East River Colorado Fly Fishing Report & Options for Selecting Flies: Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
We have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes that make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Freestone
Species
Rainbow Trout
Brown Trout
Cutthroat Trout
Brook Trout
Kokanee Salmon
Size
Medium
Location
Central Colorado
Nearest Towns
Gunnison
Almont
Season
Year-round
Access:
Good
Non-Resident License
State of Colorado
Weather
National Weather Service Link
Seasons:
The season is open for fly fishing the
East River year-round.
Winter:
Although you can fish during the
winter, it’s usually fairly tough fishing.
Spring:
Except for the runoff, Spring can
provide some early season hatches
and good fishing.
Summer:
Early summer provides the largest
hatches and the best fishing. Dry fly
fishing can be good during the late
summer.
Fall:
Early Fall can be great. Late fall strictly depends on the weather.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
4, 5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 to 12 ft., 5 or 6X Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Supreme Four, Superb Five
or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 4/5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
Fly Fishing The East River, Colorado
The East River flows south from Emerald Lake to Almont where, with the help of the Taylor River, it forms the Gunnison River. Emerald Lake is near Crested Butte in Colorado’s high country. This stream has some excellent dry fly fishing and plenty of aquatic insect hatches. Fly fishing the East River provides a diverse opportunity for catching several different species of fish.
From the Roaring Judy Fish Hatchery downstream for a mile, the East River is Wild Trout Stream. This area is not far above its junction with the Taylor River. The hatchery raises fish for other locations.
In addition to trout the East River also has Kokanee Salmon. Fishing for these is catch and release only. They make a run every fall from Blue Mesa Reservoir to the hatchery where they were born. These are hard fighting fish that average from one to three pounds.
These salmon start dropping eggs in late September. That starts some great trout fishing. The trout really concentrate on the eggs. The trout also feed on the decaying salmon when they die.
There’s only about a mile and a half of public water on this river. This area is Wild Trout Water – Fly fishing only. There’s some private property on the river that can be fished, provided you use an outfitter that has rights to the property.
Although the public access is limited, due to the large amount of other water anglers can fish within the same general area, the East River usually provides plenty of water to fish without being crowded.
Fly Fishing Guide to the East River:
Fishing in the limited areas open to the public can be crowded at prime times of the season. The upper East River, above Crested Butte is in the Gunnison National Forest. It is a small, nice little meadow stream in this area and there is some public fishing access available. The stream meanders through the meadows where undercut banks are the main fish holding areas. This part of the stream holds smaller rainbow, brown, cutthroat and brook trout. There’s also some pocket water sections of the upper river has some fairly deep pools that hold a lot of fish. The average size is probably less than ten inches though.
The lower river has much larger trout. Although the browns only average about 12 to 14 inches, they can get quite large. Rainbows represent the other trout population in the lower part of the river. This is where most anglers fish the river.
The Kokanee salmon show up into the river from the Gunnison River about the middle of August. They
travel up both the Taylor and the East River. Most of them are around 15 inches or slightly larger. They all run about the same size. They don’t eat during the spawning run, but they will take flies.
The Slate River, a tributary stream of the East River, has a few places where anglers can access the stream to fish. Although the fish are on the small side, you will find the scenery is beautiful.
Although the section between Gothic & Emerald Lake has some fine small stream fishing for small trout, most of the fishing on the East River is done in the Roaring Judy Fish Hatchery section of water.
East River Hatches and Trout Flies:
Our information on aquatic insects is based on our stream samples of larvae and nymphs, not guess work. We base fly suggestions on imitating the most plentiful and most available insects and other foods at the particular time you are fishing. Unlike the generic fly shop trout flies, we have specific imitations of all the insects in the East River and in all stages of life that are applicable to fishing. If you want to fish better, more realistic trout flies, have a much higher degree of success, give us a call. We not only will help you with selections, you will learn why, after trying
Perfect Flies, 92% of the thousands of our customers will use nothing else. 1-800-594-4726.
During April and for about half of the month of May, Blue-winged Olives will hatch. They are bi-brooded and will hatch again from about the middle of July through the month of September.
Green Drake mayflies hatch during the month of July and on into the first part of August, depending on the part of the stream you are fishing. The Red Quills hatch during July and August.
The most important mayfly is the PMD or Pale Morning Dun. They can hatch on the East River over a long period of time, from about the middle of June on into September.
From about the middle of April through the first two weeks of May, the Little Black Caddis, or Brachycentrus caddis hatch. This is a good hatch that you can fish almost like a mayfly hatch.
Form the first of June through the month of September, you will find hatches of different species of caddisflies called Spotted Sedges. It is very difficult to tell one from the other so it appears the same caddisfly hatches over a long period of time. They are the most plentiful species of caddisflies on the East River.
Little Short-horned Sedges, a small caddisfly about a hook size 20, hatches in large quantities during May and June. These often crawl up your waders.
There are some great stonefly hatches on the East River. Salmonflies hatch during the month of June and into the first week of July. Golden Stoneflies hatch during the last week of June and most of the month of July. Little Yellow Stoneflies hatch from about the middle of July through August.
The months of July, August and September are terrestrial months, meaning ants, grasshoppers and beetles become important. Imitations of these bugs may be the key to success during the summer when the hatches begin to slow down.
Minnow, baitfish and sculpin are present in the East River in good quantities, meaning streamers work just about anytime the water is slightly off color, or during low light conditions such as early and late in the day or during heavy, overcast skies.
If you fish during the winter months you will probably need to fish imitations of midge larvae, pupae and adults to catch trout. These tiny insects hatch throughout the year.
If you haven’t already done so, please give our “Perfect Flies” a chance to perform for you. We have specific imitations of just about everything trout eat including all of the above insects in all stages of their life.