Blue River Silverthorne
UPDATED: 06/04/26
Flow: 54 CFS River Graph
Guide Tip of the Week:
Fish were stocked end of March but fishing pressure has caught up and most fish have been caught and wisened up. It's back to technical tailwater strategies with tiny flies (22-24) and 5x tippet. Flies like the RS2, WD40, and basic thread midges have been great. Think natural, no bead heads, minimal flashback. Sometimes an egg can be a productive fly as well. When it comes to finding fish, just use your eyes. Sight fishing is the key to success in this section.
Current Conditions:
RIVER FLOW:
54 CFS
WATER TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F):
30-40's
WATER CLARITY:
Clear
CURRENT FOOD SOURCES:
| Midges | Mysis Shrimp | small mayflies(BWO) | leeches, smaller fish, worms and eggs etc.
Flies to Try
NYMPHS:
San Juan Worm 12-16 | Red or Pink Squirmy Worm | Epoxy mysis #18 | Natural Pheasant Tail #18-22 | Mayfly Nymph BWO size 18-20 | RS2 Dun 18-22 | Jujubee Midge #18-22 | Miracle Midge #20-22 | WD-40 Chocolate and Black #18-22|
DRIES:
| Elk Hair Caddis Yellow #18 | Peacock Caddis #18 | Extended Body BWO size 18-22 | Extended Body BWO #18-22| Matthew's Sparkle Dun BWO | Griffith’s Gnat size 18-24 | Umpqua Adult Midge Dark 20-22 | CDC Morgan's Midge size 20-22
STREAMERS:
| Thin Mint #6 | Near Nuff Sculpin olive size 04-06 | Super Bugger Tan size 6 | Pop’s Bugger pearl/grizzly size 8 | Pine Squirrel Leech in black size 12 | Slump Busters in olive and natural | Crystal Bugger white sizes 8-12 | Halebop Leech wine no bead size 8
The "tailwater" section of Blue River through Silverthorne fishes fairly consistently year round. The fish here are technical and sometimes pickier than you would expect. Water temps normally stay within the lower forties (fahrenheit), which doesn’t produce a large variety of hatches. For the most part, small midge larva, and Mysis Shrimp (small clear/white shrimp inhabiting Dillon Reservoir), are staples of the trouts diet. Things start to get more interesting if Dillon Reservoir reaches capacity and “spills” through the top release of the dam, instead of the bottom. This causes a larger variety of aquatic insects that live in the Blue River to become active, and therefore more available to trout.
The best technique is usually nymphing under a small, inconspicuous indicator. Adjust your weight and indicator depth depending on the depth of the piece of water you are working, and to the depth at which the fish are holding. Seeing rising fish is a possibility, as is seeing some action on streamers.
RIVER ACCESS
Also check out the Town of Silverthorne's Blue River Fishing Access Map
OTHER LOCATIONS
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