River Information

The Uncompahgre River, or the “Unc” as it is locally known, births high in the windswept San Juan Mountains and slogs northward through the towns of Ouray, Ridgway, and Montrose as it makes its 75 mile voyage toward a marriage with the Gunnison River in Delta.  The premiere stretch of the Unc is the tailwater below Ridgway Dam in Ridgway State Park known as Pa-Co-Chu-Puk or “Paco.”  Paco is a tremendous year-round trout stream which boasts wild brown trout, a hodgepodge of wild and stocked rainbow trout, and Snake River cutthroat trout brood fish.  This tailrace easily exceeds the qualifications for Gold Medal Water and excels in the winter when other fly waters are hibernating and during runoff when other trout streams are roiling with high, chocolaty water.

     Further downstream, the Uncompahgre River runs through the town of Montrose and may be the best kept fly fishing secret on the western slope of Colorado.  The town stretch of the Unc offers great fly angling for browns, rainbows, and cutbows, especially during fall, winter, and early spring.  A couple of the best locales within Montrose are behind Home Depot and Riverbottom Park, but there is quality fly fishing throughout the town stretch.  Although the average fish size is much smaller, 20-plus inch trout are not uncommon.  Surprisingly, despite having high numbers of brown trout, and some hefty ones, the Unc is not regarded as an overly productive streamer fishery.