Where to Go South Platte River – Dream Stream
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Photo by Phil Tereyla
Pikes Peak Trout Unlimited has recently installed water temperature sensors here. Check out the water temps HERE
Report Date: 10/22/2025
Current Conditions:
The flows on the Dream have been hovering right around 116 cfs over the last few days. These flows are pretty much average and what we would expect for this time of year. From this point forward, we do not expect the flows here to really come up much. Any increases will be short lived. In fact, it would not be a surprise to see them come down a little more. The river has been fishing decent for resident fish. There are still some kokanee in the system, but the massive hoards of people are thinning out a little. Weekends have still been busy but the angler that covers water should find plenty of water. Please be careful of any redds or spawning fish in the system. If you see spawning fish, PLEASE leave them be! Water temps have cooled a bit and its pretty safe to fish the entire day up there now.
Spinney reservoir is 56% full.
Although temps are cooling, its still a good idea to keep tabs on the water temps here.
Hatches:
There are quite a few hatches happening right now. We are still seeing some Tricos, but BWO's, and midges are becoming the main attraction. Midge hatches are happening pretty early, and followed by the Trico's and BWO's. The bug life is pretty diverse and fishing the above mentioned patterns has been a ton of fun. This can be one of the best times of the year for dry fly fishing on this stretch.
Tactics:
Cover ground and expect to fish with a bunch of other people. Avoid the big globs of people and there should be some water to fish. Sightfishing is fun right now for resident trout, just be sure to be stealthy. They are on high alert! Dont sleep on fishing worm and egg patterns right now. There are enough spawning fish in the system that everything is paying attention to them.
Weather:
Short Term- A cold front moved through the state a few days ago and brought some pretty cold air with it. Highs have been pretty nice but the morning lows have been cold. As we roll through Thursday another cold front will be moving through the area. On the back half of the day we will see precipitation chances increase significantly. Depending on the overall temperature, most of this should be wet snow that falls. this will linger into Friday ahead of clearing and warmer temps. Temps will warm into the upper 50's/low 60's as we go into the weekend. Morning lows will be below freezing and it will take some time for things to warm up each day. One thing about this weekend though, its going to be extremely windy.
Long Term- After this weekend, we are closely watching the forecast. Right now it looks like we could have a pretty big storm around the 27th. Forecasts are mixed right now, but if this system hits us we will see some big changes. Aside from that, we should see high temps in the 50's with morning lows in the 20's and 30's. We expect average and seasonal conditions through all of next week.
Tips:
Be prepared to walk a lot right now. The river is extremely busy, even on weekdays. this is a great time of year to throw streamers in the mornings or evenings.
RECOMMENDED PATTERNS
For a custom fly assortment for this location, click here!
Our Top 6 Nymphs for Today:
- Blindside midge, grey. sizes 20-22
- Daysaver baetis, olive, size 22
- Pheasant tail, natural, sizes 20-22
- Eggs patterns, orange, peach, or chartruese. sizes 16-18
- Stalcups baetis, olive, size 22
- Buckskin, sizes 16-20
Salmon- Anything red. Worms, eggs, copper johns, 2 bit hookers.
Our Top Dry Flies for Today:
- Mole Fly, natural. Size 18-22
- Neils BWO, size 20-22
- Smokejumper, baetis, sizes 20-24
- Trico spinner, black, size 22
- Parachute adams, sizes 20-24
Our Top Streamer Patterns for Today:
- Barely legal, olive/white, size 4
- Mini dungeon, black, olive, size 6
- Slumpbuster, black/brown. Size 4
- Mini Boogeyman, black, size 6
Standard nymph rig set up for the South Platte:
Screenshot the diagram above to reference while you're out on the water!
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT OUR "WHERE TO GO" PAGE FOR DETAILED INFORMATION ON OTHER AREAS!
The South Platte River below Spinney Reservoir is known to most local anglers as the "Dream Stream." This tailwater doesn't have many hold over fish and is subject to high wind speeds and inclement weather. The spring and fall have been the Dream Stream's saving grace because of the spawns. Large rainbows and cutthroat trout move into the river in the spring, and Large browns and kokanee salmon move in in the fall. There is no camping available next to the river; however, several great campgrounds are downstream along Elevenmile Reservoir. There is a $9 parks pass fee to park in the last lot below Spinney.
This is an area we specialize and are permitted to guide in, so give us a shout if you have any questions or if you are interested in allowing one of our Orvis-Endorsed guides show you how best to conquer South Platte River – Dream Stream.