Colorado Tailwater
South Platte River Fishing Report, Flows and Hatches
The South Platte below Elevenmile Reservoir, dropping through a granite canyon of pocket water and pools. A roadside tailwater of wild browns and rainbows on small flies, cold and fishable through the year.
Tailwater
Colorado
6,200 ft
Gauge PLAGEOCO
Right now
Live conditions
An expert read, in your pocket
Rivus knows your river right now. Live conditions, what’s hatching, and what to tie on, the moment you open it.
When the day turns and nothing’s working, ask Eddy and change the plan.
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The hatch chart
South Platte River hatch chart
The emergences that come off the South Platte by month, straight from the Rivus hatch model.
| Hatch | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Midge Midge, #18-24 | ||||||||||||
Small Baetis Mayfly, #20-24 | ||||||||||||
Blue Winged Olive Mayfly, #20-24 | ||||||||||||
Caddisfly Caddis, #14-18 | ||||||||||||
Pale Morning Dun Mayfly, #16-20 | ||||||||||||
Trico Mayfly, #20-26 | ||||||||||||
Grasshopper / Terrestrial Hopper, #8-12 | ||||||||||||
Pale Evening Dun Mayfly, #14-16 | ||||||||||||
October Caddis Caddis, #10-12 |
How it fishes
A Colorado tailwater
A tailwater runs out of the bottom of a dam, so the water comes out cold and steady all year. That stable temperature is why the bugs stay small and the hatches run like clockwork, and it is why the fish grow picky and well fed. The flip side is that the dam sets the flow, not the weather, so a release can change the river overnight. You read the gauge, not the sky.
Flow and gauge
Reading the flows
The South Platte is metered at Colorado DWR gauge PLAGEOCO. Watch the trend as much as the number: a river that is dropping and clearing fishes very differently from one that is coming up.
Low
under 100 cfs
Optimal
100 to 300 cfs
High
above 500 cfs
Access and regulations
Before you fish
Access and the right to fish are the angler’s responsibility, every time. Public access, private water, and seasonal closures vary along the river, so confirm where you can legally stand and wade before you go. We do not point you to a specific spot.
Read the current rules, license requirements, and any special-regulation water before you go. Regulations change season to season, so check them fresh.
Flow and water temperature from USGS, weather from NWS and NOAA, refreshed hourly. Real-time USGS readings are provisional and subject to revision. The hatch chart and river read are Rivus model output.