Guys,

I don't post on here much, but I thought I might be able to get some good advice from this group. I'm planning one week in Colorado to fly fish in June. I've never fished Colorado and I'm looking for the best location to camp where I can fish multiple locations in the week. I will probably do a guided trip on day one just to get me started in the area. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

June is usually pretty tough in Colorado. Most areas will be in the throes of runoff. The area I have the most knowledge of is the Arkansas river basin. I locate myself in Canon City and explore from there. The Arkansas is a great river - gold medal brown trout water, but can be unfishable in June. The tribs are great to fish if the water is high - Badger Creek, Grape Creek, Cottonwood creek. Much of the area is national forest, but I am not a camper so I won't assess the facilities.

June on the South PLatte can be great fishing. Those are tailwaters and don't get as high during runoff. The SP is about one hour from Canon City.

Check out a few areas and see what works for you. I would personally recommend July/August, but if you are stuck to June, the further south the better!

I agree with Jeff. Colorado can be tough in June. One really nice area to camp with access to lots of fishable water is Cevolla Creek at Slumgullion Pass near Lake City. Some nice spots to camp along Cevolla Creek.

JR

Thanks guys, I'm kinda of stuck with June, any other places you would recommend in June? I'm open to travel.

i'd fish the san juan in new mexico

Have a friend that has gotten into Musky fishing on the reservoirs to pass time during the spring melt.
Would love to try that some day.

11 mile canyon. Camping all along the south platte.

Hi Mike,
I am new to the forum. I was reading last night and saw your post, Colorado high country can go both ways in late spring but the beauty of it is there is always places to fish and depending upon where you want to go would determine how to fish it ie: nymphs, streamers etc.
The last two years we have had 1970's snow pack and this last summer was mild and runoff lasted a while but never 'washed' us out.
Someplaces to consider-
Arkansas River - Canon City to Salida along highway 50
Buena Vista to Leadville - several public access areas that can be good

South Park area south of FairPlay - State lands along the Platte, Tomahawk/Reinecker State Wildlife area
Also south end of South Park east of Hartsel along the Platte toward Spinney Mtn Reservoir.
The stretch between Spinney and Elevenmile is well known and heavily fished but during the
week not bad, a good fall back if runoff is heavy as it is protected by Antero and Spinney.

Gunnison river between Gunnison and Taylor Park - alot of private water but some public access places on the
Northern end.

The Roaring Fork, Crystal and Frying Pan between Glenwood and Aspen - one of those is usually good even during runoff - not as bad during the week in June!

Bottom line -don't let runoff put you off.
Plan with some flexibility and you'll have a great time
Charlie

Well said. It's not a universal state wide event starting and stopping all at once.
I think there is a map online somewhere someone posted last year showing current
snow melt/run off levels on all the major basins.