On a July morning, Johnny Spillane opened up his shop, Steamboat Flyfisher, right on the banks of the Yampa River. He said usually customers are coming in to grab some gear, but right now, it’s pretty quiet.
“The last few days, I've had to walk up to Main Street and just go take a peek around because I'm wondering why the store's so quiet, and you get up there and there's just nobody walking around,” Spillane said.
It’s been three weeks since the Yampa River closed for commercial and recreational use. It’s the earliest the city has closed the river since 2012.
“It's definitely tough because we've basically taken the Yampa out of the fishing equation,” Spillane said.
In that time, local businesses are feeling the impact. Steamboat Flyfisher has seen a huge drop in retail sales. Other retailers are telling Spillane the same thing.
“Usually July is a big, big month for us, our biggest month,” Spillane said. “We've had to adjust. It’s been challenging.”
City officials closed the river due to high water temperatures and flows dropping below 85 cubic feet per second. They want to protect aquatic life and keep recreators safe.
Those low flows are due to Colorado’s record-low snowpack this season. In Steamboat Springs, there was only around 170 inches total snowfall. Usually, that number is closer to 300 inches.
“(The Yampa River’s) been closing every year for really the last decade or so,” Spillane, who grew up in Steamboat, said. “But to have it close as early as it did, I mean, it's indicative of the winter we had.”
Flyfishers still have areas in the high country to rely on, like the Flat Tops and the Zirkel Wilderness. Guiding has also been fairly consistent in those areas, too. But Spillane said, after fishing the Yampa for 45 years, this year is one to keep an eye on.
“I think it's something that you just can't ignore anymore, and even if you were ignoring it early on, I think the proof is in the pudding right now,” Spillane said. “It's something that we all have to be conscious of.”
The river is not the only factor playing into visitation. Spillane thinks higher gas prices and wildfires in the area are deterring visitors.
The Yampa River is closed until conditions improve. He said he would be shocked if they’d open the river back up before snow flies again.
