The Waters Around Montrose: The Gunnison, Uncompahgre, and More
Montrose sits in one of the most productive pockets of fly water in the American West, and you don't have to drive far to find it. Within a short drive of downtown, you've got a Gold Medal tailwater, a river that runs straight through town, and an entire alpine range full of lakes and creeks that don't see many footprints. Here's a quick look at what's out there and what makes each one worth your time.
The Gunnison River and Gunnison Gorge: Gold Medal Water
If you fish one river in western Colorado, make it the Gunnison. The Lower Gunnison River, below the Gunnison Gorge, is a certified Gold Medal fishery — one of only a handful of stretches in the entire state to earn that designation — and it earns it. Clear water, strong hatches, and healthy numbers of big rainbows and browns keep it productive nearly the whole season, not just during the obvious summer window.
Then there's the Gorge. Towering canyon walls, water so clear you can watch fish hold in the current, and more than 7,000 rainbow and brown trout per mile in some stretches — this is the trip people travel across the country for. Much of it has no road access; you get in on foot or by raft, and that isolation is exactly what keeps the fishing pressure low and the trout population so high. You don't have to go that deep to get in on it, either: access points like East Portal put you on the Gunnison in about 30 minutes from Montrose, no hike or raft required.
Technical sight-fishing in skinny pocket water, long drifting runs from a boat, big fish around every bend — the Gunnison does it all, and it does it better than almost anywhere else in Colorado. It's the kind of water that rewards a good presentation, and it's why so many anglers put it at the top of their list before they've even booked the trip.
Pa-Co-Chu-Puk and the Uncompahgre River: Fishing Close to Home
Just below Ridgway Dam, the Pa-Co-Chu-Puk section is Gold Medal water, and it's some of the best technical fishing close to Montrose. It's a cold, clear tailwater that fishes well year-round, with trout that make you work for it — long leaders, light tippet, and a drag-free drift all pay off here. It also holds some of the biggest fish in the river; browns and rainbows pushing into the twenties aren't unusual for anglers willing to put in the technical work. It's a stretch serious anglers make a point to fish.
The Uncompahgre runs right through Montrose, which makes it some of the most convenient water around. It's a smaller, more intimate river than the Gunnison, and it rewards anglers who can read water and present a fly carefully.
Farther downstream, the water running through town tends to be more forgiving, with fish that are a little less spooked by foot traffic, so it's a great place to work on your casting and your drift. Either way, it's a river you can fish on a weeknight after work — Gold Medal water without the long drive.
The San Miguel River: Wild and Uncrowded
Southwest of Montrose, on the other side of Dallas Divide, the San Miguel River is one of the last truly free-flowing rivers left in Colorado. It starts high in the San Juans near Telluride and tumbles more than 7,000 feet down through red-rock canyon country before joining the Dolores River, and most of that run isn't pinched by a major dam — which means it still behaves like a real river, with natural runoff, natural gravel beds, and healthy wild fish to show for it.
The San Miguel holds good numbers of wild rainbows and browns, along with native cutthroat in its upper reaches, and it fishes best from July through September once runoff drops out. The scenery alone is worth the drive — the river drops out of the high peaks around Telluride and carves through a red-rock canyon lined with cottonwoods and spruce, with dippers working the banks and canyon walls rising hundreds of feet overhead. It doesn't get the attention the Gunnison does, which is exactly the point: a lot of water that rewards anyone willing to make the trip.
If you want a quieter day on genuinely wild water, the San Miguel is worth the 45-minute trip from Montrose.
Grand Mesa: High Country Lakes by the Hundreds
Not far from Montrose, Grand Mesa rises above the Gunnison and Colorado River valleys as the largest flat-top mountain in the world — and it comes loaded with over 300 lakes. Many sit right off Highway 65, the Grand Mesa Scenic and Historic Byway, so you don't need a long hike to find good water, though plenty of others are tucked back for anglers willing to walk in.
The Mesa holds brook trout, cutthroat, and rainbows, and the sheer number of lakes means you can usually find water that isn't crowded, even on a summer weekend. The top of the Mesa sits around 11,000 feet, so the lakes stay cool through the warmer months, with the season really opening up once the ice is off in late June and running through early fall.
If you want alpine scenery, a good shot at numbers, and the flexibility to fish from the car or hike into something quieter, Grand Mesa is well worth the drive from Montrose.
If you'd rather fish moving water than a lake, the high country around Montrose hides some excellent small creeks too. The Cimarron River is a good example — fed by its East and West Forks out of the San Juans above Silver Jack Reservoir, it's tight, brushy, freestone water that holds eager brook trout and the occasional cutthroat. It's not big water, and it doesn't need to be: a short rod, a handful of dry flies, and a willingness to work the banks are all it takes. Streams like this are scattered throughout the high country, and they're a great change of pace from float trips and big tailwater runs.
Plan Your Water
We guide all of this water, and we've built trips around the best of it. Walk and wade trips put you on the Uncompahgre at Pa-Co-Chu-Puk for technical tailwater work, through town for a relaxed morning or evening on the water, or over on the San Miguel for a full day on wild, uncrowded water.
On the Gunnison, we run float trips down the Lower Gunnison and our premiere trip through the Gunnison Gorge — the kind of canyon water and trout numbers most anglers only dream about. Between the Gunnison, the Uncompahgre, the San Miguel, and the high country above Montrose, there's more water within reach of this shop than most anglers see in a lifetime. It's a genuine fly fisherman's dream, and we'd love to help you fish it. Give us a call at 970-964-9991 if you have any questions.
We'll see you on the water.