Colorado’s Trout Fishing Forecast Is Grim After Minimal Snow Pack and Record Heat. These Are the Bright Spots

After fishing and fretting by means of the lamest winter on file, I’m actually not the one angler out West with considerations a couple of low-water summer time. After all, these worries go far past the trout streams. Our regional freshwater infrastructure depends wholly on the cyclical falling and gradual melting of snow, which has been briefly provide just lately. This has big implications for anybody who lives out West, and for farmers and firefighters specifically.

Editor’s Word — That is the second of three articles concerning the excellent storm of fire, drought, and dirt bowl circumstances throughout the West in 2026.

Right here in Colorado, the place I reside, most of us anticipated the info to replicate the dearth of snow we’ve seen since November. However that didn’t make the bitter capsule any simpler to swallow when that information dropped this month: We are actually trying on the lowest snowpack ranges because the state began monitoring it round 40 years in the past, in 1987. Mix that with a record-breaking heatwave in March that began melting snow within the mountains greater than a month earlier than typical, and you’ve got a recipe for anxious weathermen and water managers. 

“There’s no sugar-coating the info proper now,” Colorado state climatologist Ross Schumacher wrote in a blog post earlier this month. “It’s now protected to conclude that this has been the worst yr for Colorado snowpack in recorded historical past.” 

On Friday, the Bureau of Reclamation announced that it’ll take motion to guard the Colorado River System amid the historic snow drought. At this level, the Bureau says, the Colorado River Basin will likely be working at roughly 36 p.c storage capability. 

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Now, needless to say that is already probably the most strained and contested river system within the West (and maybe all the nation). Drought has been a near-constant within the area for around 26 years, and consultants say the river has always been overallocated — which means there was by no means as a lot water as managers deliberate for once they established the unique Colorado River Compact in 1922. The seven states that depend on this water have for years struggled to agree on how you can share the dwindling useful resource, and the newest spherical of negotiations just collapsed. 

This scarcity will have an effect on tens of thousands and thousands of water customers within the Southwest — notably farmers and irrigators, but in addition the cities and utilities that get their electrical energy from Colorado River dams. The worst-case situation can be if Lake Powell, which is only 23 percent full, drops far sufficient to achieve “dead pool.” This might affect downstream supply and will trigger the hydroelectric generators in Glen Canyon Dam to cease turning. 

So, to stop this from occurring, federal water managers will likely be releasing a staggering quantity of water from upstream through Flaming Gorge Reservoir, which spans Utah and Wyoming and holds again the Inexperienced River. Officers count on the lake ranges at Flaming Gorge to drop by around 35 feet over the following yr.  

“Anglers ought to count on lowered flows,” Bureau of Reclamation public affairs specialist Anna Perea tells Outside Life in an emailed assertion, referring to streamflow forecasts within the West. “Low flows could imply that streams will likely be hotter and fish could also be careworn. Rafting and floating alternatives could also be restricted.”  

Anglers in Colorado’s Entrance Vary obtained some even harsher information on Tuesday, when water managers introduced plans to drain and close Antero Reservoir, one of many premier stillwater trout fisheries within the South Platte watershed. Similar to the scenario on Lake Powell, this drawdown is a band-aid repair to prop up Cheesman Reservoir, which provides consuming water for greater than 1,000,000 folks within the Denver metro space.

Antero is designed for this sacrificial objective, and it’s been drained earlier than in response to drought — most just lately in 2002, which is the closest historical comparison to this yr’s meager snowpack. But it surely’s nonetheless painful for all of the anglers who love Antero and its big trout. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has enacted an emergency fish salvage there, with bag limits lifted by means of Could 13. Some local guides are speculating that CPW will attempt to transfer as many trophy trout as they’ll to different reservoirs within the system.     

These water woes transcend the Southwestern area. The results of a weak winter are being felt throughout the West, from the deserts of New Mexico to the Washington coast and practically each watershed in between. The one outliers, it appears, are elements of the northern Rockies in Idaho, Montana, and northwestern Wyoming. Their mountains may not be smothered in snow, however they’re sitting nearer to regular when it comes to their snow-water equal — the quantity of water that may enter the rivers if all of the snow melted off directly. 

However since I reside close to (and drink from) the higher Colorado River, my state is pretty much as good a spot as any to ascertain some kind of fisherman’s forecast for this yr’s river season. And whereas issues do look bleak and boney going into the summer time, there are causes to remain optimistic.

For starters, the fishing is already off to a robust begin on this neck of the woods. We additionally obtained around a foot of snow within the central and northern mountains final week. 

Alter Your Calendars and Expectations

In a typical yr, the trout fishing in Colorado begins to choose up in April and early Could, earlier than runoff turns the rivers excessive and muddy. Issues then decide again up someday in June or July, as runoff subsides and the rivers drop into form. By mid-August and into September, we’re sometimes previous the height of trout season at decrease elevations, when lots of these rivers will attain their warmest temperatures of the yr. That is often the most effective time to hike into the excessive nation, the place there are sufficient alpine lakes and feeder creeks to maintain an angler busy.

This yr’s trout calendar is trying a lot totally different, nonetheless. And in lots of locations across the state, among the yr’s finest fishing is already occurring. This would come with the higher Colorado River and a few of its tributaries within the central a part of the state, the place Minturn Anglers is predicated.

“Individuals are calling the store and asking when’s the most effective time to fish, and I’m like, ‘Proper now,” says Cole Tretter, who runs the store in Minturn and manages their guided journeys. Tretter tells Outside Life that his guides are planning for an earlier and extra condensed summer time season, and so they’re already encouraging potential shoppers to guide earlier in the summertime than they usually would.

Right here in northern Colorado, my native rivers appear to be round 4 to 6 weeks forward of schedule: The ice melted faster, the bugs are hatching sooner, and in some areas, runoff is already kicking in to an extent. Because of this among the spots the place I sometimes focus my efforts in early Could have been fishing lights-out towards the tip of March and early April. Tretter and his guides have seen a lot of the identical.

“What I’ve been telling folks, so far as river flows, is that we’re a month forward,” Tretter says. “However then so far as hatches and the spawn, we’re much more forward [of schedule]. Sometimes rainbows begin spawning on the finish of March into April, however I heard studies of fish spawning as early as February this yr. After which with issues like caddis hatches, we’re seeing some actually intense hatches proper now that aren’t sometimes occurring till Could and even June some years.” 

Tretter says the principle stem of the higher Colorado has been particularly productive this spring, however that flows have nonetheless been on the decrease aspect as water managers concentrate on filling the higher reservoirs that act like water financial savings accounts. This can be a advanced and tough job even below the most effective circumstances. And as we’ve already seen (and famous above), it’s particularly tough following an unusually heat and dry winter just like the one we simply skilled.

The Colorado River Basin, and the northern half of the state normally, can also be faring somewhat higher than the southern half when it comes to snowpack. In response to probably the most up-to-date watershed maps, the scenario on the Arkansas and Rio Grande Rivers is trying particularly dire. The scenario is even worse in elements of Utah and New Mexico.

“Proper now, greater than one-third of Colorado is in extreme drought or worse, with excessive and distinctive drought already impacting key headwater areas,” says Katie Weeman, advertising and communications director for the Colorado Water Conservation Board. “Colorado’s statewide common snow water equal (the quantity of water contained in snow) is sixty-one p.c of the median, which is the second lowest snow water equal up to now forty-six years.”

Weeman additionally explains that because of the scorching March temperatures, these drought circumstances have solely gotten worse. 

“It’s been snowing up right here [recently], which is nice. We love that,” Tretter says. “However I feel at this level, it’s all going to be too little too late. I don’t suppose any quantity of snow in April or Could goes to avoid wasting us from what’s inevitable.”

Preserve a Shut Eye on Water Temps

It stands to motive that if the fishing is heating up a month forward of schedule, circumstances will in all probability deteriorate ahead of they might in a typical yr. This implies the main trout rivers in Colorado and past are prone to heat up by mid-summer and will surpass the 68 to 70 diploma vary, the place trout begin to turn into careworn. That is the place momentary or full fishing closures turn into mandatory.

These are generally known as hoot-owl restrictions all through the West. And since every state has totally different cutoffs and rules, it’s actually as much as anglers to determine when to provide fish a relaxation. Personally, after I begin seeing water temps creeping above 67 levels, I’ll shift my focus from the larger, lower-elevation rivers to the smaller, colder streams larger within the mountains. If you wish to maintain at it within the valleys, this usually means fishing early within the morning and getting off the river by mid-day. 

“As of proper now, once we’re reserving out forward for July and August, we’re reserving solely morning half days,” Tretter says. “We’re in all probability going to be getting on the water at like 6 or 7 a.m. … however I’ve additionally heard rumors and warnings concerning the potential for full-day fishing closures, which implies they shut us down completely.”   

Colorado Parks and Wildlife didn’t reply to a request for remark concerning the potential for hotter water triggering hoot-owl guidelines this summer time. So it’s onerous to say when these closures might come into play. However in case you don’t already carry a thermometer in your fishing pack, this can be a good yr to start out utilizing one. 

Have a Plan B if You’re Making an attempt to Float

The opposite inevitability at this level is a shorter and briefer window for floating. Some fashionable rivers in Colorado and close by states may not even be navigable in a drift boat or raft for a lot of the summer time. That is very true of smaller tributaries, just like the Eagle River, which Tretter says has already peaked for the yr. The Eagle came up in late March, and there doesn’t look like sufficient snow on the encircling peaks to set off one other massive runoff occasion. 

Down in Durango, within the southwestern nook of the state, Duranglers co-owner John Flick says his enterprise can also be planning for an earlier, shorter float season. Flick and his guides have particular, restricted permits to drift the higher Rio Grande, which is thought for among the finest dry-fly fishing in Colorado. The encompassing San Juan Mountains are additionally a mecca for backcountry fly fishermen because of the sheer variety of creeks and small streams in its wilderness areas.

Flick says his guides are nonetheless planning to drift the Higher Rio beginning in Could, although runoff has probably already peaked in that a part of the state. A number of current snowstorms have given him motive to be hopeful, although.   

“The one factor that might change issues now’s if we maintain getting these spring snows and it stays chilly. I’m at all times optimistic relating to that stuff,” Flick says. “Come August, I don’t know. However I do know the primary a part of the summer time goes to be simply positive so far as fishing and floating [on the Rio Grande]. Often we float into the second week of July, and I’d suppose we’ll nonetheless have the ability to float not less than by means of the third week of June.” 

As somebody who’s been fishing and guiding in southern Colorado because the early 1980’s, Flick additionally has a for much longer perspective on issues than youthful anglers. He’s seen loads of low-water years, and says the closest comparability to this yr’s circumstances was in 2002 (which was additionally one of the worst fire years in state historical past).

“That was the same spring so far as snowpack, however we didn’t get any of this precipitation that we’re getting proper now,” Flick says. “I’ve been right here lengthy sufficient, and so have among the older farmers, to know that we’ll get the moisture. We at all times do. It simply may not be when folks need it.” 

This yr’s snow drought additionally tracks with the bigger shifts that Flick has seen in Colorado’s climate patterns. During the last 40-plus years, he’s witnessed among the identical modifications that climatologists and researchers have pointed to: shorter winters with much less snow mixed with hotter, drier summers.  

Again within the late 80s and 90s, Flick says, he’d inform guests eager to fish the excessive nation to not even think about popping out till August. Over time, that timeline crept as much as the purpose the place the Fourth of July was a greater marker for good fishing at excessive elevations. This yr, he says, these creeks could possibly be fishable as early as the primary week of June.

“It’s all type of shifting ahead as a result of we simply don’t get the snow that we used to,” Flick says. “However we’ve seen all these ups and downs so far as climate and snowpack goes. So we don’t panic an excessive amount of.” 

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Apart from, he says, of us have had all winter to take a seat and fear concerning the climate. Now that it’s spring and the fish are joyful, it’s time to get out and make the most effective of it.  

“Everyone is already worrying about hoot owls and all that shit. However I feel we’ve got an extended methods to go earlier than that,” Flick says. “Ski season sucked. However , it’d simply freaking rain all of June.”