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South Platte River (Colorado) — a popular fishing spot. About 396 km long. Close by — Brighton, Denver and Thornton. A smart bite calendar — moon phase, atmospheric pressure, and weather combined into an hourly fish-activity forecast for the coming days.
Nearest towns and cities
Other nearby waters
The course is moderately sinuous: pools are scoured at the bends and riffles run between them.
Wednesday, October 21
Work the cover — snags, weed edges, hole entrances; retrieve the lure with pauses.
South Platte River — Wednesday, October 21
The bite is strong — fish are active. Pressure is rising — activity tends to be more subdued. Peak 07:00–09:00 and 18:00–20:00.
The computed water temperature is around 56 °F — colder than the 57–75 °F comfort range for Black crappie: the fish conserves energy and takes more cautiously.
Black crappie works the twilight: the peaks are pinned to sunrise and sunset — their times are in the sun-and-moon card above.
Pressure is dropping 0.09 inHg over the day — fish are usually more active ahead of a weather change.
One more input — the moon's feeding windows: within their hours the score sits higher than across the rest of the day. The window times are in the “Solunar feeding periods” card below.
October is an active season for Black crappie here.
These are the same values the bite curve above was computed from. How the forecast works
Clear · feels like +63°
The day is 3 min shorter than yesterday.
Sunshine hours count direct sun only — cloud cover cuts it, so it is shorter than daylight.
Geomagnetic fieldG1 geomagnetic storm, Kp 4.7
Kp index — NOAA forecast. Not part of the bite score: catches show no link between geomagnetic storms and the bite.
The windows are set by the moon's transit and rise, and the forecast above already accounts for them: within these hours the bite score sits higher than across the rest of the day, while the day's overall level still comes from the catch-calibrated model.
What are solunar periods?Blue check: this species appears as a catch in reports for this waterbody.
Work the cover — snags, weed edges, hole entrances; retrieve the lure with pauses.
South Platte River — Wednesday, October 21
The bite is strong — fish are active. Pressure is rising — activity tends to be more subdued. Peak 07:00–09:00 and 18:00–20:00.
Colorado: the months when each species peaks and when it goes quiet. The current month is outlined. The bottom row counts the catches logged on this water in each month.
| Fish | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White crappie | active | peak | peak | peak | active | active | fair | fair | active | active | active | active |
| Black crappie | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | fair | fair | active | active | active | active |
| Lake trout | peak | peak | peak | active | active | fair | slow | fair | active | peak | active | peak |
| Brook trout | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | active | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Cutthroat trout | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | active | peak | peak | fair | slow |
| Pike | fair | fair | fair | fair | fair | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | active |
| Walleye | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | peak | peak | peak | fair | slow |
| White bass | slow | slow | slow | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Whitefish | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | active | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Yellow perch | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | peak | peak | peak | fair | slow |
| Brown trout | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | peak | active | active | slow | slow | slow |
| Largemouth bass | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | peak | active | active | fair | fair | slow |
| Rainbow trout | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | active | fair | slow | slow |
| Smallmouth bass | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Bluegill | slow | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow | slow |
| Carp | slow | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow | slow |
| Channel catfish | slow | slow | slow | slow | fair | peak | peak | peak | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Catches here | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
BiteGuideFrom anglers’ reports
This is a summary of anglers' reports, not a proven cause of the bite: conditions lining up does not mean they drove it.
vertical axis — number of catches
| Value | Catches | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pike | 3 | 60% |
| Steelhead | 1 | 20% |
| Walleye | 1 | 20% |
Biting
Fish in 5 of 5 reports · Mostly Pike
Anglers have logged 5 fishing reports here. Most commonly caught: Pike, Walleye, Steelhead. Peak season: June–November.
Measured river conditions are available for South Platte River: current gauge height, streamflow, and water temperature when reported by the source.
USGS gauge SOUTH PLATTE RIVER AT FORT MORGAN, CO, 14 mi away · measured 2026-10-21 00:30 · data source · provisional data, subject to revision