We have been guiding the rivers surrounding Summit County since 1999 and have seen our fair share of variable seasons over the years. This winter has been historic for all the wrong reasons and seems to be the topic of discussion everywhere we go. There is no sugar coating the fact Colorado snowpack is historically bad and we face a much different season this year. While these conditions are shocking to us all, we anglers like to find the silver lining in everything. Negative news is plentiful in 2026 and the purpose of this weekly update will be to highlight good news and provide anglers with new ideas to navigate this season!

As of two weeks ago, La Nina is over and odds are increasingly good for a Super El Nino later this year. During El Nino, the Jetstream typically runs further south and creates more moisture and cooler temperatures in southern regions. During La Nina, the Jetstream comes out of the Northwest and creates more moisture and cooler temperatures in Northwest and Midwest regions.  

Colorado is difficult to forecast because we are centrally located between the Jetstreams that La Nina and El Nino impact. A lot of Colorado’s bad drought years have come during La Niña conditions, and Colorado has had multiple La Niña years in a row. Therefore, scientist agree that El Nino could bring a much-needed monsoon season this late summer/early fall and carry through this coming winter.

For now, we are business as usual and our guide team has returned to work much earlier than usual. Great fishing and unpressured rivers are the norm right now and we are having a blast out there. Cutthroat Anglers owns a fleet of boats that give us a unique ability to get to locations less traveled. Our 10 foot rafts allow us to float low water like the upper Colorado, lower Arkansas and the Roaring Fork. Lower and middle Colorado stretches have been prime for float fishing via our drift boats and 13 foot rafts.

Wade fishing has also been excellent and the lower water gives us greater access to larger rivers like the Colorado. We are able to cross sections that we normally float and can navigate with greater ease to the best water. All of our main rivers, creeks and lakes are fishing off the charts.

Finally, we have a unique ability to explore our local reservoirs. News of Antero closing on May 13^th is flooding social media, but we have a unique perspective on our Stillwater options this year. Spinney and Williams Fork will not open their boat ramps to motor boats and will be hand launch only. This means no pressure from conventional angers on motor boats with endless technology and the fish will be less pressured. Cutthroat Anglers owns a heavy duty dolly and 4 rafts that we can hand launch to fish these lakes. In addition, we have a bass boat and access to trophy Stillwaters like Wolord and Delaney Buttes which will have open boat ramps. This will be the best year to lake fish in recent memory.

In summary, we are here to turn a frown upside down and highlight all of the great opportunities that still exist. May and June are going to be epic and we recommend booking a guide trip now! Please drop by the shop, reach out to ben@fishcolorado, or call the shop at 970-262-2878 if you want to chat fishing plans this season!  

Check out a few great photos from the past two weeks!