Charlie Meyers State Wildlife Area
14 Day Forecast: Look for sporadic hatches of midges.
Effective Patterns: #20-22 Top Secret Midge, #20-22 Manhattan Midge, #20-22 Mercury Pheasant Tail, #20-22 Jujubaetis, #20-22 Top Secret Baetis, #20-22 Chocolate Foam Wing Emerger, #16-18 Hot Tail Flash Egg, #20-22 Red Larva, #20 Mercurry Blood Midge, #10 Pine Squirrel Leech, #20 Flashback Mercury Black Beauty, #20 Buckskin, #20-22 Pat's Midge, #20-24 Griffith Gnat, and #22-24 Parachute Adams. The best fishing is between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
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:
Flows have dropped to 65 cfs and they should remain there for a while. The best advice I can give you is to target the slower runs and deeper pools where the trout are overwintering. An assortment of midge imitations dropped off an attractor is your best bet right now. Savvy anglers are finding a few “midging fish” in the tailouts of the slower pools. The wind has been brutal (probematic) the past few days so make sure you have plenty of layers to battle the elements. Revised 1/5/26
