Gunnison River — upper

These links were checked against the live agency site on 2026-09-01. Rules for a water change inside a season, so the agency’s own page on the day you go is the only current answer — this desk does not hold one.

No unique fleet-directory record matched this operational water by name and state, so the desk will not borrow another water’s review date. The agency links on this page were checked on 2026-09-01; check the agency’s own page the day you go.

This reach mixes drive-to and walk-in access. Some sections are road-adjacent, others need a walk from public ground.

Launch · Launch type varies by access point. Confirm on the agency map before you tow a boat to it.

Parking · Parking is at designated access points. A pullout that looks fine is not automatically legal or safe to leave a vehicle in.

Colorado's Fishing Atlas maps public water. Colorado does not have a general right to wade private streambeds — a reach is public where the land or an easement is public.

Flow and water temperature for this water are read from USGS site 09114500, Gunnison River at Gunnison, CO. It is an official public gauge, not a fishing pin: it describes the river at one point, and the reach you stand in may be doing something else.

Derived from water class (mixed) and Rockies range — not a stocking record. Confirm species, seasons and any closures with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

• Brown trout

  54–67°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 68°F

• Rainbow trout

  52–64°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 68°F

• Cutthroat trout

  48–62°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 66°F

• Smallmouth bass

  67–78°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 84°F

• Channel catfish

  75–85°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 92°F