Where to Go South Platte River – Elevenmile Canyon

SPRING HOURS 9am to 6pm Daily

Pikes Peak Trout Unlimited has installed water temperature sensors in 11 mile canyon. Check out the water temps HERE

Report Date: 4/1/2026

Current Conditions: 

With the flows on the Dream bumping overnight, its safe to assume that we could see some gradual increases in the canyon as well. Current flows are at 69 cfs. and slowly climbing. Some more water in the canyon would be ideal, so hopefully we see that! The fishing has been decent in here, but the fish are on high alert. Its pretty much expected after 9 months of lower flows though. We are starting to see some pretty good dry fly fishing, and that will only increase with more BWO's coming into the mix. The river is running clear and sightfishing has been a ton of fun. The fish are starting to move around a lot more to feed in different types of water. Still, focus on areas that do have different geographical features and options for the fish. The canyon has gotten busier recently, especially on weekends. There are also a good number of spawning fish and Redds in the river. PLEASE AVOID THE REDDS AND THESE SPAWNING FISH!!!  The most productive times have been from about 9am to 3pm. The middle part of the canyon has picked up recently and we have been spending some time in the bait water as well. The top of the canyon has been the busiest as usual. Production will come as long as youre willing to work for it.  Cover ground and fish your areas throughly.

Hatches: 

While midges are still ruling the hatches right now, we are seeing some BWO's become active. This is a fun time up here as these fish really love these mayfly hatches. As this intensifies the fishing will too. The much larger profiled spring midge is also in play right now.

Tactics: 

Nymphing will be the staple, but we have had some great windows of dry fly fishing.  Focus on dry fly fishing during the pronounced hatches. As the bugs start to emerge the fish will be consuming them at a high rate. Watch the surface closely and switch over to dries as necessary.

Weather: 

Short Term-  We will experience some more seasonally appropriate weather this week. Today will be much cooler and we could even see some precipitation here. Temps are still relatively warm, so we do expect that precipitation to fall in the form of rain. We have a pretty decent storm system rolling through the mountains right now that is bringing much needed moisture to the high country. Thursday will be pretty warm, but we will see a ton of wind. Gusts on Thursday are expected to be in the 50mph range. Friday cools off and we will see high temps in the low 40's. There will be another pretty potent mountain storm during this time as well, and should help out our snowpack a bit.  Friday and through the weekend look gorgeous with plety of sun and temps in the upper 50's. The wind will be a factor pretty much every day coming up, so be sure to plan accordingly!

Long Term-  After the weekend, we will have another active week of weather. Precipitation chances are very good clear through next week. Monday, Tuesday, and Friday look to hold the best odds for meaningful precipitation. But dont be surprised to see some rain/sleet/snow at any time next week. Temps overall will still be great with highs in the 50's. Longer range forecasts are not showing any significant weather after about the 11th right now. But as we are all aware, that can change. Even though these incoming storms are likely too little too late, any snow or moisture in general is only going to help our snowpack/water situation this year. April is starting out very active, lets all hope that carries through the rest of the month!

While March felt like summer, April will feel like spring. We will have a chance to add a little more snow to our dwindling snowpack over the next 2 weeks.

Tips: 

With the spooky nature of the fish right now, keep your terminal tackle small and approach the river with stealth.

This is an area we offer guided walk/wade trips, and we are one of the only outfitters permitted to do so in 11 mile canyon, please give us a call if you are interested! (We are currently only offering full day trips here)

RECOMMENDED PATTERNS 

For a custom fly assortment for this location, click here! 

Our Top 6 Nymphs for Today:

• Pheasant tail, sizes 22-24
• Mercury black beauty, sizes 18-22
• Stalcups baetis, olive, sizes 20-22
• No Mercy midge, black, sizes 20-22
• Darth Baetis, olive, sizes 20-22
• Top Secret, brown, sizes 22-24

Our Top Dry Flies for Today:

• Griffiths gnat, sizes 20-26
• Parachute Adams, natural, sizes 20-26
• Mole fly, olive or brown, sizes 22-24
• Neil's BWO, size 20

Our Top Streamer Patterns for Today:

Pretty slow for streamers. If you do fish the meat, stay small on your patterns and slow those retrieves down!

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!