Anyone go fishing at steamboat Springs Colorado? Did you use a guide or have any recommendations

Haven't been there, but I fish 120 miles southeast of there (Buena Vista) every summer. As of last week, the snow melt had the river roaring. The guides weren't taking people on it. The highland lakes were still frozen and unreachable. On the lakes I was able to fish, they were hitting Dave's Yellow Hoppers size 16 with scuds underneath.

Definitely find a local fly shop/guide service and talk to them. Even if you don't hire them they may point you to some spots

Edit: just looked at the map and saw the Yampa River flows through there. If it's moving like the Arkansas was (super fast) you can try to fish the eddys. I caught a couple of small browns on stimulators with midges underneath. Of course the hatch may be different there and they may be hitting something else.

I've used Bucking Rainbow Outfitters there, owned by Aggies I'm pretty sure. Also have had good luck with Steamboat Flyfisher. Cant go wrong with either one. Not sure about public fishing other than fishing below the dam at Stagecoach lake (smart fish), or fishing the Yampa by the trailer park when you are coming into town from the Hayden Airport. I think the Yampa is flowing really high though, or it was recently, which may make things difficult.

I didn't make it all the way up to Steamboat, but I was in Vail/Edwards last week. We had hopes of fishing the Eagle river but due to snow melt it wasn't an option. We used Vail Valley Anglers for 2 days and fished on our own for 2 days(highly recommend them). We drove up to Stagecoach Reservoir on one of our off days, which is about half an hour south of Steamboat. If you get there early enough, you can fish Yampa creek on the east side, or keep driving down CR-18 to Sarvis creek. It was 4th of July week so it was fairly crowded so we had to go to Sarvis to avoid the crowds. We caught some nice Rainbows and Brook trout.

On our guided days, we started at Pump house campground on the Colorado (about an hour and half south of Steamboat). The rivers south were so blown out from the snow melt we had to hit the bigger rivers. The first day we waded north of Pump house about a mile and had really good success with some PMD emergers (pinkish). Two days later we did a float trip from Pump house south about 6 miles and landed well over 30 fish, most in the 16-20" range. If you decide you want to do this, ask for Andy Jackson at VVA, can't speak highly enough about him.

Yampa Valley Anglers is another one that has good reviews and I believe is based out of Steamboat. As we left the Vail Valley, river flows were starting to really come down 200-300 cfs/day, so conditions should be improving. While crowds from the holiday weekend should reduce, we spoke to several locals who stated that due to the rivers they haven't been out yet, so that might pick up as river conditions improve.

Best of luck, and keep me posted on how you do.

I have a home in Steamboat and fish it every chance I get. I prefer Straightline Sports for a guide shop. Steve Henderson is the top guide and I've fished with Steve probably 25 times. Andy Janoski, Ben Rock, Mike Maroney are all good guides with the shop that are fun to hang out with. They do have one guide named Rich that is a total knucklehead so I'd steer clear of him. They do have a couple of properties that are probably fishable right now albeit very high. The area mentioned below Stagecoach Lake is fishable but it does get crowded. I fished there a few weeks ago and the fishing was good. Get up early and beat the crowd. Fly fisherman aren't there at the crack of dawn in numbers. It's public water for 7 miles through town, all catch and release. There are good fish in there. Another option is the Chuck Lewis state wildlife area which is just upriver from town.

With the water really high the fish are not on small bugs. Stoneflies and San Juan worms will do the trick. Find an inside bend of the river where the fish can stay out of the current. Streamers too. The river was the highest I've ever seen it a few weeks ago but it should be clearing at this point. Another option would be to drive up to Steamboat Lake and hit one of the tributaries that flow into the lake. That might be better fishing right now than the river. I heard it was a few weeks ago.

One more name that I've heard is a really good guide and a good guy is Paul Russel. He was with Steamboat flyfisher but is on his own now. He actually had most of the good properties that were fished by the flyfisher. Both Steamboat flyfisher and Bucking Rainbow put a lot of stocker fish on their properties from what I've heard. I'd rather chase wild fish personally. Good luck. It's a beautiful place!

Thank you for the information. There a lot of great tips. I am going to be there in just over a week so hopefully the flows settle and I can get a guide. It will be the first time to be in the area and I want it to be a great experience for the family

A float trip might be a better option right now with the high water. Here's some good places to eat also. Carl's Tavern for burgers, wings and some great appetizers. Great atmosphere. Back Door Grill is a somewhat hidden burger joint that is outstanding. E3 steakhouse located right on the river, food is good but not like Ruth's Chris or anything. Mambos for Italian. The Laundry is a cool little restaurant with really good food.

Thank you for the eating tips. I am sure we will visit several of those. We are going to be there for a baseball tournament and the coach has been requesting early games so the boys and parents can go have fun. Everything we have seen and heard about is that the area is awesome with lots of cool activities

Good luck with the Triple Crown tournament. We just took our 11U team up there and got snowed out the first day of summer. Really was a bummer.

Bucking rainbow. Owned by an Ag (John Duty). I'll be in steamboat next week and will Fish with them for sure

I spent a summer there 25 years ago. Fish the Yampa in town at the bridges. We fished Fox Vibrax Lures Back then and tore up the bows and browns. Some damn nice fish in there.

If you get a chance, hit Trappers Lake in the Flattops Wilderness Area.

Used to be a fly shop called Buggywhips. Doubt it's still around.

How is the fishing in November around Steamboat? Family is planning a November trip and steamboat is on the list to check out. Kind of curious if its fishable around that time.

Fishing can be great there in November. The browns will have already spawned. They usually spawn in late September to early October. The only thing in November is that you certainly can run in to some weather. Winter comes early up there. The town will not be crowded most of November since the mountain doesn't open up for skiing until Thanksgiving.

I think the best time to fish in Steamboat is the late September early October time. Aspens are in their fall colors. Trout are happy with the cooler weather and the town is not crowded. The Yampa really has some quality fish in there.

I read on one of the guides sites that most of the fishing is catch and release? Is that true?

Absolutely. All of the private ranches will be catch and release. All through town is catch and release. I believe you can keep a couple of fish from the Chuck Lewis area. I've never kept a single trout up there. If I catch a pike I chunk it on the bank. The river is finally coming down so fishing should be good and a lot more spots will be accessible.

Funny how time changes things. I believe back in the early to mid 90s, the limit was two per day on the Yampa in town. Us kids weren't required to have a fishing license, but we could only keep one fish per day.

I caught a big brownie near the 5th Street (?) bridge. Some dude fishing nearby offered to trade me fishing gear for that fish.

We used to rollerblade up and down that bike path fishing all day. Damn that was a good summer.

There last week. Water was too high, fast and dangerous to wade. Fishing the lakes is possible but I didn't do that so???

I don't remember being able to keep any trout from town so that must have been before I fished up there. The Yampa along with several Colorado rivers got hit hard by Whirling disease that really decimated the rainbows. This was several years ago and may have led to the catch and release status? The rainbows have really bounced back with the introduction of the Hofer strain genetics that are resistant to the disease. I'm glad personally that town is all catch and release. The Yampa has some outstanding quality trout. I caught a brown this past October that was over 8 pounds out of the Yampa. Took a ton of pictures and let it go for someone else to have a shot at it.

Catching an 8 pound brown must have been awesome. That is a huge trout. I really appreciate all the feedback. We are more excited now than before

I recall whirling disease was just starting to be an issue about the time we were there (1991 or so).

Some of the rainbows we caught had flattened noses. Not sure if caused by the uncontrollable swimming symptoms of whirling disease or just being hatchery raised and always running into objects.