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Rio Grande Fishing Report, Colorado

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The San Luis Valley’s river: the Rio Grande runs Gold Medal browns below the San Juans.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
875 cfs
Air / High
57 / 57 F
Wind
SW 9 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 08220000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Rio Grande is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. Today brings cloud cover, wind SW around 9 mph, rising pressure near 1009 hPa and a high of 57. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:43 AM-11:43 AM and 10:12 PM-12:12 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown troutExcellent

Below 50°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 47 F with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Colorado requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $57.63 for residents. What a Colorado licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with CPW before you keep anything. The season dates for Colorado, read off the agency, are on the Colorado seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Rio Grande near Del Norte.

No recent gauge reading

USGS 08220000 has not returned a reading for this chart; it comes back when the gauge reports again. Until then conditions are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations.

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Today’s flow against 126 years of October 23

At 875 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 08220000 (Rio Grande near Del Norte) is at the 94th percentile for the date: much above normal. In half of the 126 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 364 cfs; the highest was 1,720 cfs and the lowest 132 cfs.

p10 212median 364p90 704

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 08220000; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp57 F
High / Low57 / 39 F
WindSW 9-22 mph
Pressure1009.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 90%
Sunrise / Sunset07:21 / 18:17
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~47 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Rio Grande this week

Today is the pick of the week on Rio Grande, at 3 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 — fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.

Today, Oct 23 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:43 AM-11:43 AM and 10:12 PM-12:12 AM
Minor period
4:06 AM-5:06 AM
Sun
07:21 to 18:17
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Rain, 11 mph
Rain chance
90%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Rio Grande: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Below 50°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

When to come: the Rio Grande calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Rio Grande today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 50 F, wind to 13 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 60 F, wind to 21 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 63 F, wind to 10 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Colorado requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Colorado license. Gold Medal reach has specific rules: check current CPW regulations. Much of the valley river is private: know the access boundaries.

Access

Public reaches near South Fork and Del Norte, Coller State Wildlife Area, and Forest Service land upstream.

About this water

The Rio Grande through the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado, Rio Grande and Mineral counties.

Fishing Rio Grande: the full guide

A river from the San Juans

The Rio Grande rises in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado and flows east across the San Luis Valley toward New Mexico, with a Gold Medal reach near South Fork and Del Norte that holds brown and rainbow trout in genuinely good numbers. The upper river above the reservoir runs as a mountain freestone, while the valley reaches broaden through ranch country.

Browns on freestone water

The Gold Medal water fishes with nymphs, streamers and dries through the season: caddis and stoneflies in early summer, hoppers and attractors through the warm months, and blue-winged olives in fall. Fish average solid with genuine large browns present. Public access is limited in stretches by private ranch land: know the boundaries.

Runoff and the season

Snowmelt from the San Juans holds the river high into June most years, with the fishing opening as flows drop through July and staying good into October. Irrigation diversions in the valley reduce flows downstream through summer, which concentrates fish and can stress them in warm years: carry a thermometer.

Rio Grande County logistics

Access is via public reaches near South Fork, Del Norte and the Coller State Wildlife Area, plus Forest Service land upstream. South Fork and Creede provide shops, guides and lodging. The upper river toward Creede offers small-water fishing in the San Juans for anglers who want to escape the valley entirely.

Common questions

Where is the Gold Medal water?

The reach near South Fork and Del Norte, holding brown and rainbow trout in good numbers.

When does runoff end?

Usually late June to early July: the fishing opens as San Juan snowmelt drops.

Is access limited?

In stretches, yes: private ranch land borders much of the valley river. Know the public boundaries.

Is fishing good at Rio Grande right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Arkansas River69 miVallecito Reservoir70 miHeron Lake70 miBlue Mesa Reservoir72 miTaylor River73 miRidgway Reservoir85 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 08220000 — Rio Grande near Del Norte
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2003-05-01 at 05:45 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 37.6800, -106.3500 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.