Rito Hondo Creek

Type
Freestone river, Colorado (West)
Designation
Catch and release
USGS gauges
None listed
Guides
None listed
Shops
3 nearby

Today on the Rito Hondo Creek

No live reading for this water
Why there is no reading

Nothing live is published for this water, so there is no reading or verdict today. The readings section below says what we checked.

Regulations & access Guides & shops

Rito Hondo Creek is a freestone river in Colorado, listed as Catch and release by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

More about the Rito Hondo Creek

3 shops nearby are listed here.

Updated · Sources: Special Regulations: Fishing Waters (all trout must be returned to the water)

Representative photograph of similar water; not a photograph of this place.
Representative photograph, not this water.
Where it is

Rito Hondo Creek is a freestone river in Colorado.

No real-time gauge

No real-time gauge on this water. We found no active USGS gauge on Rito Hondo Creek or on its stream system within about 25 miles, and no dam operator publishes data for it. A missing gauge says nothing about the water itself. Find the gauges nearest Rito Hondo Creek

About these readings

Nothing live is published for this water; the note below says what we checked.

Where to fish

About this

Start from the agency's public access map. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

Rito Hondo Creek on the map

About this

Shops and guides within 40 miles

Map of Rito Hondo Creek: gauges, shops and guides

Map of Rito Hondo Creek, and shops and guides with an exact address within 40 miles.

Restrooms near Rito Hondo Creek

Restrooms near Rito Hondo Creek

Restrooms within 2 miles of Rito Hondo Creek in a straight line, nearest first, with what anglers found when they went. The map says a restroom is there, not whether it is clean or open today.

No restroom mapped within 2 mi yet — add one you know.

Campgrounds, fishing access sites and boat ramps often have one that isn't on the map yet.

Restroom locations and map details: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License, read Oct 24, 2026. Ratings, answers and photos are members' own; who shared them is never shown, and every photo is reviewed before it appears. Visits older than 18 months no longer count. Distances are straight-line miles, not driving. Nothing here grants access to private land. Community guidelines.

More water near Rito Hondo Creek

  • Navajo Lake's blue water and mesa shoreline seen through juniper from Navajo Lake State ParkCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Rito Hondo Reservoir
    Photo credit

    Navajo Lake from Navajo Lake State Park, New Mexico. Photo: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Rito Hondo Reservoir.

    Rito Hondo Reservoir

    Colorado · about 1 mi

  • The Taylor River running through a rocky, wooded valley in Gunnison CountyCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Los Pinos Creek
    Photo credit

    The Taylor River, Gunnison County, Colorado. Photo: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Los Pinos Creek.

    Los Pinos Creek

    Colorado · about 25 mi

  • Marshy shallows at the edge of Henrys Lake, with the Henrys Lake Mountains behindFeatured sport-fishing waterRepresentative photo · not Martin Lake
    Photo credit

    Henrys Lake from Henrys Lake State Park, Idaho. Photo: James Postema, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Martin Lake.

    Martin Lake

    Colorado · about 30 mi

  • The Rio Grande winding through a broad valley near South ForkCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Archuleta Creek
    Photo credit

    The Rio Grande near South Fork, Colorado. Photo: Kevin Stroup, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Archuleta Creek.

    Archuleta Creek

    Colorado · about 34 mi

  • The Piedra River flowing through willows and autumn brush toward a mountain, seen from a bridgeCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Wolf Creek
    Photo credit

    The Piedra River in Hinsdale County, Colorado. Photo: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Wolf Creek.

    Wolf Creek

    Colorado · about 35 mi

  • The Los Pinos River running between cottonwoods and pines, seen from a road bridgeSpecial-regulation trout waterRepresentative photo · not Vallecito Creek
    Photo credit

    The Los Pinos River in La Plata County, Colorado. Photo: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Vallecito Creek.

    Vallecito Creek

    Colorado · about 36 mi

Regulations

About this

Seasons, limits, special regulations and closures for each reach are on the agency pages below. Read them before you go.

Official designation: Catch and release

Each comes from the agency's own published list; where the list names a reach it is quoted. A designation applies to the listed reach, not necessarily the whole water.

The water on the map

About this

Measured from the NHDPlus High Resolution (flowlines and waterbodies) (U.S. Geological Survey, read 2026-11-05) for this water’s own mapped feature. Rounded figures; they describe the channel, not today’s conditions.

Length
5.4 mi
Drains
7.3 sq mi
Drop
1,299 ft · 240.1 ft/mi
Flows into
North Clear Creek
Watershed
Rio Grande Headwaters

Public land along it

About this

Areas the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), public access (U.S. Geological Survey, Gap Analysis Project, read 2026-11-05) lists as owned or held in easement and open to the public, crossed by the mapped channel. Boundaries are mapped, not surveyed. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.

4.5 of 5.1 mi on public land

  • Rio Grande National ForestForest Service · 4 mi
  • Rito Hondo Reservoir State Wildlife AreaState Fish and Wildlife · 0.5 mi

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

Guides and shops near Rito Hondo Creek

About this

Listings marked Unclaimed are built from open map records and the business's own website: confirm licensing, rates, dates and hours directly.

Guides

No guide within 40 miles yet.

3 shops nearby

How these are chosen

Guides whose own website names this water come first, nearest first. Distances are straight-line.

Shops: fly shops first. A distance is shown when the shop’s website gives its location (within 60 miles); otherwise the shop is in one of the towns within 25 miles of the water.

Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories.

Species and hatches

About this

The hatch and season chart for this water's region.

When the bugs come off

Regional hatch months: Southwest and Colorado
About this chart

1 hatch charted for the region, not measured on this water. From Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

  1. January: no charted hatch
  2. February: no charted hatch
  3. March: no charted hatch
  4. April: no charted hatch
  5. May: no charted hatch
  6. June: 1 charted hatch
  7. July: 1 charted hatch
  8. August: no charted hatch
  9. September: no charted hatch
  10. October: no charted hatch
  11. November: no charted hatch
  12. December: no charted hatch

Green drake (June to July)

Plan a trip here

About this

None of our destination hubs is within 40 miles in a straight line. The trip planner builds a trip around the water itself: the guides and shops listed within 40 miles of it, its gauges and its nearest towns and airports.

No hub within 40 miles

Gear checklist

About this

A wade-fishing checklist for big western trout rivers: a 9 ft 5–6 weight outfit, nymph, dry and streamer setups, waders, boots and a wading staff, with estimated prices by tier and where to buy.

A woman in waders and a sun hat wades a broad river and casts, bluffs on the far bank

Big western rivers (wade fishing)

9′ rod, 5–6 weight, floating line · Rainbow and brown trout, whitefish

Open the checklist
Videos for this water (5)

Watch: reading a trout stream

About this

Seams, shelves and soft water, shown on real rivers.

Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.

  • How I Learned to Read Water (Fly Fishing)Embedded from YouTube · Mad River Outfitters · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • How To Read The Water with Tom RosenbauerEmbedded from YouTube · The New Fly Fisher · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Reading the Water to Successfully Locate TroutEmbedded from YouTube · Orvis Guide to Fly Fishing · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on reading water

Watch: nymphing basics

About this

Indicator rigs, depth and detecting the take.

Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.

  • 90° Nymph RigEmbedded from YouTube · Huge Fly Fisherman · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Casting with an Indicator & Better Nymphing TechniquesEmbedded from YouTube · The New Fly Fisher · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on nymphing

Fish Tales

About this

Trip stories anglers chose to share publicly and tagged with Rito Hondo Creek.

No stories from here yet.

Sources for this page

Not a statement of access, fish presence or conditions.

Something wrong?

All 8 sources and dates

A water page organises discovery. It does not assert public access, legal access, current fish presence, guide availability or fishing conditions.

Flows, gauge statistics and flood stages come from USGS and the National Weather Service when the page is shown. Regulations, stocking, species and season statements link to the agency that publishes them; this page copies only the species names and the quoted sentences. Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories. Position: a point on the mapped channel of “Rito Hondo Creek”, halfway along its length in Colorado, from the USGS high-resolution hydrography (NHDPlus HR), read 5 Nov 2026. It marks the water, not a particular access or reach. Water type is our own classification.