West of Denver in the South Park valley, the Dream Stream Section of the South Platte River is a tailwater stretch known for rainbow trout, brown trout and cutthroat trout. The Dream Stream Section is a 5.5 mile stretch below the Spinney Mountain Reservoir. This river is very popular and can get crowded with fly fisherman chasing after the rainbows averaging 17 inches long. The Dream Stream is mostly 30 feet wide and is pretty slow running, so it makes for easy wading.
It can be fished yearround, but brown trout are big in the Fall (mid October through November), and the rainbow trout are found in the Spring (late March through early April).
The access for the river is at Spinney Reservoir below the dam on CR59 off SR24 (southeast of South Park). There is both a parking fee and a river use fee.
Note: The printable fly fishing river map is provided courtesy of HANDYMICROFIBERCLOTH.COM.
Overall, South Platte River - Dream Stream is the 4th most popular fly fishing river of all 47 fly fishing spots in Colorado.
