Yampa River Fly Fishing Report
Yampa River at Steamboat Springs. Guides and local shops report an ideal wade-fishing window of roughly 120–200 cfs (RiverReports). Live gauge data below updates automatically.
Want today's Rig of the Day pick for Yampa River? Flip its card in the live River Conditions grid on the homepage.
What's swimming in the Yampa River
No CPW fishery survey exists for the Yampa. CPW's body-of-water page describes the Hayden reach downstream of Steamboat, not the town stretch, so the notes below lean on that river-wide data plus a local TU chapter.
- CPW's river-wide page lists Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Mountain Whitefish, Northern Pike and Smallmouth Bass, describing the US 40 bridge-to-Hayden reach downstream of Steamboat, most of it private property (CPW Yampa River).
- Mountain Whitefish are native to the Yampa drainage, one of only two Colorado drainages (with the White River) where whitefish occur naturally (CPW Mountain Whitefish).
- A local Trout Unlimited chapter reports Rainbow Trout through the downtown Steamboat and BLM reaches and Chuck Lewis SWA, Brown Trout in the BLM reach and Chuck Lewis SWA, and an occasional Brook Trout below Sarvis Creek (secondary source) (Yampa Valley Fly Fishers / TU).
- The in-town reach from Walton Creek downstream to the James Brown Bridge in Steamboat is catch-and-release, flies and lures only; no Gold Medal designation applies to this stretch (CPW special regulations).
Getting to the Yampa River
A "Trafalgar Conservation Easement SHA" appears in CPW's mapping data for this stretch but has no dedicated access page confirming public fishing rights -- it's left out below until CPW publishes a standalone listing.
- The town section runs through a chain of city parks confirmed directly from the City of Steamboat Springs' own parks GIS: River Creek Park, Rotary Park, Fetcher Park, Bear River Park, Emerald Park, West Lincoln Park, Ski Town Lions Park, Steamboat Springs Park, Little Toots Park, Dr. Rich Weiss Park, Stockbridge Park, and Howelsen Park. Fetcher Park and River Creek Park are specifically flagged by the city as fishing spots (City of Steamboat Springs GIS).
- River Creek Park (put-in, near Walton Creek Rd./US 40) and the Stockbridge Transit Center (take-out, ~4 river miles downstream) anchor the town-section float, with Rotary and Fetcher Parks along the same mainstem in between (Friends of the Yampa).
- Four CPW SWAs cover stretches upstream and downstream of town: Chuck Lewis SWA (access prohibited sunset-to-sunrise except while hunting/fishing, no overnight parking), Steamboat Springs SWA (fishing use only, no overnight parking), Sarvis Creek SWA (camping limited to licensed hunters in season), and Yampa River SWA (boats allowed only while actively fishing/hunting) -- all require a license or SWA pass 16+ (CPW Chuck Lewis SWA; CPW Steamboat Springs SWA; CPW Sarvis Creek SWA; CPW Yampa River SWA).
- Catch-and-release stretch (not a Gold Medal designation): Walton Creek confluence downstream 4.8 miles to the James Brown (Soul Center of the Universe) Bridge in Steamboat Springs -- artificial flies and lures only, all trout released immediately. Downstream of that bridge to the Colo. 394 bridge near Craig, trout bag is 2 (CPW special regulations).
52 sourced hatch windows for the Yampa 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.
This river has no dedicated hatch chart for a meaningful share of these windows: they're drawn from regional/statewide fly-shop templates or a source that only gave a start month with no published end date. Check the Precision column per row before planning around a specific date.
| Species | Season Window | Size | Precision | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midges (red/blood, cream, light green) | Jan 1–Dec 31 | sizes 20/22 | Seasonal estimate | The Perfect Fly Store |
| Midges | Jan 1–Feb 28 | — | Month-level | Yampa Valley Fly Fishers (TU) |
| Midge | Jan 1–Dec 31 | #16-24 | Month-level | The Catch and The Hatch |
| Blue-winged Olive (Baetis spp.), spring | Mar 1–May 31 | size 18 | Month-level | The Perfect Fly Store |
| Blue Winged Olive (spring) | Apr 1–May 31 | #16-24 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
| Midges (various) | Apr 1–Nov 30 | #16-24 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
| Blue-winged olive | Apr 1–May 31 | — | Month-level | Yampa Valley Fly Fishers (TU) |
| Ant patterns | Apr 15–Sep 30 | #14-18 | Month-level | The Catch and The Hatch |
| Little Black Caddis | Apr 20–May 31 | — | Month-level | The Perfect Fly Store |
| Caddis | May 1–Oct 31 | #10-20 | Month-level | The Catch and The Hatch |
| Beetles | May 1–Sep 30 | #14-18 | Month-level | The Catch and The Hatch |
| Streamers (various) | May 15–Nov 14 | #2-10 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
| Stoneflies (various) | Jun 1–Aug 14 | #4-18 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
| Salmonflies | Jun 1–Jun 30 | — | Month-level | The Perfect Fly Store |
| Spotted Sedges | Jun 1–Oct 15 | size 14/16 | Month-level | The Perfect Fly Store |
| PMD / Little Yellow Sallies / olive stoneflies | Jun 1 onward (no published end date) | — | Month-level | Yampa Valley Fly Fishers (TU) |
| Pale Morning Dun | Jun 1–Sep 15 | #14-20 | Month-level | The Catch and The Hatch |
| Golden Stone | Jun 1–Aug 31 | #8-14 | Month-level | The Catch and The Hatch |
| Hoppers | Jun 1–Sep 30 | #8-16 | Month-level | The Catch and The Hatch |
| Caddis (various) | Jun 15–Sep 14 | #10-22 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
| Pale Morning Dun | Jun 15–Aug 31 | #14-20 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
| Red Quill | Jun 15–Jul 14 | #14-28 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
| Terrestrials (various) | Jun 15–Aug 14 | #8-20 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
| Yellow Sally Stonefly | Jun 15–Aug 31 | #12-18 | Month-level | The Catch and The Hatch |
| Little Yellow Stoneflies | Jun 20–Jul 31 | size 14/16 | Month-level | The Perfect Fly Store |
| Green Sedges | Jul 1–Aug 31 | — | Month-level | The Perfect Fly Store |
| Little Sister Caddis | Jul 1–Aug 31 | — | Month-level | The Perfect Fly Store |
| Trico | Aug 1–Sep 15 | — | Month-level | Yampa Valley Fly Fishers (TU) |
| Blue Winged Olive (fall) | Aug 15–Oct 14 | #16-24 | Week-level estimate | Fly Shack |
| Flying Ants | Aug 15–Sep 15 | #14-18 | Month-level | The Catch and The Hatch |
| Blue-winged Olive, fall brood | Sep 1–Oct 31 | size 18 | Month-level | The Perfect Fly Store |
| Blue Wing Olive | Sep 1–Apr 30 | #16-24 | Month-level | The Catch and The Hatch |
| October Caddis | Sep 20–Oct 31 | — | Month-level | The Perfect Fly Store |
| Winter stoneflies | Dec 1–Feb 28 | — | Month-level | The Perfect Fly Store |
| Golden Stoneflies | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | — | Seasonal estimate | The Perfect Fly Store |
| Pale Morning Duns | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | sizes 16/18 | Seasonal estimate | The Perfect Fly Store |
| Sculpin (streamers) | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | sizes 4/6 and 6/4 | Seasonal estimate | The Perfect Fly Store |
| Aquatic worms | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | size 12 | Seasonal estimate | The Perfect Fly Store |
| Terrestrials (ants, beetles, hoppers) | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | — | Seasonal estimate | The Perfect Fly Store |
| Pale Morning Dun | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | size 20 (winter PMD noted "the end of December") | Seasonal estimate | Yampa Valley Fly Fishers (TU) |
| Green Drake | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | — | Seasonal estimate | Yampa Valley Fly Fishers (TU) |
| Midge | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | #20-26 | Seasonal estimate | Rivus |
| Blue Winged Olive | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | #16-20 | Seasonal estimate | Rivus |
| Caddisfly | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | #14-16 | Seasonal estimate | Rivus |
| Salmonfly | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | #4-8 | Seasonal estimate | Rivus |
| Golden Stonefly | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | #8-10 | Seasonal estimate | Rivus |
| Pale Evening Dun | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | #16-20 | Seasonal estimate | Rivus |
| Trico | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | #20-24 | Seasonal estimate | Rivus |
| Grasshopper / Terrestrial | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | #8-12 | Seasonal estimate | Rivus |
| Flying Ant / Carpenter Ant | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | #10-16 | Seasonal estimate | Rivus |
| Terrestrial Beetle | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | #10-14 | Seasonal estimate | Rivus |
| October Caddis | Seasonal (no specific dates published) | #8-10 | Seasonal estimate | Rivus |
8 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 Yampa 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 Yampa River
Yampa River fly fishing questions
What is a good flow (cfs) to fish the Yampa River?
Guides and local shops report an ideal wade-fishing window of roughly 120–200 cfs on the Yampa River (RiverReports). TroutTips shows the live current reading against this range so you can check before you go.
Is the Yampa River designated Gold Medal water?
No, the Yampa River does not currently carry Colorado Parks and Wildlife's Gold Medal water designation.
What flies work on the Yampa River?
TroutTips tracks 8 fly pairings reported specifically on the Yampa 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 Yampa River?
Yes, Steamboat Flyfisher, Straightline Sports, Bucking Rainbow Outfitters, Yampa Valley Anglers, Yampa River Outfitters guide this river. See the Nearby Fly Shops section on this page for details.