Tailwater · Mixed · Colorado, US

Blue River (below Dillon)

A partly frozen stretch of the Blue River tailwater near Silverthorne, Colorado, with forested mountains behind.

The Blue below Dillon is the tailwater you can fish in your lunch break off I-70 — it runs straight through Silverthorne past the outlet malls, which is exactly as strange as it sounds.

Tomorrow · A proper day on the water
Black Midge
Forecast · Tomorrow
A proper day on the water
A proper day for it. Work the seams with an upstream nymph, switch to the dry when they show.
75% projected
Today's fly
Black Midge
Black Midge
Conditions on the water · Tomorrow
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.26 m
Water temp8.1°C
ClarityClear
Weather13°C
WindN 9 km/h
Pressure1020 hPa
Rain · recent0.5 mm
Rain · ahead0.2 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Cool — slow
8°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Good — water clarity is working for you, but water temperature is the limiting factor today.
Likely species
Mayflies
Caddisflies
Hatch timeline · tomorrowPeak at 10am

12pm(now) — Black Midge

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 95%
Also:Western Blue-Winged Olive77%
Peak emergence window4 food groups active

Peak activity at 10am — Black Midge (Black Midge, Peak emergence window)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 3 with Pro.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · September highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Western Blue-Winged OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Pale Morning DunHatch
2
3
3
2
TricoHatch
2
3
2
Black MidgeHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Colorado licence
  • Gold Medal / special-regulation town water — verify CPW rules
  • Mind fragmented public/private access downstream of Silverthorne.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 1
Colorado River — Upper (Kremmling / Pumphouse / Gore Canyon)
55 km
26
Brown trout · Rainbow trout
Gallery · 2
  1. A partly frozen stretch of the Blue River tailwater near Silverthorne, Colorado, with forested mountains behind.
    Blue River
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The Blue below Dillon is the tailwater you can fish in your lunch break off I-70 — it runs straight through Silverthorne past the outlet malls, which is exactly as strange as it sounds. There are big fish in here, fat on mysis shrimp flushed through the dam, but they're low-water-clear-water spooky and they've been cast at by everyone who ever pulled off the highway. Below town it gets better and more complicated, with public water tangled up in private. It's a good place to preach small flies, fine tippet and stealth, and an honest place to separate 'technically fishable' from 'actually pleasant'.

  • Mixed
The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 75%
How the 65 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature37 × 28%10.4
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time55 × 13%7.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity60 × 12%7.2
Conditions total= 65
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
What would change the calculation
Warmer water — toward the 10–16 °C ideal band — would lift the temperature score.
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 January → 31 December
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts