Where Wild Browns Roam and “Red Charr” Run
By Doug Dillingham · Originally published April 20, 2023 · Updated September 2026
Colorado’s East River runs south from Emerald Lake, past Crested Butte, and through some of the most stunning cottonwood-lined ranchland on the state’s western slope before meeting the Taylor River at Almont to form the Gunnison. It holds wild brown trout, hatchery-escapee rainbows that grow surprisingly large, brook trout in the upper reaches, and a run of kokanee salmon out of Blue Mesa Reservoir each autumn.
One thing to know before you drive up: public access is limited. The overwhelming majority of public angling on the East happens along the two miles flowing through the Roaring Judy State Fish Hatchery property, 15 miles north of Gunnison. There is more public water near Gothic, above Crested Butte, and along the East River Trail. Everything else is private or leased. This guide covers where you can legally fish, when to come, and what to throw.
East River, Colorado: Fast Facts
| Where | Gunnison Valley, southwestern Colorado, near Almont and Crested Butte |
| Headquarters | Gunnison, Crested Butte, Almont |
| Species | Wild brown trout, rainbow trout (largely hatchery escapees), brook trout upriver, kokanee salmon in autumn |
| When | Best April to mid-November. Often unfishable for a month during runoff, mid-May to mid-June. Good winter fishing December through March at Roaring Judy. |
| Public access | About 2 miles at Roaring Judy Fish Hatchery; several public miles north of Crested Butte near Gothic; about a mile along the East River Trail. Private water is available through area fly shops for a rod fee. |
| Gear | 5-weight rod, floating line, 4X–5X tippet for trout, 3X for kokanee |
| Regulations | Artificial flies and lures only from the Roaring Judy upstream property boundary down to the Taylor River confluence. Trout limit two fish, 12-inch maximum size. Taking kokanee salmon is prohibited. The 0.4 mile from the hatchery outlet to the property boundary is closed to fishing August 15 – October 31. |
| License | Required. Buy from Colorado Parks and Wildlife at cpw.state.co.us. |
| Fly shops | Dragonfly Anglers, 307 Elk Ave, Crested Butte, (970) 349-1228 · Crested Butte Angler, 229 Elk Ave, Crested Butte · Gunnison River Fly Shop, 213 N. Main St., Gunnison, (970) 641-2930 · Willowfly Anglers at Three Rivers Resort, Almont, (970) 641-1303 |
| Lodging | Three Rivers Resort, 130 County Road 742, Almont, (970) 641-1303 — lodging plus a full-service fly shop, the only Orvis-endorsed outfitter in the upper Gunnison Valley |
| Books and maps | Fly Fishing the Gunnison Country by Doug Dillingham; Colorado Atlas & Gazetteer by DeLorme |
Regulations and contact details verified September 2026. Confirm current rules with Colorado Parks and Wildlife before you fish.
A Night at the Hatchery
Jubilant laughter and festiveness greet me as I step out of the chilly late-spring darkness and enter the aging cinder block hatchery building. Cigar smoke wafts upward, bathing lines of purple-tinged, occasionally flickering fluorescent bulbs. A cacophony of spilling water, jovial conversation, and Lynyrd Skynyrd sets the soundtrack for the evening, as Ronnie Van Zant’s vocals and Southern guitar licks crackle from a worn-out 1990s-era stereo, and the overpowering stench of fish takes center stage.
I immediately recognize Al, with his aged, sun-weathered face and sinewy arms — a long-retired hatchery worker, and the source of the billowing stogie smoke, who tonight is hard at work as if he’d never left his post. He fervently guides a squeegee along the blue-painted bottom of a concrete hatchery trough, shooing the last of the silvery 2-inch-long salmonid stragglers toward the drain and ultimately to freedom. A few local dignitaries mill about, struggling to feign interest as they hobnob with the peasants. The whole spectacle conveys a sense that something big is happening. And indeed, it is. Millions of kokanee salmon fingerlings are being emancipated into the East River. In a building that is witness to equal measures of birth and death, tonight we celebrate birth. And outside, in the cold blackness under a new moon, the trout in the East River rejoice right along with us.
The East River begins as an inconsequential trickle of water escaping lovely Emerald Lake, a few miles north of the quirky ski and snowboard mecca of Crested Butte. Below Crested Butte the East ambles southward toward its rendezvous with the Taylor River at the tiny fly-fishing hamlet of Almont.
The East River isn’t the Gunnison Valley’s most renowned fishery — that distinction goes to the Gunnison River itself. It doesn’t hold the area’s biggest trout, nor is it the most aesthetically pleasing; the Taylor River and the Lake Fork of the Gunnison win those awards respectively. But the East checks all the boxes: charming beauty, big-fish potential, strong insect hatches, and even the rarity of prime wintertime fly angling. It has never received the unfettered love lavished on the area’s other major trout streams, and as a fishery it is hobbled by one thing above all: a lack of public access.
Where to Fly Fish the East River: Public Access
You can pay to fish fantastic private stretches leased to area fly shops, but most public angling on the East River happens on the 2-mile swath flowing through the Roaring Judy State Fish Hatchery property. There is additional public water on the East River Trail south of Crested Butte and around Gothic, above town.
Roaring Judy Fish Hatchery: the main public stretch
To reach the East River at Roaring Judy, head north from Gunnison on State Route 135 for 15 miles, passing Almont at mile 10, and turn left at the colorful sign marking the entrance to the hatchery. Park at the bridge, or take the next left and proceed to the hatchery ponds at the end of the road to access the river from there.
About two-thirds of Roaring Judy’s stretch of river lies downstream of the bridge, leaving one-third upstream. Upstream of the bridge the river forms mostly long, shallow riffles that generally hold relatively small fish, which typically makes that reach less crowded. The water below the bridge also consists mainly of shallow riffles, but it holds a few trout-friendly pools and bends that attract more and bigger fish.
Be warned: Roaring Judy is frequently bloated with fly fishers, especially during the tourist months.
The named holes: Outlet, Eagle Tree, and Raceway
One of the East River’s best late-winter and early-spring locations is the Eagle Tree Hole, about 200 yards downriver of the Outlet Hole. To find the Outlet Hole, follow the tiny stream channel that leaves the southwestern-most hatchery pond — it holds trout of its own, albeit excessively spooky ones — to where it hits the East. That junction is the Outlet Hole, and it may hide a trout or two itself. The Eagle Tree Hole is the first hole below it.
Another quality cold-weather spot is the Raceway Hole. Park at the end of the long string of raceways and head east into the willows to the river. When the stars and the conditions align, you can have a 15- to 20-fish day on the East even in the frigid early season. The winter fishing at Roaring Judy ranks as some of the best in the entire Gunnison Basin.
The hatchery ponds
The four hatchery settling ponds are surprisingly fun fisheries. They host a mix of wild brown trout and both wild and stocked rainbow trout. These fish see a ton of flies and aren’t pushovers, but you might find a big one or two. In fact, the Colorado state-record brown trout — a 30.5-pound troutzilla landed by Alan Schneider — was corralled in the Roaring Judy ponds in 1988, and it still stands as the state record by weight nearly four decades later. That feat isn’t likely to be repeated, but solid browns and rainbows still end up in the ponds by following egg-spewing salmon pods.
The effluent slough: the hardest trout in the valley
Immediately above the fenced-off kokanee spawning raceways near the parking lot is a short, slow-moving slough, the effluent from Roaring Judy’s raceway system. This comparatively warm trough is often choked with watercress along its edges and is über-difficult to fish successfully because of its slothful, spring-creek-like qualities. It is also loaded with big rainbow trout, several of them substantially larger than 20 inches, that escaped the fish factory as wee little fry.
These hatchery escapees are exceptionally skittish and difficult to dupe. They require small flies — a Mole Fly or a D-Midge is often my weapon of choice — light tippet, and a competent, stealthy presentation. These slough trout are some of the toughest trout targets in the entire Gunnison Valley, and they have deflated the egos of many fantastic fly fishers.
The East River Trail, above Crested Butte
Farther up toward Crested Butte is another fun swath of public access. About a mile of meandering bends and riffles is reachable by hiking the East River Trail; hike about 0.6 mile past the private water before leaving the trail to fish. To get there from Crested Butte, head south on State Route 135 for 2 miles and turn left, east, on County Road 738, Brush Creek Road. Travel 1.9 miles to the Brush Creek Trailhead, where East River Trail 634 begins.
This stretch is home to mostly small brown trout but holds a few surprisingly stout rainbows, especially near its junction with Brush Creek.
Gothic and the upper river
Another 7.5 miles of stunningly beautiful public water is available surrounding the town of Gothic, upriver of Crested Butte. Brook and brown trout inhabit the serpentine bends of this scenic stretch of the East.
“Wild Trout Water”: What the Designation Actually Means Here
Colorado Parks and Wildlife designates the East River downstream of the Roaring Judy bridge as Wild Trout Water, but on this stretch the label tells you less than you might think. The East’s brown trout are as wild as a mustang in Nevada’s high desert — but so are the browns in virtually every other trout stream in Colorado. Most of the state’s brown trout populations are self-sustaining, so browns are rarely stocked.
And while rainbow trout aren’t stocked directly into this Wild Trout Water, hatchery-born rainbows end up in the East anyway. With a hatchery operating on the banks, rainbows escape from the concrete jungle into the river with the same ease that the North Atlantic flooded into the post-iceberg Titanic. Rainbows are also stocked en masse directly into the hatchery ponds, and they have easy access to the river from there. Finally, egg-crazed hatchery rainbows stocked into Blue Mesa Reservoir follow squadrons of spawning kokanee up into the East River each fall.
What the designation does bring with it is a set of special regulations. From Roaring Judy’s upstream property boundary downstream to the confluence with the Taylor River, fishing is by artificial flies and lures only. The trout limit is two fish with a 12-inch maximum size, so the larger fish are protected, and taking kokanee salmon is prohibited anywhere in that stretch.
Fishing the East River Season by Season
The prime season on the East extends from April through mid-November, with a month lost to runoff in late spring — and, unusually for the Rockies, the river also offers genuinely good winter angling at Roaring Judy.
Winter: December through March
Here on the windward side of the Continental Divide, Old Man Winter doesn’t release his frigid grip until late March at the earliest and usually not until April. But at Roaring Judy the East River seldom freezes over, so a rare February day when the mercury climbs above 32 degrees can be stellar. If dark, pewter skies unleash a deluge of wet stuff, a torrent of midges will probably hatch, possibly producing deliberate sipping rises. Midges hatch all year, but from winter into early spring they are the only show in town.
My favorite subsurface wintertime midge patterns for the East River are size 18 through 22 Zebra Midges, McCannel’s Demon Midges, and Miller’s D-Midges. Because the East is known for its bloodworms — red chironomids, colored that way by the excessive hemoglobin their bodies produce in response to the oxygen-poor, silted streambeds they inhabit — most of the time I prefer crimson-colored midges, though I use more natural hues as well. Roy Palm’s Special Emerger is lethal on willing risers.
Spring, and then runoff
Later in the spring, up until runoff begins, I add a size 18 or 20 Mercer’s Micro Mayfly, a Barr’s BH BWO Emerger, or a small black or coffee Pat’s Rubber Legs to my nymph arsenal, still targeting the deepest water I can find.
Once the river is fully turbid with runoff, beginning sometime in May and lasting through June, I’ll try a dual-nymph rig of a big black Pat’s Rubber Legs and a bright red San Juan Worm — but you would likely be better off fishing a nearby tailwater like the Taylor River, or a clear headwater stream. Runoff can be especially long and belligerent on the East River.
Summer: the busy season, and the best hatches
Summer is incredibly busy at Roaring Judy. Guides working out of local fly shops flock to the East River for its convenience, comparatively easy wading, solid hatches and willing risers, and do-it-yourselfers congregate for the same reasons.
Golden Stoneflies crawl out of the drink to mate just as runoff subsides, and a size 6 or 8 Pat’s Rubber Legs — noticing a theme? — or a golden Chubby Chernobyl can dupe trout. Beginning in early July, mayflies become the crux of the bug buffet: Blue-Winged Olives, Pale Morning Duns and Green Drakes. Effective summertime dry flies include a Parachute Adams, Furimsky’s BDE BWO, Furimsky’s Foam Green Drake, Furimsky’s Fluttering Foam Caddis, and any type of Chubby Chernobyl. An effective nymphing arsenal includes a Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail Nymph, a Sparkle Wing RS2, and a Buckskin.
One honest note: once upon a time on the East, the Green Drake hatch was the stuff of legend. Drake hatches have been diminishing in intensity throughout the Gunnison Valley since the 1980s and have almost, but not quite, reached the point of irrelevance.
The Kokanee Salmon Run
With jaw-dropping autumn colors come waves of salmon. Kokanee were introduced into Blue Mesa Reservoir, Colorado’s largest man-made body of water, in 1968, shortly after the reservoir filled, and they have been making the 20-mile spawning run up the Gunnison and East Rivers to Roaring Judy ever since.
Kokanee (Oncorhynchus nerka) are the freshwater landlocked form of sockeye salmon. When Meriwether Lewis and William Clark encountered sockeye in the spring of 1806 beneath Celilo Falls on Oregon’s Columbia River, the explorers named them “red charr.” The word “kokanee,” meaning “red fish,” derives from the Okanagan language of the indigenous people of the Okanogan and Columbia River basins. Kokanee are native to Oregon, Washington, Idaho, British Columbia, the Yukon, western Alaska, the Kamchatka Peninsula, and Japan.
Blue Mesa’s kokanee are vitally important to both the Gunnison Valley and the state. Colorado Parks and Wildlife estimates the fishery is worth more than $5 million a year to the local economy. And without Blue Mesa’s salmon, kokanee fishing across Colorado would struggle: Roaring Judy takes an average of 7.2 million eggs a year, the largest kokanee spawn in the state, supplying roughly 60 percent of what Colorado’s other hatcheries need to stock 26 lakes and reservoirs.
Is the run still worth fishing?
The run is recovering, but it is not what it was a decade ago. The bottom fell out in 2022. Blue Mesa sat at 32 percent of capacity, nearly 78 feet below full pool, squeezing the salmon into a narrow band of warm water alongside a lot of hungry lake trout and giving gill lice ideal conditions to spread. By mid-November that year roughly 4,000 kokanee had returned to Roaring Judy against a typical run of about 14,500, and the hatchery took 1.6 million eggs against a normal haul of around 8 million.
The trend has since turned. By October 2025 Roaring Judy had already collected more than 1.3 million eggs and passed its entire 2024 total with weeks of the spawn still to run. CPW aquatic biologist Giulio Del Piccolo described the numbers coming up out of Blue Mesa as rebounding after several lean years, while cautioning that the run was not expected to match its historical highs. Recovery depends on the two things nobody controls: consistent moisture and good water levels in the reservoir. CPW is also working the other side of the equation, running incentive tournaments that pay anglers to remove the smaller lake trout that eat kokanee fry.
For a fly fisher, what that means in practice is this. The salmon are worth planning a fall trip around again, but go with tempered expectations, and check the CPW egg-take reports in early October before you commit. Fewer kokanee running also means fewer large, egg-eating trout dogging the pods upriver, so a weak year costs you twice.
Access matters as much as abundance. Fishing is prohibited on the 0.4 mile from the hatchery outlet down to the Roaring Judy property boundary from August 15 through October 31 — a window CPW shortened in October 2024, having previously closed that water on August 1, because few kokanee move up before mid-August. Taking kokanee is prohibited outright in the flies-and-lures water above the hatchery. When the salmon water is closed, the options are to fish the Gunnison downstream, pay a rod fee on a private lease on the East below the hatchery, or wait for November 1.
How to hook a kokanee
Despite not actively feeding during their spawning soirée, kokanee will attack a fly out of aggression or territorialism. Fly fishing for koks is riotous fun: they are strong fighters and acrobatic leapers, and they are often caught in droves out of a single pod. Expect violent grabs, knot-stressing runs, theatrical leaps and cartwheeling somersaults.
Koks will angrily mug a Theo’s Gold Bead Bomber, a beadhead Western Coachman, or an egg pattern, but crimson San Juan Worms and Squirmy Worms are the most consistently successful. Fish 3X tippet.
More Than Fishing: Wildlife at Roaring Judy
Roaring Judy offers phenomenal wildlife viewing, especially during the snowy months.
Large herds of elk, and plenty of mule deer, winter across the highway on the Almont Triangle and are occasionally seen along the East River itself. Bighorn sheep frequently loiter along the highway just north of Almont. Foxes, coyotes, bobcats and mink are familiar sights, and black bears occasionally lounge in the streamside willows during the salmon run in autumn.
The hatchery property and its salmonids also draw an impressive array of birds: most commonly bald and golden eagles, owls, the occasional osprey, other raptors, and great blue herons. Duck hunting is allowed along the river and at the hatchery ponds — pay heed to the well-signed no-shooting zones — and jump shooting for mallards can be surprisingly good.
You could suffer an ego-injurious trout-skunking at Roaring Judy and the trip would still be worthwhile for the wildlife alone.
Nearby Water in the Gunnison Valley
If the East is blown out, crowded, or simply not fishing, five other worthwhile fisheries are within a short drive.
- The Taylor River — a tailwater that stays fishable when the East is turbid with runoff. The obvious plan B from mid-May to mid-June.
- The Gunnison River — formed where the East meets the Taylor at Almont, and the valley’s most renowned fishery. Also where to look for kokanee when the hatchery water is closed.
- The Lake Fork of the Gunnison — the most beautiful water in the area, to my eye.
- The Slate River and Brush Creek — small water close to Crested Butte, and Brush Creek in particular is worth fishing near its junction with the East.
- Blue Mesa Reservoir — Colorado’s largest man-made body of water, and the source of the East River’s kokanee.
Regulations and Licenses
The East River carries special regulations that change by stretch, and the water immediately below the hatchery closes for most of the fall. These are the rules that catch visiting anglers out. Read them before you rig up.
| Stretch | Rule |
| Roaring Judy upstream property boundary downstream to the Taylor River confluence | Fishing by artificial flies and lures only. Trout bag and possession limit is two fish with a 12-inch maximum size — bigger fish must go back. Taking kokanee salmon is prohibited. |
| Hatchery outlet downstream to the Roaring Judy property boundary (about 0.4 mile) | Closed to all fishing August 15 through October 31, to protect kokanee migrating up to the spawning raceways. CPW shortened this closure in October 2024 — it previously began August 1 — because few salmon move up before mid-August. |
| Below the Roaring Judy bridge | Designated Wild Trout Water by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. |
| Everywhere else on the river | Statewide regulations apply, and much of the bank is private. Check the current CPW brochure and respect posted boundaries. |
A Colorado fishing license is required for anyone 16 or older, and is sold online through Colorado Parks and Wildlife at cpw.state.co.us as well as at local fly shops. Fees change from year to year, so buy from the source rather than relying on a figure printed anywhere else — including here.
One point worth spelling out, because the article above tells you how to hook a kokanee: you may not take them on the East River. CPW does run special snagging seasons for kokanee on some other Colorado waters during the spawning run, and the current brochure lists where and when.
Regulations verified September 2026. Confirm with Colorado Parks and Wildlife before you fish.
Tie the Pat’s Rubber Legs
If you tie only one pattern before a trip to the East River, make it this one. It works from the small black and coffee versions in early spring through the size 6 and 8 golds of high summer.
| Hook | TMC 5263 or Daiichi 1730, sizes 4–12 |
| Weight | 0.015-inch lead-free wire |
| Thread | Black UTC Ultra Thread, 140-denier |
| Legs and antennae | White Wapsi Spanflex or similar |
| Body and head | Medium black/coffee Hareline variegated chenille |
East River Fly Fishing: Common Questions
Where can I fish the East River in Colorado?
The main public access is the 2-mile stretch through Roaring Judy State Fish Hatchery, 15 miles north of Gunnison on State Route 135. There is also about a mile of public water on the East River Trail, reached from Brush Creek Road south of Crested Butte, and roughly 7.5 miles around Gothic upriver of town. Private stretches can be fished for a rod fee through area fly shops.
Is the East River in Colorado open to the public?
Only in part. Most of the East River flows through private land, so most public angling is confined to the hatchery property at Roaring Judy. This is the river’s single biggest limitation as a fishery, and it is why Roaring Judy gets crowded during the tourist months. Plan around it rather than being surprised by it.
What is Roaring Judy Fish Hatchery?
Roaring Judy is a Colorado Parks and Wildlife state fish hatchery on the banks of the East River, 15 miles north of Gunnison, and it is the center of public fly fishing on the river. The property offers about two miles of public water, four settling ponds that fish surprisingly well, and the spawning raceways where the Blue Mesa kokanee run ends each autumn.
What is the best month to fly fish the East River?
July and August are the best months, when Golden Stoneflies give way to Blue-Winged Olives, Pale Morning Duns, and Green Drakes, equating to excellent dry fly fishing. September and early October bring autumn color and the salmon run. February can be excellent on midges if the day is warm. Avoid mid-May to mid-June, when runoff usually makes the river unfishable.
What flies work on the East River?
Pat’s Rubber Legs in some form works nearly year-round: small and black in spring, size 6 to 8 and gold once the Golden Stoneflies come off. In winter, fish size 18 to 22 Zebra Midges, McCannel’s Demon Midges and Miller’s D-Midges, preferably in crimson to match the river’s bloodworms. In summer, a Parachute Adams, a golden Chubby Chernobyl and Furimsky’s foam patterns cover the dries; Soft Hackle Pheasant Tails, Sparkle Wing RS2s and Buckskins cover the nymphs. For kokanee, crimson San Juan Worms and Squirmy Worms are the most consistent.
Is the Crested Butte kokanee salmon run still worth fishing?
Yes, with tempered expectations. The Blue Mesa run crashed in 2022 and has been rebounding since, though CPW does not expect it to match its historical highs. Roaring Judy took only 1.6 million eggs in 2022 against a normal 8 million; by October 2025 it had passed 1.3 million with weeks left in the spawn, already beating its full 2024 total. Note that the 0.4 mile below the hatchery outlet is closed to fishing August 15 through October 31, and taking kokanee is prohibited on the East River.
What is a “red charr”?
“Red charr” was the name Lewis and Clark gave sockeye salmon when they encountered them in 1806 beneath Celilo Falls on the Columbia River. The fish running up the East River are kokanee, the landlocked freshwater form of the same species, Oncorhynchus nerka. They are not charr, and the name survives here only as a historical curiosity — and as the title of this article.
Which river in Colorado is best for fly fishing?
In the Gunnison Valley, the Gunnison River itself is the most renowned, the Taylor holds the biggest trout, and the Lake Fork of the Gunnison is the most beautiful. What the East offers that they do not is a combination: charming beauty, big-fish potential, strong hatches, and the rarity of good wintertime fly angling — all within 15 minutes of Almont. It is the valley’s most underrated water, with the valley’s worst access.
Despite a dearth of public access and a salmon run still climbing back from its 2022 low, the East River is exceedingly popular with local fly fishers. As a bonus, a day spent exploring Crested Butte’s shops, restaurants and natural wonders is time well spent. No fly-fishing excursion to the Gunnison Valley is complete without casting a line into the East River.
Doug Dillingham is a freelance outdoor writer and the author of Fly Fishing the Gunnison Country (2016), a guidebook to the valley’s rivers available at gunnisonflyfish.com. He lives in Ohio City, Colorado.
More destinations: read our guides to Rocky Mountain dry-fly fishing, Hermosa Creek, Colorado, and Kelly Creek, Idaho, or browse the full destination archive.
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