Charlie Meyers State Wildlife Area
14 Day Forecast: Look for hatches of midges, PMD's, yellow sallies, caddis, and Tricos
Effective Patterns: #18 -20 Mercury Pheasant Tail, #20-22 Jujubaetis, #20-22 Top Secret Baetis, #20-22 Chocolate Foam Wing Emerger, #18 Mico San Juan Worm, #18-20 Buckskin, #14 UV Scud, #16 Elk Hair Caddis, #12-14 Stimulator, #20-24 CDC Trico Comparadun, #16-20 Sparkle Dun, #16 Sparkle Dun PMD, #16-20 Parachute Adams, #10 Mimic Hopper, and #10 Amy's Ant.
Measurements
Fly Fishing Information for The Dream Stream Between Spinney & Eleven Mile Reservoirs Colorado
The lush meandering, meadow portion of the South Platte between Spinney and Eleven Mile Reservoirs is known as the “Dream Stream” or the Spinney Mountain Ranch. This beautiful 3-mile section of the Platte offers anglers the opportunity of a lifetime to catch large trout. This fabulous tailwater fishery is located in the heart of South Park, tucked between 14,000 foot snow capped peaks on the west, rich ranchland to the north and south, and Pikes Peak on the east. Spinney is a well-balanced fishery where anglers can catch trout on nymphs, dry flies, and streamers.
The river is comprised of prime trout habitat, which includes, riffles, runs, gravel bars, shelves, and undercut banks. Fly-fishers can expect to catch a mixed bag of rainbows, browns, and cutthroats in 10-18 inch range. In addition spring (rainbows, and cutthroats) and fall (browns and kokanee salmon) spawning runs from Elevenmile Reservoir are quite impressive with fish up to 10 pounds landed during a key three-four week period. Ideal flow conditions for “Dream Stream” are between 100 and 250 cfs. The regulations are flies and lures only and all fish must be returned to the water immediately.
The Charlie Meyers State Wildlife Area (commonly called the Spinney Mountain Ranch or Dream Stream) is a classic meandering, meadow stream. Anglers have the opportunity to catch rainbows, cut-bows, cutthroats, and brown trout when they fish this fabled stretch of water.
Tips & Other Information:
Outflows are at 127 cfs, which is below their normal historic levels. With that being said, water temeperatures are a big concern right now. Please keep an eye on them and stop fishing when the temperature reaches 67 degrees. If you’re fortunate to fish during a cool weather trend or rainy weather, you should be able to fish much longer. Current hatches include midges, PMD’s, caddis, yellow sallies, and Tricos. Fishing has been productive in the morning, especiallly for the dry fly enthusiast. The fishing slows down in the afternoon when the hatches are over. The non-hatch periods are a good time to fish with a hopper looking for an opportunistic grab. Fish the downwind grassy banks and and cover the water methodically. Dry and dropper rigs are deadly in the shalllow riffles and transitonal zones. Revised 8/27/25