Fly Fishing the Dream Stream on the South Platte River. Jon Kleis

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      Dream Stream (South Platte River, Colorado)

       Location: Southwest Colorado, 1 hour west of Colorado Springs and 1½ hours southwest of Denver. Both have major airports with direct flights.

      For ages, anglers around the world have known the South Platte River below Spinney Reservoir as the Dream Stream—the land of giants, where anglers wade softly and carry big sticks. For anyone wanting to test their merit as a tailwater fly fisher, this is the proving grounds. Fishing pressure, changing water conditions, and the legendary South Park County wind all combine to make

      this one of the most technical tailwater fisheries in the country.

      In 2010, famous Denver Post columnist and book author Charlie Meyers passed away, and the Dream Stream from Highway 59 up to the last free parking area below Spinney Dam was renamed Charlie Meyers State Wildlife Area.

      The Dream Stream flows from Spinney Dam roughly 3½ miles through scenic high-country meadow before it dumps into Elevenmile Reservoir. The valley the river travels through is surrounded by beautiful mountains, including the iconic Spinney Mountain. The completely open valley makes the Dream Stream a corridor for wind gusts from 15 to 35 mph. Anglers should come armed with a fast-action 5- or 6-weight fly rod.

      At its widest, the Dream Stream is slightly more than 20 feet across. The deeper pools are 4 to 6 feet

      (depending on water level) and because the river is too skinny to float, all fishing is done by walk-and-wade. Proximity to nutrient-rich Spinney and Elevenmile Reservoirs makes the Dream Stream an ideal place to hunt for trophy fish, and trout over 10 pounds are landed here yearly.