River · Northern Front Range
Cache la Poudre River at Fort Collins
Seasonal notes
The Cache la Poudre is Colorado's only federally designated Wild and Scenic River, and the segment through Fort Collins and the Poudre Canyon earns that designation on the strength of a genuinely wild brown and rainbow trout fishery sustained by a self-reproducing population rather than hatchery stockings. The canyon section (US-14 above Ted's Place) is classic Rocky Mountain freestone — deeply shaded, swift-running, and full of steeply undercut banks where large browns shelter. Fort Collins itself provides accessible urban water with fish visible in the clear green pools. Summer flows are heavily managed by upstream diversions for agriculture and municipal supply, which means August can push the river to precarious lows — the app's flow data is particularly important here. September through October is the best all-around window: stable flows, active browns staging for fall, and the cottonwoods along the canyon blazing orange.
What’s hatching
TerrestrialsGoodJul–SepWarm enough for it
Best: warm afternoons
CaddisIn seasonMay–AugIn season — no live conditions to judge it by
Best: evenings
Pale Morning DunIn seasonJun–AugIn season — no live conditions to judge it by
Best: mornings & evenings
Confidence is graded from live National Weather Service conditions and gage flow as of Aug 2, 9:45 PM MDT. Time of day is left to you — check the “Best” line above.
What changed this week
- Emergency Closure posted Aug 1
Current conditions
Discharge
13cfs
Gage height
0.58ft
Water temp
—
much below normal for Aug 3 (51 yrs of record)
Last reading Aug 2, 9:15 PM MDT. Source: U.S. Geological Survey gage 06752260.
Weather
Air temp
84°F
Wind
8mph
Precip
2%
1013 mb ↑ · Partly Cloudy
Latest Stocking
No stocking recorded this season.
Special regulations
Wild and Scenic River designation means no new water diversions or impoundments in the corridor, which is good for the fishery. Standard Colorado fishing regulations apply through most of the Poudre; there are no Gold Medal or catch-and-release restrictions on this segment, which surprises many visitors given the quality of the wild population. CPW does not actively stock the canyon as a management choice to preserve the wild population's genetic integrity. Check for any emergency closures during drought years, as CPW has issued low-flow fishing advisories on the Poudre in severe drought seasons.
Quick ref: Colorado's only Wild & Scenic river; wild brown + rainbow; upstream diversions reduce summer flow
Location
Nearby waters
Nearby fly shops
Get Cache la Poudre River at Fort Collins conditions every Thursday
Flow, the go/no-go call, CPW stocking and closure notices for Cache la Poudre River at Fort Collins — one email, Thursday morning. Sign up and we'll send this week's report right now.