Colorado Freestone
Yampa River Fishing Report, Flows and Hatches
A free-flowing western river running through Steamboat Springs, holding wild rainbow, brown, and cutthroat trout. The Chuck Lewis State Wildlife Area and downtown sections fish well. The Stagecoach tailwater below town is a separate stretch.
Freestone
Colorado
6,700 ft
Gauge 09239500
Right now
Live conditions
The hatch chart
Yampa River hatch chart
The emergences that come off the Yampa by month, straight from the Rivus hatch model.
| Hatch | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Midge Midge, #20-26 | ||||||||||||
Blue Winged Olive Mayfly, #16-20 | ||||||||||||
Caddisfly Caddis, #14-16 | ||||||||||||
Salmonfly Stonefly, #4-8 | ||||||||||||
Golden Stonefly Stonefly, #8-10 | ||||||||||||
Pale Evening Dun Mayfly, #16-20 | ||||||||||||
Trico Mayfly, #20-24 | ||||||||||||
Grasshopper / Terrestrial Hopper, #8-12 | ||||||||||||
Flying Ant / Carpenter Ant Ant, #10-16 | ||||||||||||
Terrestrial Beetle Beetle, #10-14 | ||||||||||||
October Caddis Caddis, #8-10 |
How it fishes
A Colorado freestone
A freestone river runs free off snowmelt and rain, so it swings hard with the seasons. It blows out and browns up in spring runoff, then drops and warms into summer. The hatches track the water temperature more than the calendar, so you time your trip to the flow and the thermometer.
Flow and gauge
Reading the flows
The Yampa is metered at USGS gauge 09239500. Watch the trend as much as the number: a river that is dropping and clearing fishes very differently from one that is coming up.
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.