or caddis nymph up top with a PMD or Sally nymph dropper. Dry fly action is picking up too—try a chubby Chernobyl paired with a smaller Sally or caddis dropper, especially in the late afternoon and evening. If you’re feeling bold, run a big wooden Colorado River Cutthroat Trout lipless plug or a crawdad imitation jig near grassy edges and rock seams—bass and trout are firing up on these meaty offerings right now.

The Colorado is the definition of a quality-over-quantity fishery. That means you might not catch a ton, but the ones you do stick will fight hard and run deep. Watch your water temperature, especially in the Pumphouse section, where things have ticked above 68 degrees on a few warm afternoons. If that thermometer creeps up, give the fish a break during the hottest part of the day.

For hot spots, give the stretch below Glenwood Springs a hard look for both drift and wade access. The Pumphouse to Radium corridor is also reliable, especially for big browns searching for post-runoff meals. Hit the seams, soft edges, and any bank structure you can find—those trout are there and they’re chewing.

Thanks for tuning in! Don’t forget to subscribe for weekly updates and river insights. This has been a Quiet Please production. For more, check out quietplease dot ai.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Artificial lure. Here with your Colorado River fishing report for
June twenty second, twenty twenty five. We're in the sweet
spot of the season right now. Runoff is winding down,
flows have dropped to a fishable forty three hundred cfs
below Glenwood Springs, and clarity ranges clear to hazy, making
for prime conditions. The river's color is bouncing back after

(00:22):
the muddy spell from earlier in June, and fish are
responding with solid activity. Sunrise this morning was at five
thirty three am, and sunset is slated for eight thirty
six pm, giving you those long stretches of golden evening
light that Colorado anglers live for. Weathers holding mild and pleasant,
with highs expected in the upper sixties to mid seventies.

(00:44):
Bring a light jacket for early sessions. It's brisk at
dawn and cool in the shade, but warms up fast
by midday. Fish are hot on the trail of food
right now. Hatches are steady, with yellow salis and pmds
thick across the river, and if you catch a bit
of cloud cover, blue winged olives start to pop. Cattis
are also coming on strong as the water temperature rises

(01:06):
downstream from Glenwood, drift boaters and waiters alike are reporting
healthy browns and the occasional rainbow, most taking big nymph patterns,
cattus pupa rigs and pmds. Midge patterns in cream and red,
especially in sizes twenty to twenty two, have been a
steady ticket for numbers, according to the crew at Perfect
Fly Store. On overcast days, streamers like the articulated dungeon

(01:30):
or sculpzilla thrown along the banks are tempting the bigger
browns to bite, especially if you strip them on the swing.
Nymphing remains the most consistent approach with the slightly off
color water below Glenwood. Pair a big stone fly or
Cattis nymph up top with a PMD or Sally nymph dropper.
Dry fly action is picking up two. Try a chubby

(01:52):
chernobyl paired with a smaller Sally or Cattis dropper, especially
in the late afternoon and evening. If you're feeling bold,
run a big wooden Colorado river cutthroat trout, lipless plug
or a crawdad imitation jig. Near grassy edges and rock seams,
bass and trout are firing up on these media offerings
right now. The Colorado is the definition of a quality

(02:14):
over quantity fishery. That means you might not catch a ton,
but the ones you do stick will fight hard and
run deep. Watch your water temperature, especially in the pump
house section where things have ticked above sixty eight degrees
on a few warm afternoons. If that thermometer creeps up,
give the fish a break during the hottest part of
the day for hotspots. Give the stretch below glen Wood

(02:38):
Springs a hard look for both drift and weigh access.
The pump House ter Radium corridor is also reliable, especially
for big browns searching for post runoff meals. Hit the seams,
soft edges, and any bank structure you can find. Those
trout are there and they're chewing. Thanks for tuning in.
Don't forget to subscribe for weekly updates and river insights.

(03:00):
This has been a quiet please production. For more check
out quiet please dot AI and that is it for today.
Hit the subscribe button and never miss out. Keep those
tips up and lines wet. This has been a quite
pleased production with the help of AI. Thanks for listening.