Dolores River Fly Fishing Report
Dolores River below McPhee Reservoir. Guides and local shops report an ideal wade-fishing window of roughly 50–275 cfs (FlyGuysNLies). Live gauge data below updates automatically.
Want today's Rig of the Day pick for Dolores River? Flip its card in the live River Conditions grid on the homepage.
What's swimming in the Dolores River
- CPW's body-of-water page for the McPhee Dam-to-Ferris Campground tailwater reach describes a quality Rainbow and Brown Trout fishery, artificial flies and lures only, catch-and-release, with no limit on warmwater species (CPW Dolores River).
- Duranglers reports fish typically running 12 to 16 inches with some over 20 inches, and notes an increasing share of Brown Trout in the tailwater (Duranglers).
- SportFishingReport lists Rainbow, Brown, Cutbow and Mountain Whitefish present below McPhee (SportFishingReport).
- No Gold Medal designation was found for this reach.
Getting to the Dolores River
- Lone Dome State Wildlife Area, CPW, Montezuma County (1,724 acres) -- fishing, hunting, hiking; no camping on the property, overnight parking only in designated areas (CPW).
- Bradfield Recreation Site, BLM Tres Rios Field Office -- 17 camping spurs, one fully ADA-accessible site, day-use picnic area, free day use (BLM). Bradfield Bridge marks the downstream end of the flies-and-lures reach below.
- Dolores River Special Recreation Management Area, BLM -- named river access at Bradfield Bridge, Mountain Sheep Point, and Gypsum Valley; boatable releases (when they happen at all) generally fall mid-April to mid-June (BLM).
- McPhee Dam downstream ~11 miles to Bradfield Bridge: artificial flies and lures only, trout returned to the water immediately. Bradfield Bridge downstream to the state line: no bag/possession limit on brown trout (CPW special regulations). CPW has repeatedly asked anglers not to fish below McPhee Dam after noon during low-flow stretches, most recently in July 2026 alongside the Animas and San Juan (CPW news).
8 sourced hatch windows for the Dolores River
Species, size, and season, each tied to the published fly-shop or guide-service chart it came from. See Hatch Charts for every Colorado river we track and a precision-level key.
| Species | Season Window | Size | Precision | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Winged Olive | Apr 2–May 17 | #16-22 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
| Early Brown Stonefly | Apr 2–May 17 | #14-20 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
| Midges (various) | Apr 2–Dec 1 | #16-24 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
| Caddis (various) | Jun 17–Sep 16 | #10-22 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
| Little Yellow Stonefly | Jun 17–Aug 17 | #14-18 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
| Pale Morning Dun | Jul 2–Aug 17 | #16-20 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
| Terrestrials (various) | Jul 2–Sep 16 | #8-20 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
| Blue Winged Olive | Aug 17–Nov 1 | #16-22 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
6 fly pairings from real fishing reports
Up to 2 pairings for this river are always free to browse in full. Fly names, leader/tippet spec, and full source are unlocked by .
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Recent reports from anglers on the Dolores River
Real ratings, notes, condition tags, and rig tags logged by signed-in anglers after fishing this water.
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Fly shops on the Dolores River
Dolores River fly fishing questions
What is a good flow (cfs) to fish the Dolores River?
Guides and local shops report an ideal wade-fishing window of roughly 50–275 cfs on the Dolores River (FlyGuysNLies). TroutTips shows the live current reading against this range so you can check before you go.
Is the Dolores River designated Gold Medal water?
No, the Dolores River does not currently carry Colorado Parks and Wildlife's Gold Medal water designation.
What flies work on the Dolores River?
TroutTips tracks 6 fly pairings reported specifically on the Dolores River, each tied to a season and a real source. See the Fly Pairings section on this page for the full list.
Are there fly shops near the Dolores River?
Yes, Duranglers Flies & Supplies, The San Juan Angler, Telluride Angler / Telluride Outside, Telluride Fly Fishers, Rio Epic Outfitters guide this river. See the Nearby Fly Shops section on this page for details.