Early June High Water: Blue-Wings and Soft Edges on the Colorado

Artificial Lure here with your Colorado River, Colorado fishing report. We’re in classic early‑June pattern now: cool nights, warm afternoons, and the river running high and a bit off‑color from snowmelt. Up around Glenwood Springs through Dotsero, flows are pushy, so pick your wades carefully and work the soft edges and inside seams. No tides to worry about up here in the Rockies—just rising and falling release and runoff flows, so keep an eye on the gauges before you go. Weather today feels made for a long drift: chilly first thing, light wind, then climbing into the 70s by afternoon with a mix of sun and a few building clouds. That cloud cover should help the mid‑day bite. Sunrise is right around 5:35 a.m., with sunset close to 8:30 p.m., so you’ve got a big window, but the best action is stacking up early and late. Bug activity has really picked up. We’re seeing solid blue‑winged olive and caddis life in the mornings, with PMDs and random stoneflies kicking around once the sun gets higher. Evenings bring a nice caddis pop and the first whispers of summer mayflies. Trout have slid in tighter to the banks, tucking behind rocks, along foam lines, and in softer tailouts where they don’t have to fight the heavy current. Recent catches reported along the Glenwood to New Castle stretch include good numbers of healthy browns in the 12–16 inch class, with a few 18–20 inch fish for folks who stick with it. Rainbows are still around but a bit more selective, picking off smaller bugs in the softer seams. Down closer to Rifle, anglers are also moving the occasional smallmouth and some chunky whitefish on deeper nymph rigs and small streamers. Best producers right now have been nymphs and smaller streamers. Think size 16–20 BWO and PMD nymphs, tan or olive caddis pupae, and stonefly patterns dropped off a bit of weight. A two‑fly rig under an indicator, worked tight to the bank, is hard to beat. For the gear folks, small suspending jerkbaits in natural trout patterns, 1/8‑ounce marabou or tube jigs in brown, olive, or white, and in‑line spinners in gold or copper are all taking fish when swung across softer lines or stripped slowly along current breaks. Live bait is more about where you are and local regs, but where it’s legal, small nightcrawlers drifted just off the bottom, or salmon eggs in the deeper slots, are still putting trout in the net. Keep it subtle—lighter fluorocarbon leaders and just enough split shot to tap bottom now and then. A couple of local hot spots to put on the list: - The **Glenwood Springs confluence area**, where the Roaring Fork dumps into the Colorado. That color change and extra flow stack fish in the soft edges and eddies. Work both sides if you can, and don’t ignore the short, choppy pockets tight to shore. - The **New Castle access and downstream bends**. Those long, sweeping runs with broken rock hold browns all day. Hit the inside corners early with nymphs, then come back in the evening and swing caddis soft hackles or strip small streamers as the light drops. If flows dip or clear even a bit over the next day or two, expect the bite to pop—especially the afternoon dry‑dropper game along shady banks and under overhanging willows. That’s the word from the Colorado today. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn